Strange refresh rate problem

deeman · Nov 5, 2007, 11:03 PM

I just installed the latest omega drivers, but now I cant change my refresh rate. My LCD monitor supports 75hz and it was running at that refresh rate fine before, but now after installing the latest I cant increase it above 60hz. I've unticked the "hide modes that this monitor cannot display" but nothing even comes up then. There is only the option for 60hz and nothing else. What's goin on here? The font on my screen also appears a bit blurry with these latest drivers. I think these drivers are a bit screwy?

Dyre Straits · Nov 6, 2007, 03:12 AM

Could be the drivers aren't quite what they should be. I don't have an LCD monitor nor am I using XP at the moment to test these out.

However, you might try this: Go into Device Manager and REMOVE the current monitor/s. If there's even a Plug n Play monitor showing, remove it and all that show up. You might even want to click on the View/Show Hidden Devices to make sure you're getting them all.

OK back out and reboot. Let Window redetect your monitor and see if you're back in business.

Good luck!

deeman · Nov 6, 2007, 04:43 AM

Nope that didn't do anything!

I just tried updating the drivers from the LG website (LG L194WT) and it's the same. I Just tried the ATI Catalyst drivers instead of the Omega ones, and they're buggy as hell and doesn't even run and gives a million errors.

Even in the display settings and monitor properties where you can pick between screens it says 75hz is supported but why cant i select it?! Even "Use DCC information" is ticked, and the DCC information says 75hz is the Max. Reported Refresh rate but I still cant select it! I dont get it!

deeman · Nov 6, 2007, 04:49 AM

Ok this is getting strange now, the resolution for my LCD is 1440x900. If I increase the resolution (which makes it stretched off screen) I can then select 75HZ but this is no use because the resolution is all
messed up!

Infact ANY resolution thats NOT the proper resolution (1440x900), I can change the refresh rate!

WHATS GOING ON!?

Dyre Straits · Nov 6, 2007, 12:23 PM

Two things:

1. Make sure you don't have the TV OUT selected. TV OUT does restrict both the Resolution AND the Refresh Rate. TV OUT cannot run above 60 Hz.

2. Right Click on the Desktop, select Properties to bring up the Display Properties screen. Select the Settings tab. Click the Advanced button. Now, click the Adapter tab. Click on the List All Modes button. Can you select anything above 60 Hz here for the resolution you want to use?

deeman · Nov 6, 2007, 09:30 PM

Nope!

For 1440x900 it only shows 60hz! Anything above or below it you can choose other refresh rates. I dont understand it, this is the only resolution that this monitor can be displayed in yet it's the only resolution that doesn't support anything higher than 60hz!

I'm not sure how to deselect TVOUT, but I since I can increase the refresh rate on other resolutions but not 1440x900 I really dunno whats going on!

deeman · Nov 6, 2007, 11:44 PM

I called LG and spoke to one of their tech guys, he reckons it's normal! What kinda bullshit is that? Cant run advertised refresh rate at native resolution...

Quote:

Thank you for emailing LG Electronics. The majority of LCD monitors are defaulted to 60 Hertz. However, this cannot be increased in anyway, even if you decrease the resolution.

That's what the email support said too, they obviously dont even know their own products because you can so increase the Hertz when you lower the resolution but then it's streched off screen.

Dyre Straits · Nov 7, 2007, 05:23 AM

That does sound like very sorry support from LG.

You do realize, however, that you can resize/adjust the screen using the Display Properties/Adjustments options, right?

ChaosMinionX · Nov 7, 2007, 08:47 AM

Well did some searching for you....

First clean out all the old drivers with DriverCleaner (run it from safemode) and then reinstall the Omega Driver package.

I happened upon this when looking at your specific issue:

[COLOR=#ff0000]I’m experiencing the 60Hz refresh rate bug after installing the drivers...[/COLOR]
In Windows 2k/XP, ALWAYS disable DDC in the ATI "Displays/Monitor" CP after installing drivers to be able to use ALL the refresh rates and resolutions your monitor supports.
Source: OmegaDrivers.net

deeman · Nov 7, 2007, 09:14 AM

Ok I Just tried that and it didnt seem to work. How do you fully disable DCC? Simply by unticking the "Use DCC Information" option? If so then yeah it didn't work!

ChaosMinionX · Nov 7, 2007, 09:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deeman

Ok I Just tried that and it didnt seem to work. How do you fully disable DCC? Simply by unticking the "Use DCC Information" option? If so then yeah it didn't work!

In the Catalyst Control Center there is an option for this under the Display properties.

EDIT: Did you remove all the old drivers completely with DC? I usually run a good Registry cleaner after DC does its work, and once on the reboot just to make sure nothing is left in there. Then reinstall the drivers, and what exactly is buggy about the new Catalyst drivers that you cant use them?

Dyre Straits · Nov 7, 2007, 09:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deeman

Ok I Just tried that and it didnt seem to work. How do you fully disable DCC? Simply by unticking the "Use DCC Information" option? If so then yeah it didn't work!

It's really the same as disabling the "Hide modes....." that you mentioned in the OP. Same operation under different windows.

RE: TV OUT -- Unless you actually have a TV connected, the drivers should NOT be defaulting to using TV OUT connection. So, that's one other thing to verify that it's not active.

*CATALYSTCATCHER* · Nov 7, 2007, 01:09 PM

Can you tell us more about,

The graphics card you have? Sorry if I missed any details earlier in the thread. But never hurts to recap the situation.

The panel you have? LG, 1440x900 is not enough.

Panel connection you are using? VGA or DVI?

Does the panel support both VGA and DVI?

In my experience when a panel supports both connections the refresh rate described in the panel properties, (from DDC data) is for the VGA/analog connection only. The digital connection typically supports 60hz.

Also consider that an analog connection requires the panel to do the conversion to digital in order to drive the display. The conversion technique will differ among brands of panel and even different firmware versions of the same panel. This is obvious for flat panel TV displays, that claim to support the 1080i/p HD format, yet have a panel resolution that is less than full HD. e.g 1366x768, or 1440x900. In this case the panel/tv is accepting the 1080 input signal and downconverting the frequencies to display on the native panel size. (Some TV/panels do a better job than others.)

In any case, you either have a panel problem, a graphics card or driver problem, OR worst case a bit of both.

CC

ChaosMinionX · Nov 7, 2007, 07:22 PM

That was actually my next question on whether or not he had changed from VGA to DVI and could only use the 60hz at native.

deeman · Nov 8, 2007, 12:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChaosMinionX

In the Catalyst Control Center there is an option for this under the Display properties.

EDIT: Did you remove all the old drivers completely with DC? I usually run a good Registry cleaner after DC does its work, and once on the reboot just to make sure nothing is left in there. Then reinstall the drivers, and what exactly is buggy about the new Catalyst drivers that you cant use them?

Yeah I did that.

The Catalyst drivers are terrible, I get some MOM.exe error and then it says i dont have the latest version of .NET framework so I update that and the CCC still wont open and gives yet another error. It was just a nightmare from the beginning, and I shouldnt have to do all that crap just to make their drivers work when the omega ones need none of that junk so I just removed them. ATI fail at making their own drivers...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dyre Straits

It's really the same as disabling the "Hide modes....." that you mentioned in the OP. Same operation under different windows.

RE: TV OUT -- Unless you actually have a TV connected, the drivers should NOT be defaulting to using TV OUT connection. So, that's one other thing to verify that it's not active.

Well DCC must be disabled then, doing that did nothing. The "Use DCC information" circle in display properties is unchecked.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CATALYSTCATCHER

Can you tell us more about,

The graphics card you have? Sorry if I missed any details earlier in the thread. But never hurts to recap the situation.

The panel you have? LG, 1440x900 is not enough.

Panel connection you are using? VGA or DVI?

Does the panel support both VGA and DVI?

In my experience when a panel supports both connections the refresh rate described in the panel properties, (from DDC data) is for the VGA/analog connection only. The digital connection typically supports 60hz.

The screen is the LG L194WT and the graphics card is an ATI Mobility 9700 256mb. The DCC data even says it supports 75HZ, either ticked or unticked you're still unable to selected it. I think it is in analog mode though, Im not sure how to change it.

Dyre Straits · Nov 8, 2007, 05:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deeman

Yeah I did that.

The Catalyst drivers are terrible, I get some MOM.exe error and then it says i dont have the latest version of .NET framework so I update that and the CCC still wont open and gives yet another error. It was just a nightmare from the beginning, and I shouldnt have to do all that crap just to make their drivers work when the omega ones need none of that junk so I just removed them. ATI fail at making their own drivers...

Well DCC must be disabled then, doing that did nothing. The "Use DCC information" circle in display properties is unchecked.

The screen is the LG L194WT and the graphics card is an ATI Mobility 9700 256mb. The DCC data even says it supports 75HZ, either ticked or unticked you're still unable to selected it. I think it is in analog mode though, Im not sure how to change it.

In that case, we've been in the wrong forum. Thread moved to Mobility Radeon Drivers and Support.

Maybe we'll get someone here to lend a hand. I've no experience with the mobility cards.

deeman · Nov 8, 2007, 07:07 AM

I really dont think it has anything to do with my graphics card, I can run a CRT monitor at any Hertz that it supports just fine...

*CATALYSTCATCHER* · Nov 8, 2007, 07:36 PM

Are you using a notebook? Model?

or desktop PC with an add in graphics card?

Notebook or laptops may have limits imposed by the manufaturer, beyond what a general purpose driver like Catalyst or Omega can control. In fact, for a notebook there usually are restrictions determined by the built in panel and these may impact the external display. Although you say it did work prior to installing recent drivers. What driver were you running when it worked and allowed you to select 75hz?

Dyre Straits · Nov 8, 2007, 09:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CATALYSTCATCHER

Are you using a notebook? Model?

or desktop PC with an add in graphics card?

Notebook or laptops may have limits imposed by the manufaturer, beyond what a general purpose driver like Catalyst or Omega can control. In fact, for a notebook there usually are restrictions determined by the built in panel and these may impact the external display. Although you say it did work prior to installing recent drivers. What driver were you running when it worked and allowed you to select 75hz?

Yes, he's using a mobility card with Omegadrivers. I've directed him to how to get support from Omegadriver.

deeman · Nov 14, 2007, 08:39 AM

I guess I just have to live with it, one thing I have noticed with these latest drivers is that some times after exiting say Battlefield 2142 when it goes back to desktop its like the settings haven't reset to the default desktop display settings. The font seems blurry after exiting a game, and it only goes back to normal if I reboot. Any ideas?

Dyre Straits · Nov 14, 2007, 10:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deeman

I guess I just have to live with it, one thing I have noticed with these latest drivers is that some times after exiting say Battlefield 2142 when it goes back to desktop its like the settings haven't reset to the default desktop display settings. The font seems blurry after exiting a game, and it only goes back to normal if I reboot. Any ideas?

I do believe I've had that happen a few times over the years. Usually, I just right click on the Desktop and manually change the resolution back and forth and it clears up without a reboot.

deeman · Nov 14, 2007, 11:59 AM

I actually worked out that it was my 2142 settings forcing 75hz, once I changed the video.con file to 60hz it quit doing it! Gah, having an LCD is a bit of a headache it seems. The you gotta worry about games supporting widescreen or not!

Nov 5, 2007, 11:03 PM	#1
deeman DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 28 Rep Power: 0	Strange refresh rate problem I just installed the latest omega drivers, but now I cant change my refresh rate. My LCD monitor supports 75hz and it was running at that refresh rate fine before, but now after installing the latest I cant increase it above 60hz. I've unticked the "hide modes that this monitor cannot display" but nothing even comes up then. There is only the option for 60hz and nothing else. What's goin on here? The font on my screen also appears a bit blurry with these latest drivers. I think these drivers are a bit screwy?

Nov 7, 2007, 08:47 AM	#9
ChaosMinionX USB 3 dot oh Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Boston, MA Posts: 1,911 Rep Power: 47 System Specs	Well did some searching for you.... First clean out all the old drivers with DriverCleaner (run it from safemode) and then reinstall the Omega Driver package. I happened upon this when looking at your specific issue: [COLOR=#ff0000]I’m experiencing the 60Hz refresh rate bug after installing the drivers...[/COLOR] In Windows 2k/XP, ALWAYS disable DDC in the ATI "Displays/Monitor" CP after installing drivers to be able to use ALL the refresh rates and resolutions your monitor supports. Source: OmegaDrivers.net __________________ ::Heatware:: How you can help DriverHeaven by using Digg!

Nov 7, 2007, 07:22 PM	#14
ChaosMinionX USB 3 dot oh Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Boston, MA Posts: 1,911 Rep Power: 47 System Specs	That was actually my next question on whether or not he had changed from VGA to DVI and could only use the 60hz at native. __________________ ::Heatware:: How you can help DriverHeaven by using Digg!

Nov 6, 2007, 04:43 AM	Thread Starter #3
deeman DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 28 Rep Power: 0	Nope that didn't do anything! I just tried updating the drivers from the LG website (LG L194WT) and it's the same. I Just tried the ATI Catalyst drivers instead of the Omega ones, and they're buggy as hell and doesn't even run and gives a million errors. Even in the display settings and monitor properties where you can pick between screens it says 75hz is supported but why cant i select it?! Even "Use DCC information" is ticked, and the DCC information says 75hz is the Max. Reported Refresh rate but I still cant select it! I dont get it!

Nov 6, 2007, 04:49 AM	Thread Starter #4
deeman DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 28 Rep Power: 0	Ok this is getting strange now, the resolution for my LCD is 1440x900. If I increase the resolution (which makes it stretched off screen) I can then select 75HZ but this is no use because the resolution is all messed up! Infact ANY resolution thats NOT the proper resolution (1440x900), I can change the refresh rate! WHATS GOING ON!?

Nov 6, 2007, 09:30 PM	Thread Starter #6
deeman DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 28 Rep Power: 0	Nope! For 1440x900 it only shows 60hz! Anything above or below it you can choose other refresh rates. I dont understand it, this is the only resolution that this monitor can be displayed in yet it's the only resolution that doesn't support anything higher than 60hz! I'm not sure how to deselect TVOUT, but I since I can increase the refresh rate on other resolutions but not 1440x900 I really dunno whats going on!

Nov 7, 2007, 09:14 AM	Thread Starter #10
deeman DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 28 Rep Power: 0	Ok I Just tried that and it didnt seem to work. How do you fully disable DCC? Simply by unticking the "Use DCC Information" option? If so then yeah it didn't work!

Nov 7, 2007, 01:09 PM	#13
CATALYSTCATCHER ATI Guru Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: ATI, Toronto Posts: 0 Rep Power: 0	Can you tell us more about, The graphics card you have? Sorry if I missed any details earlier in the thread. But never hurts to recap the situation. The panel you have? LG, 1440x900 is not enough. Panel connection you are using? VGA or DVI? Does the panel support both VGA and DVI? In my experience when a panel supports both connections the refresh rate described in the panel properties, (from DDC data) is for the VGA/analog connection only. The digital connection typically supports 60hz. Also consider that an analog connection requires the panel to do the conversion to digital in order to drive the display. The conversion technique will differ among brands of panel and even different firmware versions of the same panel. This is obvious for flat panel TV displays, that claim to support the 1080i/p HD format, yet have a panel resolution that is less than full HD. e.g 1366x768, or 1440x900. In this case the panel/tv is accepting the 1080 input signal and downconverting the frequencies to display on the native panel size. (Some TV/panels do a better job than others.) In any case, you either have a panel problem, a graphics card or driver problem, OR worst case a bit of both. CC

Nov 8, 2007, 07:07 AM	Thread Starter #17
deeman DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 28 Rep Power: 0	I really dont think it has anything to do with my graphics card, I can run a CRT monitor at any Hertz that it supports just fine...

Nov 8, 2007, 07:36 PM	#18
CATALYSTCATCHER ATI Guru Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: ATI, Toronto Posts: 0 Rep Power: 0	Are you using a notebook? Model? or desktop PC with an add in graphics card? Notebook or laptops may have limits imposed by the manufaturer, beyond what a general purpose driver like Catalyst or Omega can control. In fact, for a notebook there usually are restrictions determined by the built in panel and these may impact the external display. Although you say it did work prior to installing recent drivers. What driver were you running when it worked and allowed you to select 75hz?

Nov 14, 2007, 08:39 AM	Thread Starter #20
deeman DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 28 Rep Power: 0	I guess I just have to live with it, one thing I have noticed with these latest drivers is that some times after exiting say Battlefield 2142 when it goes back to desktop its like the settings haven't reset to the default desktop display settings. The font seems blurry after exiting a game, and it only goes back to normal if I reboot. Any ideas?

Nov 14, 2007, 11:59 AM	Thread Starter #22
deeman DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 28 Rep Power: 0	I actually worked out that it was my 2142 settings forcing 75hz, once I changed the video.con file to 60hz it quit doing it! Gah, having an LCD is a bit of a headache it seems. The you gotta worry about games supporting widescreen or not!