Something wrong with my resolution or something else?

[PriideHD]

I've just finished building my PC and the resolution is weird. It doesn't even look HD although my monitor does support 1080p. For example, I can see pixels on the uTorrent icon on my taskbar and everything just really isn't that clear e.g. on Steam. I downloaded the program "Speccy" and it says my current resolution is 1536x864 but when I go to the control panel to adjust the screen resolution, it is already 1920x1080. I have also installed the latest graphics card drivers from the AMD website.

 

[nukemaster]

What does Windows see for your resolution?

Control Panel -> Hardware and Sound -> Display - Adjust Screen Resolution.

I have seen some strange things with overscan(normally when HDMI is used), but not to this extent.

 

[PriideHD]

What does Windows see for your resolution?

Control Panel -> Hardware and Sound -> Display - Adjust Screen Resolution.

I have seen some strange things with overscan(normally when HDMI is used), but not to this extent.

It says it's 1920x1080 (recommended).

 

[nukemaster]

Very strange.

How is the screen connected? What model of monitor is it anyway?

Very large 1920 x 1080 screens would have larger more noticeable pixels, but what you describe sounds like it is much worse. Are the pixels large or is it just blurry.

 

[PriideHD]

I'm using a HDMI cable to connect my graphics card to my monitor. I've also tried a different HDMI cable but it yielded the same results. I don't know the exact model (I'll find it out soon) but it's a Logik one that's 24".

Well, the pixels aren't large so I guess it's just blurry.

 

[nukemaster]

If you have DVI or even VGA, can you try that.

I want to rule out scaling issues that can happen with HDMI.

With HDMI being first made for TV's some cards have issues of overscaling or underscaling. normally this is very easy to fix in the AMD/Nvidia software, but sometimes the screen it self is doing the scaling.

If you think the screen is doing this then you have to look for overscan settings on your monitor(in the menu). As an example BenQ screens have it under Menu -> Picture Advanced - > Overscan. With it on things will stretch past the screen and look less sharp then when you adjust in the video card drivers it will be the right size but fuzzy.

At 24inch you pixels are still plenty small and should not be easy to see unless you are VERY close.

 

[PriideHD]

Damn, unfortunately I don't have any other cables to use.

I think I did something about the overscan thing. I went to the AMD CCC (since there was no such option on my TV> My Digital Flat-Panels > Scaling Options, then I dragged the slider to Overscan. It still seems a bit blurry (i.e the uTorrent icon).

Are there any other options I can try? I don't know if this helps but should I install motherboard drivers as I haven't done so yet.

 

[nukemaster]

You should not have to reinstall anything.

Does the image full the full screen or does it stretch past or leave black around the edges? Those are telltale signs of overscan/underscan.

In rare cases you get a monitor/tv that does not underscan or allow any options and looks fuzy(my Samsung syncmaster 245T[this thing is like 8 years old so it is more expected] has this issue making HDMI unusable for me, but it is fine for TV or even console games in this state because they do not have the same small details and text a computer does.).

 

[PriideHD]

I put the slider to overscan so 0% and yeah, it stretches past the screen. Because of this, I have to put the slider to around 4% or 5% so that it fits the whole screen.

 

[nukemaster]

Well that does sound like an overscan issue. Have another look in the monitors menu to see if you can disable it.

If this can not be fixed, I recommend trying another cable(different interface like DVI or even VGA).