Cant get 1680x1050 on external monitor

[gooshy]

I have been trying to get my MB to output to my ViewSonic 20.1 widescreen monitor. I use this monitor with my desktop pc in XP and its fine I can get the native 1680x1050.

With my mac it does not detect the correct setting for the screen and either goes for 1440x900 or 1600x1200 neither of which look very good on the screen. Does anyone know a way I can manually force my mac to run at a specific resolution or if anyone can suggest an alternative solution.

Thanks.

 

[walkerj]

Have you gone into Display Preferences to determine if that resolution shows up as an option while the external monitor is connected?

I seem to recall an external CRT I connected once that the display detector incorrectly selected a lower resolution than the monitor was capable of. I had to go into Display Prefs to explicitly tell it to go higher. From then on it automatically selected the correct resolution.

 

[Aubie16]

Also...the Macbook will not display full resolution on an external monitor unless its own monitor is off. Do this either by using the external with the macbook closed, or open the macbook only after it has woke up from sleep mode while still closed.

 

[walkerj]

Um, mine does. Plug in, quick blue screen, and 1680x1050 spanned. Menubar is on the primary display until I move it with the arrangement controls, but otherwise no user intervention required.