If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Curious discovery about lcd monitors
This is a Conspiracy Theory I have just stumbled on, but
I have some agreement from other web sites discussing this. I have a Viewsonic 2025 wide screen lcd monitor that has a native resolution of 1680x1050 or 16:10 as opposed to the standard 4:3 resolution of non-wide lcd monitors. I'm driving it with an nVidia GF7900GTO video card ( one of the best ), and I'm using the driver dated Feb 06. That driver allows me to set custom resolutions that I calculate to keep the same 16:10 proportions .. like 1280x800. That works fine, and I use Coolbits to set it. All my apps and games look great, and I have a very high frame rate. For certain reasons, I decided to update my video driver to the latest 91.xx . I tried both the Sept 06, and the Nov 06 drivers, and discovered in both that I can no longer set in a 16:10 custom resolution, and get full screen. Instead I get a 3 inch high black bar all the way across the bottom of the screen, and nothing will fix that. I called tech support, and they are seeing it too, and have no fix. The Conspiracy Theory is this: That truncated screen is actually an HDTV setting, and the new nVidia 91.xx drivers are no longer supporting "wide-screen" lcd monitors .. except for the native resolution. Instead, those drivers are attempting to force "us" to replace our monitors with HDTVs, and just use THEM as monitors. The new resolutions in the 91.xx drivers are for HDTVs, and our wide screen market is closing out in favor of the huge upcoming move to digital TV, and "blue" DVD at the 16:9 resolutions. An even bigger hint that this theory might be true is Vista requiring a tv-tuner in order for it to do a full install. And I'm seeing the $79 per month offer that the cable people are giving for both cable-network and cable-digitalTV, tossing in HBO, and a few more HDTV stations that actually use the 16:9 broadcast resolution ... straight to your desktop. NVidia absolutely will not admit it, and they actually claim that my monitor or video card is broke. Beyond stupid when it runs super good on the older ( Feb 06 ) driver. And, all for free, I DO have a tv-tuner, and I run TV in the HDTV modes, or any mode I want .. on my present 2025W lcd monitor. Bite me! NVidia. johns |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
Curious discovery about lcd monitors
Well, I do think the line between HDTV's and PC monitors is getting
fuzzy as many HDTV's now support 1080p resolution, but in no way do I think there is any effort by graphics card makers to move away from supporting PC monitors. The fact is, most PC's are still connected to monitors not TV's and it will continue to be that way for a long time. Only 25-30 percent of households even have an HDTV, let alone have it hooked up to their PC. |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
Curious discovery about lcd monitors
"johns" wrote in message oups.com... This is a Conspiracy Theory I have just stumbled on, but I have some agreement from other web sites discussing this. I have a Viewsonic 2025 wide screen lcd monitor that has a native resolution of 1680x1050 or 16:10 as opposed to the standard 4:3 resolution of non-wide lcd monitors. I'm driving it with an nVidia GF7900GTO video card ( one of the best ), and I'm using the driver dated Feb 06. That driver allows me to set custom resolutions that I calculate to keep the same 16:10 proportions .. like 1280x800. That works fine, and I use Coolbits to set it. All my apps and games look great, and I have a very high frame rate. For certain reasons, I decided to update my video driver to the latest 91.xx . I tried both the Sept 06, and the Nov 06 drivers, and discovered in both that I can no longer set in a 16:10 custom resolution, and get full screen. Instead I get a 3 inch high black bar all the way across the bottom of the screen, and nothing will fix that. I called tech support, and they are seeing it too, and have no fix. The Conspiracy Theory is this: That truncated screen is actually an HDTV setting, and the new nVidia 91.xx drivers are no longer supporting "wide-screen" lcd monitors .. except for the native resolution. Instead, those drivers are attempting to force "us" to replace our monitors with HDTVs, and just use THEM as monitors. (snip) First, you need to understand that what is output from your video card is more than just an arrangement of pixels into a squarish or rectangle-ish shape. If your monitor could display 1280x800 (to YOUR liking) at one time or another, then it still can, unless it is now defective. So you have to answer, WHAT ELSE changed (besides the driver version) when you updated the video drivers? Or put more simply, garbage in = garbage out. Previously, your LCD could parse 1280 X 800 (according to you). But, what was the refresh rate at that resolution? It's somewhat likely that after you upgraded the video card drivers, if you select 1280 X 800 custom resolution, the output of the video card is now at a higher refresh rate, and the monitor (Viewsonic 2025) doesn't handle this specific combination of vertical/horizontal/refresh as elegantly as it did at a lower refresh rate. Or less likely, the older video drivers were running your custom resolutions at a higher refresh rate. Whatever, the output of your video card has changed in a way that your monitor doesn't handle it as gracefully as you would like it to. I think the newer drivers though are a red herring. That is, if you were to set your video card to the EXACT output that worked fine under the older drivers, you'd probably find that the newer drivers work, also. As for your conspiracy theory (someone crippling drivers, forcing you to buy an HDTV instead of a computer monitor) . . . if such a conspiracy existed, it would be focused on lcd computer monitors with greater resolution than a Viewsonic 2025. The native resolution of that monitor is not capable of displaying HDTV content. Theoretically, you could use it to display 720P. But at best, this would be a blurry/distorted approximation of 720P, or it would not cover the whole viewable area of the screen. 1080i/P would be even worse on that Viewsonic 2025, as it would be distorted AND scaled down, assuming that your monitor would even -attempt- to display 1080x HDTV input. Not all monitors will accept input resolutions higher than max or native. 1080i/p HDTV input would exceed the physical limitations of your monitor, though it *might* try to display it anyway (greatly distorted and scaled down). No, nobody has to cripple your monitor with funky video card drivers to get you to favor an HDTV to display HDTV content... the Viewsonic 2025 has significant HARDWARE limitations, as far as displaying HDTV content goes. Before you get too carried away pushing this conspiracy theory, you should talk to owners of monitors with native resolution of 1920 X 1200. If those users can't display 1080i/p due to newer video card drivers crippling HDTV resolutions, then you might have something. -Dave |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
Curious discovery about lcd monitors TROLL
"johns" wrote in message oups.com... This is a Conspiracy Theory I have just stumbled on, but verbiage snipped |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
Curious discovery about lcd monitors TROLL
"johns" wrote in message oups.com... This is a Conspiracy Theory I have just stumbled on, but verbiage snipped I don't think it was a troll, I think it was just someone confused enough to think that any LCD computer monitor should be capable of displaying HDTV content, and that newer drivers must have been deliberately crippled somehow, to not allow custom resolutions. Silly, but it's easy to imagine someone being that confused. -Dave |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
Curious discovery about lcd monitors
I simply went back to the Feb 06 driver, and everything is happy again ... esp my 1280x800 resolution at full screen. I'm probably one of the very few out here who can run Gothic 3 with HIGH settings in 16:10 mode. That nails it down. My hardware it first rate, and nothing changed except the 91.xx drivers ... which many sites are saying does not support wide screen PC monitors. They think it is a bug that nVidia will fix. It is not. NVidia wants the digitalTV market, and we can take a hike. johns |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
Curious discovery about lcd monitors
Previously, your LCD could parse 1280 X 800 (according to you). But, what was the refresh rate at that resolution? It's somewhat likely that after you upgraded the video card drivers, if you select 1280 X 800 custom resolution, the output of the video card is now at a higher refresh rate, and the monitor (Viewsonic 2025) doesn't handle this specific combination of vertical/horizontal/refresh as elegantly as it did at a lower refresh rate. No. I tried 60, 72, and 75, and my monitor supports those just fine under the Feb 06 driver ... but not the 91.xx drivers. Or less likely, the older video drivers were running your custom resolutions at a higher refresh rate. It worked at 60 and 75, but I could not see any difference, so I used 60. Whatever, the output of your video card has changed in a way that your monitor doesn't handle it as gracefully as you would like it to. I think the newer drivers though are a red herring. That is, if you were to set your video card to the EXACT output that worked fine under the older drivers, you'd probably find that the newer drivers work, also. No way, and I had help from BFG tech support on the phone. We tried everything, and BFG upped the case to nVidia for an explanation. As for your conspiracy theory (someone crippling drivers, forcing you to buy an HDTV instead of a computer monitor) . . . if such a conspiracy existed, it would be focused on lcd computer monitors with greater resolution than a Viewsonic 2025. The native resolution of that monitor is not capable of displaying HDTV content. NOW THAT IS EXACTLY RIGHT !!!!!!! THINK ABOUT IT !!!!! That is THE Conspiracy Theory :-) johns |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
Curious discovery about lcd monitors TROLLY
NVidia is relying on you guys to not be smart enough to put the pieces together, and realize that their goal is to provide support for a new market that is a million times more profitable than the present one ... merely gamers. They want in to the digitalTV market, and those of us with PVRs and wide screen lcd monitors can already do it for next to nothing. That undercuts billions of $$$ in profits. NVidia probably thinks WE will eventually all move to the consoles for our games, and the market for the big cards will be gone. Obviously, nVidia and ATI will go to support of PVRs under Vista, and so their drivers are already anticipating that. Oopsy! Maybe a little too soon ? johns |
#9
|
|||
|
|||
Curious discovery about lcd monitors
Well, if this doesn't reincarnate David Maynard,
nothing will. "johns" wrote: This is a Conspiracy Theory I have just stumbled on, but I have some agreement from other web sites discussing this. I have a Viewsonic 2025 wide screen lcd monitor that has a native resolution of 1680x1050 or 16:10 as opposed to the standard 4:3 resolution of non-wide lcd monitors. I'm driving it with an nVidia GF7900GTO video card ( one of the best ), and I'm using the driver dated Feb 06. That driver allows me to set custom resolutions that I calculate to keep the same 16:10 proportions .. like 1280x800. That works fine, and I use Coolbits to set it. All my apps and games look great, and I have a very high frame rate. For certain reasons, I decided to update my video driver to the latest 91.xx . I tried both the Sept 06, and the Nov 06 drivers, and discovered in both that I can no longer set in a 16:10 custom resolution, and get full screen. Instead I get a 3 inch high black bar all the way across the bottom of the screen, and nothing will fix that. I called tech support, and they are seeing it too, and have no fix. The Conspiracy Theory is this: That truncated screen is actually an HDTV setting, and the new nVidia 91.xx drivers are no longer supporting "wide-screen" lcd monitors .. except for the native resolution. Instead, those drivers are attempting to force "us" to replace our monitors with HDTVs, and just use THEM as monitors. The new resolutions in the 91.xx drivers are for HDTVs, and our wide screen market is closing out in favor of the huge upcoming move to digital TV, and "blue" DVD at the 16:9 resolutions. An even bigger hint that this theory might be true is Vista requiring a tv-tuner in order for it to do a full install. And I'm seeing the $79 per month offer that the cable people are giving for both cable-network and cable-digitalTV, tossing in HBO, and a few more HDTV stations that actually use the 16:9 broadcast resolution ... straight to your desktop. NVidia absolutely will not admit it, and they actually claim that my monitor or video card is broke. Beyond stupid when it runs super good on the older ( Feb 06 ) driver. And, all for free, I DO have a tv-tuner, and I run TV in the HDTV modes, or any mode I want .. on my present 2025W lcd monitor. Bite me! NVidia. johns |
#10
|
|||
|
|||
Curious discovery about lcd monitors
johns wrote:
NVidia wants the digitalTV market, and we can take a hike. Yes, they want some of the digitalTV market but NOT at the expense of throwing away support for monitors. TV's still aren't optimal for use as general use computer monitors and won't be for a long time. TV's max out at 1920x1080 and that won't change anytime soon. There is s still big need for high-res (1920 x 1200 and beyond) resolution display devices for computer applications and video card makers will need to continue to support them. |
|
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Which is better for dual monitors? | John Doe | Nvidia Videocards | 10 | February 19th 06 07:03 AM |
Which is better for dual monitors? | John Doe | Ati Videocards | 10 | February 19th 06 07:03 AM |
multiple monitors with Radeon 9200LE - please help | [email protected] | Ati Videocards | 1 | February 8th 06 01:33 AM |
LCD Monitors, Should I buy one? | [email protected] | General | 14 | December 2nd 05 03:56 PM |
Dual monitors: 'Allow taskbar to span multiple monitors' | Patrick Flaherty | Nvidia Videocards | 2 | July 15th 03 03:46 PM |