Problem with a ultra-wide 21:9 display on a Radeon HD 7900 series card

[Bacstar]

Decided to get the LG 25" ultra-wide today when I was looking at monitors at Costco. After bringing it home and connecting to my computer, I tried the 2560x1080 resolution. It displays but it is not clear. It's like distorted behind a layer of snow. (colors are washed out and pixelated).

I'm running Windows 8.1, dual radeon hd 7900 series cards on the latest drivers. Also, tried the beta 14.6 drivers. It's currently connected using dvi. I was able to hook up my Surface 2 Pro via displayport to hdmi, and surprisingly it supports 2560x1080, so the monitor seems to be fine. I tried the displayport on the video card via hdmi, but it doesn't go above 1080P. Tried a different dvi cable too which didn't make a difference.

I'm going to probably try getting a Display Port cable tomorrow depending on the responses I get, or maybe just return the monitor.

 

[toyota]

I used one of those for a couple weeks and it worked fine on HDMI. I even did a custom 3440x1440 res to play games on it worked great.

 

[Bacstar]

When I used the displayport to hdmi, Windows only lets me select 1080p as my highest option. How did you get to choose your custom resolutions?

 

[toyota]

When I used the displayport to hdmi, Windows only lets me select 1080p as my highest option. How did you get to choose your custom resolutions?

well 2560x1080 worked just fine so did not have to do anything but turn on the pc and it was already in that res. the custom resolution of 3440x1440 was just done in the Nvidia control panel. once you put it there that option will show up in games which is all I used it for.

 

[KingFatty]

Could the issue be that you need dual-link DVI, or directly connected displayport-to-displayport, in order to support such a large resolution? I thought plain old single-link DVI or HDMI tops out around 1920x1200. Since you are pushing more pixels than that, I think the video card is just seeing that limitation and adjusting accordingly.

I think if you get a displayport cable, and connect the displayport of the video card to the displayport of the monitor, it would work? Or you could try buying a dual-link DVI cable, and connecting it that way (making sure you have dual-link DVI connections between both).

 

[blackened23]

Many (and pretty much MOST) HDMI 1.2x implementations do not allow past 1080p. Not all, but most. I have used ultrabooks with mHDMI which are limited to 1080p, while mDP allows any resolution. Again, there are exceptions, but the exceptions are rare - I have used quite a few GPUs which are limited to 1080p via HDMI but will allow past that with DP or DVI-D. I'm willing to bet if you use displayport that you can use native resolution just fine.

 

[Burpo]

Was it discovered by the PC? You probably need a display port cable.

 

[Deders]

You either need Displayport or a dual link DVI cable which looks like the one on the top, not the one on the bottom.

 

[KaRLiToS]

With that resolution, you need the proper cables.

I don't recommend the use of adapters....they can cause a lot of headaches.

I recommend:
- DVI-Dual Link to DVi-Dual Link

Also, if you want to use DisplayPort, you might want to check the HD 7900 cards because they might have a miniDisplayPort. (You can always use DP to miniDP adapter)

 

[Insomniator]

How do you like the monitor otherwise? Is the 25" REALLY narrow at 1080?

It looks like an interesting deal for $210 right now, I've been interested in this resolution and 25" would have a pretty high PPI vs the 29's and 34's that are also 1080.

 

[blastingcap]

Could the issue be that you need dual-link DVI, or directly connected displayport-to-displayport, in order to support such a large resolution? I thought plain old single-link DVI or HDMI tops out around 1920x1200. Since you are pushing more pixels than that, I think the video card is just seeing that limitation and adjusting accordingly.

I think if you get a displayport cable, and connect the displayport of the video card to the displayport of the monitor, it would work? Or you could try buying a dual-link DVI cable, and connecting it that way (making sure you have dual-link DVI connections between both).

DING DING DING this is probably the reason.

 

[toyota]

How do you like the monitor otherwise? Is the 25" REALLY narrow at 1080?

It looks like an interesting deal for $210 right now, I've been interested in this resolution and 25" would have a pretty high PPI vs the 29's and 34's that are also 1080.

its very narrow and feels quite tiny height wise as its equal to a 23 inch 16:9 screen in that regard. whats funny is if I get the monitor close enough to make the height feel right then it feels a little too wide.

 

[Bacstar]

Thanks for the responses guys. Last night about 1am I noticed there was an unopened cable package in the box. It was the HDMI cable included with the monitor. Luckily, my video card had an HDMI out on it. Discovered it when I decided to swap the cards around thinking there may be a bad dvi port or DAC or whatever. Hooked it up using the cable I found, and it worked.

The monitor is definitely narrow. I was also looking at the Samsung 27" at Costco for $269.00, but it was only 1920x1080 which seemed like a big waste of space for that size screen. Anyways, after getting the native resolution working, everything looks pretty good. I did do some customizing on the size of fonts. I had to bump everything up a couple sizes where I don't have to strain my eyes. While I was searching for a fix, I noticed there's a 29" and 34" version of this monitor that I wish Costco would have had.

I've been playing this game Vindictus lately, and while it does support the resolution, it doesn't give many options on adjusting the size of the UI. All the shortcuts and Quickslots are tiny. Haven't had a chance yet to try any other games.

 

[AkumaX]

Thanks for the responses guys. Last night about 1am I noticed there was an unopened cable package in the box. It was the HDMI cable included with the monitor. Luckily, my video card had an HDMI out on it. Discovered it when I decided to swap the cards around thinking there may be a bad dvi port or DAC or whatever. Hooked it up using the cable I found, and it worked.

The monitor is definitely narrow. I was also looking at the Samsung 27" at Costco for $269.00, but it was only 1920x1080 which seemed like a big waste of space for that size screen. Anyways, after getting the native resolution working, everything looks pretty good. I did do some customizing on the size of fonts. I had to bump everything up a couple sizes where I don't have to strain my eyes. While I was searching for a fix, I noticed there's a 29" and 34" version of this monitor that I wish Costco would have had.

I've been playing this game Vindictus lately, and while it does support the resolution, it doesn't give many options on adjusting the size of the UI. All the shortcuts and Quickslots are tiny. Haven't had a chance yet to try any other games.

Note that there are 2 x 34" versions, one that is also 2560x1080p, and the one that everyone likes right now: 3440x1440!

http://www.anandtech.com/show/8057/lg-34um95-monitor-review