Resolution 1920×1080 is not available for external monitor

Question

I've just bought myself a nice external monitor for my laptop. My laptop's screen has a resolution of 1920×1080. The maximum resolution listed for my graphics card is 2048×1536. However when I plug in the external monitor, it lists resolutions up to 1600x1200, but not 1920×1080. 1600×1200 is no good as it's the wrong aspect ratio. What should I do?

Edit

I'm using Windows 7 x64, the display is a Samsung Lavender P2350

Update

I downloaded and installed the drivers from Samsung (after much grief). The correct resolution is now listed, however if I select it the screen flickers unbearably, it is completely unusable. Any advice?

Solution

Check the refresh rate of your current graphics card and see if you can improve it. If you can't, it is most likely that you are at the limit of your GPU. It may be a maximum of 2048x1536, but that is for a single screen, not two.

2048x1536 = 3,145,728

(1920 x 1080)x2 = 4,147,200

Comments

[Chris_K]

What is the monitor -- and, more importantly, what is the monitor's native resolution?

[fredley]

Monitor is a 24" Samsung, Native res 1920 x 1080 :-)

[DMA57361]

Are there any drivers available from Samsung for your model?

[mistiry]

Also might help if you provided the OS you are running, as display settings are set completely differently in Windows vs. Mac vs. Linux.

[fredley]

@DMA No, the Hardware IDs declare it to be a standard Plug-n-Play monitor.

[DMA57361]

Given your update RE screen flicker what's the screen's refresh rate set to?

[fredley]

@DMA 60Hz, I don't think it can be changed.

[Admin]

@fredley Can you fix this problem? My monitor and gpu same as yours and i am try to fix this problem. I will install the samsungs driver and then listed 1920x1080 resolution but only 30Hz. When i changed it 60hz resolution change 1600x1200. And i try only the vga out, not laptop's screen. But that's not work too.

[fredley]

I have an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5470. In the linked specs, it lists the max resolution for the VGA output as 2048x1536

[fredley]

That limit is for the VGA out only, not for two screens...

[DMA57361]

@fredley, I think the point being made is maybe the card cannot handle two 1920x1080 outputs simultaneously. Have you tried using only the external and/or reducing the resolution of the built in screen? This is the same point I think jason404 was trying to make.

[Naidim]

@fredley: That limit is for a single display and has to be shared between two screens.

[fredley]

@DMA reducing the res of the main display does not work (the same resolutions reversed do). Although 1600x1200 works, 1600x900 does not.

[DMA57361]

@fredly - "the same resolutions reversed do" - I'm sorry, I don't understand what you mean here, what resolutions on which screens? I thought you were aiming for 1920x1080 on both (so reversing would be the same), so I must of missed something... (as a side note, have you updated the drivers for the graphics card, as well as those for the screen?)

[William Hilsum]

@Fredley - can you please just try to disable your laptop monitor and enable just the external one - I don't see anywhere that it says it can do both at 1920x1080 - it just says output... VGA output is just a saying for years - it means the "maximum output of a card" irrelevant of port - HDMI, DVI, VGA or other!

[fredley]

@DMA I've got the external running at 1440x900, which is fine. Switching so that the external is 1920x1080 and the internal is 1440x900 does not work. Disabling the internal screen entirely and only using the external at 1920x1080 is not fine.