My screen resolution is blurry always.Graphics card problem?

[666cornholio666]

Or not?

I'm running a PC with:

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition 3.4 GHz processor
4 GB of 1333 MHz Corsair memory (DDR3)
Nvidia GTX 460 1GB graphics card
1 TB harddrive
24x LG optical drive
Coolermaster Elite 330 case

And monitor is Fujitsu Siemens (no idea about the product number, but it's LCD and usually 60 Hz with 1024x768 resolution)

It should also be noted I use an adapter as the screen is different to the card's output.

PROBLEM: I've been getting blurry text (like one pixel out of accuracy), so every text I see has a orange/blue hue next to it, especially with thin lines and small images
I've tried to change the resolution countless times, calibrated colour and even used the ClearType text thing, but nothing worked.

[NeilBlanchard]

You should only use an LCD screen at it's native resolution -- which is probably higher than what you are using? If you use a lower than native resolution, then the entire image gets interpolated, which is why it is fuzzy.

If things are too small, then you need to use the Display Properties / Appearance to get larger icons and text, etc. This way you get a clearer image and the sizes you need.

[lm]

It should also be noted I use an adapter as the screen is different to the card's output.

If either of them is VGA, then that is the problem.

[jhhoffma]

It should also be noted I use an adapter as the screen is different to the card's output.

If either of them is VGA, then that is the problem.

Agreed, most VGA connected LCDs suffer from either blurriness or ghosting.

If you're running that hardware with an EVGA monitor, it's time for an upgrade. Higher resolution monitors in the 22" range can be had for less than $150.

[HFat]

So VGA cables have bad mojo?
I've seen the problem feeding an analog signal to a LCD can create. There are test images you can use to detect it (more often than not, feeding an analog signal to an LCD with a modest resolution will result in a picture that looks perfect at first glance). There's no way I'd describe the problem as "blurriness". Sometimes people use poetic words to say they don't like an LCD's coating.
Ghosting is a well-known problem of LCD technologies. It's caused by the panels, not the ADC.

Basic troubleshooting: just plug a laptop or something in that screen. Try another cable as well if you want. If the problem persists, chances are your old screen finally went bad.

[porkchop]

about half the lcds i've ever used refuse to work well with a vga connection- the image is blurry regardless of how i tweak and change my settings, but i've also had a few that worked perfectly (a 19" samsung and a 24" dell).

my problem was always just a blurry picture- kinda like a crt monitor, perhaps a better definition is not sharp, lcds are pixel for pixel so you really expect a rock solid still picture. the problems you explain are strange indeed and imo probably hardware or software related.

the only lcds i know of with 1024x768 native res are 15 inchers... time for an upgrade!!

[b_rubenstein]

Poor image quality with LCD displays and VGA input generally have nothing to do with cables. The problem is a low quality, low bandwidth analog section at one or both of the ends. It can be to graphics in the PC (D/A converter, or analog line drivers) or the input section of the monitor (A/D converter and buffers).

I've used good monitors that showed no visible difference in image quality when used with either VGA or DVI input when driven by a decent video card. I've also had monitors look dreadful when driven by VGA and ok by DVI. I suspect that analog quality is being given short shrift by most makers these days.

[Luke M]

Display a 1-pixel black/white checkerboard pattern and then select the monitor's "auto sync" option, if it has one.

[jhhoffma]

So VGA cables have bad mojo?
I've seen the problem feeding an analog signal to a LCD can create. There are test images you can use to detect it (more often than not, feeding an analog signal to an LCD with a modest resolution will result in a picture that looks perfect at first glance). There's no way I'd describe the problem as "blurriness". Sometimes people use poetic words to say they don't like an LCD's coating.
Ghosting is a well-known problem of LCD technologies. It's caused by the panels, not the ADC.

Basic troubleshooting: just plug a laptop or something in that screen. Try another cable as well if you want. If the problem persists, chances are your old screen finally went bad.

It's not something inherent in the VGA cable or even in the VGA itself, it's that most of the monitors sold in the last couple years with VGA-only connections are geared at the low end of the market. And just like the early LCD panels, had a long way to go in the picture quality arena.

The "ghosting" I'm referring to is not the response time issue that plagued early LCDs, but signal bleed, where you actually have secondary images on the screen and flicker in certain areas of the desktop.

And like b_rubenstein said it's "short shrift" by OEMs to the analog side of hardware (DACs and drive signal, specifically).

[HFat]

You people have weird issues. You're too quick to blame the monitors. Who would build such crap as a VGA-only monitor which displays a "secondary image" in normal conditions? That ain't just poor quality like backlight bleed. It's a defect! Do you have bad electricity, interference or something?

Every VGA-only monitor I've seen was capable of displaying a solid image. And so was every DVI/VGA monitor I've seen. You simply need an adequate source (depending on the resolution). In my experience, replacing the graphics card (or the onboard graphics) doesn't necessarily make a large difference. There's more to it than having a decent DAC.

As to the notion that newer monitors are worse, I've seen an improvement in Samsung PVAs for instance (presumably they make those themselves). And PVAs used to be real expensive so it's not about price either.
Note that higher resolutions have more trouble with analog connections so don't compare a low-res screen to a high-res screen.

[porkchop]

i can say with certainty that in my case, it has always been the monitors.

i have tried 3 different onboard gpus: an intel gma950, nvidia 7025 and now an amd hd4200.
7 different lcds: dell 20"(2007fp), dell 24"(s2409w), benq 17", samsung 19", viewsonic 20", acer 20"(x201w) and an acer 26" lcd tv. the samsung is vga only, all the others have vga and dvi.
consistently the dell 24" and samsung have given me solid images on vga, whereas all the others have been 'blurry'.

good combos that come to mind immediately are gma950+samsung 19" and hd4200+dell 24" which i am using right now.

'blurry' combos inlcude the gma950+ acer 20", 7025+benq 17" and the acer 26", and finally the hd4200+acer 20" and 26" and also the dell 20".

that was a nice trip down memory lane

[HFat]

It ain't so simple. Even systems with identical parts (going by model numbers) can behave differently in the analog realm. So the same video chip in a completely different system...

Maybe you haven't used CRTs in a long while but a bad source will also produce a poor image on a CRT if you use a high resolution. If it was the monitors, why would CRTs be affected?

If you think your monitors are defective, take it up with the vendors. All the brands you listed sell LCDs that work fine over VGA when they're fed a good signal.

But "blurry" sounds more like a configuration issue (incorrect resolution? failure to force an auto-configuration of the display for those who aren't fully automatic?) or a subjective dislike of the panel.

[porkchop]

i've never seen a crt produce a rock solid picture. i believe it's simply a product of how a picture is produced, electrons through a vacuum and whatnot.

of course there exists lcds that work absolutely fine over vga- i have listed 2. but there are also some that simply will not work well over vga, even if it's only with a certain video card the problem is still there.

when an lcd works fine on dvi, but is blurry on vga through the same video card then i believe it is a problem with the monitor- case in point it the hd4200+dell 2007fp or the 7025+x201w. i tweaked and adjusted these combos to the best of my ability to no avail.
when one monitor looks blurry compared to another on the same vga connection, then i believe the problem lies with the blurry monitor.
i'm not saying these products are defective, simply that they suck over vga.

HFat- is it really that hard for you to believe that some lcds aren't very good at converting analogue to digital signals?

[HFat]

Of course not (see my post above where I speak of monitors which aren't as good at correcting bad analog inputs as others).
Not being as good as others does not imply that a monitor isn't capable of displaying a perfect image however. I doubt that there are monitors on the market which do a bad job of converting a good analog signal. There would certainly be little point in manufacturing such a monitor without giving it a digital port as well.

It sounds like you have issues with your analog signals. CRTs can of course produce a very good picture!

[porkchop]

again you're blaming the signal from the video card, and refusing to acknowledge that some monitors can't do well even with a good signal. for example:
vga out on my hd4200 produces a crisp as can be image on my dell s2409w and samsung 19", while the image on my acer x201w and dell 2007fp is 'blurry'. if i've messed with every setting in the osd(including the auto-tune function) and in windows, and the picture is still 'blurry', then i think it's fair to assume that the problem is with the monitors themselves. they are the only variables in this setup.

well the only crt i've ever owned was a philips 17" and i can accept that it wasn't very good. but in my defense i've never once seen a crt produce a rock solid image(not a good or nice image, rock solid!), i'm talking about the pixels, in my memory they were never like an lcd where they were literally, rock solid.
how did we get onto crts anyway?