Screen Resolution

[Canid]

I just bought a new monitor and the recommended screen resolution is
1680x1050
This is not on the list when I try to change the resolution.
I have a "ATI 3D Rage Pro AGP 2X (GT-C2U2)" graphics card, what can I
do about this problem?

 

[The Kat]

I just bought a new monitor and the recommended screen resolution is
1680x1050
This is not on the list when I try to change the resolution.
I have a "ATI 3D Rage Pro AGP 2X (GT-C2U2)" graphics card, what can I
do about this problem?

Run the CD that came with the display.



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[Barry Watzman]

You are probably out of luck. If your video system is based on a "Rage
Pro" chip, it's ANCIENT, truly ancient (late 1990's?), and it probably
can't support a resolution anywhere near that high.

 

[HH]

I agree with the poster that says it's time to upgrade your video card. The
Rage Pro is about 5 generations back. Time for a new card.

HH

 

[Canid]

I'd rather not replace this one if I don't have to. I don't use
programs that require fancy 3D graphics cards.
I have a graphics tablet for use with Photoshop, everything displays
properly.
The screen resolution thing is my only problem, because it messes up
the HxW ratio on the screen, and something I draw that looks normal to
me on the screen will look slightly squished everywhere else, and visa
versa.
I want to take advantage of the full width of the new screen, so I need
to correct this.

 

[Barry Watzman]

I understand the principle of your post, but that card is really, really
ancient, I think it's from the 1990's. In this case, you really should
replace the card (and not just because of the resolution). Look, you
can buy a used 32 or 64 megabyte ATI Radeon 7500 or something like that
for probabaly $10 to $20 and you will have a somewhat modern card, with
DVI and analog dual outputs, that has a chance of supporting your new
modern display. To continue using a card THAT old is nuts.

 

[Canid]

I'd consider it if it would make a real difference.
I have no intention of hooking up our computer as a television/dvd
player and I'm not a gamer. I browse the net and paint in photoshop.
Would updating my graphics card make a difference to those activities?

Regarding the other option though, would downloading this diver solve
my problem?
https://support.ati.com/ics/support/KBAnswer.asp?questionID=1298

Thank-you everyone for your continuing help here.

 

[Benjamin Gawert]

* Barry Watzman:

I understand the principle of your post, but that card is really, really
ancient, I think it's from the 1990's.

Of course it's not (there was not even PCI in 1990, forget about AGP or
any consumer gfx cards with 3D capabilities like the Rage Pro). It's
"only" around 9 years old (the Rage Pro is from 1997)...

Benjamin

 

[Benjamin Gawert]

* Canid:

I just bought a new monitor and the recommended screen resolution is
1680x1050
This is not on the list when I try to change the resolution.
I have a "ATI 3D Rage Pro AGP 2X (GT-C2U2)" graphics card, what can I
do about this problem?

Scrap the card. Yes, really. The Rage Pro of course is not from 1990 but
it was already crap when it came out 1997. The drivers are awful and of
course don't know shit about widescreen resolutions like 1680x1050.
Besides that, these cards are from an aera where there was no DVI, so
the only way to connect a modern display is the analog VGA connector
which usually results in a poorer image quality.

I understand that this methusalem was enough for your needs but it's
really time to let it go and move on. A much better GF2MX card can be
had for a few bucks. These cards are not only much faster, they often
have DVI and they also support the 1680x1050 and other widescreen
resolutions...

Benjamin

 

[The Kat]

Scrap the card. Yes, really. The Rage Pro of course is not from 1990 but
it was already crap when it came out 1997. The drivers are awful and of
course don't know shit about widescreen resolutions like 1680x1050.
Besides that, these cards are from an aera where there was no DVI, so
the only way to connect a modern display is the analog VGA connector
which usually results in a poorer image quality.

I have a Radeon AIW 9600, and IT 'didn't know' about widescreen resolutions,
but it worked fine with the drivers included with my new wide-screen LCD.

And I'm using the VGA connection, because I'm using a KVM switch, and it
doesn't have DVI either. But the display is PERFECT, I can't believe it
would be any better if I used the DVI.

These cards are not only much faster,

Faster in what?



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[Benjamin Gawert]

* The Kat:

I have a Radeon AIW 9600, and IT 'didn't know' about widescreen resolutions,
but it worked fine with the drivers included with my new wide-screen LCD.

Wrong. Of course your card "did know" about widescreen resolutions. But
the drivers from ATI and also Nvidia only list them when the gfx(!)
driver recognizes a widescreen display...

BTW: there are no "monitor drivers", period. The thing that usually is
incorrectly called "monitor driver" is just a plain text file that tells
the gfx drivers what resolutions and refresh rates the monitor supports.
That's all.

Faster in what?

Of course in 3D, but also in 2D operations...

Benjamin

 

[The Kat]

Wrong. Of course your card "did know" about widescreen resolutions. But
the drivers from ATI and also Nvidia only list them when the gfx(!)
driver recognizes a widescreen display...

The card DIDN'T know, the drivers that came WITH the display did.

The card could HANDLE the new resolution,
but the ATI drivers didn't offer it

BTW: there are no "monitor drivers", period. The thing that usually is
incorrectly called "monitor driver" is just a plain text file that tells
the gfx drivers what resolutions and refresh rates the monitor supports.
That's all.

Yes, an .inf file. and the one with the display offered resolutions
the ATI setup didn't, and doesn't.

Of course in 3D, but also in 2D operations...

The person who started this thread said he doesn't play 3D games,
and 2D performance isn't going to gain much, if anything, when
putting a new video card into an older system.




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[Barry Watzman]

1990's would include cards from 1990 to 1999, by which time (1999) I
think that the Rage Pro had been discontinued.

 

[Barry Watzman]

Modern cards and displays don't use "drivers" (which as someone
correctly noted, are not drivers at all).

The "modern" system is to use a DVI interface, which includes a two-way
DATA channel between the video card and the monitor called the DDC
(display data channel). On startup, the monitor and the video card
"talk" to each other, and the monitor tells the video card what
resolutions and refresh rates it supports.

Unfortunately, the analog VGA interface has no such capability.

 

[Benjamin Gawert]

* Barry Watzman:

1990's would include cards from 1990 to 1999

Ok, I now see how it was meant. In this term you're right of course...

Benjamin

 

[Benjamin Gawert]

* The Kat:

The card DIDN'T know, the drivers that came WITH the display did.

There are no monitor drivers. Period.

The card could HANDLE the new resolution,
but the ATI drivers didn't offer it

The ATI drivers of course CAN handle it. But it does not list wide
screen resolutions when it doesn't detect a widescreen monitor. The
driver usually gets this information told by the monitor over the DDC
channel, and as soon as the monitor tells the ATI driver all resolutions
it supports then they are available in the display properties...

I happen to have a display with 1680x1050 myself (Dell 2005FPW), and I
have connected dozens of newer and older cards which includes Radeon
9700, 9600, 9200, 9000, 8500, 7500, 7300 and 7000. ALL of them worked
fine in 1680x1050 WITHOUT any "monitor driver", because the ATI drivers
DO support widescreen resolution out of the box...

Yes, an .inf file. and the one with the display offered resolutions
the ATI setup didn't, and doesn't.

Again, that's wrong. The Catalyst drivers do know about widescreen
resolutions for ages (if it wouldn't know them then it simply wouldn't
be able to display these resolution, inf file or not). The inf file is
only necessary when the driver can't get the monitor information over
the DDC channel for some reason (i.e. crappy monitor that doesn't
provide correct DDC informations, some hardware problem with video
cable/gfx card, some software problem like incorrectly deinstalled
drivers etc). In this case the ATI drivers relies on the monitor inf
file to decide which resolutions the monitor supports and which to
offer. The inf file does NOT (and can not!) add new resolutions to the
driver.

BTW: this question ("why are no widescreen modes listed in the display
properties") has been asked dozens of times in the past, and also has
been explained often enough, too. It would have have taken just a few
seconds to do a search with groups.google.com for you to find out about
how this really works...

The person who started this thread said he doesn't play 3D games,
and 2D performance isn't going to gain much, if anything, when
putting a new video card into an older system.

Since 2D functions are almost completely done by the GPU for almost 10
years now the amount of performance increase in 2D is not dependend on
how fast the system is...

Benjamin

 

[Benjamin Gawert]

* Barry Watzman:

The "modern" system is to use a DVI interface, which includes a two-way
DATA channel between the video card and the monitor called the DDC
(display data channel). On startup, the monitor and the video card
"talk" to each other, and the monitor tells the video card what
resolutions and refresh rates it supports.
Right...

Unfortunately, the analog VGA interface has no such capability.

Of course it has. DDC exists also on VGA and is supported by all gfx
cards at least since the Matrox Millenium PCI, and by most better CRTs
for almost 10 years now...

Benjamin

 

[Thomas]

I just bought a new monitor and the recommended screen resolution is
1680x1050
This is not on the list when I try to change the resolution.
I have a "ATI 3D Rage Pro AGP 2X (GT-C2U2)" graphics card, what can I
do about this problem?

Latest driver for the Rage Pro:
https://support.ati.com/ics/support/KBAnswer.asp?questionID=1298

If that doesn't work, try to make a 'custom resolution' with a program like
'Powerstrip':
http://entechtaiwan.net/util/ps.shtm

Good luck!

 

[Barry Watzman]

Ok, on which of the 15 pins is the DDC implemented?

[you can get a list of the VGA connector pinout here:
http://www.interfacebus.com/Design_VGA_PinOuts.html]

There are 4 bits for "monitor ID", but the standard interface doesn't
have a DDC communication channel as far as I know.

 

[Benjamin Gawert]

* Barry Watzman:

Ok, on which of the 15 pins is the DDC implemented?

[you can get a list of the VGA connector pinout here:
http://www.interfacebus.com/Design_VGA_PinOuts.html]

This listing is way outdated, it only lists the pinout of the original
IBM VGA adapter almost 20 years ago...

Here is a more up2date link:
<http://www.technick.net/public/code/cp_dpage.php?aiocp_dp=pinconvid_vga_vesa_ddc>
This is what all somewhat newer gfx cards (i.e. most VESA Localbus and
MCA cards, all PCI/AGP/PCIe gfx cards) use...

But it also would have been enough if you'd at least read the page you
reffered to because on the bottom it refers to SVGA with what also DDC
has been introduced...

There are 4 bits for "monitor ID", but the standard interface doesn't
have a DDC communication channel as far as I know.

It does.

BTW: would you please STOP SENDING EMAIL COPIES of your usenet postings?
Discussion starts here and takes place here and not by mail. Sending
email copies is regarded as very rude behavior, especially when there is
absolutely no reason to do so. So please stop doing that. Thanks!

Benjamin