W500 Display Driver

[FrankK-F]

For now I am running my new W500 box via WXPP-SP3. My Display Driver is the Lenovo provided upgrade ... ATI Mobility FireGL V5700 ver 8.550.0.0 dated 10/10/2008. I am running also Autodesk Inventor-2010 (Solid Model Design) and PS CS4.

My setup includes an external 2560x1600 DELL monitor via DisplayPort. In Display Properties, my internal monitor is "primary" ... and I cannot change this ... but I want the external monitor as primary. Whereas I calibrated both monitors, the external is far superior to the interior; I got it for CAD as well as Photoshop and Video editing.

How do I change the "primary" display designation? Is (are) there other drivers that are compatible .. better?

[FrankK-F]

I think I found the answers to my questions.

In Catalyst Control Center, Display Manager .. I discovered that one can change the "primary" display designation "1" (for now I have 2 displays ... the internal plus the external).

In Display Properties, Settings, Advanced, Color Management ... on can select the ICI file to set the display's color response. When I calibrate (via Colorvision SPYDER) the primary display "1", and save that profile to e.g., "DELL 3008-090411.ICI"... I can then invoke that file as my working profile (it is good to save that file outside the C-partition/Windows, else lose it potentially at the next OpSys hickup).

Now display "2", the internal display, will run either in its native 'default mode' or under the DELL profile cited above. Thus Photoshop should be run on display "1" for controlled color.

When the TP is away from the office, and if the internal monitor's color rendition is important, I have calibrated the internal monitor as well, with its unique file name. That ICI file can then be invoked in Display Properties. That is the routine that followed with my A31p ... before I got a video card for the dock .. and was running stably on 2 separate display drivers, or so it seems to me.

NOTE: the calibration HW/SW set that I have was targeted at professional imaging work primarily for CRTs .. but also covers LCDs. The SW points to recalibration periodically. It seems to me that with CRTs and drifting phosphors, frequent recalibration was necessary to maintain the desired color response. With LCDs, however, it seems that color drift is either non-existent or very gradual.

Your comments are welcome ... and I hope that this may be helpful to fellow photo enthusiasts.

The question about alternate drivers is still before us.