[Richard King]

My Samsung 3x4 monitor died yesterday. It's still on warranty, but I can't be without a monitor (I have things to do). I went to Best Buy yesterday and all they had were widescreen monitors. All I wanted was another 19" 3x4 monitor but there were none to be found. Now I have this crap 22" monitor and, everything is stretched to fit. The height is about the same as my 19", but it's nowhere near the picture quality. Is there a way to get rid of the stretch to fill on this screen? I am usning XP. I have checked control panel and I don't see it. I HATE stretchovision on my projector, why do I have to now put up with it on my computer????

 

[Stuart Sweet]

Methinks you need a new video card. Most of them now support 16:10 aspect ratios.

 

[Cmnore]

Methinks you need a new video card. Most of them now support 14:9 aspect ratios.

Don't you mean 16:9?

 

[Stuart Sweet]

Actually we were both wrong. I did some research and computer monitors are 16:10. I've updated my post to avoid confusion.

 

[davring]

I think the aspect ratio is different on monitors as opposed to TVs. Please feel free to prove me wrong.

I think you may be right, it is an odd number, that I know.

 

[Cmnore]

Interesting...

 

[Richard King]

Methinks you need a new video card. Most of them now support 16:10 aspect ratios.

Great. Not only do I have to waste money on a monitor that doesn't have as good a picture as my old one, but now I have to buy a new card. Of course, all my expansion slots in the computer are full, making this whole process even more interesting.

 

[Hansen]

Sounds like a graphic card or driver issue. Does it output only VGA? You might try updating the graphics card drivers so that it will work properly in widescreen mode. Otherwise, you'll want to get a new graphics card. .

Computer monitors are typically a ratio of 16 x 10 but there are some TVs by Samsing that are also 16 x 10 that double as computer monitors..

 

[Stuart Sweet]

Great. Not only do I have to waste money on a monitor that doesn't have as good a picture as my old one, but now I have to buy a new card. Of course, all my expansion slots in the computer are full, making this whole process even more interesting.

I feel your pain, my friend. Planned obsolescense stinks.

 

[phat78boy]

More then positive its the graphic driver or you need to install the monitor driver. Once you get the right resolution, it will look just as good as your previous model.

I actually happen to like the widescreen monitors as I tend to stake my windows left to right.

 

[Lee L]

The easiest thing to do is find the max resolution of the monitor and see if there is a setting on the Display settings tab that matches that. You can get there through control panel or just right click a blank area of the desktop and go to properties, then the settings tab.

 

[EXTACAMO]

That's the way it is with computers one upgrade often causes the domino effect. One upgrade requires multiple upgrades. Sucks but that is just the way it is.

 

[Richard King]

I think I'm going to return the monitor tomorrow and see if I can find a 4:3.

 

[Stewart Vernon]

Someone else suggested the possible fix... When I first got my 22" widescreen monitor it looked stretched and blurry. I quickly found the "problem" was that the LCD monitors are typically optimized for one or two resolutions. Those look super sharp, but the other resolutions are a mixed bag of stretchy and blurry.

Once I found the optimum mode I was good to go... BUT, I also did have to download an updated video driver for my card as the one that came with it did not support all the resolutions of my new monitor.

I'm using an ATI card now that is at least 3-4 years old... and before that was using a different NVidia card that was at least 6 years old (I upgraded when someone else in the family bought a new computer and couldn't use their old AGP card anymore)... and both cards were quite happy with my 22" widescreen monitor once I was on the right set of drivers and picked the resolution.

If you have either an ATI-based or NVidia-based chipset graphics card you can often get the generic chipset drivers from their Web site that will support newer features than the original driver that came with the card.

I'm quite happy with my widescreen monitor once I got used to it and love the extra real-estate to work with!

 

[Richard King]

I'm using onboard video on the motherboard.

 

[Mike Bertelson]

Methinks you need a new video card. Most of them now support 16:10 aspect ratios.

And why is that?

I've always wondered were the 10 comes from.

What's that all about?

Mike

 

[prospect60]

What resolution are you using currently? I have two 22 inch monitors (both Samsung) in my house and neither stretch anything. They look as good or better than the very good Dell 17inch (4:3) or the Sony 19inch CRT that they replaced. Most 22inch monitors use 1680x1050 native resolution and LCD's using just about any setting other than Native almost always gives less quality. If you can't change the output of your Video to match 1680x1050 then you may have a problem.


OTOH, there are a few 4:3 monitors still around though I'm not sure I've seen anything above 20inch sets with 4:3 ratio in a while. I saw a couple nice Dell's at Staples recently that were 4:3 though I suspect they were last years models. Office Depot has a couple listed on their website at 20 inch and Dell.com has several available.

 

[sperho]

And why is that?

I've always wondered were the 10 comes from.

What's that all about?

Mike

Because someone (the marketing department?) doesn't know how to reduce fractions...

 

[kikkenit2]

I'm using onboard video on the motherboard.

You probably need to add a video card. That should be fairly cheap and simple to install. You want dvi out and install the driver properly. You probably have a agp video port but there are newer connections so verify motherboard video slot type. Correct aspect ratio should be set automatically by the software.

 

[spartanstew]

I have a widescreen laptop, but my monitor (company provided), for when I'm using the docking station and working at home, is 4:3.

That really sucks.