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[Sappho]

Regarding the flashing, check the uac options, you can set it to not darken the screen which is considered slightly less secure but exists for exactly this kind of reason!

What are uac options and where do I find them?

Thank you.

[Thief^]

I don't remember offhand, but putting uac into the start menu or control panel search should find it.

[Sappho]

Okay, thanks, we'll see if that works.

I'm now concerned that the quality problems with my monitor may be because the monitor itself is just cheap. I'm going to brave the Xmas crowds and get that adapter, and hopefully that will help... But if it still looks like this, I'll have to return this monitor and get a better one. Man, I just spent so much money on this computer, I don't have much left for a monitor... But this is truly ugly. The colors look all bleached out. Desaturated, even. The whole point of the new computer was to get *better* video... I had no idea a cheap monitor could destroy the color so much. And I mean, when I say cheap, it wasn't *that* cheap. 2000 kc, or about $100...

[Lord Shonus]

It could just be a display settings issue. A lot of times they're configured out-of-the-box to look nice in a brightly lit store, so that the retailer can just rip a box open and put one on the shelf as a display model.

[MaximumZero]

Yep. I'd adjust the settings on the monitor before doing anything drastic.

Also, here is info on changing how User Account Control works.

[Sappho]

Only configuration options I've found are accessed through a one-button menu (you have to pause on the icon you want and wait 5 seconds for it to be selected). Fiddling with brightness and contrast have done nothing to improve the situation. Now, I can very easily go to the electronics store and get an adapter, and see if that makes it better, but doing so will take about 2 hours. I was there earlier to get my computer and I had to wait in line for 15 minutes just to get a ticket, then wait another 25 minutes to actually pick up my item. That was this morning. Now it's mid-afternoon, people are out of work, and I don't even want to think about what a madhouse it'll be... On the other hand, if it works, it's worth it.

But if it doesn't work, I'll have to return this monitor after Christmas and scrape together the money for a better one. So much hassle... I was really looking forward to this thing turning on and looking all shiny and awesome. Instead it's hideous in every possible way...

Downloading Steam right now so I can at least test out a game and see how the video runs. Fingers crossed. I literally dropped my entire savings on this machine, and now I'm feeling sick to my stomach thinking that it might not actually work out...

[MaximumZero]

What kind of monitor is it?

[Sappho]

It's this one: http://www.alza.cz/19-5-philips-203v5lsb26-d468347.htm

Most of the ratings on that site (where I bought it) are positive, but the only review I could find on another site was negative. So now I just don't know. I guess I'll just go get the adapter and cross my fingers. Everything looks all washed out right now. The gray, wet, dead skies over Prague outside my window look more vibrant than the color on this monitor.

[MaximumZero]

The user manual! Maybe there'll be something useful in there.

Page 31 has color settings on it.

[Sappho]

The user manual! Maybe there'll be something useful in there.

Page 31 has color settings on it.

Definitely not the right manual. My menu has no down arrow. There is only one button on the monitor, and when I press it I get a menu with icons for power (literally, to turn the monitor off, you have to press it then wait 5 seconds for it to select "power" and turn off), brightness, contrast, "auto" resolution, language, info, and exit menu. I think I got shafted. No color options whatsoever. : (

Looking at the document title, this is for the 203V5. I have just the 203V. Apparently there's a big difference between the two?

I'm going to brave the electronics store for a converter before it gets too late. Wish me luck. Make sacrifices to Armok.

EDIT: Well I went and stood in line and waited for about 45 minutes, but finally I got my adapter. Brought it home, plugged it in, and... it doesn't work. If I push really hard, the monitor gets the signal for a few seconds, but when I let it go, it loses it. And the little screws that are supposed to hold it in are NOT LONG ENOUGH. Finally, it stopped working altogether, even when I pushed it in. It looks like one of the pins in the adapter is shorter than the others -- no idea if it's supposed to be that way, or if I broke it by trying to make it work, or if it's just defective. I'm sure as hell not going back to wait in that line again to get a new one.

So I'm stuck like this. I didn't even get a good enough look to tell whether the video quality was any better. So I'll have to return it after Christmas, get a new one (a different one, that is, with screws that are long enough), and hope it makes a difference.

This is just a nightmare. Merry Christmas...

[Thief^]

[Sappho]

Well, I tried out some games, and they work brilliantly. Max settings on everything. The only thing that lagged a bit was a massive Minecraft modpack. Vanilla Minecraft works perfectly with max graphics settings. The monitor is kind of shitty, but the games are still beautiful. Actually, this monitor seems really similar to the one I had on my old old laptop (6 years old, and it was cheap when I bought it). It just has that dingy sort of washed-out look. I guess I took it for granted that my laptop had an HD screen. I had forgotten that there were screens that didn't support HD (actually, I hadn't realized they still even made them). My laptop may have been shit in many ways, but it did always have a very nice screen. In any case, I'll survive with this until I can get a better one, and I probably shouldn't be rushing to return it and buy a nicer one, since I really did just spend all the money I had on the computer itself.

I have two weeks to return the monitor for a full refund, no questions asked, according to Czech law. I bought it Sunday, so I have a little time to consider my options. I definitely need to return the crummy adapter, though. It'll be fun doing that right after Christmas, when everyone is returning unwanted gifts. But worse things have happened. It was cheap, anyway. 100 kc (about $5). So if I wuss out on returning it, it's not a huge loss.

Just read back over what I wrote in my last post... Okay, I've been very stressed lately. Might be getting deported, etc. Plus, two trips to the big electronics store the day before Christmas (Czechs open presents on Christmas Eve) was a bit hard on my senses. Apologies for the melodrama. Having a subpar monitor is clearly not a nightmare. It's just an annoyance.

[MaxLVB]

Well, I tried out some games, and they work brilliantly. Max settings on everything. The only thing that lagged a bit was a massive Minecraft modpack. Vanilla Minecraft works perfectly with max graphics settings. The monitor is kind of shitty, but the games are still beautiful. Actually, this monitor seems really similar to the one I had on my old old laptop (6 years old, and it was cheap when I bought it). It just has that dingy sort of washed-out look. I guess I took it for granted that my laptop had an HD screen. I had forgotten that there were screens that didn't support HD (actually, I hadn't realized they still even made them). My laptop may have been shit in many ways, but it did always have a very nice screen. In any case, I'll survive with this until I can get a better one, and I probably shouldn't be rushing to return it and buy a nicer one, since I really did just spend all the money I had on the computer itself.

I have two weeks to return the monitor for a full refund, no questions asked, according to Czech law. I bought it Sunday, so I have a little time to consider my options. I definitely need to return the crummy adapter, though. It'll be fun doing that right after Christmas, when everyone is returning unwanted gifts. But worse things have happened. It was cheap, anyway. 100 kc (about $5). So if I wuss out on returning it, it's not a huge loss.

Just read back over what I wrote in my last post... Okay, I've been very stressed lately. Might be getting deported, etc. Plus, two trips to the big electronics store the day before Christmas (Czechs open presents on Christmas Eve) was a bit hard on my senses. Apologies for the melodrama. Having a subpar monitor is clearly not a nightmare. It's just an annoyance.

New to the forum, and subscribed just to post this reply:

Adjusting the Philips 203V and V5 monitor can be easily done with the Smart Control software that comes on the install CD with the monitor.

It can also be downloaded from here:

http://www.portrait.com/dtune/plp/enu/upgrade.html

It downloads the Premium version, but will only install the Lite version as the monitor doesn't have all the hardware the premium version supports. It also installs the drivers for the monitor.

I just bought this monitor a few days ago, and out of the box the display is washed out and 'muddy', as it's using the default windows drivers. Once smart control is installed there's a marked improvement in the display and tweaking it with smart control  improves it even more. You can even set up/switch between your own monitor profiles depending of what you're currently doing on your computer, (photo editing, playing games, watching streaming videos, etc.)
There's no way it can be described as a 'top notch' monitor, but it's a good basic general purpose one at a reasonable price.

[Sappho]

Thanks a lot for the tip! I never would have thought to put that CD in the drive. Figured it was just the manual, unnecessary drivers, and bloatware.

The display seems to be slightly better, but it's still a little washed out, and the software doesn't seem to be working properly. The options to change the colors and whatnot are all grayed out. My only options are "preferences" (no options for actual image quality there) and "help." Any idea why I can't access the options I really need?

[Thief^]

Are you still using a HDMI -> VGA adapter? That may be why (both the greyed options and the washed-out look). HDMI is digital and VGA is analogue, so if it's only a cheap adapter you may lose a lot in the he conversion. If you don't have a VGA output, DVI->VGA adapters are just wires (no conversion needed, DVI normally contains an analogue signal too) so are both cheaper and better

Is the monitor VGA-only?