Is 300:1 contrast typical for a 15in LCD?

[wbwell]

I recently purchased a KDS Rad-5c 15in monitor. I thought the contrast ratio was 400:1 but it's actually 300:1. It's a nice monitor but words seem to be blurry. Im thinking about taking it back and getting a KDS Rad-7c 17in monitor with a contrast ratio of 400:1. Would this solve my blurry problems?

[Dani]

Contrast ratio is the measurement of the difference in light intensity between the brightest white and the darkest black. The highest the contrast ratio, the better the color representation.

Rather, you want to be concerned with dot pitch on a CRT monitor and with resolution on an LCD monitor. You also want to be concerned with refresh rate.

[wbwell]

Contrast ratio is the measurement of the difference in light intensity between the brightest white and the darkest black. The highest the contrast ratio, the better the color representation.

Rather, you want to be concerned with dot pitch on a CRT monitor and with resolution on an LCD monitor. You also want to be concerned with refresh rate.

so its the dot pitch making it blurry?

[caperjack]

Regardles of what causes it ,a new monitor shouldn't be blurry!
Maybe It's dirty .LOL

[TallCool1]

so its the dot pitch making it blurry?

In a sense, yes. The likely problem is that the screen resolution that the computer is set to does not match that of the LCD. One of the major drawbacks of an LC display (and a deal breaker for me) is its fixed resolution. At any setting other than its built-in resolution, the signal pixels map poorly to the physical display. This will make text (especially) look 'jaggy" and wierd.

Check your KDS documentation for the correct physical resolution, then change your display to match.

[wbwell]

Check your KDS documentation for the correct physical resolution, then change your display to match.

How do I do that? In my instruction manual it gives "preset modes timing charts" but doesnt tell how to set them up properly.

[caperjack]

should be ,righ click on the desktop/properties /settings / here you can adjust the color quality ans screen resaloution /the click on advanced /monitor and adjust the refresh rate .

[TallCool1]

How do I do that? In my instruction manual it gives "preset modes timing charts" but doesnt tell how to set them up properly.

Again, I stress: check your KDS documentation for the exact physical resolution, then change your display settings to match. Timing charts are way less important than the actual pixel count, which is 1024x768 @ 75 Hz (actually, refresh rate doesn't matter, as long as you don't exceed 75 Hz).

An excellent utility for this purpose is MultiRes: http://www.EntechTaiwan.com. It allows you to switch resolutions and refresh rates on-the-fly, and it's free.

One last question. Does the monitor have a DVI input? Does the video card have a DVI output? If so, you should be using that interface, rather than VGA.