fonts all blurry...double vision...

blackjaw · Member Joined: 10 Jul 2005 Posts: 112

im not sure if this is a mac mini problem or a problem with my lcd (westinghouse 17in widescreen lcd) but heres whats going on...

bought both the monitor and mini on saturday, upon getting everything set up i noticed that all my fonts have a blur to them and a 'ghost' or double image behind it making it even more blurry

ive tried playing with the resolutions and font smoother, but nothing helps

right now im using a vga cord to hook the monitor up, but i just ordered a dvi-d cord, so perhaps that will help?

ive also tried hooking up my pc to the lcd, but with similiar (if not less aparent) results and ive hooked my mini up to my old crt from which i got sharp clean fonts

im not sure what the problem could be here...is it the 'widescreen' messing things up, the crap vga cord, my resolution, or just a dud of an lcd?

any help is welcome...thanks!

curt · Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2005 11:37 pm Post subject:

I would try using Tinker Tool. Your display may have a hard time with the font smoothing Apple uses. Go to font smoothing in Tinker Tool and raise the number to like 32. Log out and back in. If the fonts still look bad there's something wrong with your display.

http://www.bresink.de/osx/TinkerTool.html

Edit - The DVI cord may help.
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iMav · Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2005 11:46 pm Post subject:

Also make sure you are running at the monitor's native resolution.
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curt · Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2005 11:47 pm Post subject:

blackjaw · Member Joined: 10 Jul 2005 Posts: 112

eh, kinda sucks...i played with tinkertool and everythign is still distorted and blurry

and the manual says the native resolution is 1280x768 for a "crisp and clear" display, the resolution that im running at

i also tried adjusting 'phase' to fix bluriness, per the manuals instructions, but to no avail

im not really sure what it could be, i guess i will just wait till later in the week when my dvi-d cord arrives, and if that doesnt help the problem, i will just take this back and get another lcd

i thought this lcd would be optimized for macs and that it wouldnt give me a problem, guess i was wrong

any other suggestions?

Susurrus · Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2005 8:20 am Post subject:

You don't actually need TinkerTool to adjust the font smoothing. There is an option for it in the SysPrefs. If you're cool and have Tiger(I don't) you could probably just search for "font smoothing" in the search window the the SysPrefs.
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blackjaw · Member Joined: 10 Jul 2005 Posts: 112

blackjaw · Member Joined: 10 Jul 2005 Posts: 112

i just set font smoothing to strong and it fixed some of the blurring/double image (not all of it, its still rather annoying and not 'crisp')...but bold fonts are now rather smooshed together...there has to be a better way

devo · Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2005 9:44 am Post subject:

This doesn't sound like a software issue. I would return the display to the store and get a refund or exchange. You just bought the display on Saturday!

blackjaw · Member Joined: 10 Jul 2005 Posts: 112

yeah, im definetly taking it back maybe tommorow

i dont know if i should get the same display (17inch widescreen westinghouse) or try a regular lcd (no widescreen)

im also contemplating waiting on those dang dvi-d cords to get here so i can test those out (just in case its just from the crappy vga cords)

bah, this is the suck...i cant find anyone anywhere on the web with a similiar problem

Susurrus · Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2005 8:29 pm Post subject:

blackjaw · Member Joined: 10 Jul 2005 Posts: 112

yeah, it is teh suck..haha

im taking it back tommorow to best buy...it might be kinda hard to find another widescreen lcd there in the same price range (and i liked the white/silver...matched my mini and keyboard/mouse so well) Sad

Susurrus · Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2005 8:58 pm Post subject:

Why don't you just get yours replaced? I'm sure it was just a defective unit. Normally LCDs that, when they're working, don't actually work don't last long in today's brutal capitalist society.
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1.42Ghz PPC Mac Mini, 1Gb RAM, 1st Gen
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2GB Black iPod Nano

blackjaw · Member Joined: 10 Jul 2005 Posts: 112

yeah, i might just do that, i love the widescreen and the dvi option (which im going to hit up as soon as that dang cable comes)

i really liked the display unit they had hooked up to the mac at best buy, i didnt see this problem there, and i havent found it online anywhere on any forums, so i guess i mightve just gotten a dud

curt · Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2005 10:44 pm Post subject:

Sorry Tinker Tool didn't work out for ya! I was thinking you didn't like font smoothing. It sounds like you got a bad display. Crying or Very sad

I don't know much about Westinghouse displays. If you take it back look at some Samsung, LG, Sony, and ViewSonic displays. These brands will probably serve you better over the long run and have a sharper picture.
_________________
1.42GHz Mac mini
1.66GHz Intel Mac mini
2.0GHz 2009 Mac mini
46" Sony LCD
50" Sony KDS-50A2000
EyeTV 250 Plus
My Setup


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