First time using dual monitor - Second screen looks awful

.Griff.

.Griff.

.Griff.

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My rig specs are in my sig so I won't waste your time by repeating them.

Up until today I've only ever used a single monitor and for the last 12 months that's been a 1440p IPS screen, Acheiva Shimian to be exact, which I absolutely love.

Today I picked up a brand new HP 23xi IPS monitor and I'm using both screens in extended desktop mode. For some reason the Catalyst drivers had set the 23xi to underscan by 10% but I changed that and it's now "filling" the screen correctly at 1080p.

However it just doesn't look right. I fully appreciate there's going to be a difference between a 1440p glossy panel and a 1080p matt panel with AG coating on it but the text on the new monitor looks awful. 1080p content on Youtube looks washed out and blurry almost as thought you were using the panel at the wrong resolution.

It's definitely set as 1920*1080p and it's definitely no longer under scanning but apart from that I don't know if there's some vague setting in the ADM drivers somewhere that's messing something up.

Any ideas?

FWIW I'm using a DL-DVI cable for the 1440p panel and HDMI for the 1080p panel.
 
I agree sounds like a setting on the hdmi output. HDMI can be a pain.

I would suggest trying to get a decent picture using the hdmi out on the 1080p screen on it's own first. Once you achieve that try to activate the 1440p screen.

If you really have trouble test the new screen with the DVI as a single display just to see if you can get a picture you deem ok.

If you can't it might be you just don't like that screen. :)
 
I could be misreading the replies or maybe I didn't write my opening post very well but the 1440p monitor works fine as it always has done so there's no issue with that whatsoever.

It's this new 1080p panel that I've added that looks really poor in comparison. I'm relatively new to AMD GPUs so I'm unsure if there's some obscure setting I need to change when using more than one panel?!?
 
have you tried using your new screen on it's own yet to see if it's simply just your eyes dont agree with the screen?
 
I wish I could but my MSI R9 280x Gamings only have 1 * DVI output on them. (Plus 1 * HDMI and 2 * DP)

Potentially stupid and embarrassing question now.. Can I use the DVI output on the second GPU as an output as well? I.E Use the DVI ouput on GPU#1 for the 1440p panel and the DVI output on GPU #2 for the 10080p panel or would that completely mess up crossfire?

I'm pretty confident all output has to go through one (primary) GPU I thought I'd ask and potentially embarrass myself anyway.
 
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No idea on crossfire, but I was (and still am) talking about settings on the monitor itself. From what you've said it could be some sharpness adjustment or "movie mode" or similar that needs changing on the monitor, not the PC.
 
I've tweaked the settings on the new monitor and it looks much better now. Out of the box it's obviously setup with Stevie Wonder in mind.

It's still not perfect but I think that's partly down to a really aggressive AG coating and a year of staring at a 1440p panel.
 
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