[ltp] X60 produces fuzzy VGA output in high resolutions - will Ultrabase help?

[Richard Neill]

Shot (Piotr Szotkowski) wrote:
> I’m connecting my X60 to an external LCD, and the higher the resolution 
> the image gets fuzzier – if I stay at a resolution with a 75 Hz refresh 
> rate the quality is quite good, but if I go all the way to 1680×1050 px 
> the refresh rate drops to 60 Hz (or maybe 50 Hz, I can’t check at the 
> moment) and my external screen looks a bit fuzzy, much worse than the 
> internal 1024×768 px screen. Changing the clock phase setting on my LCD 
> makes this a bit more bearable, but not much.

Are you sure you're running at the right resolution?

LCDs only have one correct resolution at which they work - anything else 
will look horrid. But often external monitors will scale it for you. The 
monitor should have a menu option to display exactly how it is being 
driven.

If you can't get the resolution from the thinkpad's chipset, one trick 
is to drop the colours from 24-bit to 16-bit, or turn off 3d 
acceleration (this gives you more free video-RAM for the higher res 
display). However, that shouldn't be needed for a modern machine like 
the X60.

You might also check your cable setup - if you see ghosting (typically, 
edges appear to "echo" faintly a few cm to the right) - you need to use 
a better VGA cable. Importantly, you should only use 1 VGA lead, and 
never join them, as you get reflections from the impedance mismatch at 
the connectors.

You might also consider a USB-DVI adapter.

As for the ultrabase, it won't help you. The VGA part of the ultrabase 
is just a pass-through port.

Lastly, the refresh rate for an LCD shouldn't matter too much. (Unless 
you're a gamer and really care about pixel response times). Refresh-rate 
mattered with CRTs to reduce flicker, but LCDs don't flicker anyway.

Best wishes,

Richard