8800GTX + 22"LCD in DVI = Scaling issues

[BoboKatt]

Hi folks,
I recently upgraded from my older 21" CRT Sony monitor that saw its last days to a new Acer AL-2223W LC 22" monitor on my eVGA 8800GTX using the DVI cable. I am running XP pro with NVIDIA?s latest drivers and it scales my widescreen monitor into a 1600x1200 resolution, and not 1680x1050.

The funny thing is that the blasted display driver information on my computer states it's running at 1680x1050 but the monitor in its info when I click the button on the monitor shows 1600X1200. It's blurry as all heck and I KNOW it's not running at 1680X1050. It practically fries my eyes after a while.

I have read countless posts on this -- some are saying that it's the drivers that Nvidia has but what I don't understand is that I tried my GF's older 22" LCD and that works perfectly. She has it running on her ATI x1900XT and never had an issue and that one works well with my 8800GTX and the newest drivers.

If I change the cable to the VGA one on this new LCD, it looks amazing and now both displays (on computer in Nvidia control panel and monitor's own info screen) show 1680x1050. Text is sharp and all is well but it will never look as well as my GF?s using its native DVI full digital glory.

I have heard I can revert to older Nvidia drivers; specifically the 96 series and it will fix this. Is this true and if so why? What is missing in the newest ones that wont allow this and have problems with scaling? Is it the fact I am not running Vista as this monitor I bought, the new Acer says it's made for Vista and again some posts are saying it wont work properly in XP.

Sigh? any ideas?

Thanks!

 

[nullpointerus]

Originally posted by: BoboKatt
Hi folks,
I recently upgraded from my older 21" CRT Sony monitor that saw its last days to a new Acer AL-2223W LC 22" monitor on my eVGA 8800GTX using the DVI cable. I am running XP pro with NVIDIA?s latest drivers and it scales my widescreen monitor into a 1600x1200 resolution, and not 1680x1050.

The funny thing is that the blasted display driver information on my computer states it's running at 1680x1050 but the monitor in its info when I click the button on the monitor shows 1600X1200. It's blurry as all heck and I KNOW it's not running at 1680X1050. It practically fries my eyes after a while.

Hmm...what driver version are you running?

Have you tried installing the manufacturer's monitor drivers?

Have you tried changing the "flat panel scaling" option to use a different method?

Have you tried the option to force display detection in case the nV drivers are just "confused"?

There may also be an options such as to ignore the monitor's EDID information or something like that. You could try playing around with those. If using the new nVidia control panel, make sure you've switched to the Advanced view. The button for this is in the control panel's toolbar.

I have read countless posts on this -- some are saying that it's the drivers...

Sounds like it is the drivers. If the above doesn't work, try different driver sets. And if you're worried about screwing something up while trying beta drivers, just create a restore point in XP before changing anything; then restore to it after troubleshooting.

...but what I don't understand is that I tried my GF's older 22" LCD and that works perfectly. She has it running on her ATI x1900XT and never had an issue and that one works well with my 8800GTX and the newest drivers.

Have you tried your new LCD on her x1900 XT? Then you might be able to eliminate the monitor as possibly being the problem.

If I change the cable to the VGA one on this new LCD, it looks amazing and now both displays (on computer in Nvidia control panel and monitor's own info screen) show 1680x1050. Text is sharp and all is well but it will never look as well as my GF?s using its native DVI full digital glory.

If you end up staying with VGA, there's usually an "auto detect" option somewhere that will scan the VGA signal and better align the signal with the intended LCD pixels.

I have heard I can revert to older Nvidia drivers; specifically the 96 series and it will fix this. Is this true and if so why? What is missing in the newest ones that wont allow this and have problems with scaling?

Actually, newer drivers (i.e. the latest 100-series beta) are supposed to have DVI scaling fixes, but those fixes may be causing problems for a few people. You've heard of the old saying that a patch fixes some things and breaks others, right? That's probably it. I'd try the older drivers as I said above.

Is it the fact I am not running Vista as this monitor I bought, the new Acer says it's made for Vista and again some posts are saying it wont work properly in XP.

No, I seriously doubt that's the case, so don't worry about it.

 

[BoboKatt]

All great advice. I am a bit confused as to all the options in my drivers through the Nvidia Control panel but will give it one more try. If all else fails then I will just trade with my GF... her 22LCD for some reason works flawlessly on my 8800GTX and for some reason my 22"LCD works well on her x1900XT>.. go figure.

She wont know

 

[PingSpike]

To be fair, your problem sounds different from the dvi scaling options trouble a lot of people are having. You say it scales your monitor to 1600x1200...I'm not sure how that works on a 1680x1050 since that would be outside the range the LCD supports. Most people have trouble with it scaling a smaller resolution up, or ignoring the aspect ratio.

When you go under display in windows, what is the resolution set too? 1680x1050? 1600x1200? I'm just kind of confused as to what is actually going on.

 

[Noema]

I also got a 22" (ViewSonic VG2230wm) @1680x1050 and had the exact same problem (though I have a 7800GS) with the lastest drivers. I just couldn't make it display 1680x1050 over DVI. It'd black out for a few seconds and then revert to 1600x1200 (which looked awful).

I installed the monitor's driver, uninstalled nVidias driver, used driver Cleaner in same mode, reinstalled the driver (same version I had before by the way) and it worked like a charm.

 

[Pugnate]

I love my 2230wm but am having issues. I've set it so that monitor does the scaling, which is perfect. But for some reason from time to time it just blacks out for a few seconds and then comes back. The resolution never changes or anything, so I thought it was a monitor issue. But I got a second one today and same problem.

 

[Noema]

Originally posted by: Pugnate
I love my 2230wm but am having issues. I've set it so that monitor does the scaling, which is perfect. But for some reason from time to time it just blacks out for a few seconds and then comes back. The resolution never changes or anything, so I thought it was a monitor issue. But I got a second one today and same problem.

Mine hasn't done it yet; I've had it for only 4 days however.

 

[Pugnate]

No I have a feeling it is the 8800 being naughty.