New 22" LCD Monitor Fuzzy Text & Eye Fatigue at 1680x1050

I'm using an older Dell 4500, P4 (2.4ghz) w. 1GB of RAM and an NVidia GeForce4 MX 420 Video Card w. 64MB of RAM. I have all of the updated drivers for the card.

I bought a new 22" (LG W2252TQ) LCD monitor which has a native resolution of 1680 x 1050.

No matter what resolution I use or color and sharpness settings I change on the monitor & graphic card, text and images don't seem sharp or as sharp as my older 17" CRT monitor.

I should note that I am not using a DVI cable as my graphics card does not support DVI. So I appear to be connected "analog." I also have "clear type" turned on in the appearances tab.

Many of the reviews on the monitor I bought state that it displays sharp graphics and text.

Would a newer graphics card with a DVI connection solve the sharpness and eye fatigue issue at 1680 x 1050 resolution?

 

CRT will always be that bit clearer and sharper than an LCD from my understanding but you have the "big box" sitting on the desktop. The clear type was certainly a good start.

IT staff at work suggested I increased the "refresh rate" of the monitor to lower eye fatigue.

You may get improvement with a new video card but I don't think you will ever get the same "sharpness" with the LCD Im afraid, hopefully someone can show that Im wrong.

You will find numerous discussions by googling "CRT vs. LCD" and previously the CRT were clear winners for higher refresh rates, increased Colour clarity and depth (sharpness) and the ability to function well at many differing resolutions. But LCD's are evolving and catching up. Just because a product is newer technology doesn't always mean it is better and imho a CRT still wins hands down for the reasons you are mentioning.

 

When's the last time you had an eye exam? lol just joking

I would say upgrade your video card, nothing real expensive, but something a little bigger than your geforce 420. I would think that would definitely help you out.