I can't get 1600x900 resolution on my external monitor with my new T400

[kubird144]

@harryc, did you do the "overscan correction" and "fine tuning" (steps 4 and 5) listed in avsforum?

When I first used DTD Calc, I did those steps because I had some overscan (1 pixel on the left side of my screen was cut off); however, it resulted in making my screen slightly blurry, possibly like what you're running into. 

So I undid those changes and basically stopped at step 3. To fix the overscan I used the "auto-adjustment" function of the LCD monitor and--like magic--the overscan went away.  Hope this helps.

@lead_org, I'm not sure the version of my BIOS, but I bought my computer last summer and haven't made any BIOS updates.

[harryc]

@kubird144, I also skipped those steps because when I ran the DTD Calc 'ruler', the image lined up perfectly with my monitor. My monitors 'auto-adjust' function is disabled because I am currently running DVI to my LCD. I will hook up an analog cable later to try your suggestion. 

[harryc]

@kubird144 - I hooked up the analog cable, did an auto-adjust, and the image looks perfect. Thanks for the idea.

[Mark_Lenovo]

Kubird144,

Thanks for sharing that solution !

HarryC, Needatech,

Just to share a bit of what I've looked into so far...  We tried this on an X200 and a T500 set to integrated graphics to see what modes were available.  We unchecked the hide unsupported modes, and tried on a variety of displays.  

Screenshot of the display options under Integrated Mode (Intel).   

Harry - great link to the Intel site.  Quite helpful - I'm looking into that now.

To see if this were just on the intel side, we switched the T500 graphics over to discrete mode, and checked the resolutions offered via the ATI chipset.  See second screen shot below.   I don't see 1600 X 900 offered there either.

Screenshot of the display options under discrete Mode (ATI)

At this point, I can't say why this particular 16 X 9 resolution isn't offered.  I'm looking into it and will share what we find out.  

Best regards,

Mark

[harryc]

Excellent customer support Mark, thanks!. I'm looking forward to the answer to this issue.

[needatech]

Thanks for all of the feedback.  Like Harry I too am looking forward to the answer.  Mark do you think you will have a solution or should I give the fix suggested by kubird144 a try?

[Mark_Lenovo]

Needatech,

Honestly, I'd try the work around at this time.   I don't yet know all the internal background on this, but even if we decided to do a driver update to add those modes, it would likely be bundled into a future release as this likely will be seen as an enhancement rather than a fix.

The eventual outcome and priority might also depend on how many people this is a concern for.  Based on this thread, it looks like 3 or 4, although as evidenced by discussion on other forums,  there are more, I'll agree.

Best regards,

Mark

[TheDude]

Anybody try powerstrip to set custom settings, that would be my first try.

[needatech]

What is "powerstrip"?

[pmarmer]

I'm having the same issue on my T61. I get the correct resolution on my netbook with the more dated Intel 950 GMA. It seems adding additional resolutions is up to the OEM. What I find odd is that Lenovo sells 1600x900 monitors, and then sells computers that are unable to support those monitors, and even seems to intentionally prevent customers from using the correct 1600x900 resolution using the workaround. I was able to successfully output 1599x900 resolution as outlined above, but I hope this gets fixed with an updated bios for affected computers to prevent others from having to bother with this.