Screen "fuzzy" at native resolution

asportking · 2013-10-27 19:54:24

Hello! I just finished installing Crunchbang on my desktop. Everything went well, except the resolution was stuck at a 1024x768. I used this guide to change the resolution to the native 1920x1080. It appears to have worked fine, except everything is a bit "fuzzy." It's a bit hard to describe, although pixelated isn't' really the word I'd use to describe it. Is there any way to fix this?

pvsage · 2013-10-27 20:05:07

VGA or HDMI connection? If the former, you probably want to trigger your monitor's auto-align function.

asportking · 2013-10-27 20:29:33

pvsage wrote:

VGA or HDMI connection? If the former, you probably want to trigger your monitor's auto-align function.

It is indeed the former. I tried the auto config, but that didn't do anything. Is there some sort of manual configuration that I should try?

chillicampari · 2013-10-27 20:46:59

Yep, but you'll probably want to look at the documentation for your monitor (in particular clock, phase and position). If you need to make changes write down your current settings (all of them). Sometimes it helps to reset the monitor to the defaults first for a fresh start. One of our older monitors needs a very slight horizontal shift for crisp text.

asportking · 2013-10-27 21:08:46

chillicampari wrote:

Yep, but you'll probably want to look at the documentation for your monitor (in particular clock, phase and position). If you need to make changes write down your current settings (all of them). Sometimes it helps to reset the monitor to the defaults first for a fresh start. One of our older monitors needs a very slight horizontal shift for crisp text.

Is it going to affect my other inputs? The monitor in question has two computers hooked up to it -- one going through HDMI, and this one going through VGA.

chillicampari · 2013-10-27 21:23:45

That'll depend on the monitor. If the settings are shared, yep, if discrete, it shouldn't and if partially shared/combo, maybe. smile
Usually the user manual will indicate what type you have.

asportking · 2013-10-27 22:05:55

chillicampari wrote:

That'll depend on the monitor. If the settings are shared, yep, if discrete, it shouldn't and if partially shared/combo, maybe.
Usually the user manual will indicate what type you have.

Just tried all the settings. Clock and position didn't do anything other than move the screen around the monitor, and I couldn't find anything about phase. There aren't really any other options other than brightness and contrast. Could it be a problem with the computer itself? Another thing I noticed is that the screen is formatted strangly. A little bit of the left half of the screen hangs off the monitor (as I'm typing this, the "Iceweasel" in the top left corner is cut off so that is just reads "easel"), as if the resolution wasn't correct. However, I know that I've got a 1920x1080 monitor, and that's definitely what I put into the terminal.

chillicampari · 2013-10-27 22:09:25

What brand and model is your monitor and do you have a user manual for it?

Another area to look at is DPI settings (within the OS).

Edit to add- Can you post a screenshot? That might be able to help isolate the problem. You'll want a full sized screenshot without much compression, so a link to it would be better (instead of embedding in the thread).

Last edited by chillicampari (2013-10-27 22:18:33)

asportking · 2013-10-27 22:32:39

chillicampari wrote:

What brand and model is your monitor and do you have a user manual for it?
Another area to look at is DPI settings (within the OS).
Edit to add- Can you post a screenshot? That might be able to help isolate the problem. You'll want a full sized screenshot without much compression, so a link to it would be better (instead of embedding in the thread).

I'm using an Acer S241HL. I don't have the user manual with me, but if I recall correctly, there wasn't much in there about options, only about putting together the monitor and getting it hooked up. I took a screenshot here, although after looking at it from another computer, I realized that it looks fine. That means it's something to do with the monitor, correct?

Also, on a side note, whenever I set my monitor to auto-config, the entire screen shifts to the left, so that there's a black bar about half an inch wide on the right side. What's up with that?

Last edited by asportking (2013-10-27 22:35:23)

chillicampari · 2013-10-27 23:01:48

Edit- try pvsage's suggestion below first.

*****

Yep, your screenshot looks good so it looks like a monitor or connection issue.

The Acer site has the user manual (if the link doesn't work, you'll need to navigate the site to get it).

http://global-download.acer.com/GDFiles … ER&SC=PA_6

It looks like the phase adjustment is called "focus" and glancing at it I didn't see an indication whether the inputs are shared or discrete so you might have to find out by trying it.

Auto-config is a best-guess setting and it's not always correct. Something to try is disabling conky while making adjustments.

If you have a spare VGA cable you can try swapping it. If you have a really long cable, two or more joined, are using a DVI to VGA adapter from the graphics card output or going through a KVM switch these are all things to check.

Last edited by chillicampari (2013-10-27 23:04:58)

pvsage · 2013-10-27 23:02:57

Sounds like your monitor is having trouble detecting the boundaries of your desktop in the VGA signal. (EDIT: I had the same trouble with my Acer monitor using kernels that couldn't use the HDMI out on my Radeon graphics.) Try this:
1. Temporarily set your wallpaper to default-tile.png, centered, with the background color set to white (#ffffff).
2. Use Super-D to minimize all open windows.
3. Run your monitor through its auto-adjust.

With any luck, your monitor should remember its adjustment from restart to restart.

Last edited by pvsage (2013-10-27 23:04:59)

asportking · 2013-10-28 00:52:44

pvsage wrote:

Sounds like your monitor is having trouble detecting the boundaries of your desktop in the VGA signal. (EDIT: I had the same trouble with my Acer monitor using kernels that couldn't use the HDMI out on my Radeon graphics.) Try this:
1. Temporarily set your wallpaper to default-tile.png, centered, with the background color set to white (#ffffff).
2. Use Super-D to minimize all open windows.
3. Run your monitor through its auto-adjust.
With any luck, your monitor should remember its adjustment from restart to restart.

Ah, thanks! It formatted correctly, although the fuzziness is still a thing.

chillicampari wrote:

Edit- try pvsage's suggestion below first.
*****

Yep, your screenshot looks good so it looks like a monitor or connection issue.
The Acer site has the user manual (if the link doesn't work, you'll need to navigate the site to get it).
http://global-download.acer.com/GDFiles … ER&SC=PA_6
It looks like the phase adjustment is called "focus" and glancing at it I didn't see an indication whether the inputs are shared or discrete so you might have to find out by trying it.
Auto-config is a best-guess setting and it's not always correct. Something to try is disabling conky while making adjustments.
If you have a spare VGA cable you can try swapping it. If you have a really long cable, two or more joined, are using a DVI to VGA adapter from the graphics card output or going through a KVM switch these are all things to check.

Huh. I looked through the user manual and the OSD H.Position and V.Position aren't on my computer. It only has the option for OSD Timeout. Is it something I should look into? Also, I'll try another VGA cable as soon as I can get my hands on one.

chillicampari · 2013-10-28 01:07:23

It seems like it should have position controls since that's pretty standard. If it's not showing up on yours it's something to contact Acer for guidance/support on.

Yep, sometimes a cable swap does the trick.

asportking · 2013-10-28 02:11:45

chillicampari wrote:

It seems like it should have position controls since that's pretty standard. If it's not showing up on yours it's something to contact Acer for guidance/support on.
Yep, sometimes a cable swap does the trick.

It does have position controls, just not OSD position controls. Although I'm not sure what the difference is.

chillicampari · 2013-10-28 02:17:05

OSD position is for the On Screen Display (the monitor menu for the display itself) and you usually don't need to change that.

chillicampari · 2013-10-28 21:37:48

Something else to try that should be easy. Do the steps pvsage posted in #11, but disable conky (and maybe tint2) before using the auto adjust button (then start them up again).

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#1 2013-10-27 19:54:24

Screen "fuzzy" at native resolution

#2 2013-10-27 20:05:07

Re: Screen "fuzzy" at native resolution

#3 2013-10-27 20:29:33

Re: Screen "fuzzy" at native resolution

#4 2013-10-27 20:46:59

Re: Screen "fuzzy" at native resolution

#5 2013-10-27 21:08:46

Re: Screen "fuzzy" at native resolution

#6 2013-10-27 21:23:45

Re: Screen "fuzzy" at native resolution

#7 2013-10-27 22:05:55

Re: Screen "fuzzy" at native resolution

#8 2013-10-27 22:09:25

Re: Screen "fuzzy" at native resolution

#9 2013-10-27 22:32:39

Re: Screen "fuzzy" at native resolution

#10 2013-10-27 23:01:48

Re: Screen "fuzzy" at native resolution

#11 2013-10-27 23:02:57

Re: Screen "fuzzy" at native resolution

#12 2013-10-28 00:52:44

Re: Screen "fuzzy" at native resolution

#13 2013-10-28 01:07:23

Re: Screen "fuzzy" at native resolution

#14 2013-10-28 02:11:45

Re: Screen "fuzzy" at native resolution

#15 2013-10-28 02:17:05

Re: Screen "fuzzy" at native resolution

#16 2013-10-28 21:37:48

Re: Screen "fuzzy" at native resolution

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