Wrong monitor screen size detected. Shows Zoran Corp. 20" but monitor is a Coby 37"

[mjulbe]

I have a Coby 37" TV (model tftv3227) that I am using a a monitor via HDMI.
When I click on "displays" it shows up as a [Zoran Corporation 20" ] monitor

The fonts are extremely difficult to see regardless of the resolution I select

I tried the following resolutions:
1920 x 1080 (16:9) - Worst of all of the selections
1360 x 768 (16:9) - almost looks like a 9 pin dot matrix printer. the curves of the fonts look like little squares. not smooth at all
1280 x 768 (16:10) - this one and the following are much easier to read but fonts still look boxy and the available desktop area is not nearly enough especially since I have a 37" screen .
1280 x 720 (16:9)
1024:768 (4:3)
800 x 600 (4:3)

My guess- and it is ONLY a guess because I don't know too much about this area of expertise- is that Ubuntu is stretching a 20" resolution accross my 37" screen so the fonts are not displaying with the proper number of pixels.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
Package: xorg 1:7.7+1ubuntu8
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.13.0-24.46-generic 3.13.9
Uname: Linux 3.13.0-24-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
.proc.driver.nvidia.gpus.0: Error: [Errno 21] Is a directory: '/proc/driver/nvidia/gpus/0'
.proc.driver.nvidia.registry: Binary: ""
.proc.driver.nvidia.version:
 NVRM version: NVIDIA UNIX x86_64 Kernel Module 331.38 Wed Jan 8 19:32:30 PST 2014
 GCC version: gcc version 4.8.2 (Ubuntu 4.8.2-19ubuntu1)
.tmp.unity.support.test.0:

ApportVersion: 2.14.1-0ubuntu3
Architecture: amd64
CompizPlugins: No value set for `/apps/compiz-1/general/screen0/options/active_plugins'
CompositorRunning: compiz
CompositorUnredirectDriverBlacklist: '(nouveau|Intel).*Mesa 8.0'
CompositorUnredirectFSW: true
CurrentDesktop: Unity
Date: Fri May 2 23:02:01 2014
DistUpgraded: 2014-04-24 21:25:53,225 DEBUG enabling apt cron job
DistroCodename: trusty
DistroVariant: ubuntu
DkmsStatus:
 bbswitch, 0.7, 3.13.0-24-generic, x86_64: installed
 nvidia-331-updates, 331.38, 3.13.0-24-generic, x86_64: installed
ExtraDebuggingInterest: Yes
GraphicsCard:
 NVIDIA Corporation GT218 [GeForce 8400 GS Rev. 3] [10de:10c3] (rev a2) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
   Subsystem: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. [MSI] Device [1462:2298]
InstallationDate: Installed on 2014-03-08 (56 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 12.10 "Quantal Quetzal" - Release amd64 (20121017.5)
MachineType: MSI MS-7641
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-3.13.0-24-generic root=UUID=06f09743-100c-4dc7-9a29-257d01a3521b ro quiet splash
SourcePackage: xorg
Symptom: display
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to trusty on 2014-04-25 (8 days ago)
dmi.bios.date: 11/28/2012
dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
dmi.bios.version: V17.12
dmi.board.asset.tag: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.board.name: 760GM-P23(FX) (MS-7641)
dmi.board.vendor: MSI
dmi.board.version: 3.0
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.chassis.type: 3
dmi.chassis.vendor: MSI
dmi.chassis.version: 3.0
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvrV17.12:bd11/28/2012:svnMSI:pnMS-7641:pvr3.0:rvnMSI:rn760GM-P23(FX)(MS-7641):rvr3.0:cvnMSI:ct3:cvr3.0:
dmi.product.name: MS-7641
dmi.product.version: 3.0
dmi.sys.vendor: MSI
version.compiz: compiz 1:0.9.11+14.04.20140409-0ubuntu1
version.ia32-libs: ia32-libs N/A
version.libdrm2: libdrm2 2.4.52-1
version.libgl1-mesa-dri: libgl1-mesa-dri 10.1.0-4ubuntu5
version.libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental: libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental N/A
version.libgl1-mesa-glx: libgl1-mesa-glx 10.1.0-4ubuntu5
version.nvidia-graphics-drivers: nvidia-graphics-drivers N/A
version.xserver-xorg-core: xserver-xorg-core 2:1.15.1-0ubuntu2
version.xserver-xorg-input-evdev: xserver-xorg-input-evdev 1:2.8.2-1ubuntu2
version.xserver-xorg-video-ati: xserver-xorg-video-ati 1:7.3.0-1ubuntu3
version.xserver-xorg-video-intel: xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.99.910-0ubuntu1
version.xserver-xorg-video-nouveau: xserver-xorg-video-nouveau 1:1.0.10-1ubuntu2
xserver.bootTime: Fri May 2 22:58:24 2014
xserver.configfile: default
xserver.errors: open /dev/fb0: No such file or directory
xserver.logfile: /var/log/Xorg.0.log
xserver.outputs:

xserver.version: 2:1.15.1-0ubuntu2

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[raydar (raydar)]

I have two of the same model HP 19" LCD 4:3 monitors connected to a full-tower Dell Optiplex 755 running Ubuntu Gnome 14.10. One screen is detected as 19" and the other as 17" but both screens are completely filled and not overfilled, properly aligned, and otherwise function just fine--I would never know there was a detection discrepancy but for having opened the display settings out of unrelated curiosity.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

mjulbe, thank you for reporting this and helping make Ubuntu better. As per http://www.msi.com/support/mb/760GM-P23-FX.html#down-bios an update to your computer's buggy and outdated BIOS is available (17.16). If you update to this following https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BIOSUpdate does it change anything?

If it doesn't, could you please both specify what happened, and provide the output of the following terminal command:
sudo dmidecode -s bios-version && sudo dmidecode -s bios-release-date

For more on BIOS updates and linux, please see https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ReportingBugs#Bug_reporting_etiquette .

Please note your current BIOS is already in the Bug Description, so posting this on the old BIOS would not be helpful. As well, you don't have to create a new bug report.

Once the BIOS is updated, and the information above is provided, then please mark this report Status New.

Thank you for your understanding.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for xorg (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]