Resolution causing monitor display to get smaller

[tchcmp45]

I have a Dell Inspiron 8100 laptop. When I change the display resolution to anything less than 1400 x 1050, the viewable space gets smaller. Connected to that problem, I think, is the fact that when my daughter plays a computer game, the game displays in less than full size on the monitor. On any other laptop, the game fills the viewable space. What's going on?

 

[felixc]

Unlike CRTs, the TFT controllers on laptops are using hardware to stretch the image when the resolution is smaller than the native resolution of the screen. This is because the screen timings are fixed for a given panel.The stretching capabilities differ from controller to controller, and also differ depending on the native resolution of the screen. The stretching hardware does not work for every resolution, and the BIOS may have just not implemented the correct register settings for your combination of resolutions. There's not much that you can do, except to check if there's a more recent video BIOS that you can flash into your computer (hoping that they have improved that aspect) or to try executing the game at a different resolution, where the hardware stretching will work. Check in your BIOS setup if there is any parameter that you can set to enable hardware stretching. As the stretching distorts the pixels, some people will prefer to disable it and let the screen stay smaller but more precise.

 

[kcrunchone]

hey felix
may be you can help me...i installed some drivers in an old dell cpi...i installed what dell said was the latest drivers and it took the 1024x768 down to 800x600 and it has not been able to change even after i installed the drivers that were on the macine prior to me changing it...would you know what happened??? or why??

 

[felixc]

Is the smaller window centered on your screen? Or is it say in the upper left?

I wonder if there are several different Dell laptops with a similar name, but with a different screen resolution option, and that you happened to load a BIOS made for a smaller screen. TFT BIOSes must send fixed timing parameters to the LCD.

This is a major problem with Notebooks, or with branded PCs. No way to know what's inside, no way to get help when the system gets old. Planned obsolescence.