Help with my monitor/display please

Had a good day at work today, hung some big ass pieces of duct in a small space and boss let us go home early [with pay]... Come home and my computer display is all wonky.

I have like 4 inches of black screen on both sides and some of the content that should be displayed is cut off. example, the first word in this sentence I can see is have. So the left side is cut off. Also the right side is cut off to where I normally see an X in the upper right hand corner is not being displayed.

I have gone through settings and tried different resolutions to no avail. I can zoom in and out but that does not fix the problem.

I use my TV as a monitor and it has always fit perfect, I left my computer on this morning switched to watch TV so possibly one of our cats rolled around on my keyboard and changed things. That happens quite often, usually when I am flying my airplane game... but always able to fix it back

I googled it and all I could find was resolution answers. I Can't stretch the screen with the little arrows that sometimes appear. I have restarted. Obviously I am not a computer guy but not totally stupid. I have had issues before with the cats pushing all the right buttons to change stuff so hopefully somebody can tell me the easy fix that I am missing

a reply to: tinner07

Do the obvious stuff. Shut the computer down, turn off the TV. Check cable connections, etc.

Check that the video driver is up to date.

By shutdown I do mean power off, let it sit a minute or so. Not a soft restart(pressing restart or selecting restart will not power down the computer internals).

a reply to: tinner07


What graphics card are you using? Nvidia? If so bring up the Nvidia control panel and you can resize your screen manually. Not sure if other GPU's work the same or not....

a reply to: MisterSpock

By shutdown I do mean power off, let it sit a minute or so. Not a soft restart(pressing restart or selecting restart will not power down the computer internals).

ok will do... I did just do the restart button

a reply to: seeker1963

What graphics card are you using? Nvidia?

OMG idk lol....I am a metal worker.... whatever came in it. I am going to try the power off thing and see if that helps. If not I will ask more on video card control panel

Might be the TV, rather than the computer.
Cat may have rolled onto the remote control...

There is usually a button that changes screen size settings, such as “wide” etc
Flick through the options.

If you have already tried this, I apologise.
I’m not very tech savvy.

originally posted by: Hazardous1408
Might be the TV, rather than the computer.
Cat may have rolled onto the remote control...

There is usually a button that changes screen size settings, such as “wide” etc
Flick through the options.

If you have already tried this, I apologise.
I’m not very tech savvy.

Ya, rereading his description looks like the tv may be on a different mode, like 4:3.

OP If you have a remote, it's probably a button labeled format or picture mode, possibly "stretch". Cycling through that should get you back to "full" 16:9 screen hopefully with no display issues.

a reply to: MisterSpock

Dude you are a genius... The easy fix that I was overlooking. A real shut down and everything is back to normal. I would send you a Christmas turkey but they are too far out to shoot right now So how about just a big THANK YOU.

And mods you can close this thread please as the issue is fixed.

You guys are the best

originally posted by: tinner07
a reply to: MisterSpock

Dude you are a genius... The easy fix that I was overlooking. A real shut down and everything is back to normal. I would send you a Christmas turkey but they are too far out to shoot right now So how about just a big THANK YOU.

And mods you can close this thread please as the issue is fixed.

You guys are the best

No need for a turkey, I'll take your car for a spin though.....

LOL...I wish. Not my car. I did get to drive it around the race track though....

like 350 bucks for 3 laps in the Lambo and 3 laps in a Ferrari

a reply to: tinner07

Not a bad price, actually.

a reply to: MisterSpock

No it was worth it. Nothing like driving a quarter million dollar car 100mph into a 90 degree turn knowing you have a $5000 deductible insurance on it lol....It was super cold and rainy that day. Actually snowed. I let my son in law take the ferrari laps.
The worst part was is kinda really excited and strap on a helmet... The Lambo's roof was so low and the helmet a touch large and loose that when I turned my head the helmet did not turn.

a reply to: tinner07

Sounds like the aspect ratio on the TV is what got changed.

I'm assuming you are using a HDMI connect between them.

TV's have to deal with widescreen and normal aspect source material and sometimes this is done letterbox style (with black lines at top and bottom) sometimes the video gets stretched across the screen and sometimes it gets cropped to only show the central portion (This is what I think happened in your case).

I suspect that the computer is still putting out the same widescreen video that it always did.

Go into the settings for the TV to do with aspect ratio. All should be good.

a reply to: chr0naut

Sounds like the aspect ratio on the TV is what got changed. I'm assuming you are using a HDMI connect between them.

I have the issue fixed but thank you for your response. The HDMI goes from the TV but then goes into some adapter type thing into the computer itself.

How everything got changed is the mystery. I have way too many cats because I won't take them to the dog pound so they must have hit a button somewhere.

Mods can close this thread as the issue has been fixed and thank you to everybody that responded

a reply to: tinner07

I'd recommend checking for video drivers, first. Don't trust the auto search in the device manager, either; go to the actual site for your video card and look there. Windows doesn't always locate the new ones. One that is done, check the actual monitor settings. Many have buttons that can really change things. Next, check for loose connections, both ends, or a possible bad cable. If you have another computer, to which you can connect, you can test the monitor and cable that way, as well. You stated that you already checked the display settings? Perhaps try safe mode, and see if it's better there.

originally posted by: tinner07
a reply to: seeker1963

What graphics card are you using? Nvidia?

OMG idk lol....I am a metal worker.... whatever came in it. I am going to try the power off thing and see if that helps. If not I will ask more on video card control panel

Ok, for the video card, open the device manager (can locate this in the control panel), expand the option for "display adapters", and you can see what you are using. Then you can search online for the drivers. That or some odd monitor setting seem most likely. There is the possibility, of course, that the monitor is flaky, and could need replaced but seems less likely than the other options.

If using a TV as a monitor, and you want it to perfectly fit the screen, select dot by dot as the screen type. That will mirror your computer screen.