Resolutions available over DVI vs VGA

[jonathan_phang]

Hiya,

Just taken delivery of a Samsung 24" 245b monitor and I set it up via DVI to begin with and fired up some games. Stuck it at the native 1920x1200 to test. Did this for a number of games, and the next thing that i wanted to do was to try some lower resolutions to see what the scaling of the panel was like.

However. There didnt seem to be the other usual 16:10 resolutions available like 1680x1050, 1440x900, 1280x800 etc. Hmmm I though, maybe its just the driver, and I went to the Nvidia control panel and tried to enter a custom resolution - which all failed. Bummer.

Then, I switched to VGA instead to see what would happen, and lo and behold, there they all were. Now, I would rather have DVI due to the perceived quality (Though i all honesty I cant see any difference...) but can anyone tell me WHY this is???

Is there a technical reason why DVI wont let you have the resolutions that the monitor is obviously capable of using?

JP

[Hottentot]

Very odd all three monitors I use are over DVI and all three allow resolution changes. Is it a quirk of your monitor or is your cable faulty.

[jonathan_phang]

Hmmm... that sounds odd. The cable provided was newly packaged up but i guess could be damaged? I guess I could buy another one to try but it seems a bit of a waste of money really... Anyone out there with a 245b who can confirm what reolutions are available to them. Also - could be a GPU thing maybe?

[kalniel]

It's most likely to be your graphics drivers I think.

[jonathan_phang]

It's most likely to be your graphics drivers I think.

I'm using the latest official drivers from Nvidia though - surely they should let you do that. But you'd have thought they would let you use fixed ratio scaling too - and that doesnt work either... But thats another story.

Is there anyway to modify the drivers at a low level before install so that they are available? I always thought that the resolutions available were determined by the monitor driver INF.

Actually thinking about it - cant be that can it, as the res is available over VGA... Will try to see when i get home tonight...

[EtheAv8r]

Is there perhaps a Samsung Monitor driver you need to install? There is for my ViewSonic (in addition to the nVidia drivers for the 8800).


I just checcked and there indeed appears to be a driver here:
http://www.samsung.com/uk/support/pr...e=DR&language=

Did you install this?

[jonathan_phang]

I've installed the one on the driver disc that came with the monitor, and I'd checked previously on the website - there is only one version, so they should be the same... I also tried after rolling back to the plug and play monitor driver - still the same.

I could use VGA - as there doesnt seem to be too much difference, but i suppose thats not the point...

Thanks for taking the time to dig the link up though - much appreciated for the effort

[aidanjt]

Try using GPU scaling and see if that helps (and if you already are, try the monitors native scaling). nVidia's drivers support both.

[jonathan_phang]

Try using GPU scaling and see if that helps (and if you already are, try the monitors native scaling). nVidia's drivers support both.

Yes - been to the advanced options to try them - one of the first things that i tested. However, if you google around, you'll see that this has been a problem (Apparently for a long time). You can select the options, apply them and it reverts to the option where fixed ratio scaling deosnt work. I think that you mentioned your dad had one - does it work on his?

[devilfish]

ive only ever tried VGA but havnt really seen a problem with it, im going to try DVi soon thoguh jsut to see what its all about

[jonathan_phang]

I'm not exactly sure what it was - and don’t particularly want to uninstall to methodically find out – but I did a whole load of stuff – I changed to the latest beta drivers from Nvidia (the Crysis ones) and also reinstalled the monitor driver. AND I also edited the inf file of the nvidia drivers before installing.

Interestingly, that still didn’t let me have the resolutions I wanted over DVI straight off the bat, but it DID let me add them as custom resolutions this time. So possibly you may need to modify the inf file for the nvidia and monitor before it shows up. I guess I’ll find out when I try to install another version!!!