widescreen monitor problem

[slick8]

i picked up a samsung 206bw monitor, when i go to nvidia control panel it doesnt allow me to set 1280x720 or any other widescreen resolutions, before i set the monitor up i was using a viewsonic 19 crt, when i went to nvidia control panel with that monitor it gave me the full selection of resolutions to chose from, im using the latest nvidia driver and a 7900 gtx video card with xp pro

 

[0roo0roo]

just open display properties instead?

 

[imported_Imp]

That's a 16:9 resolution. As far as I know, all computer widescreens are 16:10. LCDs are more restrictive with their native resolutions. The only resolution you probably want to run is 1680x1050. Even if you could seect a 4:3 or 5:4 resolution, your monitor will smush everything without 1:1 pixel mapping (pretty rare).

Otherwise, add a custom resolution (may fuxxorz stuff so don't recommend). If 1680x1050 doesn't show up, then try reinstalling your drivers.

 

[slick8]

the native resolution makes the icons to small, any way to make them larger?

 

[postmortemIA]

avail. resolutions are often matter of the monitor driver

icons too small ? increase font dpi.

 

[tcsenter]

Originally posted by: slick8
the native resolution makes the icons to small, any way to make them larger?

You can use the pre-defined 'large icons' setting in Display Properties > Appearance tab, or go into the advanced Appearance properties and customize your icon size (among others like font size).

Given the fixed-pixel scaling limitations of all flat panel displays, there isn't a whole lot you can do if you find the loss of clarity and sharpness unacceptable when running outside the panel's native resolution, except to buy a larger panel that will spread those fixed pixels over a larger area.

I'm in the same boat as you, in that I tend to feel the native resolution of many panel sizes is just too high for my viewing comfort. Here are my own comfort levels for the common widescreen resolutions (which you may or may not find closer to your own):

1280x800 or 1366x768 = at least 17" panel
1440x900 = at least 20" panel
1680×1050 = at least 22" panel

As you can see, my comfort zone does not exactly fall in line with the market, because virtually all 19" panels are 1440x900, while virtually all 20" panels are 1680x1050. I have little choice but to exclude everything under 22".

I swear the consumer feedback groups that panel manufacturers use to assess viewing comfort levels for any given panel size must be comprised mostly of 15 year-olds with exceptional vision.

Its not as though I'm 70 with bad eyes. I'm 36 and near-sighted at that, my vision is perfect out to seven feet or so. 1440x900 on a 19" flat panel or 1680x1050 on a 20" panel is about as comfortable as trying to read a newspaper or magazine from three feet away.

I am more comfortable with the common resolutions used for 15" (1280x800) and 17" (1440x900) notebook displays because I don't sit three feet away from a notebook as I would at my desktop.