Change screen resolution - blurry

bmhardy · 06-21-10, 06:38 PM

Hello,

I just got a HP EliteBook 8730W running Ubuntu Linux with and NVIDIA graphics card.
I open the NVIDIA X Server Settings dialog from System->Preferences->Monitors.
When the resolution is set for 1920x1200 the display is clear but too small for my older eyes.
I tried to set the resolution to 1440x900 which is also 16:9 but the result is a blurry display.
I get a message that says MetaMode 95 of Screen 0 is the same as MetaMode 1. All MetaModes must be unique. Can you tell me what this means and what I can do to change my display so that it is larger and clear?

Thank you.

Brian

ledoc · 06-21-10, 07:40 PM

Blur is normal if you don't run the display at its native resolution.

What you want to do to is run the native high resolution and fiddle with the DPI settings.

Check the documentation for this option:

Quote:

Option "DPI" "string"

This option specifies the Dots Per Inch for the X screen; for example:

Option "DPI" "75 x 85"

will set the horizontal DPI to 75 and the vertical DPI to 85. By default,
the X driver will compute the DPI of the X screen from the EDID of any
connected display devices. See Appendix E for details. Default: string is
NULL (disabled).

bmhardy · 06-21-10, 08:12 PM

Thanks,

Can I adjust the Option "DPI" using the GUI? So doing this will I be able to see everything larger then?

Thanks

ledoc · 06-22-10, 06:53 PM

I'm afraid you have to put it into the "Screen" section of your /etc/X11/xorg.conf. Use your distro documentation for how to do that (probably something sudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf). Then restart X or reboot.

What it does is it will "trick" X and other programs into believing you have a different pixel density and most will adapt things like font and icon sizes accordingly.

06-21-10, 06:38 PM	#1
bmhardy Registered User Join Date: Jun 2010 Posts: 2	Change screen resolution - blurry Hello, I just got a HP EliteBook 8730W running Ubuntu Linux with and NVIDIA graphics card. I open the NVIDIA X Server Settings dialog from System->Preferences->Monitors. When the resolution is set for 1920x1200 the display is clear but too small for my older eyes. I tried to set the resolution to 1440x900 which is also 16:9 but the result is a blurry display. I get a message that says MetaMode 95 of Screen 0 is the same as MetaMode 1. All MetaModes must be unique. Can you tell me what this means and what I can do to change my display so that it is larger and clear? Thank you. Brian

06-21-10, 08:12 PM	#3
bmhardy Registered User Join Date: Jun 2010 Posts: 2	Re: Change screen resolution - blurry Thanks, Can I adjust the Option "DPI" using the GUI? So doing this will I be able to see everything larger then? Thanks

06-22-10, 06:53 PM	#4
ledoc Registered User Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 330	Re: Change screen resolution - blurry I'm afraid you have to put it into the "Screen" section of your /etc/X11/xorg.conf. Use your distro documentation for how to do that (probably something sudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf). Then restart X or reboot. What it does is it will "trick" X and other programs into believing you have a different pixel density and most will adapt things like font and icon sizes accordingly.