Monitor

[Mr.Me]

Hi, I just purchased a new 24" LG widescreen monitor.  I have changed my screen resolution settings but my images still looked stretched and a little unclear.  Are there any other adjustments that can be made or do i just have a bad video card?

[patio]

You need to check your vid card specs to see what resolutions it will support.

[Allan]

Have you installed the driver for the display? Are you connected via DVI?

[Quantos]

Make certain that you have your resolution set to the Native Resolution of the monitor.  You can find that in the manual that came with it.

Like Patio says, also make sure that your video card will support that resolution.

[Allan]

Make certain that you have your resolution set to the Native Resolution of the monitor.  You can find that in the manual that came with it.

Why? I NEVER use the native resolution for my displays. It should not make any difference at all.

[Boozu]

Why? I NEVER use the native resolution for my displays. It should not make any difference at all.

Using the native resolution will clear up the "unclear"-ness. The reason that it is stretched is most likely that the set resolution is not the same aspect ratio to you monitor.Aspect Ratio. That can also be solved by setting you resolution to the native of you monitor.

If your graphics card does not support you resolution then I (personally) would set it to the closest resolution that has the same aspect ratio.

[Quantos]

Why? I NEVER use the native resolution for my displays. It should not make any difference at all.

It can make a big difference in many cases.  Especially blurry text.

[Allan]

Not using the native resolution would not cause stretched images. Nor would it cause the display to be "unclear". There is a choice of resolutions and all should work fine. As I say, I use resolutions that suit me and never had any problem at all.

[Mr.Me]

Thanks for the input.  I checked my settings once more and made an adjustment that I can live with until i get a new video card.   

[Quantos]

Not using the native resolution would not cause stretched images. Nor would it cause the display to be "unclear".

Yes, it will, if the aspect ratio is not what the monitor wants as a native resolution then it will change the ratio of the displayed image.  Cleartype also performs best in a monitors native resolution, and will appear blurry in many cases where a non-native resolution is used.

[soybean]

Yep, I agree with Quantos, assuming we're talking about LCD monitors.  Here's a good reference on setting resolution on LCD and CRT monitors: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/Getting-the-best-display-on-your-monitor.  Some of is is quoted below:

"It's a good practice to set an LCD monitor to its native resolution—the resolution a monitor was designed to display based on its size."

"An LCD monitor running at its native resolution usually displays text better than a CRT monitor. LCD monitors can technically support lower resolutions than their native resolution, but text won't look as sharp and the image might be small, centered on the screen, edged with black, or look stretched."

[Allan]

While it's true that an LCD display has to interpolate all resolutions other than the native resolution, good displays & cards (not GREAT, just GOOD) can do so with little to no perceptible loss of quality except at extreme ends of the spectrum. And for those of us who don't have 30 year old eyes, the native resolution is rarely acceptable.