Dell Inspiron 8600 + ATI Mobility 9600 = crazy resolution

[tecknowledgist]

Hello,

So I have this laptop with this graphics card. It's an 11" monitor and the native resolution is 1920 × 1200. Everything is ridiculously small. When I set it to 1200 × 800 the proportions are correct but the display is fuzzy, pixelated, and videos render poorly.

Is there any way to trick the monitor/gfx card to display nicely at 1200 × 800? Can I get a special patch? Can I uninstall the driver and get a generic video driver? What would I have to do to get this machine to display nicer?

Thanks.

 

[jaguarskx]

Wow, there's an 11" laptop with 1920 x 1200 resolution?

If the solution is actually 1920 x 1200, then you need to set the resolution to 1200 x 750 to maintain the same aspect ratio. If the resolution is 1920 x 1080, then you will need to set the resolution to 1200 x 675 to main the same aspect ratio. However, you generally cannot set the resolution to an odd number; therefore you will need to pick something close.

Anytime you set the resolution to less than the maximum / native resolution you are going to get issues like what you are seeing. This is especially true if the resolution you are using does not match the native aspect ratio of the LCD screen.

A generic video driver will probably make things worse and you will not be able to play games with your laptop.

 

[Pyree]

your laptop has a 15 inch 16:10 aspect ratio screen. A better way to fix the problem is to leave it on native resolution and change the mouse, font and icon size on window to make everything larger. I assume your laptop has xp on it. In display property, go to general tab and change dpi setting.

 

[tecknowledgist]

Wow, there's an 11" laptop with 1920 x 1200 resolution?

I might be wrong about that. I held up a 12" record to the screen and it was an inch narrower.

 

[Pyree]

You measure the screen diagonally, not across, to give 15 inch. This is how screen is measured.

 

[tecknowledgist]

A better way to fix the problem is to leave it on native resolution and change the mouse, font and icon size on window to make everything larger.

I've tried this but it just kind of looks awkward, like granny's computer but smaller. I'm opting for the 1200 x 800 fuzz right now rather than deal.

 

[tecknowledgist]

You measure the screen diagonally, not across, to give 15 inch. This is how screen is measured.

Good to know, Thanks.

 

[tecknowledgist]

If the solution is actually 1920 x 1200, then you need to set the resolution to 1200 x 750 to maintain the same aspect ratio.

Is there any good freeware out there to set your screen to whatever you want? I could deal with a margin of black.

 

[jaguarskx]

1920 x 1200 = 1.6 aspect ratio (that's 1920/1200)
1200 x 800 = 1.5 aspect ratio (that's 1200/800)

You need to set the resolution to 1200 x 750 to maintain the same 1.6 aspect ratio. Three standard 1.6 aspect ratio resolutions you can try are:

1680 x 1050
1440 x 900
1280 x 800