Solved Max resolution issue

Ok so I have a dated graphics card X1950GT. I wanted to set my desktop to 1920x1080 and I checked the max resolution supported by both my card and monitor. The max resolution of the monitor is 1920x1080 ok perfect. The supported resolution of the card goes far beyond that good.

When I go to set the desktop resolution though I am given a maximum of 1400x1050. What is going on here? Why am I unable to set my desktop to anything higher than 1400x1050 when both devices support a higher resolution than that.

I am using catalyst 10.2 and win7 Ult 64.

How are you connecting the display to the computer? If its DVI this could explain things. Try with HDMI

tezlewis said:

How are you connecting the display to the computer? If its DVI this could explain things. Try with HDMI

Click to expand...

This card does not have HDMI outputs on it. Just a pair of DVI but if the connection matters then I foudn my issue since both displays are using VGA because the DVI inputs on the monitors stopped working and I am now using the VGA instead so that I can actually use them.

Acer AL2017 20 inch monitors. Both had the DVI fail and one also has some power up issues and I have a hard time getting it to power on so I have to leave it on.

Any recommendations on a good solid reliable display to replace these with?

As I understand the max res. thing, you never want to set the resolution higher than what your native resolution is. This my cause damage to monitors and the GPU, even though you have higher settings to choose from. Check with you monitors manufacturer for a possible driver or driver updates. Then check with your GPU manufacturer and do the same. What's the make and model of monitor and your GPU?

I see your using the VGA do to DVI failures. That's the problem right there. In VGA it has a set limit in it's resolution.

Suggestion: since your going to upgrade monitor(s) now would be a good time to get a new GPU that has HDMI so you can take full advantage of 1080p res. in your new monitor(s). I'm partial to Samsung w/LED back-lighting. Very engery efficient but it depends on your budget.

Corpsecrank said:

tezlewis said:

How are you connecting the display to the computer? If its DVI this could explain things. Try with HDMI

Click to expand...

This card does not have HDMI outputs on it. Just a pair of DVI but if the connection matters then I foudn my issue since both displays are using VGA because the DVI inputs on the monitors stopped working and I am now using the VGA instead so that I can actually use them.

Acer AL2017 20 inch monitors. Both had the DVI fail and one also has some power up issues and I have a hard time getting it to power on so I have to leave it on.

Any recommendations on a good solid reliable display to replace these with?

Click to expand...

This is what I use and I love it. Great picture quality, and a huge screen size for not too much money.

Also, using VGA really limits your max resolution as it does not have as high bandwidth as DVI and HDMI do. HDMI even allows sending of audio to a monitor with speakers built in like the ASUS I linked to. Makes for less wires all over the place.

bassfisher6522 said:

As I understand the max res. thing, you never want to set the resolution higher than what your native resolution is. This my cause damage to monitors and the GPU, even though you have higher settings to choose from. Check with you monitors manufacturer for a possible driver or driver updates. Then check with your GPU manufacturer and do the same. What's the make and model of monitor and your GPU?

I see your using the VGA do to DVI failures. That's the problem right there. In VGA it has a set limit in it's resolution.

Suggestion: since your going to upgrade monitor(s) now would be a good time to get a new GPU that has HDMI so you can take full advantage of 1080p res. in your new monitor(s). I'm partial to Samsung w/LED back-lighting. Very engery efficient but it depends on your budget.

Click to expand...

Yeah I had already planned to buy a new card since mine is getting pretty old. What ever card I do get is going to support HDMI so I would just need a good reliable set of displays to go with it.

I am pretty set on 4:3 for displays for many reasons. I see they are getting harder to find these days though and they cost roughly twice what a wide does.

The Acer doesn't seem to support 1920x1080. Monitors and display cards these days can talk to each other and auto negotiate max res, thus your inability to set higher resolution.

zzz2496

zzz2496 said:

The Acer doesn't seem to support 1920x1080. Correct,

Click to expand...

Newegg.com - Acer AL2017 Abmd Black 20" 5ms LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 800:1 Built-in Speakers

1400x1050 is it. Also,

I am pretty set on 4:3 for displays for many reasons.

Click to expand...

Then why are you trying to run a 16:9 resolution on a 4:3 monitor?

As far as non wide screen monitors go,

Newegg.com - Computer Hardware,Monitors,LCD Monitors,No

stormy13 said:

zzz2496 said:

The Acer doesn't seem to support 1920x1080. Correct,

Click to expand...

Newegg.com - Acer AL2017 Abmd Black 20" 5ms LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 800:1 Built-in Speakers

1400x1050 is it. Also,

I am pretty set on 4:3 for displays for many reasons.

Click to expand...

Then why are you trying to run a 16:9 resolution on a 4:3 monitor?

As far as non wide screen monitors go,

Newegg.com - Computer Hardware,Monitors,LCD Monitors,No

Click to expand...

I tried to set that res for a specific purpose even though if it did go it would be distorted. Doesn't matter my hardware is dated and I can't use it for what I am doing at the moment which was kind of the whole point.

But yes my monitors do have a max res higher than 1400 even catalyst control panel is showing that it will go higher. Not 1920 though but somewhere in the 1600 range.

Anyways I think I found the hardware am going to buy. I am also going to move away from 4:3 at this point because I am going to start working with a wide format for my current job and will need to be able to use this pc for that job.

Think I am going to pick up at least one multi-touch monitor since I have been wanting to play with one and the price is right. 20 inch multi-touch for about 400 bucks sounds awesome to me.

Still not set on a graphics card yet. Part of me wants to wait for a good 2gb 6k series card and part of me wants to just grab a 2gb 5k series and go with it.

Anyhow thanks for the replies.

Just updating this for those that come across this in the future.

I got my new displays. I went with a pair of hanns-g 25 inch wide 16:9 with HDMI input.

These displays came with cabes that go from DVI on the graphics card to HDMI on the display. I am able to run 1920x1080 with my X1950GT card.

The only issue so far would be that when I initially hooked these displays up my graphics card did not scale to fit them. I had to go into the catalyst control panel and adjust the over/under scan. Even after adjusting that to the maximum amount I could I have about 1/8 on an inch of black around the edge of the screen. Not really much of an issue since you can't really notice it due to the size of the displays.

Anyhow The next step will be a new card. Probably an HD5870 2gb model since there are no 6k series over 1gb at the moment though I may end up waiting a little while to see if one is released.

Anyhow the new displays are pretty awesome and only cost me 200 bucks each and I am able to do what I need to now so consider this solved.

This is what I use and I love it. Great picture quality, and a huge screen size for not too much money.

Also, using VGA really limits your max resolution as it does not have as high bandwidth as DVI and HDMI do. HDMI even allows sending of audio to a monitor with speakers built in like the ASUS I linked to. Makes for less wires all over the place.

Click to expand...

About VGA connections, how to determine what max resolution will be given VGA to VGA only? I am looking at a new external monitor for my laptop, the monitor supports 1920x1080, the laptop is 1280x800. Thanks.

Dick Jagger said:

This is what I use and I love it. Great picture quality, and a huge screen size for not too much money.

Also, using VGA really limits your max resolution as it does not have as high bandwidth as DVI and HDMI do. HDMI even allows sending of audio to a monitor with speakers built in like the ASUS I linked to. Makes for less wires all over the place.

Click to expand...

About VGA connections, how to determine what max resolution will be given VGA to VGA only? I am looking at a new external monitor for my laptop, the monitor supports 1920x1080, the laptop is 1280x800. Thanks.

Click to expand...

If you get a new monitor that supports 1920x1080 you should be able to run that display using vga without any issues. Get a short vga cable something like 3 feet long. The longer the vga cables is the worse off the signal will be so you should just get a short cable for what you are doing so that you get the best signal.

The only other thing to consider is how powerful your graphics are in the laptop but that should only cause issues if you plan to play a game or something. If your just browsing the net or watching a few videos it should handle it fine.

Thanks ^ i just tried this out to my LCD tv, and saw that there are additional resolution options available when using the latest Intel chipset driver. I don't know what the max. res. of the tv is so I played around with each option until I found one that looked sharp and mostly fit the screen (it wasn't 1920x1080!).

It may be 1920x1200 or something like that if the tv is 16:10 instead of 16:9 not sure what the exact 16:10 HD resolution is but I am guessing it is around 1920x1200 or close to it.