Thinkpads Forum

Hi there!

I recieved my new X61s roughly a week ago. So far I'm pretty happy with it, although I'm still struggling to find my peace with Vista.
Using the Ultrabase Dock, I have the X61s as a desktop computer while in my office - keyboard, mouse, external monitor (Samsung SyncMaster 171t).
I connected the monitor to the dock via analog cable (cable is brand new) - my problem is that I'm not really satisfied with the resulting image quality on the external monitor. It seems to be lacking sharpness. Especially anti-aliased fonts seem really blurry. It not something you would notice on first sight - but it is definitely noticeable, especially when compared to the graphics of my former PC (same monitor).

I tried different resolutions and refresh rates, both with no success. I also tried to install the latest drivers for the Intel graphic chipset - again, no improvement.

Can somebody give me any tips on what else I could try? I really hope there is a way to tweak this, because if not then working on the thinkpad as my main PC doesn't seem a convincing option.

Unfortunately, the X6 Ultrabase does not have DVI output. Others have reported (in the T6x series forum) somewhat better quality on an external monitor when using DVI.

Make sure you are using the native resolution of your Samsung monitor, which I believe is 1280 x 1024.

I saw this interesting device which has DVI output, but connects to your VGA port and USB port. It is unclear to me if it would give you a clearer image (than your existing connection) on an external monitor or not.

Matrox DualHead2Go Digital Edition

Thank you for your quick reply, GomJabbar. The Matrox device looks a bit expensive, given that it's not sure if it improves the image quality.

I wonder if the lack of sharpness is really only due to the analog connection - I have been using the analog connection for years on other computers, and never realized such a blur in the image..

any more ideas?

You can try displaying an image with many dark/light edges on it for the monitor to sync on, then pressing the auto sync button on your monitor.

To make an image with plenty of edges you can open paint, then resize the image to the same resolution as your screen, change it to 2 bits per pixel, then flood fill the area with the pixel-level checkerboard pattern in the color pallet.

Make this image the only thing on your screen, then press the sync button. You might also want to turn off font smoothing.

I also noticed that if I uninstall the lenovo-provided drivers for my integrated graphics card, the signal is even more closely synced with my monitor, actually it looks like every pixel is in it's place! It's great, except I can't get any other monitor working at the same time.
You might have a cheap way to get dvi out too, though I haven't tried it (I don't have a pci-express slot). You can get a card for about $40 called an add card (advanced digital display) that works with your video card and gives you a dvi output, if your card supports it. I'm not sure if you can use (or would even have) the integrated graphics system if you have a discrete video card, but if you can this is probably an option for you. http://www.intel.com/products/chipsets/gma950/index.htm

This is going beyond your original question, but you can also get a cardbus card that provides dvi out, such as the vt-book for about $150. There are other brands as well, but they are about the same price.

The user in the following thread discovered that high quality cables do make a difference - at least with longer runs.

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=49108

Feel free to let me know if any of these things worked, or what you did do, I am hesitant enough to post to these forums without the impression I'm talking to a wall.

AHuan wrote:Feel free to let me know if any of these things worked, or what you did do, I am hesitant enough to post to these forums without the impression I'm talking to a wall.

I do not have any issues with an external monitor, but I found your reply very informative. Enough so that I bookmarked it.

i think it might be the analog (VGA) connection...

in my (limited) experience, i have noticed that some monitors have really poor VGA performance. I have two monitors: a Dell Ultra Sharp 19 Inch, and a Samsung Syncmaster 226BW.

the Dell (which is actually a rebranded Samsung, i believe) displays the VGA signal a lot more crisp than the Samsung. before I had my 226BW, I had a Samsung 193P, and that one also had poor VGA performance.

your best bet might be to try the high quality cables. Let me know if that helps at all.

AHuan wrote:You can try displaying an image with many dark/light edges on it for the monitor to sync on, then pressing the auto sync button on your monitor.

I have to agree with trying that. I had to press the auto-sync button twice sometimes to get a sharp image.

The strange thing with my monitor is that during auto-sync, the image is sharp and perfect, but once it finishes auto-syncing, the images goes back to being blur.

Thanks for the huge variety of suggestions. I tried the auto-sync method with the checkerboard image - But I don't see any significant improvements. Unfortunately, investing more money to solve this issue is not really an option, as my employer won't grant me any more money (University) for IT.

AHuan, which drivers for the integrated graphics card did you use instead of the lenovo drivers? I'm still hoping the issue can be resolved by software/driver tweaking..

Have you tried connecting the monitor to the VGA port on the X61s instead of the one on Ultrabase?

For the T4x Port Replicator II here, the analog VGA port has pathetic quality compared with the VGA port on the T42.

If you have the X61s in the ultrabay, the vga port on the X61s will be disabled by default.

If you want to use the port on the X61s, you'll have to ditch the ultrabay.

...which is probably the reason why I couldn't get a signal from the port on the X61s. Any way to enable the port while in the dock?

edit: doesn't matter. the quality is the same regardless of which port I use

I just used the default generic vga driver supplied by windows xp, and it installs automatically if I uninstall the gma 950 drivers and reboot. You have a different chipset, though, and maybe discrete graphics.

I posted a post at http://softwarecommunity.intel.com/isn/ ... x#30240425
, maybe these guys will help figure out a tweak... It will probably be similar for your system, I assume.

You might want to try fiddling with the EDID stuff, but I decided I'd try the intel forum first, since it looks like a long shot.

Yes! I got it working!

I've assembled a kit with the right programs for posterity and ease of use, should anyone else wish to try this.

Edit: I took the links down, they were broken anyway. See the marketplace for my post, trying to sell the kit for $1 (think of it as market research.)


mod note: your marketplace ad has been removed as it goes against the nature of this forum.   this community is for the sharing of information, not selling it.

AHuan wrote:Yes! I got it working!
I have an almost digital quality image on my monitor, and the drivers installed. I did it by copying the DTD from the monitor edid into the registry as mentioned in the wiki. The driver didn't seem like it would install after being modified.
I've assembled a kit with the right programs for posterity and ease of use, should anyone else wish to try this.
http://files-upload.com/files/495260/vi ... dprogs.zip[/img]
a direct link
http://5.download-2.files-upload.com/50 ... gs.zip[url][/url]

Hi. I also have an X61s (ultralight) I wonder if the blurry screen is only on the external display? or does it also affect the notebook's own lcd 12" display ?


Is the blurry screen seen in all models of X61s using the intel graphics chipset?

I couldn't download the file. I tried both links, it brings file not found 404 after the coundown.

Thanks.

Have you guys checked the refresh rate. Some LCD displays are awful if you don't use 60Hz.