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I have a computer monitor that is approximately 23" in size. Its native resolution is 1920x1080, and Windows 7 will not allow it to be any higher. However, I cannot make the resolution a little lower as well. When I right-click on my desktop and select 'Screen resolution,' the vertical slider has only two options: 1920x1080 and 1280x720.

There are no real problems that I am having besides the fact that the image is slightly blurry. I can easily make things out and see them, but I definitely feel that the image is not as clear as it could be.

My graphics card is ATI Radeon HD 5450 and it has the latest graphics drivers installed. I've tried playing around with the AMD VISION Engine Control Center to see if I can change an option to make the image clearer, but I had no luck. I did find one odd thing, though. When I lowered the refresh rate from 60Hz to 50Hz, the image kind of "zoomed in" but it also became perfectly clear like I would expect it to look. The problem is that when I use 50Hz, the image zooms in a little on the center and I lose maybe an inch and a half of the screen (I do not see the bar at the top of applications, I do not see the Windows taskbar thing, etc). I figured if I could somehow zoom in so that the entire image fills the screen (not the slightly cropped version) then I would have the perfectly crisp image of 50Hz, and also the uncropped image of 60Hz. However, upon zooming in, the image began to look blurry again just like it did with 60Hz.

So I am at a loss here. I do not know how to make the image look as clear as it should. I have the latest drivers (I updated them today) and I know that my monitor supports the resolution that I am trying to use.

Has anybody experienced something like this before? I'd really appreciate any input - thanks!

Update: I have figured out how to make the display look crisp! I set it to the 50Hz option, and then I changed the scaling through the monitor itself, rather than software.

Now, however, I am finding that games look pretty bad because since it is clear, the lower quality really becomes apparent. I cannot run new games at 1080p, so I run them at the lowest resolution possible (1280x720, since it is the only other option offered, as I have mentioned). So I am wondering, is there a way to have Windows display more resolution options?

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    What is the exact make/model of your display? It sounds a lot like a TV, and not a computer LCD.
    – Darth Android
    Jun 12, 2012 at 21:34
  • 3
    Also how is it connected? What cable type?
    – Shinrai
    Jun 12, 2012 at 21:37
  • I am not sure. How do I find out.
    – Martin Tuskevicius
    Jun 12, 2012 at 21:55
  • Look on the back for a model number on a sticker with a bunch of other small writing, and the manufacturer probably has a logo somewhere on the front.
    – Darth Android
    Jun 12, 2012 at 21:58
  • The model is often shown on the menu / on screen display.
    – Attie
    Feb 28, 2018 at 11:04

5 Answers 5

Reset to default
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Is your monitor connected through a VGA cable? Try to calibrate it.

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  • Thanks, I wouldn't have expected the built-in auto adjustment to suck so much (nor clock and phase to control the dimensional stretching/mapping of the picture itself, and to be hidden inside the completely anonymous "focus" menu)
    – mirh
    Dec 3, 2019 at 11:16
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It's possible you just have a duff monitor with firmware that's not interacting well with your graphics cared. One thing you might like to try though is "Control Panel -> Display -> Adjust ClearType text". You may find that turning on ClearType (if not already on) and going through calibration makes things better. If not, you might want to try turning ClearType off.

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  • @kinokijuf I thought ClearType was always worth trying in these sort of situations?
    – Paul C
    Jan 7, 2013 at 14:19
  • @CodeBlend No. Cleartype setting has nothing to do with resolution.
    – kinokijuf
    Jan 7, 2013 at 15:50
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If you have an AMD RADION Graphics Card you may need to adjust the Over scan/scaling options via the AMD Catalyst Control Center, this is what gave me the crisp and clean resolution I was after.

AMD RADION GRAPHICS CARD

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  • This fixed the same issue for me. Thanks!
    – Gaz
    Jul 24, 2019 at 8:54
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I had a problem like that once. After doing some troubleshooting, I discovered that the problem was the cable connecting the display to the computer. I guess it was damaged somehow. Try another cable if you have one.

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I found a link that addresses this problem:
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-2313963/blurry-text-hdmi.html

Summary

There is this thing called "EDID information" that the monitor is supposed to send to the graphic card to tell it all the parameters needed for proper image display. If the EDID is broken, the image will look bad. They suggest to use utilities such as AMDEDIDUtility to copy the EDID information from a working port (for instance DVI or VGA) and use it to override the wrong EDID provided from the HDMI port.

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    Don't post links as answers - post the detail here. Links break and go away, require trawling through unrelated text and answers, and we're trying to build a knowledge base here.
    – Attie
    Feb 28, 2018 at 11:06
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    Sorry. To sum it up, there is this thing called "EDID information" that the monitor is supposed to send to the graphic card to tell it all the parameters needed for proper image display. If the EDID is broken, the image will look bad. They suggest to use utilities such as AMDEDIDUtility to copy the EDID information from a working port (for instance DVI or VGA) and use it to override the wrong EDID provided from the HDMI port.
    – mfloris
    Mar 1, 2018 at 12:12

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