Blurred fonts when using external monitor

[Paul C]

Does anyone know why the fonts are so blurred when attaching an external monitor to my macbook pro? I read somewhere that it's just the way the mac shows fonts (more blur for a more realistic look), but I find it really distracting when trying to write. The fonts aren't blurred on the actual macbook screen, so I don't know why they should be blurred on the external monitor. (It's not a cinema display or anything. Just a regular lcd monitor.)

 

[J25]

Have you set the resolution for the external monitor?

 

[Keeper]

yeah, if it aint RES, then, and trust me on this, check the Hz the monitor is running on.

I couldn't get my 42" to look nice with Win7 - it looked so blurred, on ANY resolution....till I noticed my TV was running at 30hz Interlaced for some reason - took it up to 60Hz (can do 79Hz apparently) and all looked well again


I never knew the Refresh rate could impact the way fonts are blurred...perhaps it was because it was interlaced, who knows..

 

[Paul C]

Yeah, the resolution on the monitor is at the max it can go.

 

[Paul C]

I also thought it might be that, but the res is at 75. The highest it can go. The only other option is 60, and the screen flickers on that one.

 

[J25]

What size/shape is the screen, and what resolution is it set to?

 

[ponder]

I reckon it's the fonts, cannot stand the fonts on osx but it's a personal preference thing.

 

[Paul C]

It's a viewsonic vx924, resolution is max at 1280X1024, but I also tested it on my samsung syncmaster 226 and had the same thing.

 

[HavocXphere]

Maybe switch off subpixel rendering.

 

[WiT8litZ]

I had that problem at the office, turned out to be a POS cable from my pc to my monitor

 

[icyrus]

Does the picture improve if you close the the laptop while its connected to the external monitor? What spec is your macbook pro? Specifically graphics.

 

[Turtle]

I also thought it might be that, but the res is at 75. The highest it can go. The only other option is 60, and the screen flickers on that one.

That's not resolution, that's refresh rate. Resolution is the number of pixels, e.g. 1024x768. Each LCD has its own "natural resolution"; if the display resolution is set to anything other than that resolution, you'll get blurring as it stretches or squashes the image. This natural resolution is NOT necessarily the maximum resolution, it be LOWER i.e. you might need to set the resolution lower.

 

[bwana]

I reckon it's the fonts, cannot stand the fonts on osx but it's a personal preference thing.

What's wrong with the fonts? They're clean and crisp.