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December 21, 2008 08:07 PM

How to set up 2nd LCD computer monitor? Please real all the way through

I've been running two monitors for a couple years; an old (first generation) 19" LCD that is/was totally analog and a newer 22" Samsung lcd. Because of the analog/digital mix I had them both set on analog. Finally purchased a second Samsung - exact same model as first. Colors and other settings fine but font on 2nd monitor only is fuzzy. ALL settings are exactly the same otherwise. Thoughts? Feedback? Ideas???? ARgghhhhh - I'm not a hardware person and patienct is running thin.
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December 21, 2008 08:13 PM
First: Have you downloaded the most recent drivers for your video card?
1a: What is the model of the card you are using?
1aa: Are you using one card, or two cards simultaneously?

Generally, Windows (I'm assuming) XP and Vista handle this pretty simply with no hiccups. So, only the fonts are blurry, but otherwise the picture is crisp? That's pretty weird.

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December 21, 2008 08:19 PM
I'm guessing you have XP. (as the set up is a couple years old.)

you need to check into your cleartype settings. (window's term for sub pixel anti-aliasing)

http://www.microsoft.com/typography/ClearTypeFAQ.mspx

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/cc302210.aspx

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December 21, 2008 08:23 PM
Are you still using the VGA connectors, or DVI? If you have the cables, just use DVI.

It sounds like if you're using the analog input on the new display, the problem is that it needs to be adjusted - it should have an auto adjust setting for use with analog input. It might be buried in the menus somewhere. It won't do anything with DVI - all LCDs have adjustments for use on an analog connection and the picture can appear fuzzy if the settings are messed up. Everything has an automatic adjustment, though.

What resolution is the second display set to? It should probably be 1650x1080 unless it's a 1920x1080 model. If you have it set to a lower resolution, it'll look fuzzy.

Is it only text that is messed up? Try turning off cleartype.
Here's a cleartype adjustment tool:
http://www.microsoft.com/typography/cleartype/tuner/Step1.aspx

Here's XP Powertoys which I think allows some control over cleartype
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx

This won't help your problem, but is a very useful program for running dual displays:
http://www.realtimesoft.com/ultramon/

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December 21, 2008 08:32 PM
If you unplug the monitors from the PC and switch them around does the same one look bad (monitor problem) is the bad signal coming out of one of the sockets on the PC (problem with the PC)?

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December 21, 2008 09:18 PM
Always excellent advice!

When (not if) you do this, make sure to adjust the resolutions on the displays, though :)

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