Used all the video controls on side of monitor and still can't get a good resolution on my screen - way too light to read anything except black text, and images are so light they're hard to see too.

Hi hamptonwhh,

Screen resolution refers to the clarity of the text and images on your screen. At higher resolutions, items appear sharper. They also appear smaller, so more items fit on the screen. At lower resolutions, fewer items fit on the screen, but they are larger and easier to see. At very low resolutions, however, images might have jagged edges. Please follow the steps below on how to adjust your screen resolution.

Windows XP
1. Click Start, click Control Panel, click Appearance and Themes, and then click Display.

2. On the Settings tab, under Screen resolution, drag the slider, and then click Apply.

3. When prompted to apply the settings, click OK. Your screen will turn black for a moment.

4. Once your screen resolution changes, you have 15 seconds to confirm the change. Click Yes to confirm the change; click No or do nothing to revert to your previous setting.

Windows Vista/7
1. Open Display Settings by clicking the Start button, clicking Control Panel, clicking Appearance and Personalization, clicking Personalization, and then clicking Display Settings.

2. Under Resolution, move the slider to the resolution you want, and then click Apply.

Notes : When you change the screen resolution, it affects all users who log on to the computer.

When you set your monitor to a screen resolution that it won't support, the screen will go black for a few seconds while the monitor reverts back to the original resolution.

Hope it helps.

Thank you for using FixYa.

Firstly you need to switch to the monitor's optimal resolution of 1024x768 @ 85Hz and before anyone posts anything about resolution 1024x768 @ 85Hz is the optimum not the maximum. To change to this resolution: Assuming you are using Windows XP click with the right mouse button an an empty part of the desktop and select Properties (or click Start, then click Control Panel then click Display), on the Settings tab, under Screen resolution, drag the slider bar until it says 1024x768 and then click Apply. Also in Display settings you'll find an advanced button, in the advanced panel you'll see the option to adjust the refresh rate, try adjusting this to 85Hz. Now press the Menu Button on the front of the monitor and press + of - until you see an option called "Degauss" and press the select button on the front of the monitor, your screen will do a disturbing jump and flicker accompanied by a metallic thud, this is normal. If this doesn't help message back.

right click anywhere on desktop>properties and set the screen resolution to a smaller value.

To change your monitor's resolution

1.

Right-click the desktop, and then click Properties.

2.

In the Display Properties dialog box, click the Settings tab.

3.

Drag the Screen resolution slider to the left to decrease the resolution of your monitor, making text and pictures appear larger. Or drag the Screen resolution slider to the right to increase your monitor's resolution, making text and pictures appear smaller.

4.

Click Apply to have the new resolution take effect.

5.

If the Monitor Settings dialog box appears, look at your display. If you like the new resolution, click Yes. If you do not like the resolution, click No, and return to step 3 to try a different resolution.

6.

Click OK.

Microsoft Windows XP changes the resolution to the settings you chose.

IT IS NOT HARDWARE PROBLEM
Change screen resolution

Screen resolution refers to the clarity of the text and images on your screen. At higher resolutions, items appear sharper. They also appear smaller, so more items fit on the screen. At lower resolutions, fewer items fit on the screen, but they are larger and easier to see. At very low resolutions, however, images might have jagged edges.

For example, 640 × 480 is a lower screen resolution, and 1600 × 1200 is a higher one. CRT monitors generally display a resolution of 800 × 600 or 1024 × 768. LCD monitors can better support the higher resolutions. Whether you can increase your screen resolution depends on the size and capability of your monitor and the type of video card you have.

Text and images are sharper and smaller at high screen resolutions

Text is larger and easier to read at low screen resolutions, but images are blocky and fewer items fit on the screen

1. Open Display Settings by clicking the Start button , clicking Control Panel, clicking Appearance and Personalization, clicking Personalization, and then clicking Display Settings.
   

2. Under Resolution, move the slider to the resolution you want, and then click Apply.
   

You need to lower the PC Video resolution to the native resolution of this Dell, 1280 x 1024 @60Hz

http://www.fixya.com/support/r4873371-fixing_out_range_format_not_supported

http://www.fixya.com/support/r5093881-lcd_flat_panel_tv_troubleshooting_guide

Failed TV and Monitors: http://s807.photobucket.com/home/budm/allalbums

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plague

Your PC is putting too high resolution for he VL1918 to display.
You need to set your PC video out put to the native resolution of the VL1918, which is 1280x1024 @60Hz.
You will have to hook up your old monitor (crt type?) and set the new resolution.
Or boot up in safe mode (hit f8 during boot up), and set the resolution to 640 x 480, reboot into regular mode, then rest the resolution to 1280x1024 260Hz.
Also watch out for bad caps in this monitor: http://s807.photobucket.com/albums/yy352/budm/Princeton%20VL1918W/

may be this can help you

if not contact me [email protected]

press f8 goto enable vga

after login just set the resolution into 800x600 then
restart the laptop in normal mode

or els contact me

The S2209W is designed to be run at the optimal resolution of 1920 x 1080 http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/monitors/S2209W/en/ug/optimal.htm
selecting a lower resolution will result in generally unsatisfactory appearance. This is due to the hard wiring of the pixels in LCD screens.
What you can do to abate the text being too small is adjust the DPI setting from the default of 96 to 120, or even 144 if you need real large text

Try reinstalling the video driver (Control Panel - System - Device Drivers - Video ... ) Good luck

If you went from a standard screen to a wide-screen, you have to upgrade the video card.
Also, try going into the menu option on screen and have it automatically detect settings.
First thing you should do is update your drivers.
Should have said that first.