I/O Dvi [24" Ultra Sharp Dell LCD Monitor]

I recenntly purchased a new Acer Aspire E500 Media Center with both a VGA and DVI Outputs ( Video card X1300 series ). I also purchased a 24" Ultra Sharp Dell LCD Monitor. When I use the VGA connection with the monitor, display is terrific but when I try the DVI connection, display is all blury. I used the OSD and set it for DVI in but still having video problems. Can anyone help as I have exhausted all other avenues?

 

Not trying to be a smart a_ss with this answer but you have three potential areas to investigate - monitor, video card and cable. If you can try the monitor on another computer with your current DVI cable, thats my first suggestion - its going to eliminate or pinpoint video card problems. If still blurry, then you can purchase another cable and thats going to tell you if its the cable or the monitor itself. I have seen this before whereby the 15 pin d-sub works great and the DVI circuit is shot on a video card, producing no display at all - just a dark grey background indicating some kind of activity but no image. That is a very good monitor you purchased but it would be in your best interest to run down the cause of this problem immediately because as time passes, it could become more difficult to get an outright replacement if its defective.

 

Another possible area? Could the DVI head of the video card be set as a second monitor?

Go to Control Panel -> Display -> Settings tab. If there are pictures of two monitors, the second monitor will be the DVI head of the graphics card. Why it may be blurry is because the resolution or refresh rate may be at the outer limits. You may need to set the #2 screen as the primary display (right-click on the picture of the #2 monitor) and reset the resolution/refresh rate settings.
When you apply the settings for the secondary monitor to become the primary, you probably see a blank desktop, you will then need to shut down and connect the monitor to the DVI head on the graphics card. When you reboot all should be fine.

Matt