----- Original Message -----
Subject: New monitor/bad
resolution
I hope someone can help on this
(and Hi, Jon Pareles!)
My new flat-panel monitor has
terrible resolution for print. The video and graphics work fine,
but text is difficult to read in Windows and even worse in Xywrite, where
the widescreen seems to pull the letters till they're fat and fuzzy and,
regardless of adjustments in brightness etc., dull.
Some
specs:
I'm using Xywrite III Plus,
version 3.56.
My computer is the horrid Windows
ME (Dell Dimension 1400), which I keep solely for Xywrite.
The monitor I just retired came
with the ME and the screen is 13" wide, 9 1/2" high, and 16" diagonal.
The new monitor is a Dell
1908WFP, 16" wide, 10" high, 19" diagonal.
Windows problems: Except for
most headlines and subheads, the letters themselves aren't quite solid;
sometimes I'll get a thin "t," a word later, a thicker "t." The same
word may contain both wispy and solid letters. Some letters blur,
though they'll be unblurry a line away. The words in the address bar are
harder to read, and when highlighted, in reverse type, still harder. They
and the black-on-gray letters at the top of an email (those that spell
"Edit," "Format," etc.) sometimes come with little halos, and when they
don't, the letters tend to blur, the black of the letter spilling
into the white of the halo, resulting in dark gray
fuzz.
The screen slumps in the
middle, most at the top, where the straight lines and bars make the
sagging more apparent. This occurs on websites, email, and
Xywrite.
Xywrite problems:
The letters are too fat
and blurry. I expect them to be larger, but as I said, the widescreen
seems to bloat them. Also, the command field and about the top 10th of
the screen are darker than the rest.
My previous monitor handled
Xywrite beautifully: I bought a new one only because the tiny
type on Windows was straining my eyes. By
comparison, the old monitor's white-on-black screen was a
relief. Now, the new monitor is a strain in both Win and Xy.
Fiddling while eyes burn:
Both on Xy and Win, I've
fiddled with brightness, contrast, sharpness, pixels, and "phase" (though
the online manual doesn't explain what that is). While some combinations of
those seem to improve Windows' resolution, it's not quite enough. No
combination of adjustments improves the type on Xywrite. (Well, lowering the
pixels is better than expanding them.)
On "Display Properties," I have
the color set at Tru Color (32 bit) and the Screen Area at 1280 by 800
pixels. The online instructions advise 1400 x 900 pixels, but my computer
doesn't get there. Again, I've tried different combos of pixels and
color, but these two are the best.
So what to do? More adjustments?
Are there adjustments within Xywrite I should try? (Please be
aware, if you aren't by now, I'm not tech savvy.) Is the widescreen
and/or LCD the problem, and should I try to find a square and/or
CRT monitor instead? Do they even make 'em square anymore? I purchased
this thing from Staples less than 30 days ago, and so a
return or exchange is
possible.
Any advice is most
welcome.
Thanks!
Leslie
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Release Date: 12/26/2008 1:01 PM