Re: Laptop External Monitor ... can't quite get it
Harry Truman wrote:
> Posting this for a friend so I hope I am giving you ample information
> to help solve the problem. He is attempting to install an 'external
> monitor.'
>
> He has a Gateway MX3210 Laptop running XP (Home Edition V. 2002,
> Service Pack 2). The external 'monitor' he wants to use is a Sony Kdl
> 26M4000 (I guess it is really a TV monitor.)
>
> He has a cable connected, and in a menu shown on the Sony's screen, he
> selects " PC-PIP. In Device Manager, the default monitor is listed as
> VIA/536 Unichrome Pro IGP (I believe this to be his laptop's monitor).
> The monitor listed for Plug & Play is the same VIA/536 ...
>
> When we restart the laptop, when the first Windows logo screen comes
> up, THAT shows on the 'external monitor.' But when the laptop fully
> boots, he gets 'No Signal' on the external 'monitor.'
>
> What goes, and what do we need to do to get this puppy going? Happy
> to provide any further info you need to help my friend (but can't be
> back before next Thursday -- limited library computer time).
>
> Christopher
>
http://www.docs.sony.com/release/KDL26M4000.pdf
Gateway's description of what to do is here. They claim it
does simultaneous output to laptop and external monitor, so
the VGA should not need the pressing of F4.
MX3210 user guide
"Viewing the display on a projector or monitor" PDF page 55
http://support.gateway.com/s/Mobile/Q106/MagicLC/8511264.pdf
The LCD TV supports a VGA mode close to native resolution
(1360x768), and the reason the VGA spec is not 1366x768
(the actual number of pixels on the screen), is GPUs tend
to have multiples of 8 pixels horizontally (and 2 lines
vertically). The 8 pixels horizontally pays homage to
the very earliest displays, where a character generator
was used to put text on the screen. There are some devices
now that break with the tradition, allowing pixel-exact
resolution selection, but the LCD TV designers are right
not to depend on that. When the computer sends 1360x768,
the TV has the choice of resampling to put the picture on
the screen (and some TVs are that stupid, and try to
do that). The alternative, is to use a black border for
the 6 uncontrolled pixels. If the resampling method is used,
sometimes a Moire pattern is observed.
Now, the bad news, is it is going to be difficult to get
even 1360x768 from a laptop GPU. The hardware is willing,
but typically the Windows drivers are weak. The Powerstrip
program from Entechtaiwan, can be used with desktop ATI and
Nvidia video cards, to obtain resolutions like that. But the
FAQ page on the Entechtaiwan.com site, says it is too
hard for them to support laptop GPUs. Only the VIA
driver writers can easily offer you that setting.
The MX3210 video driver from the Gateway site, is D001-004-008.exe,
and it unzips to C:\cabs. From an INF file in the resulting
folder, it says this for the graphics.
VIA/S3G UniChrome Pro IGP
I found a posting that says the MX3210 uses VN800 chipset.
I wasn't able to find any notes about supported resolutions.
If I look for Linux drivers for VN800 on viaarena.com, this
is the set of resolutions supported in Linux. I wish
Windows offered these options... They've even mentioned
the three possible options for a 1366x768 LCD TV.
640x480 8, 16, 24 60,75,85,100
720x480 8, 16, 24 60
720x576 8, 16, 24 60
800x480 8, 16, 24 60
800x600 8, 16, 24 60,75,85,100
848x480 8, 16, 24 60
856x480 8, 16, 24 60
960x600 8, 16, 24 60
1024x512 8, 16, 24 60
1000x600 8, 16, 24 60
1024x768 8, 16, 24 60,75,85,100
1088x612 8, 16, 24 60
1152x720 8, 16, 24 60
1152x864 8, 16, 24 85
1200x720 8, 16, 24 60
1280x600 8, 16, 24 60
*1280x720 8, 16, 24 60
1280x768 8, 16, 24 60
1280x800 8, 16, 24 60
1280x960 8, 16, 24 60
1280x1024 8, 16, 24 60,75,85
1360x768 8, 16, 24 60
1366x768 8, 16, 24 60
1368x768 8, 16, 24 60
1400x1050 8, 16, 24 60
1440x900 8, 16, 24 60
1440x1050 8, 16, 24 60
1600x900 8, 16, 24 60
1600x1200 8, 16, 24 60
1600x1024 8, 16, 24 60
1792x1344 8, 16, 24 60
1856x1392 8, 16, 24 60
*1920x1080 8, 16, 24 60
*1920x1200 8, 16, 24 60
*1920x1440 8, 16, 24 60
2048x1536 8, 16, 24 60
So to start, try something like 800x600 at 60Hz, to get
the thing going. The Display control panel, if in dual
view mode, is unlikely to offer the correct resolution
option, and maybe something around 1280 by X will be
offered as the highest resolution.
Paul