New Viewsonic monitor, and appearance is just a bit off

I just replaced a 1280x1024 Viewsonic monitor, that had gone bad, with another one (Viewsonic VA708).

Though I've never really been one to pay "hard hard" attention to how things look on a monitor - never felt a problem with anything - something just looks/feels "off" with this one.

This is most noticeable to me on the titles appearing on the browser tabs in Firefox. They just look "wrong" - watery maybe to my eye.

BUT... I have attached a screenshot comparing a blowup of a browser tab from my work computer Dell 1280x1024 monitor (top) and my new Viewsonic monitor (bottom), blown up to 1000 px wide (I cropped), and in the blowup, I can't tell the difference.

So why might I be perceiving things differently with this new monitor?

FWIW, I did update the driver from the Viewsonic site, and I also played with both the monitor's and the control panel's display adjustments.

Nothing.

It's really weird.

The login screen looks exactly as I'd like. The user interface and overall appearance is great everywhere.

The only two things where I think there's a lessening of quality or resolution are my Firefox browser tabs (and my home computer, like my work computer, runs the latest FF version on Windows 7, and, other than unplugging one monitor and putting the new one on, I've made no changes to things - software, Windows updates, browser settings,...), and, possibly my online Outlook web app through which I view my work email. Everything else looks the same and wonderful.

Is the new monitor the VA708? I ask because the 708 seems to be analog (VGA) only and that is odd for a modern monitor.

Frankly, and it may be my tired 64-year old eyes, but I cannot see a difference in your two screenshots.

I agree with trying different cable. And if the new monitor (and your graphics solution) supports digital (DVI, HDMI, or DisplayPort) I would urge you use that instead of standard old VGA.

How does plain text look? You might try running ClearType.

Itaregid said:

Is the new monitor the VA708? I ask because the 708 seems to be analog (VGA) only and that is odd for a modern monitor.

Frankly, and it may be my tired 64-year old eyes, but I cannot see a difference in your two screenshots.

I agree with trying different cable. And if the new monitor (and your graphics solution) supports digital (DVI, HDMI, or DisplayPort) I would urge you use that instead of standard old VGA.

How does plain text look? You might try running ClearType.

Thanks for the suggestions.

The only "problem" - and that is too strong a term; it's a perception thing, I think - is in firefox. Viewing the same page in Internet Explorer, things look fine (and, clarifying, the page content looks great in both FF and IE; it's just that the page title on the browser tab looks much better in IE than it does in FF).

Yes, this concerns a VA708. Yes, I too can't see a difference between the two screen shots in the original post.

I'd already done the ClearType thing.

On a 100-point nuisance factor scale, I would say this is about a 5. Far from a problem. But just there enough to be a bit noticeable.

Did you try a different cable?

If that does not help, it may just be all you can expect with that analog setup and the 4:3 aspect ratio. I think everything today expects a widescreen (9:16 or 10:16) ratio.

Itaregid said:

Did you try a different cable?

If that does not help, it may just be all you can expect with that analog setup and the 4:3 aspect ratio. I think everything today expects a widescreen (9:16 or 10:16) ratio.

Yes, the cable made no difference.

The old monitor was a 4:3, same 1280x1024 (yes, I know, that's 5:4), and no problems with it. No problems when I temporarily swapped in a 1280x1024 Dell monitor either.

I'm getting used to the subtle difference in appearance, which, again, is mostly just in the look of the Firefox browser tabs.

Yeah, mathematically, it is 5:4, but they were typically marketed and lumped together as 4:3 monitors. Its a pixel shape thing but not really important here.

Hopefully as you get used to it, it will no longer be an annoyance. Of course, you could just go back to IE (my default browser), or use Chrome. You might also try Pale Moon which is much better (IMO) derivative of FF, and my secondary browser.

I've seen this blur fonts problem (on Win 10) when using 125% or higher on display properties. With 100% (default) it does not happen.