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220-1201 Practice Question: A user has a 27-inch 1440p monitor connected via…
A user has a 27-inch 1440p monitor connected via DisplayPort. They report that text appears slightly blurry and images look less sharp than expected. The monitor's native resolution is set correctly in Windows. What should you check first?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Enable and recalibrate ClearType in Windows.
Blurry text at the correct native resolution often means ClearType (Windows font smoothing) is disabled or misconfigured. ClearType improves text clarity on LCD monitors by sub-pixel rendering. Enabling or recalibrating ClearType in Control Panel typically resolves the issue.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Replace the DisplayPort cable with an HDMI cable.
Why it's wrong here
Replacing a DisplayPort cable with an HDMI cable is unlikely to resolve blurry text on a 1440p monitor. Both DisplayPort 1.2 (and newer) and HDMI 1.4 (and newer) are fully capable of transmitting a 2560x1440 resolution signal at standard refresh rates without any loss of fidelity. Blurry text typically indicates an issue with the display's rendering or scaling, not the digital signal integrity provided by a properly functioning cable of either type.
- ✗
Adjust the monitor's sharpness setting from the on-screen display (OSD) menu.
Why it's wrong here
Adjusting the monitor's sharpness setting from the OSD menu would likely worsen, rather than improve, text clarity at the native resolution. Sharpness controls typically apply an artificial edge enhancement filter, which can introduce halos or artifacts around text characters, making them appear pixelated or jagged. This setting is primarily useful for upscaling lower-resolution content or compensating for slight blurriness in analog signals, not for refining native digital text.
- ✓
Enable and recalibrate ClearType in Windows.
Why this is correct
Enabling and recalibrating ClearType in Windows is the most effective solution for blurry text on an LCD monitor. ClearType is a Microsoft technology that uses subpixel rendering to smooth the edges of fonts, leveraging the individual red, green, and blue subpixels within each physical pixel to achieve finer detail than whole-pixel rendering allows. If ClearType is disabled or improperly calibrated for the specific display's pixel arrangement, text will appear noticeably jagged or blurry, especially at smaller font sizes.
- ✗
Set the monitor to a lower resolution to see if text improves.
Why it's wrong here
Setting the monitor to a lower resolution than its native 1440p would exacerbate text blurriness rather than improve it. When a monitor displays a non-native resolution, it must perform scaling, which involves interpolating pixels to fit the lower resolution image onto the physical pixel grid. This scaling process inevitably introduces blurriness and artifacts, making text appear less sharp and less defined, even if it becomes physically larger on screen.
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Same concept, more angles
2 more ways this is tested on 220-1201
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A user's 4K monitor is set to 3840x2160 resolution but text and icons appear very small and blurry. The display cable is a standard HDMI cable. What is the most likely cause of the blurriness?
medium- A.The monitor's refresh rate is set too high
- B.The graphics driver is corrupted
- ✓ C.The HDMI cable does not support enough bandwidth for 4K resolution
- D.The monitor's scaling settings are incorrect
Why C: Standard HDMI cables (especially older versions) may not have sufficient bandwidth for 4K at proper refresh rates, leading to chroma subsampling and blurry text. The correct answer identifies bandwidth limitation as the cause, and the solution would be to use a high-speed HDMI or DisplayPort cable.
Variation 2. A customer brings in a desktop PC with a 4K monitor that displays a blurry image at native resolution. The monitor's settings show 3840x2160 resolution, but text is hard to read. What is the most likely issue?
medium- A.The monitor's sharpness setting is too low.
- ✓ B.The display scaling is set to 100%.
- C.The HDMI cable does not support 4K.
- D.The graphics card is overheating.
Why B: Blurry text at native resolution on a 4K monitor often indicates incorrect scaling settings in the operating system. Windows scaling should be set to 150% or 200% to make text readable, otherwise it appears too small and blurry due to pixel density.
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This 220-1201 practice question is part of Courseiva's free CompTIA certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the 220-1201 exam.