Question - New Wide Screen Monitor and Corel

[Pete Simmons]

Just got a new monitor 19 inch wide screen. Had a 19 std screen.

Display looks good for most things but in Corel X# circles are a little wider than tall.


Is there a Corel adjust for this?

[Joe Pelonio]

That's odd, I recently got a 22" and it doesn't do that on mine. I think it's an installation issue, did you run the CD that came with the monitor? I had to run it to take advantage of the higher resolution and maybe that would fix your problem.

[Brian Robison]

Just got a new wide screen laptop yesterday, look at the display settings to see if there are any wide screen choices. I had the same issue when I tried to make the icons big enough to see, guess I'll have to get used to smaller ones.

[Mitchell Andrus]

I've got a 21" wide screen. Select a resolution ratio that is 'correct', 1440 x 900 for example. Sounds like your screen is stretching too few pixels.

[Pete Simmons]

Selecting 1440 x 900 would be great but that option does not show up.

It is a ATI Rage 128 Pro graphics card. I looked for new drivers that may support 1440x900 but no luck.

[Lee DeRaud]

Selecting 1440 x 900 would be great but that option does not show up.

It is a ATI Rage 128 Pro graphics card. I looked for new drivers that may support 1440x900 but no luck.What's the "native" resolution of the panel? (That's what you're really trying to match.)

Most 19" 4:3 LCDs are 1280x1024...I'd expect a 19" 16:9 to be something like 1280x768. (That's not quite 16:9, but it's a more-or-less standard size, "WXGA" I think.)

[Pete Simmons]

The HP W1907 features a lower native resolution at 1,440x900 (WXGA+).

[Scott Shepherd]

Pete, did it come with a drivers CD? Sometimes those monitors add the proper resolution to the drop down box where you can select the resolution from.

[Pete Simmons]

Yes - it came with a CD I have run a few times but only the following res appear as choices

800 x 600
1024 x 768
1152 x 864

I am running at 1152 x 864 and most everything looks great. Just when I draw a circle in Corel it is an oval.

It is not just a Corel problem as other round things I view I am not sure if they are round or maybe started off life a little oval. In Corel I know when I make a circle it should be round.

[Lee DeRaud]

Yes - it came with a CD I have run a few times but only the following res appear as choices

800 x 600
1024 x 768
1152 x 864

I am running at 1152 x 864 and most everything looks great. Just when I draw a circle in Corel it is an oval.

It is not just a Corel problem as other round things I view I am not sure if they are round or maybe started off life a little oval. In Corel I know when I make a circle it should be round.1152x864 is 4:3 aspect so I'd expect anything you display will be distorted. (Try looking at a photo (JPG/GIF) of something with a circle in it, like a side view of a car: the circles there will probably be wrong too.)

Ah, I see on ATI's web site that the Rage 128 drivers haven't been updated since 2001-2002, which predates wide-aspect monitors. Probably costs ~$50-$75 to drop in a new video board using a current chipset...doubt this one is worth nursing along any further.

[Pete Simmons]

Thanks for all the help.

I expect Lee is correct and that I am not going to get 1440 with this vid board.

I may check out a new vid board tomorrow.


Any suggestions for a good low end video board. I think I may need to use a PCI board.

[Joe Pelonio]

You may need a new graphics card. I seem to remember that one being around for a while, possibly before the wide screen monitors so maybe it's just not supporting the aspect ratio you need. Did the monitor come with a second cable, for DVI? If so get a DVI graphics adapter and it will take full advantage of the capabilities. It's an odd plug setup, 2 sets of 9 pins and one flat blade.

Don't ask me to explain why but when I asked a tech he said the best video is with the DVI card, cable, and monitor.

[Bob Cole]

I have a 20" wide and need to put it at 1680x1050. I know it makes things small, but sure looks a lot better and you get more on your desktop.

If there are no new drivers for your video card, then you will need a new vid card.

You should be able to shop around and find a card that will work. Any newer card should be sufficient.

One thought, if you have two monitors you can keep your old monitor on your old video card plug in your wide with the new video card. Just need to use another slot on your pc and you most likely will need to get PCI. Your original is probably on an AGP.

[Jim Becker]

I agree that a new video card may be in order...and the newer ones are nicer in other ways, too, as the processors have improved.