Thinkpads Forum

Board Member,

My x60t displays fine quality output when connected via to an LCD via the ultrabase, but when I connect directly through the VGA on the laptop, text is slightly blurry and hard on the eyes. I made sure the output resolution is the same. Does anyone know if the ultabase has something that makes the text look better or what setting would cause this?

Many thanks for any input!

AFAIK the ultrabase is little more than a passthrough from the X60T to an external display..
if it were me i would look to video settings, different cables and so forth..
welcome to the forum..

Press the auto-adjust button on the LCD.

Many thanks for the quick replies. I have tried both of these, to no avail. I can not pinpoint a setting that would take care of this? Any suggestions?

In general, there shouldn't be any difference. Interestingly, some people have had the opposite problem of you: the display through the ultrabase VGA connection was blurry, while the display when connected directly to the Thinkpad was clear.

There is no setting I can think of that will affect any of this. Normally if text is blurry on a Windows machine, I suggest looking at ClearType settings: Control Panel -> Display -> Appearance -> Effects -> ClearType. But in this case, the same setting will apply in both cases, I think, so changing it shouldn't make any difference.

Can you confirm that you are using the same cable and the same monitor when you compare the two outputs?

When you switch connections, you might try wiggling the length of the cable a bit to see if there is some kind of flaw in the cable that is causing the deteriorated signal -- though in that case, it would just be luck whether it happens with one output or the other.

You might make a visual check of the VGA output on your laptop to see if anything looks dirty or rusted.

And be careful that the plug is inserted snugly and completely when you move it from one output to the other. Using the screws can help verify that.

Phil.

I can confirm that it is the same cable and that wiggling it has no observable effect.

I copied the hardware profile from the "docked" to a new profile and boot to that and the blurriness seems marginally better but I am not convinced it's the whole way there compared to the docked position.

Do you have any suggestions?

Thank you.

I have no idea (I use a free CRT monitor with my desktop), but what is the refresh rate being set to? if it is 50hz, there could be issues with the way it is drawn on the screen. If it is set to 50hz, try changing to 60. (or if it is set to 60, try 50 ) (I understand that an LCD will not flicker, but it may be out of sync)

Thanks for the reply. I do not have the option to change it from 60hz, even if I uncheck the box that restricts the options to only those that the monitor can display.

Do you have any other suggestions?

How long is your current VGA cable? The one you swapped in? Cheap (as in not well shielded) and long (as in longer than 3 feet) VGA cables will mess with the displayed image.

I am using the same VGA to connect via the dock and directly to the VGA port.

I would try a different better quality cable, 3 feet or shorter.

It's an analog output. It's definitely possible to have a crappier output signal from one over the other. Look at all the pins, and make sure they are clean and straight, etc.