display issues on 1680x1050 resolution

Question

hi guys,   I just got my I8600 as a system replacement for my old I8200. I am having a little bit of trouble setting up the screen resolution. It came on 1920x1200 but that is too small and hurts my eyes. However, when I try to move it to 1680x1050 (WSXGA) I get picture in picture. Everything is as small as it was before but I get a black border around the picture. How should I address this problem? Thx.

euler_the_dude · Answer

RRF985, ... it was not my choice to buy it. My Inspiron 8200 failed me and it was still in warranty so they replaced my system. I had no saying in what I got. So .... I am trying to cope with what I have. And DPI is set at largest (120). Still ... you can imagine what largest means at that resolution.

RRF985 · Answer

You could bump the DPI up to the larger size when it's in 1920x1200.  Honestly I would never buy a laptop with a screen that requires such a high resolution.  The screen isn't big enough to need that.

euler_the_dude · Answer

could you be more precise about where to find this in the bios? I was not aware that this is a bios type of problem. I just thought that the drivers were messed up. I am kind of a rookie and I am not sure what to look after. About DPI, it is set at maximum (120) on my screen.

jeffcmfrt · Answer

You can check in one of your bios pages and there will be an option to expand the image to fit display. Make sure this option is enabled it can be your problem.

Inspiron XPS
3.4 H/T processor
1 gig ram
256 ddr ati 9800
15.4 wide aspect ultra sharp
wuxga(1920x1200) display
Operating system windows xp home
Service pk 2
Logitech MX750 wireless mouse
Nostromo n52 gamepad

jeffcmfrt · Answer

You can acess the bios pages by while booting continusly pressing f2 evry couple of seconds when the bios pages come up on the bottom of the page there will be directions on what keys to press to change pages and navagate and make changes throughout the bios pages.Change the pages until you see the option i discribed .I think it is on like 4 or 5 make sure it is enabled then go to the last page wich is like 7 or so select apply changes.

Also there are changes and fixes to inprove your display .This topic comes up a lot with displays on laptops with high reselution's.So here are some more helpful tips for a better a display. And a regestry fix for blurry images in internet explorer you can also find this info at www.microsoft.com doing a search for blurry or jagered displays in internet explorer with laptops with higher reselutions.And being you just purchased your laptop you can adjust your display for the best display and what is good on your eye's.

1.set dpi to 96 or 120 or any where inbetween. I have mine set at 1920x1200 and my dpi is set on customized at 111 dpi at 116% on normal size Just take into consideration that what may be good for my eyes may not be so good for yours it is personal prefrences so expeirement with font sizes after you make the changes.I would recomend making theese changes it will drasticly improve your display many people have made theese changes and they are well known fixes.If you don't like them you can change them back but i doubt you will.

2.while in internet explorer click on tools then internet options then advanced tab uncheck the box that says enable automatic image resizing.

3.Change this value in the regestry this is a well known fix to improve blurry images in internet explorer theese are the steps.

Click start then run type in regedit

HKEY_CURRENT_USER

+Software

+Microsoft

+Internet explorer

Main

USEHR = dword:00000001

Change to USEHR = dword:00000000

Click the + on each in the above order when you come to main right click or double click on it .Then on the right side scroll down almost all the way to the bottom to USEHR=dword:00000001 right click on it or double click on it a box will pop up in the uper left corner this is where you will change the value to USEHR=dword:00000000

4.This is a nifty tool that you can download free that will improve text in all LCD Displays i highly recomend it is called clear type tuner just copy then paste this link in your browser.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys.mspx

5.Right click a empty space on your desktop then click properties then apearence tab change the font size to large or extra large then click the effects button and select clear type then click the advanced button from here you can also make a lot of changes to your display moreless to suite your eyes what looks good to some may not to another it's moreless your prefrence.

That just about covers all the fixes that im aware of to help improve this ongoing display problem with laptops with higher resalutions.I know it seems pretty drastic but before i made a lot of these changes i was very unhappy with my display and i was ready to returne my laptop to dell but it's all good now. good luck

Inspiron XPS
3.4 H/T processor
1 gig ram
256 ddr ati 9800
15.4 wide aspect ultra sharp
wuxga(1920x1200) display
Operating system windows xp home
Service pk 2
Logitech MX750 wireless mouse
Nostromo n52 gamepad

Message Edited by jeffcmfrt on 04-11-2005 04:34 PM

euler_the_dude · Answer

jeffcmfrt ,   thanks for the so-detailed post. It really helped.

-MG- · Answer

I had the same kind of problem with my Inspiron 8500 with WSXGA (1680 * 1050) screen. After a complete Windows XP reinstallation, the display was very poor (something like VGA). After reinstalling the video card driver it came to 1680 * 1050 but from this the display was very little and not comfortable at all.

After installing the Dell Quick Set application (on the "Drivers and utilities" CD), I got the message (sorry for the translation from French version) : "Congratulations ! You have got a high resolution screen. Would you like to use a big font set to read the text more easily ?"

I chose "Yes" and then the display came absolutely perfect !

But the changes occurred only on the active user account, not the other ones (I mean Windows XP user accounts). And I don't know how to apply these changes to all accounts. Do I have to install the Dell Quick Set application for every account ? Sounds weird...

Does anyone know how to fix this problem ? Thanks.

-MG- · Answer

OK, this is how it comes :   After installing the Dell QuickSet application (from 'Drivers and utilities' CD), left-click on the QuickSet icon on the toolbar. Then choose 'Icons and toolbars' and choose your font size !   Easy, no ?   Well, if you don't have the QuickSet application... You can download it on the Dell website.

lawoftheone · Answer

Hmmm... I have the same problem here, I just got my new Inspiron 6000 with a 1680x1050 WUXGA screen, which looks beautiful on regular applications, but HORRIBLE with lots of webpages viewed in IE.   I have looked at microsoft.com for the registry fix for IE... Is it the one that you are listing (USEHR = dword:00000000), or is that a separate one?   What I see is that if I change the dpi value all the way down to 96, the problem seems to disappear, but then everything on the screen is so small I get dizzy!!!   What is the QuickSet application?   I will try and go through some of what you say, because, I am so disappointed with the appearance of images in IE (which of course will be one of the applications I use the most!) I am also wondering if I have to send the whole thing back to Dell... but if this is such a huge problem, how come they even make these higher resolution displays?!

jeffcmfrt · Answer

With it set at 96 dpi Then in internet explorer ckick view change text to largest then also change fonts to large or very large see if this helps. good luck

cking32 · Answer

If i read this right the problem started with a black border around the display when you set it to 1680x1050 on a WUXGA screen. This is an unfortunate truth on most ATI cards. They don't scale 1680x1050 to full panel size. This is a hardware limitation that was only resolved in with the ATI 9800 and higher cards. Anything prior will not scale it. If you want more information on it look for threads started by me. I had a few about my, well discussion with Dell Tech support about it a year ago.

euler_the_dude · Answer

cking32,

yeah. the problem does not seem to go away. However, I managed to increase the text size and now 1920x1200 resolution became utilizable. This is so dumb to actually force people to use just the native highest resolution. Nothing lower fits the screen. Only black borders. The I8200 screen was much better. Standard dimensions make a difference. I believe 8600 was the second wide screen model from dellow, following quickl after 8500. They should have experimented more with it.

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display issues on 1680x1050 resolution

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