Solved Second Monitor Resolution problem with new cable

[servemonster]

Hi everyone,

I have an alienware 14 laptop with a 23 inch Dell ultrasharp monitor. I have been using them together just fine until last week. I was moving into a new apartment and somehow lost the VGA cable that came with the monitor so I bought a SVGA cable from Radioshack, and ever since, my laptop won't recognize the resolution of the monitor! The resolution in the monitor is stuck at 1200 x 768 and it won't allow me to change it. Both screens are set the 60Hz refresh rate. Before the cable swap, the resolution in the monitor was at 1600 x 900, the native resolution of my laptop.

Is it possible that the newly acquired SVGA cable is causing this problem? Isn't the SVGA supposed to better than a VGA cable? Help please!!

 

[GARoss]

SVGA & VGA are virtually identical. My understanding is SVGA is more shielded than VGA & cost more - better for long distances.

My guess is by changing cables your laptop somehow detected different hardware & loaded a different driver. Check device drivers to see what driver is being used for the Dell monitor & post that info.

 

[servemonster]

Ok! I am working right now but I'll post the info once I get off work. Thanks!

 

[servemonster]

The Dell monitor is coming up as a Generic Non-PnP Monitor, and its

Driver provider is Microsoft
Driver Date: 6/21/2006
Driver Version: 6.1.7600.16385
Digital Server: Microsoft Windows

I don't know what is wrong!! I click update Driver and it says it's the most current one, but is it"?

 

[servemonster]

Please Help!!

 

[servemonster]

Solved, I ended up creating a custom resolution of 1920 x 1080 for my second monitor and it worked.

 

[GARoss]

Sorry I couldn't get back to you sooner. Generic Non-PnP is what I suspected. Windows didn't recognize your monitor, sensing a different cable type, & found a driver on its own.

Sounds like you have worked out a solution but you probably could download the correct driver from Dell & replace the generic one. Hard to say if that would make a major improvement or not. You got it working & that's the important thing.

BTW - be sure to mark this thread as "Solved" in your 1st post.

 

[jimbo45]

Hi there
1) when plugging in an external monitor the resolution is set to the MAXIMUM that EITHER monitor can do TOGETHER -- in other words if you plug in an external monitor to an average laptop that has a native resolution of 1366 X 768 that's all you'll get on the external monitor unless you do 2 and 4 below.

2) set (Windows +P) to ONLY display on external monitor --then you should have full resolution that your graphics card plus external monitor are capable of. Easily full HD (1080 x 1960) on modern monitors --often more.

3) If you've got an HDMI output use that for 2nd monitor --then AUDIO is also transmitted otherwise you'll need to supply audio from the computer via audio leads (analog) to audio device.

4) sometimes if the "Aspect" looks a bit funny most decent monitors and TV's have a HARDWARE control - usually via a remote to "automatically re-size / adjust picture.

Cheers
jimbo

 

[servemonster]

Thank you for the reply everyone! I'll try to download the correct driver for my monitor and see if that improves the quality. Thanks!