how to change the resoulotion of an external display

[cai876]

I have a g3 slot loading Imac, which I am reusing as a computer for a family member who is visually impaired. I have bought a 22" monitor that can display a resolution of 1680x1050. but I can not display more than 1024x768. Another problem is that I can't get it just to display on the external monitor, it uses both monitors with identical pictures.

 

[nightfly13]

Ok while I'm not sure which OS you're using (Tiger, Panther?) but I think what you want to do it disable 'mirroring' from display preference. That's why it's 1024x768 - because that's the native resolution of the iMac screen. I also don't know what video card is in there and if it's capable of non-mirror external video (probably is), but that's what you'll want to do. Disable mirroring and then set the resolution. Hopefully your OS is recent-enough to have 16:10 resolutions as an option.

 

[cai876]

My os is tiger. How do i disable mirroring.

 

[cai876]

My os is tiger. How do i disable mirroring?

 

[nightfly13]

Ok in Tiger - you click the apple logo in the top left corner, scroll down to system preferences, then chose 'Displays' and from there you should see a button for 'mirror displays' - it might be under one of the tabs from the top middle of the 'Displays' panel'.

Hope that gets it done for you.

 

[SiriusExcelsior]

I don't think the G3 iMacs support extended desktops; they could only do mirrored ones. Some had video cards that were capable, but Apple chose not to enable it; some just couldn't do it at all.

Try Screen Spanning Doctor:
http://www.rutemoeller.com/mp/ibook/ibook_e.html

I can't guarantee that it'll work, and, since it's such an old program, I can't guarantee it won't crash your system either. Good luck!