wide screen laptop screen when connected to projecter

sant527 · 2012-03-08 08:31:17

There are no problems to make them work together, however, only one resolution can be set.
My laptop has a resolution of 1280X800, when I set the resolution to fit laptop screen, the image shrinked on the projector, if I set it as 1024X768, projector can work ok (though still a little bit deformed), but the laptop screen image became 1024X768, either.
I googled a lot, it seems no way to set resolution for laptop and projector separately so far (even I set it as extended destop).
I am going to make a presentation wednesday, it is less possible for my to edit my xorg.conf there. Any suggestions are highly welcomed!

Also i heard projectors work better at 800x600 resolution. then my laptop in that reslution is not so good.

Trilby · 2012-03-08 12:22:55

How are you setting these different resolutions? xrandr should do just what you want. arandr does the same thing, but provides a simple interface if you're not familiar with xrandr.

I don't know that there is any reasonable way to have different resolutions on two screens while having them show the same output (eg you couldn't have your presentation display fullscreen on your monitor and on the projector unless they are the same resolution) but it is quite easy to set different resolutions for an 'extended desktop' mode. I do this on a daily basis with xrandr.

Last edited by Trilby (2012-03-08 20:28:37)

sant527 · 2012-03-09 00:48:57

These resolutions are the existing ones on each display. In Projector there is no 1280X800 resolution.

If there are different resolutions the problem is (when laptop is 1280X800 and projector is 1024X768) It will not show the entire screen of the laptop. I mean either my right side or left side some portion or top or bottom will be missing on the projector.

If you say keep the laptop resolution also to projector (laptop 1024X768 and projector 1024X768) then the display on the laptop looks blur and not like 1280X800.

So is there a way so that I can change my projector resolution to 1280X800.Then I can see my laptop as it is and see the full display on the projector.

I have also used xrandr. Now the problem is with resolutions.

Gusar · 2012-03-09 01:21:12

You will not get 1280x800 out of the projector. Your best option is to disable scaling on the internal display so that instead of getting the blur you described, you'll get a picture in the center surrounded by black bars: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/In … aling_mode

sant527 · 2012-03-09 12:03:53

Is this same with windows also. I mean there also we have to change the resolution of the laptop to less than 1280 x 800 to see the entire screen.

Then is there any way. I dont know how people do in ubuntu. My friend says its automatic. There is no such problem of resolution.

Do you think this is because their laptops are not wide screen. Is this the problem only with the wide screen laptops.

David Batson · 2012-03-09 15:11:23

In my experience, you can run different resolutions on the laptop and external displays, but you can only watch a video on one of them when doing this. Basically what you have is two different desktops instead of a mirrored desktop. If you mirror the desktops, then you have to settle for one resolution. There is also an option to have a large desktop extended over multiple monitors, but I have not experimented with this. I use xrandr to make changes between displays.

http://forums.fedoraforum.org/showpost. … ostcount=4

cfr · 2012-03-11 19:47:36

I don't know about Windows but that's how it worked for me in OS X (10.4). There was no support for extended desktop so it was always mirrored and the resolution of the laptop would be adjusted accordingly. If the projector used 1024x768, all was well as it matched. But if the projector needed something else e.g. 800x600, the output on the laptop would tend to look a bit blurry and big. So the restriction definitely isn't Linux-specific.

Last edited by cfr (2012-03-11 19:47:56)

Gusar · 2012-03-11 22:43:21

Of course it's not linux-specific. Do you guys honestly not know how LCDs work?

Trilby · 2012-03-11 22:57:25

To get right at the OP's question:

sant527 wrote:

I googled a lot, it seems no way to set resolution for laptop and projector separately so far (even I set it as extended destop).

You can do

xrandr --output LVDS1 --mode 1280x800 --primary \
    --output VGA1 --mode 1024x768 --above LVDS1

This should give you the modes you want in "extended desktop" mode. The "--primary" option is entirely optional; in my case it keeps my task/infobar on my laptop screen. The "--above ..." can also be several other positions (or even exact coordinates). The LVDS1 and VGA1 may have to change for your machine, but I think these are fairly standard.

Have you tried a command like this and had any problems?

Arch Linux

#1 2012-03-08 08:31:17

wide screen laptop screen when connected to projecter

#2 2012-03-08 12:22:55

Re: wide screen laptop screen when connected to projecter

#3 2012-03-09 00:48:57

Re: wide screen laptop screen when connected to projecter

#4 2012-03-09 01:21:12

Re: wide screen laptop screen when connected to projecter

#5 2012-03-09 12:03:53

Re: wide screen laptop screen when connected to projecter

#6 2012-03-09 15:11:23

Re: wide screen laptop screen when connected to projecter

#7 2012-03-11 19:47:36

Re: wide screen laptop screen when connected to projecter

#8 2012-03-11 22:43:21

Re: wide screen laptop screen when connected to projecter

#9 2012-03-11 22:57:25

Re: wide screen laptop screen when connected to projecter

Board footer