Thinkpads Forum

Well another problem has come up.
I use a docking station with 2 external monitors hooked up. I have the ATI graphics.

The VGA monitor is not quite as sharp as it was when hooked up to the T61.
With my T61, I could never tell which monitor was which (DVI and VGA).
With the T400, the text looks a little blurry on the VGA monitor

Anyone else notice this? I am wondering if this is something I should complain about to Lenovo. Or is it maybe that NVIDIA just gives a sharper VGA than ATI?

kingweb,

When you cold boot the T400 docked, does anything come up on the DVI monitor?

My T400 doesn't until the laptop is logged into vista and then it "sees" it's in a dock. My T61 in the same dock boots normally (ie you can see the bios screen on the DVI monitor)

Thanks.

The first thing to try is the "auto adjust" button on your monitor. That usually works well, but if the image still looks fuzzy, manually adjust the phase of the monitor. For Dell monitors, "Phase" can be found within the "Display Settings" menu.

I have Dual Samsung 245BW's. One is hooked to the VGA and the other to the DVI.

I did already try the Auto Adjust button. Didn't help much.

However, after my original post, I realized that I was using the windows genric monitor driver, so I installed Samsung's driver, but there was little or no difference.
I manually adjusted the sharpness setting slightly, and it looks maybe a little better.

pshifrin,
When I boot up, I see the booting on the VGA monitor and/or the laptop screen. But never on the DVI screen.

kingweb wrote:I did already try the Auto Adjust button. Didn't help much.

Trying displaying something different on the screen while pressing the Auto Adjust button. I've noticed that at least for Dell LCD monitors, it can make a huge difference whether the monitor is showing a, for example, text document or web browser or Windows folder or photo or whatever. And if pressing the button once doesn't solve the problem, try again, because the process is a little stochastic.

When I first got my Dell 2001FP and Samsung 204B, it took me over an hour to optimize the settings. DVI has the advantage that such fiddling around isn't necessary. In fact, when I hook up a Dell monitor via DVI, the "audo adjust" feature automatically disappears from the menu.

I just ran some tests. I tried using integrated and descrete, but no change. I tried hooking the vga monitor directly to the computer, and same thing.
Then I changed the VGA cable, and it does look better.

What puzzles me though it that with the T61, it was perfect. As soon as I changed, it started.

Also, I am in my office now. I have the extact same setup in my house too. Docking station and 2 samsung monitors. Also at home it is a little blurry. So I doubt that suddenly my cables both went bad.

Anyway, my partner had his identical T400 delivered today, so I will try it with his, and see how it looks. I will update this thread.

kingweb, thanks for the clarification. It's not just mine then. It SHOULD display on the DVI but doesn't. The T6x and T4x do so i'm assuming it's a bug in the newest model that will be addressed in a bios update.

Not sure if it is a bug. But ever since I used dual external monitors and a dock, boot up is always a different surprise each time. Sometimes the laptop monitor comes on, sometimes not, etc.

Because there is no boot to DVI option in the BIOS, I had to switch my external LCD monitor to VGA. By selecting VGA as the boot display device, the start-up splash screen and log-in screen show up on my external monitor (have not yet tried connecting DVI cable and booting with lid open as right now external monitor is on a stand over the dock).

At any rate, the issue I have is that, when docked, the computer switches from discrete to integrated graphics (which is the exact opposite of what one would want when docked and, therefore, on AC power). When I try to switch to high performance, I receive a message that high-performance graphics cannot be enabled until I disconnect the external display. When I undock and boot, I'm back to discrete graphics.

Mon dieu--what gives here? Is this because my connection to the external monitor is VGA? Can we expect a BIOS update that allows DVI as the boot display device--like has existed for over a year for the T6x! Will that fix all or any of these problems? In the meantime, any recommendations appreciated. Thanks. lponz7

lponz

Lenovo have issue with their VGA quality

my old X61t is with Monster VGA cable, still blurry

dont tell me to auto adjust, I know that.

if T400 is like this, ***removed***, I got to get a dock to use DVI


mod edit: subverted profanity removed.   we have language filters for a reason.

My T400 with Advanced Mini Dock with a 1280x1024 analog monitor is crystal clear.

It would be foolish to take the report of one person's experience and believe it affects all units made. The OP may have a faulty system. Has the display resolution been double-checked that it's the correct resolution for the screen?

as you said,

It would be foolish to take the report of one person's experience and believe it affects all units made

you use them fine at 1280x1024 doesnt mean any thing~

my X61t's VGA work great at 1280x1024 even with the low end VGA cable, but the picture quality just drop dramaticly even with Monster Gold plated VGA cable once you boost the resolution above that point.

tetete wrote:you use them fine at 1280x1024 doesnt mean any thing~

my X61t's VGA work great at 1280x1024 even with the low end VGA cable, but the picture quality just drop dramaticly even with Monster Gold plated VGA cable once you boost the resolution above that point.

I respectfully disagree with your first point.

Since (a) the OP did not mention any resolution, (b) you failed to mention that 1280x1024 does work fine with your x61, and (c) you've only encountered trouble at higher than 1280x1024; the casual reader of this thread would come away with the opinion that nothing worked well through the analog display port.

Therefore, my post added information and did mean something.

Cheers.

say you have a wirless Network card

only work with in one meter of the air point, but usually all the card is ok with at least 10 meters

I say, this card have a recetion issue, the quality is bad, can I please?

VGA is designed to work with much higher resolution, if it only work under 1280x1024, and the problem is on the mechine side, why I can't say it have a issue?

I used to have T42 T60 T61P

I have X61t now, all of them are blurry above 1280x1024. If u find any thinkpad VGA quality is clear at 1680x1050, please let me know, since I guess the only hope may be X300