Why does computer external monitor show different screen skew/dimensions when unplugged+plugged

Factual Questions
1

Pulled some cables out of my external monitor, replugged them back in and then turned it back on - and lo and behold, a screen that was too wide (everything had been skewed to look “fat”) was now too thin - everything skewed to look too skinny. And the first time I turned it on, the dimensions were just right. Why does unplugging+replugging change the dimensions in the monitor?
(Asus VA325H monitor, fwiw)

2

You don’t tell us your OS, which should be the least information for almost every computer question asked (I’m not picking on you, many people forget this information, but as an IT guy I just mention it as a general reminder). But anyway, I can give advice for a Windows 10 machine: plug in your second screen and go to Settings - System - Display. Here you can choose between auto detect or fixed dimension/resolution for any display connected. If auto detect doesn’t yield satisfactory results (which I heard happens sometimes with some devices), choose the resolution you want manually.

3

No matter why this happened, write down the resolution that works somewhere . . . don’t ask me how I know about the frustration of going through ALL of the native resolutions TWICE before finally finding the one that worked :smack:.

CMC fnord!

4

Was the computer on when you unplugged the cable to the monitor?

5

Your computer identifies the monitor, and, by default, sets what it thinks the appropriate shape and resolution should be, That shape and resolution is used by your video card, which sends a signal to your monitor. Your monitor then tries to adjust to whatever signal it is getting.

The computer isn’t continuously assessing what kind of defaults to use: it makes it’s assessment at certain events, like power on, plug in or whatever… The monitor probably is making an almost continuous assessment.

  1. Sometimes mistakes are made. You don’t have a good connection or whatever at the time the assessment is made, and one end or the other gets it wrong. My own very very old monitor is aging, and on hot days tends to wander.

  2. Sometimes you don’t trigger an assessment event, and your computer is just guessing until the next restart.

6

Just download the driver from here :