Native Resolution? Not a chance

Ok guys and gals,

Bought a new monitor to compliment my laptop's 15.4" screen. Said monitor is the hP S2031. A 20" 16:9 LCD @1600x900 native.

The kicker. My laptop INSISTS the highest it will allow via VGA is 1440x900 which is *ok* given 900 is native in one direction so it's at least 100% crisp. The 80px black bars on either side are odd and I am dumping this laptop in 3 weeks BUT I want that missing 160px.

Here's what I've tried:

1. Installed Monitor drivers via disc.
2. Updates graphics driver
3. Forced/created a 1600x900 resolution. This filled it out BUT the resolution was still 1440x900 according to the monitor and it was fuzzy/blurry.
4. Rebooted with monitor attached.
5. Set to external only.

I think I know the answer to this one given that even on my LCD, it won't do a real 16:9 resolution of 1280x720. It'll do 768 instead. No way to force force and be successful on the 720 to the TV (per same method for monitor)

Any ideas?

And for the record, for folks in the US, the monitor is on sale for $99 at Staples and they have a -15% coupon which after tax if you have it totals around $85 to $95. Just sayin. www.staples.com

The issue might be with the Graphics of the laptop. You have an IGP (Integrated Graphics Processor) These are not as powerful as Dedicated Graphics, but they also aren't usually meant to hook up to 2nd monitors and it might not have the capability to display anything higher than your laptop monitor's native resolution.

Also, is the laptop closed? it might be trying to hold the same aspect ratio for the laptop display and the external monitor

bassfisher6522 said:

The problem might lie in the connection itself...ie VGA. There are set limits to a VGA connection. Try going to a DVI connection and see how that works for you.

VGA connectors have no resolution limits. The VGA cable came with the monitor. I do not have a DVI connection on my laptop. Nor do I have HDMI. It's 3 years old.

Thorsen said:

The issue might be with the Graphics of the laptop. You have an IGP (Integrated Graphics Processor) These are not as powerful as Dedicated Graphics, but they also aren't usually meant to hook up to 2nd monitors and it might not have the capability to display anything higher than your laptop monitor's native resolution.

Also, is the laptop closed? it might be trying to hold the same aspect ratio for the laptop display and the external monitor

I tried closing it, I tried only display 2 (monitor). No difference.

I also want to update on forcing 1600x900. The monitor aparently now KNOWS its getting 1600x900 BUT it's squished (such a technical word) in on the sides to an almost 4:3 ratio. When this forced resolution is given, I can't tell the monitor to keep ratio like I do with 1440x900. That option is greyed out. I also lose all my ratio options in the Intel CP.

Have you tried the monitor on another laptop or anything else to make sure it doesn't have a hardware issue.

Also, maybe the laptop IGP is not able to put through to that aspect ratio. I have seen issues with this in the past when I got a 22" screen. (upgraded from a reg. 4x3 19") My crappy old Dell would not display on it correctly....It couldn't go into that resolution at all...

Thorsen said:

Have you tried the monitor on another laptop or anything else to make sure it doesn't have a hardware issue.

Also, maybe the laptop IGP is not able to put through to that aspect ratio. I have seen issues with this in the past when I got a 22" screen. (upgraded from a reg. 4x3 19") My crappy old Dell would not display on it correctly....It couldn't go into that resolution at all...

All of the machines I can try it on right now are older (2005-2007 HP desktops) so I don't know if I'll get the results I want.

Like I said, I am replacing this laptop in a few weeks as a Christmas present to myself so I might just have to stick it out. It's not like it's distorted at 1440x900. The bezel is black and the bars on the sides are black so it's not really that distracting. Even at that resolution it looks loads better than the 1280x800 I'm using to using. Not to mention the colors are crisper. For an essentially $85 monitor, it looks awesome. (shameless plug)

edilee012 said:

Your integrated graphics won't do that high of a resolution....doesn't matter if the monitor will.

Clearly.

Well I can't say I didn't try!