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Wondering if anyone here would like to take a crack at making sense of this.
My custom-built XP machine's hard drive bit the dust about a month ago, thrusting me suddenly into the market for a new computer. I had been thinking about getting a laptop anyway, for future travel, so with the hard drive failure it seemed the time had come. I figured on using it at home, connected to my 22" Samsung wide-screen, and then of course being able to take it on the road as well.
So I researched, shopped around, and settled on a Lenovo Ideapad 110. I don't do serious gaming any more, so I felt pretty sure it would meet my need. And you can hardly go wrong at a $219 sale price. It had the HDMI output for my external monitor and included a DVD-RW drive, so I was all set.
It was a nice little machine....and worked as expected for about 2 weeks. Did everything I needed to do, and worked fine hooked up to my Samsung external monitor until the morning a few days ago when it didn't. Long story short, when I finally unplugged the HDMI cable and went back to using the built-in display, everything was fine. No problems. But never again would it work with the HDMI output. I trouble-shooted every which way imaginable to no avail. Called Lenovo's tech support and they did the same - to no avail. They finally gave up and suggested a one-key recovery as a last resort. Did that and was right back to the same place - nothing with HDMI.
So I went back to Best Buy and, though it was past their 15-day return period, they readily agreed to swap it for another computer. They were great about it....a much better experience than I typically had with them a few years back.
I did lots of research and decided on an Ideapad upgrade....to a 300, which came with both an HDMI and VGA output. I figured, given my first experience, that output redundancy was a big plus. Got home, set up my second new computer, plugged in the HDMI cable and couldn't believe my eyes. Nothing - exactly as it was with the unit I returned. But wait - this one has VGA as well. Dug out my VGA cable, hooked it up, and my Samsung 22" came to life. Worked as expected. Have tried HDMI since then with a variety of different settings and nothing. Works with VGA, but not with HDMI.
I have Googled this general problem and quickly learned that I a not alone - tons of similar stories to be found, but with no definitive solution - at least not in the pieces I looked at.
So....I have a solution using VGA and thus have full capability with this new machine. But I'd still like to understand what's going on here technically. On a side note, though, I preferred the video quality on the smaller unit to this new larger one.
Just so you know, my monitor works perfectly when connected with HDMI to another computer (my old home-built brought to life with a different hard drive). Just not with these 2 Lenovo machines.
I'm tempted to suggest (for lack of any other logical possibility) that it has something to do with Windows 10. Wouldn't surprise me, anyway.
Other ideas?
Last edited by CrownVic95; 09-28-2016 at 03:44 PM..
Does the monitor support the resolution that the laptop is outputting? I've seen monitors that wouldn't display anything if they were sent a resolution other than what they could display.
Does the monitor support the resolution that the laptop is outputting? I've seen monitors that wouldn't display anything if they were sent a resolution other than what they could display.
Well, that would seem a simple question with a simple answer. But here are the facts....
The Lenovo with the smaller screen had a 1366x768 resolution
My new Lenovo with it's 17" screen has a 1600x900 resolution
The Samsung 22" is 1920x1080
When using the Samsung and I go into the graphics properties control panel and change the resolution to 1600x900, the image gets bigger and less clear as expected. But when I check the resolution on the monitor's info panel, it is 1920x1080. Similarly, when I then change the resolution to 1366x768, the image gets bigger still and less clear. But the monitor's panel still shows 1920x1080. The screen image has clearly changed to the lower resolution, but the info panel says 1920x1080.
When in "duplicate" mode and a 1600x900 resolution set, the Samsung screen is clearly big and muddy. But it's panel still shows 1920x1080.
That's why I say the answer isn't simple. Visually, the answer appears yes. But I'm at a loss to explain the monitor still saying 1920x1080.
Quick tip. You can get select displays quickly by hitting the notification icon next to the clock and select project. My laptop has hot key for it too, think it's f4.
Assuming you're using a lcd panel and not a very retro CRT, every panel has a native resolution. For yours, sounds like it is 1920x1080. The panel will always run at that resolution. Most monitors will scale lower resolution to fit the panel, but it will look terrible. That's why you should set the graphics output to your panel resolution at the computer. And not at the panel.
Quick tip. You can get select displays quickly by hitting the notification icon next to the clock and select project. My laptop has hot key for it too, think it's f4.
Swapping for another HDMI cable was the first thing I tried - same result. It's not the cable.
I think the select displays function you're talking about is the one that is Windows (key) + P on my laptop. It quick selects single (and which one), clone, or extended.
What's the model of the Samsung monitor?
Is there a mode function on the monitor you have to toggle?
I'm assuming you tried updating/reinstalling the graphics driver (Intel or Radeon)?
Just so you know, my monitor works perfectly when connected with HDMI to another computer (my old home-built brought to life with a different hard drive). Just not with these 2 Lenovo machines.
I'm tempted to suggest (for lack of any other logical possibility) that it has something to do with Windows 10. Wouldn't surprise me, anyway.
Assuming you're using a lcd panel and not a very retro CRT, every panel has a native resolution. For yours, sounds like it is 1920x1080. The panel will always run at that resolution. Most monitors will scale lower resolution to fit the panel, but it will look terrible. That's why you should set the graphics output to your panel resolution at the computer. And not at the panel.
That is not correct. It runs and looks best at that resolution, but I've never used a monitor that wouldn't run at a multitude of other (lower) resolutions if the graphics card is set accordingly. Yes, relatively speaking, they look terrible at those lower resolutions, but they will run them. And they will also show that lower resolution on their panel info function if set accordingly.
Case in point - I just reconnected my Samsung 22" to my old XP machine - via HDMI - and took it through several different resolution changes and checked the monitor panel info function. In each case, it showed the lower, not native, resolution it was receiving from the graphics card. Looked muddy, of course, at the lower resolutions. It always does and that's a given.
You never set the resolution at the monitor, but you can read it there.
What's the model of the Samsung monitor?
Is there a mode function on the monitor you have to toggle?
I'm assuming you tried updating/reinstalling the graphics driver (Intel or Radeon)?
It's a S22E310H.
Do you mean PC/AV mode? Yes, and I've tried them both. Doesn't make any difference on either computer.
You assume right - I did both - didn't make damn bit of difference. I even did a one-key recovery (wiped the hard drive and re-installed the OS to original status) at Lenovo's suggestion on the first laptop, and it, too, was a complete waste of a lot of time.
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