I just purchased a new monitor. The brand is "synaps" (I've never heard of them either), and it is a 15" LCD. It was a relatively cheap monitor, so maybe that's my problem. But anyways, things look somewhat squished on the monitor: vertically compressed/horizontally stretched. When I had this problem with my old monitor(which I no longer have), I simply remedied it by using the horizontal/vertical size options. Unfortunately, this monitor does not have that feature.(it does have h position and v position, although that doesn't help with this problem) I've tried it at several screen resolutions, but I haven't been satisfied with the results. Maybe things are supposed to look like this on this monitor? It is somewhat wider than it is tall.
Any ideas as to how I might remedy this problem? Should I take the monitor back? I can't afford to spend more than $150 bucks on a monitor. This one was around $140.

Did you install the drivers that came with the display? If your old monitor did the same thing then your graphics card may be defective or the graphics driver needs to be updated.

You ought to have the screen size set to it's native resolution. It is probably 1024x768 but it is worth making absolutely sure. If it's something else it could be a completely different ball game. It should be written somewhere.

If I am right then this is perfectly normal 4:3 ratio which is Windows default, so it should be quite normal and even work (poorly) on 800x600.

Often the cheaper LCD's just automatically fill the screen and have no height or width settings (just as you described).

There is often a means of changing things in the Advanced settings for Display Properties so maybe you altered these previously. Check out the figures before doing any tinkering in this area.

DerekW

"It is somewhat wider than it is tall."

All monitor screens and TV screens are wider than they are tall. What you need to determine is whether your screen display is standard proportions or widescreen proportions - many recent LCD monitors have the latter. Standard is a ratio of 4 to 3 width to height, or 1.33 to 1; widescreen is more width per height, e.g. 16 to 9, or 1.78 to 1.
You pick a resolution in Display - Settings that is standard for a standard width to height ratio screen display - e.g 800 x 600, 1024 x 768, or if the screen is widescreen, you pick a resolution that is something closer to or right on the same ratio as the display, e.g. for a 16 to 9 ratio, or 1.78 to 1, display, 1024 x 575.

Load the drivers from the CD that came with the monitor, if there are any - usually you can just run a program on the CD to install the drivers.
If there is no install program, load the drivers in Display - Settings - Advanced - Monitor - change the driver - Have disk - point Windows to the location of the driver files (*.inf file(s)).
Some cheap LCD monitors come with no drivers and you must use the Plug and Play Monitor selection in Windows. Plug and Play Monitor is available to select in the same place, if it isn't already selected.

Once the proper monitor drivers are loaded, Windows by default will only show you settings both the monmitor and your graphics drivers will do.
If you are forced to use the Plug and Play Monitor setting, be aware that LCD monitors often cannot use all the settings that selection provides, especially higher vertical refresh rates and sometimes the higher resolutions, because it was designed primarily for CRT monitors.

If you can't select a satisfactory resolution, your video drivers are not a good match to the monitor - that is common for widescreen monitors and older video. You could try updating the video drivers, but you may have to upgrade your video hardware in order to provide the resolutions your monitor requires.
If you can't get a satisfactory display in any of the resolutions you can select, you either need to upgrade your video, or take the monitor back and spend a bit more for one that is a decent brand that is more likely to look better - e.g. I know from experience Samsung monitors look okay in most resolutions even if it is not the "native" or "optimal" resolution.

Thank you all for your replies. I will probably end up returning this monitor and purchasing a a CRT monitor. For the same price, I should probably be able to get a halfway decent CRT. I think the problem is the fact that this is a cheapie LCD monitor. Which is what I suspected. Someone told me today that any LCD monitor under $200 isn't going to be very good. Also, this monitor did not come with any drivers.

I have the same monitor...and your display settings are 1280x800 which means its a widescreen display dumbass afterall what did u expect didnt you read the box. And before you start putting the monitor down i happen to think it is a very good and super sharp and clear monitor but i am running nvidia fx5200 graphics card also with 128 of memory on it

Is your monitor still working ok? Since I puchased this monitor (Synaps) I have burned through 2 video cards. I need help on determining which video card to buy or should I just return the monitor? Your input would be appreciated.

Is your monitor still working ok? Since I puchased this monitor (Synaps) I have burned through 2 video cards. I need help on determining which video card to buy or should I just return the monitor? Your input would be appreciated.