Strange dual-monitor problem

[Nintendoeats]

I'd have to do some digging to find the model number, but I remember it's something like a GForce. Monitors are Samsung P2350s.

Laptop is an über-cheapie. Maximum resolution is 1300 or so.

Geforce means Nvidia, right clicking your desktop and going Nvidia Control Panel -> Adjust Desktop Color Settings. Also look at the color settings in "Change Resolution". The settings made within the drivers can potentially be carried over for the monitor even if you switch them around.

Another thing to try is seeing if the colour discrepancy is still there when the computer first boots (I mean the very first screen you see after pressing the power button). If it is then the problem almost certainly cannot be solved with software and the monitor is history.

While the screen on your laptop is only 1366 x 768 (just guessing, but that is the most common display resolution), the processor's integrated graphics chip can probably push higher resolutions if you shut off the built-in screen.

 

[480sparky]

Laptop doesn't have the Nvidia card in it. Only the desktop.

Control panel doesn't solve anything.

 

[Nintendoeats]

Laptop doesn't have the Nvidia card in it. Only the desktop.

Control panel doesn't solve anything.

I know, the first two paragraphs of my post referred to the desktop, the third to your laptop. My last HTPC was a Windows 8.1 computer the size of my hand which cost a little over 100 CAD and it could output 1080p. It's a function of the capabilities of the graphics chip, in the case of your laptop the one integrated into your processor. Any remotely modern graphics chip will do 1920 x 1080. However, as long as it is mirroring the laptop display then it will be restricted to that display's resolution. That's why the laptop display has to be turned off.

In any case, the bootup test could potentially resolve the whole thing if the problem persists through it.

 

[480sparky]

Nothing is displayed on the 2nd monitor until everything is booted up.

 

[Nintendoeats]

Nothing is displayed on the 2nd monitor until everything is booted up.

Ok, that means the functional monitor is being treated as the primary by the GPU. The easiest way to get around that is to do the test again with only the suspect monitor connected.