Pixelated/Grainy/Rough Images

By Naominess
in Tips, Tweaks & Customization

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Naominess

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If you right click on the desktop and choose "Personalize" and then "Display settings".

Then click on "Advanced". On the new window there should be some standard tab names (Adaptor, Monitor, Troubleshoot, Color management), and one more with the name of your graphics card manufacturer on (ATI, nVidia, Intel). Let us know what it says, if anything.

The long one at the top says "Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator Driver for Mobile" and there's a sticker on the front of my Laptop saying "Intel Celeron Inside" :-)

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Naominess

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OK, if you follow this link and run the detection tool on your computer it should identify exactly what driver you need for your computer and should offer a chance to either download the new driver or update it directly.

This is what it told me about the graphics driver:

graph57036.png

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Aldur82

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Just had a quick check on the Dell support website, and they have actually provided newer drivers than you currently have (genuinely shocked to be honest).

So if you go to Dell Support you should be able to find the updated drivers.

Not sure if Dell provide a utility with their machines to automatically update any drivers though.

Forgot to mention, when you get to the page with all the different drivers, you want to look under the "Video" section (bottom of the list) and choose the "Intel" option.

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Naominess

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Just had a quick check on the Dell support website, and they have actually provided newer drivers than you currently have (genuinely shocked to be honest).

So if you go to Dell Support you should be able to find the updated drivers.

Not sure if Dell provide a utility with their machines to automatically update any drivers though.

Which drivers should I download? (I have a Dell Inspiron 1545) Is it this I should download? (This was the Intel driver under Video)

Intel GM45 Video

Release Date: 5/21/2009

Version: 7.15.10.1637, A03 Other Versions

Download Type: Driver

File Format: Hard-Drive

File Size: 20 MB

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Aldur82

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Next thing to check is hardware acceleration.

Go to "Personalize", then "Display Settings", then "Troubleshoot" tab and see if the "Change settings" is available.

It might be greyed out, at which point you'll need to go to the 'Intel' tab and launch that utility. Unfortunately I don't have any experience with the intel graphics software, but you'll want to look around for a "Hardware Acceleration" option (if your graphics card can even do that. Some can't). It will most likely be set to "Full" (all the way to the right). Adjust it 1 notch from full. You might need to restart your laptop for it to take effect.

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Naominess

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Hey Aldur,

Thanks for helping me with this :-) It's so appreciated. I clicked Display Settings in Personalization but there doesn't seem to be a Troubleshoot tab there, would it be easier for you to come on a remote assistance program or...? Here's a screenshot of my Display settings page:

Edit: Just found the Troubleshoot tab.

Display49991.pngJustfound73999.png

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Aldur82

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Sorry, my fault. I missed the "Advanced Settings" step.

OK, looks like vista has handed off the hardware acceleration to the drivers. If you go to the Intel tab, you might need to launch the intel software from a button there, have a look around and see if there is anything to do with hardware acceleration. Then adjust it 1 notch from full.

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Naominess

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Oh :-( Okay. Thanks for all of your help anyway.

Oh, by the way everyone... I've found a way of explaining it even /better/.

http://images.neopets.com/new_greetings/1406.gif - This image will appear to be smooth for most of you, but for me, the shading specifically I can see each single dot that makes up the shading (Unless it's in a cluster) It's very visible on the shading on the bushes, the yellow pet's tail and the sky. It looks very grainy and low resolution. Don't know if this sheds any light on anything aldur?

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AbandonedTrolley

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Oh :-( Okay. Thanks for all of your help anyway.

Oh, by the way everyone... I've found a way of explaining it even /better/.

http://images.neopets.com/new_greetings/1406.gif - This image will appear to be smooth for most of you, but for me, the shading specifically I can see each single dot that makes up the shading (Unless it's in a cluster) It's very visible on the shading on the bushes, the yellow pet's tail and the sky. It looks very grainy and low resolution. Don't know if this sheds any light on anything aldur?

Being honest, that image looks exactly how you described it. Low quality shading all over, 3 colours of green on the trees all very distinctive in their sections. Also the yellow tail has banding across it.

Edit : Having never looked on the neopets site I just thought I would take a look. Most of the images on there seem to be similar. I'm wondering if this is just the way the site is though.

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Naominess

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Yeah trolley, that's an example of images I see on other websites also, such as Habbo Hotel, the characters on there have a 1 pixel outline, which should appear smooth but for me I can see each and every pixel that makes up the image, making the edges look quite rough & choppy.

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AbandonedTrolley

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Yeah trolley, that's an example of images I see on other websites also, such as Habbo Hotel, the characters on there have a 1 pixel outline, which should appear smooth but for me I can see each and every pixel that makes up the image, making the edges look quite rough & choppy.

Same for me on there, I'm just wondering, what were you using previously ? Was it an old crt monitor? maybe you didn't have quite the clarity before and now the sharpness is showing up on the new machine?

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Naominess

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I was using a Windows Vista Home Premium Acer 5720z with an Intel Centrino Duo Graphics card. I had the resolution lower than the native on that laptop and it made the screen quite blurry which made the lines look smooth, but it wasn't blurry to the point of not being able to see things properly/larger images. When I change the resolution on this laptop to a smaller one than it's native, it goes blurry to the point of not being able to see things properly and the images appear to be 2x bigger.

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AbandonedTrolley

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I was using a Windows Vista Home Premium Acer 5720z with an Intel Centrino Duo Graphics card. I had the resolution lower than the native on that laptop and it made the screen quite blurry which made the lines look smooth, but it wasn't blurry to the point of not being able to see things properly/larger images. When I change the resolution on this laptop to a smaller one than it's native, it goes blurry to the point of not being able to see things properly and the images appear to be 2x bigger.

I'm guessing that machine had a better ability to display at non-native resolutions then and that would be the issue. Things always seem smooth when doing that, as soon asyou display as they are meant to be then you will see the clarity you are getting now. Problem as you say is that with the new machine when you drop the resolution things aren't so great. :(

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+Frank B. Subscriber²

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Is there a reason why you don't use your laptop's native resolution? In my opinion at least using a non-native resolution on a LCD screen always results in a less than optimal display with distorted graphics.

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AbandonedTrolley

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Nope, I use 96 on this resolution, what DPI should I use for say... 1280 x 720?

I wouldn't know and could only suggest trial and error there.

Is there a reason why you don't use your laptop's native resolution? In my opinion at least using a non-native resolution on a LCD screen always results in a less than optimal display with distorted graphics.
I do at the moment Mephis, but I don't like it because it makes pixelated images appear /too/ crisp, so that you can see every pixel making up the image.

As Mephistopeles said, using anything but the monitors native resolution isn't a great idea as it distorts what you should be seeing, maybe if things are appearing too sharp try a few vodkas first ? :D

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