Correcting external monitor screen resolution

I have a 27" iMac and have connected a Philips 160e as a pallette monitor via a Mini Display Port to VGA adaptor.
The iMac sees it but auto picks the wrong resolution 1280 x 1024 (stretched) instead of the Philips' 1366 x 768 @ 60Hz.
If I try to change the resolution the screen goes black which is symptomatic of using the wrong refresh rate, and of course I can make no further adjustments.
esc does not get me out of the black screen.
What is worse the iMac seems to remember the wrong resolution/refresh rate after restarts.
I have tried Safe Mode (it stayed black) and booting off an external hard drive into another system (back into black if I change the display settings).
Any way out of this loop?
I have gone into System Preferences > Display > Color >unchecked 'Show profiles for this display only' > selected > Philips 160E in the list
It only contains .icc profile information, which I suppose is to be expected but is the only access I can find to any specific model data.
The same display works fine with an older 24" iMac, using a different adaptor because of the different display port.
Somewhere OSX is storing the settings for the external monitor, I'd love to be able to trash it or change it back.

Yes but that doesn't seem to be the problem.
OSX is aware of the display, even its size.
It is available in Display > Arrangement and if I double click on the arrangement of the 2nd display I see the red highlight on the edge of my main screen.
I have managed to make the Philips display visible again by checking Show displays in menu bar and then changing its resolution back on the menu bar menu to 1024 x 768 @ 72 Hz, which is a wacky set and looks really stretched.
I have been considering getting a 24" Asus as a 2nd display but this is putting me off the idea.
Thunderbolt is just a non-conformist very expensive format that does nothing for the regular user a year after it came out. It costs extra for yet more adaptors which just add another complication to connecting peripherals.
Some days I just wished Apple would not find more sticks to poke between my legs when I am trying to get somewhere.

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Hi, which external monitor do you have?
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Ryan Turner
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I've got the same problem. Tried SwitchResX with not much success. I'm using as second screen a Benq w100 projector. When I force resolutions like 854x480 at about 60Hz, the projector won't recognise it, which makes sense since the input is not supported as such from a PC.
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Hi there
My laptop:
ThinkPad T400 2767-C99* (graphics is: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3470 256MB / X4500MHD (Switchable Graphics)), OS is WinXP
I just installed the newest video driver from the lenovo page (which also installs "ATI catalyst")
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*Original description: Based 2767-2JG: T9550(2.66GHz), 4GB RAM, 250GB 5400rpm HD, 14.1in 1440x900 LCD, 256MB ATI Radeon 3470HD, CDRW/DVDRW, Intel 802.11agn wireless, Bluetooth, Modem, 1GB Ether, UltraNav, Sec Chip, FPR, Camera, 9c Li-Ion, DOS License
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Go to Solution.

bfrey wrote:
Thank you for your answer.
I have already installed the newsest drivers from Lenovo. I don't really see why I should install a non-official driver. I am convinced that it must work somehow with the official driver.
Kind regards
there are plenty of instances where the official driver have glitches... just look around the forum to find instances of which.... while official drivers maybe better in most instances, there are always the odd case where it doesn't work as well as it should. If they perfectly out of box, then there would never need to be multiple revisions and updates.
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Jin Li
May this year, be the year of 'DO'!
I am a volunteer, and not a paid staff of Lenovo or Microsoft

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George
In daily use: R60F, R500F, T61, T410
Collecting dust: T60
Enjoying retirement: A31p, T42p,
Non-ThinkPads: Panasonic CF-31 & CF-52, HP 8760W
Starting Thursday, 08/14/2014 I'll be away from the forums until further notice. Please do NOT send private messages since I won't be able to read them. Thank you.

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Correcting external monitor screen resolution

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