Dual monitor problem. DVI-to-VGA blurry

[The Mutha]

I recently got a RADEON 9200 SE graphics card, with 1 VGA output and 1 DVI output.

I have two 19" CRT monitors. One is connected to the VGA output and another is connected to the DVI output via a DVI-to-VGA converter.

The image on the second monitor is completely blurry. I've tried different DVI-to-VGA adapters and its still ultra blurry. What's wrong with this? I know for sure that the monitor is not the problem, since I tried the other monitor in and it was also blurry when connected to the DVI-to-VGA adapter.

Both monitors are the same - LG Flatron ez T910B 19"

Please help!

 

[Cerb]

It's a 9200SE and you get what you pay for, maybe? Chances are they may have cut a few cents off the cost by using crappier parts on the second output.

 

[ZobarStyl]

I have no noticable difference between my DVI-to-VGA monitor and my standard VGA one on my dual screen setup. In fact I've forgotten which is which, since they are identical in IQ, so no that's not the fault of the adapter. To be frank, I can't say much because I'm still on a Ti4200 (although it does its job commendably), but why do you have two monitors that probably ran you 400 dollars total connected to a card I wouldn't give you 20 bucks for? That's like having 2000 dollar racing tires on a '87 Geo Metro.

Throw down for a better card, I know that thing has to be choked at any decent resolution you have the desktop at. Also, partly hearsay and partly from experience, nV cards usually deal with dual screens better than ATi ones (this forum has quite a few threads going on ATi cards having trouble dualling), but someone can shoot me down if they think that's an unfair assessment.

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: ZobarStyl
Throw down for a better card, I know that thing has to be choked at any decent resolution you have the desktop at.

Guh? 2D performance is not his issue here, and the 9200 uses the same 400Mhz RAMDACs as every other RADEON 9XXX card (which are easily capable of 1600x1200x32 bits at 100Hz). If you're sure it's not the adapter or the monitor, it's gotta be the card. Either you have a bad card, or the model you bought cut some corners in the electronics for the secondary display output (although I've never heard of this, even on ultra-cheap 9200SEs, so I would tend to think it's just a rotten apple).

Also, partly hearsay and partly from experience, nV cards usually deal with dual screens better than ATi ones (this forum has quite a few threads going on ATi cards having trouble dualling), but someone can shoot me down if they think that's an unfair assessment.

I know NVidia cards can "span" over two monitors, and I'm pretty sure that nView is better than Hydravision (it wouldn't take much). But I'm running dual screens on my 9800Pro right now, and I can't say I've had any issues with it, other than that certain fullscreen games don't like it very much (but I doubt they'd do any better on NVIDIA).

 

[ZobarStyl]

Thanks Matthias hence I said anyone who knew otherwise could feel free to correct me. :beer:

Either way, I still my point that a bottle-of-the-barrel card shouldn't be used for dualling is valid...also Matthias what games were you referring to when you say you've had some issues? I'm looking at either a 9800p or a 6800nu (if they can be found at ~250) and the dual screen ability will be the biggest factor in my purchase...darn hydravision.

 

[Cerb]

The RAMDAC isn't it. It's the parts that do the interference filtering and all that mess between the RAMDAC and the solder contacts that go to the DVI or VGA connector. All the DVI/VGA adapter does is change the pinout. The DVI connection has the pins for the VGA connector. They likely used decent parts for the main VGA display, and crappy parts for the DVI, as it would still look OK if used for the DVI-D.

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: ZobarStyl
Thanks Matthias hence I said anyone who knew otherwise could feel free to correct me. :beer:

Either way, I still my point that a bottle-of-the-barrel card shouldn't be used for dualling is valid...also Matthias what games were you referring to when you say you've had some issues? I'm looking at either a 9800p or a 6800nu (if they can be found at ~250) and the dual screen ability will be the biggest factor in my purchase...darn hydravision.

SW: KOTOR and City Of Heroes have both adamantly refused to run for me with the second display active (SW:KOTOR would start up and then not get through the opening movie, and CoH would start and then close). Everything else seems fine (although all fullscreen apps flip out if you try to click on something on the second display, just like they would if you alt-tabbed away from them). Installing Hydravision, and even UltraMon, seemed to make no difference.

I did see a thread today with someone mentioning using City of Heroes in a dual monitor setup, though, so maybe I should give it another shot...

 

[ZobarStyl]

Yeah in most of my games I'm forced to run in a window that I just size up to the entire second screen so that I can freely move back and forth from the game to whatever I'm doing on the other side (only in PlanetSide is there any noticable change in quality, so I just run that FS and alt-tab/click like you). However I've never had a game crash on me (have not played the games you mentioned though) because of the active second monitor...are you running those games at the same resolution as your desktops? Thanks again.

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: ZobarStyl
Yeah in most of my games I'm forced to run in a window that I just size up to the entire second screen so that I can freely move back and forth from the game to whatever I'm doing on the other side (only in PlanetSide is there any noticable change in quality, so I just run that FS and alt-tab/click like you). However I've never had a game crash on me (have not played the games you mentioned though) because of the active second monitor...are you running those games at the same resolution as your desktops? Thanks again.

I gave CoH a quick shot again before I left for work, and it ran fine this time. I don't know what the problem was before; it's a pretty new game, so maybe they fixed something in one of their weekly patches.

Different resolutions didn't seem to make a difference before; it wouldn't even reach the login screen.