surface pro 3 w/i7 fonts on 2nd monitor fuzzy ?

[Michael Lovett]

So I just got my SP3/i7 and plugged a 2nd monitor into the mini display port and I noticed right away that the fonts seem more crammed together and more fuzzy that before (before = I've been using this 2nd monitor with a Dell laptop with windows 8 for quite a while).

I worked with tech support to apply latest patches and do a reset, and so on, but still the fonts are fuzzy in comparison to what they were before (using same resolution as before).

Could it just be as simple as the Intel 5000 doesn't render fonts that nicely at this particular resolution??

(IE the monitor I'm referring to is running at 1920 * 1080)

I hate to have to return the SP3 because of this, but this is my main monitor and I stare at it all day - fonts the start off looking fuzzy in the am can drive you nuts as the day goes on.

All ideas welcomed!

Michael

 

[supervelous]

I can say I have noticed the same thing! I regularly use my 1920x1080 monitor with both my work laptop (VGA) and my Samsung i3 ultrabook (via HDMI) I got a couple years ago and it always looks great. But when I use it as my second monitor on the Surface Pro 3, both i5 and i7 as I've had both, the fonts do not look sharp.

I am using the Belkin Minidisplay port to HDMI adapter to get signal to my monitor.

 

[astondg]

1. Does this metro applications or only desktop applications?
If this only effects the desktop, then were you also logged in at the time you connected the monitor? If you were then you need to log out, or restart, and log back in to get the rendering to scale correctly (and fix the fuzzy text).

2. Are you connecting via DisplayPort/DVI/HDMI or VGA?
VGA will never look quite as crisp as the internal display or a digital connection like DP/DVI/HDMI

3. Do you have the latest drivers/configuration for you monitor?

 

[GreyFox7]

Google displayport fonts fuzzy you will see all types of issues with Macs and Widows with displayports ... some have to do with conversion to hdmi, other solved by using DP to DVI-d. monitor being detected as a TV etc.

Seems to be a wider problem with DP in general.

That said. what's the actual monitor type and end to end connections?

 

[JesseDiaz]

I connect via display port to two dell 24 inch monitors daisy chained and I experience fuzzy text too

 

[rquellet]

The fuzzy fonts on external monitors are caused by Windows 8.1 multiple monitor DPI scaling.

Here is Microsoft's description:
http://blogs.windows.com/bloggingwindows/2013/07/15/windows-8-1-dpi-scaling-enhancements/

A work around is to log off and log on to Windows while the external screen is connected. Windows will choose this screen as its DPI rendering target instead of your SP3's screen. Text will look sharp on the external and slightly blurry on the SP3's screen. Modern UI apps are not affected by this problem as they are automatically adapted to a screen's DPI, while desktop apps only handle one DPI.

It's a tradeoff.

 

[Michael Lovett]

1. Does this metro applications or only desktop applications?
If this only effects the desktop, then were you also logged in at the time you connected the monitor? If you were then you need to log out, or restart, and log back in to get the rendering to scale correctly (and fix the fuzzy text).

2. Are you connecting via DisplayPort/DVI/HDMI or VGA?
VGA will never look quite as crisp as the internal display or a digital connection like DP/DVI/HDMI

3. Do you have the latest drivers/configuration for you monitor?

Mainly I was seeing this with Desktop apps. I am connecting from the mini display port on the side of the SP3 , to a Microsoft converter to HDMI, into a larger lcd panel..

 

[astondg]

In that case I would try connecting the monitor first and then logging out and logging back in, if you haven't already.