The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Switching to data projector changes notebook screen resolution

    Discussion in 'HP' started by Master of Disaster, Apr 2, 2008.

  1. Master of Disaster

    Master of Disaster Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    2
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Hi all,

    I've got a strange problem with my Compaq nc6400. The situation is as follows:
    • I plug in a external data projector through the parallel port of my notebook.
    • I switch to the external "screen" (the data projector) by pressing Fn+F4.
    • Notebook screen resolution changes from 1280x800 to 800x600 (projector resolution is 1024x768).
    • I switch back to my primary screen, the notebook screen. Its resolution changes back to 1280x800 - but desktop items are arranged differently, window sizes have suffered from the change to 800x600, etc.
    Any ideas how to solve this issue?

    Thanks in advance!
    - Daniel
     
    Master of Disaster, Apr 2, 2008
    #1
  2. schoko

    schoko Custom User Title

    Reputations:
    405
    Messages:
    1,090
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    56
    you are cloning the primary screen onto the projector. since your screen and the projector have two different resolutions, only one resolution can be used for both. in all cases it´s the one of the projector, since it can´t display the high res of a lcd screen.

    your option is to extend the primary monitor onto the second screen, so both "displays" would run in it´s native resolution. you can move a program from one screen to the other, but it will of course be displayed in different resolutions on either "display".
     
    schoko, Apr 2, 2008
    #2
  3. Master of Disaster

    Master of Disaster Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    2
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    thanks for your response! however, the situation as you describe it is not completely correct. strangely, the notebook screen resolution does not change to the one of the projector (1024x768), but to a third one (800x600). (but even changing to 1024x768 would be annoying, and i have never experienced this problem with any other notebook/projector combination...)

    any other hints?
     
    Master of Disaster, Apr 7, 2008
    #3
  4. Lithus

    Lithus NBR Janitor

    Reputations:
    5,504
    Messages:
    9,788
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    205
    It's just the way your driver is configured. Since the projector has a lower resolution, it can't display 1280x800 so the driver defaults the resolution to 800x600.

    I don't see the big problem here. Just adjust it to the proper resolution when you connect it to the projector and change it back when you're done.
     
    Lithus, Apr 7, 2008
    #4
  5. schoko

    schoko Custom User Title

    Reputations:
    405
    Messages:
    1,090
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    56
    hmm, the data projector and the notebook have to use a common resolution, and what you experience is exactly that behaviour.

    have you tried extending your desktop ?
     
    schoko, Apr 7, 2008
    #5