Win 8.1, 4400 gfx - poor image quality w external HDMI monitor

[RNick1]

My new Acer S7-392 ultrabook has a sharp, crisp 1080p primary display. However, when attaching a 2nd display via HDMI (or VGA via optional connector), the display quality of the 2nd monitor is noticeably degraded. "Slightly fuzzy" would be a reasonable description. Display quality is excellent when connected to other laptops (e.g. 4 yr old Dell Studio 14z, Lenovo). Tried re-installing the Acer-recommended driver (3304) which is older than the 3331 that installed with the Win 8.1 upgrade. No combination of extending display, single display etc seems to matter. No error messages or other issues other than our 50" TV does not like the HDMI input signal and will not display. Its OK with VGA input. The poor quality display is definitely an eye-strain issue and symptoms seem to point to the driver. Is this a known and solvable problem, or do i need to consider returning this otherwise very nice ultrabook? I would expect that other similar laptops would have the same problem with an external monitor.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

[DArce]

1. Have you tested other HDMI display in the system? If so, please list all through models of the TV displays you are having issues with.

2. Did you see this issue when using an older operating system such as Microsoft* Windows* 8, Microsoft* Windows* 7?

3. Are you using any type of adapter, converter, dock station, KVM switch or anything similar?

4. Have you updated the BIOS of that system?

5. What is the native resolution of the display you are having issues with? Are you using the native resolution in that specific TV?

6. Have you installed the latest monitor drivers provided by the display manufacturer?

7. Please provide the dxdiag report from that system while using the display you are having issues with. And also include the graphics report generated by the Intel(R) Graphics and Media Control Panel. For information on how to get that report, please check this article:

http://www.intel.com/support/graphics/sb/cs-009476.htm Graphics | Intel(R) Graphics Driver Report

[RNick1]

1. Have you tested other HDMI display in the system? If so, please list all through models of the TV displays you are having issues with.

Have tried 3 monitors. Acer H233H, ASUS VH242 and one other Acer.(no model # ) All yield the same results – slightly "fuzzy" when connected to my S7-392, and nice and sharp when connected to my 2009 Dell Studio 14z with an NVidia gfx card. Also look fine when connected to an older Lenovo.

1. Did you see this issue when using an older operating system such as Microsoft* Windows* 8, Microsoft* Windows* 7?

I immediately upgraded to 8.1 as soon as I got the unit, and did not plug in an external monitor when I received it with Win 8. The unit is just 1 week old.

1. Are you using any type of adapter, converter, dock station, KVM switch or anything similar?

No – just a HDMI cable (full size connector) from the laptop to the monitor. For the VGA test, I used the optional proprietary Acer adaptor that provides Enet, USB and VGA. VGA test yielded very similar results (I would expected much poorer display, but it wasn't bad)

Incidentally, just for fun, I also tried plugging in a ~1350 x 768 VGA monitor in addition to the HDMI – 3 displays total. It actually worked – one wide extended display across 3 monitors. However, it did not work when I tried the ASUS monitor as a 3rd display. No particular significance to that although driving 3 monitors could be useful at times. But normally, I just need 2 good quality displays.

1. Have you updated the BIOS of that system?

No. Since the unit is brand-new, I would hope that I wouldn't have to do that.

1. What is the native resolution of the display you are having issues with? Are you using the native resolution in that specific TV?

1080p in all cases. 1920 x 1080

1. Have you installed the latest monitor drivers provided by the display manufacturer?

No Win 8 drivers for the Acer H233H are available as far as I can tell. The Acer site lists only a Vista driver.

1. Please provide the dxdiag report from that system while using the display you are having issues with. And also include the graphics report generated by the Intel(R) Graphics and Media Control Panel. For information on how to get that report, please check this article:

I've attached the report.

Thanks for your help. Have you seen this issue with other 4400 ultrabooks? I saw some earlier posts about "fuzzy" display. Same symptoms. Its not terrible, but not something you'd want to spend all day with as I must. Could this be anything other than a driver given that the monitors all appear to be good quality

[DArce]

Please try the driver posted here:

X32:https://downloadcenter.intel.com/confirm.aspx?httpDown=http://downloadmirror.intel.com/23324/a08/Win32_15335.zip&lang=eng&Dwnldid=23324 Download Center

X64: Download Center

For this driver install follow the instructions on the following article to load the driver manually:

http://www.intel.com/support/graphics/sb/CS-033916.htm Desktop graphics drivers | How to manually install a driver in Microsoft Windows 8* or Windows 8.1*