Configuring system with Samsung 191T

[Muse]

Over Xmas I visited my brother and went with his wife to Best Buy. I was going to buy my brother a new hard drive but she came along because she wanted to pick out a new LCD monitor that was to be her birthday present from my brother. She saw a Sony 18" but they didn't have them in stock and then she saw the Samsung 191T and decided that was the one she wanted. Turned out they were out of that too, so she ordered it online right in the store. It arrived after I left and they managed to set it up with her Windows 98 system.

Yesterday I called them and asked how the new monitor was working out. I was told that there was a problem - the picture wasn't very clear and she had bought a "filter". I asked what this was and my brother said it was something they put in front of the screen. I was appalled and said that wasn't the answer. I said I was afraid they weren't running the monitor at the native resolution of 1280 x 1024. I also said that they would probably get better results if they get a video card with DVI. However, I stressed that they should switch to the native resolution. My brother checked and found out she was running at 800 x 600! I said he should change it and he did to 1280 x 1024, but he said the picture didn't fill the screen and that there was up to 2.5 inches at the sides! So, he switched back to 800 x 600. I told him to look for the manual and figure out how to adjust the picture to the sides.

Today I call again and my brother said that the monitor went full screen after several minutes all by itself, perhaps 10 minutes. Anyway, it seems that his wife doesn't like the high resolution. Everything looks "very small". I said she should definitely be using a higher res than 800 x 600, that it's like looking at the world through a magnifying glass. I said she should try running at an in-between resolution for a little while and get used to that and then move to 1280 x 1024 - going one res change at a time wouldn't be such a shock. I said she'd eventually get used to the native resolution. She does a lot of computer work, mainly internet browsing, I think. She has good eyes, with glasses.

He changed to 1024 x 768 and said it looked very weird, that there were wavy lines, so he changed it back to 800 x 600. What can I do to improve this situation? I live about 500 miles from them or I would visit and see what I could do in person. I may be able to set up remote control software if I open ports on their cable router, but that's not really going to let me know what her monitor looks like. Suggestions and ideas appreciated!

 

[chizow]

Yah, I can see some problems with her set-up. First thing she should try are software mods. She should 100% positively be running native resolution, especially if she is spending 99.9% of her time using the monitor in 2D w/ desktop and office apps. Games adapt much better to non-native resolutions, but 2D/text looks horrible at non-native resolutions.

For software mods tell her to:

• Ensure 32-bit color is enabled if her card supports it. 16-bit color can look grainy, patchy, or banded.

• Go into display properties and try playing with the font sizes to make her text/icons look bigger. Personally 1280 has always been my sweet-spot, but for those who have grown accustomed to 800x600, it can be quite a shocker

• Make sure she has the latest analog driver off the install CD, Windows Update, or Dell's site and not the plug-and-play version that comes with Windows

• It sounds like she is running Win98; XP offers a huge improvement IMO in the form of ClearType. My desktop and text wouldn't look nearly as splendid without it.

• Analog (for better or worse) allows much more control over monitor settings than DVI, but is also susceptible to the same problems. I do believe the auto-adjust feature works in Analog mode, so have her try that and then use the OSDs to adjust. They might have hit that by accident or the video card's drivers may not support 1280 correctly/well, so it seemed to "set itself". Unfortunately, if her video card has poor 2D, there's not much tweaking she'll be able to do to improve the IQ.

If none of that provides better IQ for her, you may have to try and convince her to pick up a cheap AGP or PCI card with DVI and good 2D, like a Radeon 7500. The GF4 MX's don't have as good IQ, but they are cheap, readily available, and have DVI as well.

As for the remote assistance thing, if you were both running XP, that would be possible (I've never tried it myself), otherwise I'm not sure how you would go about doing it.

Chiz

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: chizow
Yah, I can see some problems with her set-up. First thing she should try are software mods. She should 100% positively be running native resolution, especially if she is spending 99.9% of her time using the monitor in 2D w/ desktop and office apps. Games adapt much better to non-native resolutions, but 2D/text looks horrible at non-native resolutions.

For software mods tell her to:

• Ensure 32-bit color is enabled if her card supports it. 16-bit color can look grainy, patchy, or banded.

--> Yeah, that's a funny thing. When I asked my brother to set it to 1280 x 1024 he didn't see 32 bit available, only 16 bit, so I had him set it at that. I guess she needs a new video card. Money's not a big issue for them. The Radeon 7500 would be a good choice? She doesn't game. I think she's basically doing all 2D, so that's the priority. She should have type that's not too small and that's real sharp. Her being used to 800 x 600 might be a problem, at least for a while. I remember when I moved up resolutions - it took some getting used to. I explained that to my brother. I guess I should have some conversations with her about it.

• Go into display properties and try playing with the font sizes to make her text/icons look bigger. Personally 1280 has always been my sweet-spot, but for those who have grown accustomed to 800x600, it can be quite a shocker

--> You mean small text vs. large text? Yeah, she's running Windows 98, don't know yet if it's second edition.

• Make sure she has the latest analog driver off the install CD, Windows Update, or Dell's site and not the plug-and-play version that comes with Windows

• It sounds like she is running Win98; XP offers a huge improvement IMO in the form of ClearType. My desktop and text wouldn't look nearly as splendid without it.

--> You're talking about the monitor driver here. Chances are good they didn't install any driver at all. You're thinking she's got the 1900FP, Chiz, huh? I know, you have that monitor, which has the same display as the 191T. Or were you actually thinking she could use the Dell driver?? Well, I guess XP could be an option, at least at some point. They're not really up to installing a new OS without help. If I go there, I could do it for them. I've done it with my brother's computer a couple of times - Win2000. Never used XP but I guess I could upgrade her to that, or backup her data, reformat and install XP fresh.

• Analog (for better or worse) allows much more control over monitor settings than DVI, but is also susceptible to the same problems. I do believe the auto-adjust feature works in Analog mode, so have her try that and then use the OSDs to adjust. They might have hit that by accident or the video card's drivers may not support 1280 correctly/well, so it seemed to "set itself". Unfortunately, if her video card has poor 2D, there's not much tweaking she'll be able to do to improve the IQ.

--> They may not even be aware of the OSD functionality. I told him to look for the manual. I think they should get another video card - one with excellent 2D and DVI.

If none of that provides better IQ for her, you may have to try and convince her to pick up a cheap AGP or PCI card with DVI and good 2D, like a Radeon 7500. The GF4 MX's don't have as good IQ, but they are cheap, readily available, and have DVI as well.

--> What's "IQ"? Yeah, they could get a Radeon 7500. They're not far from Best Buy and she's also into ordering online.

As for the remote assistance thing, if you were both running XP, that would be possible (I've never tried it myself), otherwise I'm not sure how you would go about doing it.

Chiz

--> I have both pcAnywhere and Timbuktu, so I could set them up with either, same deal. It's mainly a matter of figuring out how to get through their router's firewall. I had it setup last year to my brother's computer but something changed and I can't get through the firewall now. It's doable. Thing is, it won't let me see her display so it won't tell me everything. It would let me do some configuration by remote, like changing display properties, resolutions, stuff like that - the software stuff.

 

[JZilla]

Also try and up the dpi setting in display - advanced.

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: JZilla
Also try and up the dpi setting in display - advanced.

What's that? DPI? I don't see it with my CRT. Is it a setting you get with an LCD display driver?

 

[chizow]

Oops forgot about this thread..highlighted threads don't travel with me from home to work and vice/versa

--> You mean small text vs. large text? Yeah, she's running Windows 98, don't know yet if it's second edition.

Yep, and also what Jzilla mentioned, the dpi settings. Dpi = dots per inch. They should both be there under display properties. There should also be a way to adjust the text and fonts in each desktop window/menu etc. to suit her tastes. I haven't used Win98 in forever so I don't even remember if it has them, but it should. 32-bit color does make a huge difference though with FP's.

--> You're talking about the monitor driver here.

Ooops yah, meant 191T driver. Windows Update may have it, otherwise they can pull it from the Samsung site. It won't auto-install, they have to choose update driver from the display properties. Again, ClearType is excellent with this panel, w/out it my text definitely looks a bit "lean and mean". It sounds a bit involved, so I would go with your other options first.

--> They may not even be aware of the OSD functionality. I told him to look for the manual. I think they should get another video card - one with excellent 2D and DVI.

If they go DVI, there's no point in walking them thru this, as DVI will correct any brightness/color/geometry/scaling issues they are having. If she's looking for excellent 2D performance, she may want to even consider a Matrox G400 if it supports DVI (dunno if it does or not), as Matrox cards are purported to have teh best 2D around. I'm pretty sure the 7500 is the original Radeon right? If so, it should have good 2D as well, just make sure it has DVI. IQ = image quality.

It looks like you got em on the right track; I think with a card with DVI and good IQ should solve most of their problems, after that its just software tweaks to their liking. Just make sure they run native 1280x1024x32!!!

Chiz