R61 display sharpness / brightness /

[JoesR61]

Specs:
R61
T5250
3gb mem
Thinkpad display 15.4" 1280x800
Intel 965 graphics chipset

I have two partitions on this hard drive with two separate installs of Windows Vista. My C: is Windows Vista Home Edition that came with my computer, and D: is a copy of Windows Vista Ultimate. My problem is my Lenovo preloaded Vista's display is extremely sharp and vivid, superior to any other notebook I have ever used. However, when I boot into my Ultimate copy, the screen seems fuzzy and not as vibrant. Its barely noticeable, but I use my computer a lot so it bothers me. My dad just got a new T61 with a 14.1 display and Vista Business, and it is similar to my Ultimate install, fuzzy and dull. I was planning on deleting my Lenovo partition but I do not want to lose this screen clarity. Anyone know what the difference could be? Both installs have fully updated drivers, same settings, etc. Is there some sort of ThinkVantage software thats improving screen brightness? Thanks in advance.

[Harryc]

You mention screen fuzziness and then at the end of your post you mention brightness. Which is it that is a problem? If screen resolution is incorrectly set in display properties, that would make your world fuzzy. If you are running an aggressive power saving scheme in power management, that would dim the display. It would also dim automatically on battery. Check your power management settings.

[JoesR61]

Thanks for the reply. Screen resolution is set properly and exactly the same on both installs, and both are set to Maximum Performance. I had the computer plugged in on both copies of Vista. It is a clarity issue, and perhaps "brightness" is not the correct word, "vivid" and "vibrant" describe the sharper version.

[gator]

Do you have cleartype turned on in the OS that you installed?

[JoesR61]

I doubt it, that sounds like it could be the problem.. where can I find "cleartype" settings?

[goofyGAguy]

Here's a nifty little online ClearType tuner:


http://www.microsoft.com/typography/cle ... Step1.aspx

[JoesR61]

It says ClearType can only be used with Windows XP.. thanks though, that was a good idea.. any other ideas?

[JoesR61]

Okay, so I wanted to test this ClearType thing out so I formatted my Ultimate partition and installed a copy of Windows XP Pro. I downloaded that ClearType wizard, and this is definitely the problem. When I have ClearType OFF, the screen looks crystal clear and beautiful. With ClearType ON, the text is blurred and fuzzy! Is there any way to manually disable ClearType in Vista (even though it says ClearType is XP feature only)?

[JoesR61]

I've answered my own question. Heres a great link if anyone has the same problem.

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows- ... ows-vista/

Thanks for the help.

[gator]

Good to hear that it worked out.

[drjohn]

Okay, so I wanted to test this ClearType thing out so I formatted my Ultimate partition and installed a copy of Windows XP Pro. I downloaded that ClearType wizard, and this is definitely the problem. When I have ClearType OFF, the screen looks crystal clear and beautiful. With ClearType ON, the text is blurred and fuzzy! Is there any way to manually disable ClearType in Vista (even though it says ClearType is XP feature only)?

After browsing the earlier posts in this thread I reenabled ClearType on my R61 running WinXP and was again convinced that even when you fine-tune ClearType, turning it off produces a better result--crystal clear characters, if slightly jaggedy. And so the clarity that results in not using ClearType trumps any smoothing that CT adds.