Intel HD - 1600x900 External Monitor Not Working

G

Gazz

Member
I recently purchased an Optimus 2 laptop and have had a few teething problems, all resolved by updating software drivers - very happy with the machine.

One problem I've been unable to resolve however is when using my external Samsung LCD monitor in it's native resolution of 1600x900. Higher and lower resolutions work (image is rescaled by the monitor when using 1920x1080) but as they are not native the image quality is poor.

I've searched the internet and haven't been able to find a way to make my laptop output on VGA to 1600x900. The only solutions include updating drivers and BIOS, that it is an issue with the Intel HD 3000 chipset used in this model of laptop.

Has anyone else come across this issue and has anyone else been able to overcome it? I'm weary of using something like Powerstrip as I don't want to damage my laptop or external monitor.
 
D

Dealmaster13

Gold Level Poster
Firstly, have you installed all of the graphics drivers off the CD such that you should have an Intel (R) HD Graphics icon in your taskbar?

Secondly, does it work when using the NVIDIA GPU?

Just out of interest, are you setting the resolution by right clicking the desktop and selecting the screen resolution option, through which you can set the resolution of each display?
My 1080p with VGA looks fine when I set it to 1600x900 over there, but of course that's a different situation altogether.
 
G

Gazz

Member
I have installed the drivers from the supplied CD. I don't have a taskbar icon however the 'Intel Graphics and Media Control Panel' is loaded when right clicking on the desktop and selecting Graphics Properties from the pop up menu.

The VGA hotkey toggles fine and 3D acceleration works fine in 3D applications.

I have the same problem when using both the Windows Screen Resolution menu and the Intel Graphics and Media Control Panel - the resolution output is 1440x900 instead of the selected 1600x900.

Here you can see that the external monitor is set to 1600x900 in the control panel but is actually being output to 1440x900.
monitorissue.jpg


Samsung_OSD.jpg


This is the same regardless of display mode being set to clone or extended desktop.
 
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D

Dealmaster13

Gold Level Poster
Alright, funnily enough, my Samsung does the same thing when using your technique with the 'Intel Graphics and Media Control Panel'. There is no issue however when using Windows' options.

Mine seems to work when I select Scale Full Screen under the Scaling drop down (see your first image).

Try that out and see what happens (my mointor states that it's still outputting at its native 1080p however).
Edit: If that's not an option because 1600x900 is your native, then we'll have to dig further.

Also, in my previous post, I was asking whether scaling functioned properly when the NVIDIA GPU is forced.
 
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G

Gazz

Member
Still having the same problem and 1600x900 is my monitors native resolution.

I've realised that I've not really been using it much and recently purchased a 360 so am now using the monitor on that with the same issue - so it looks to be a monitor issue rather than with the laptop. From further reading if you can set a resolution on your device (laptop, pc, whatever) without having to be detected from the monitors set of usable resolutions then it'll work fine, however if the device only works for resolutions reported by the monitor then it'll never work.

So, doesn't look solvable without writing your own DLL files for the intel graphics side of things and 1600x900 is a non-standard resolution so I don't think I'll be buying another 20" monitor again (even though the image quality is pin-sharp :( ). :yawn:
 
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