Chapter 11: Setting Up Your Desktop

Changing Display Settings

Windows gives you control over the dimensions of your desktop, the color resolution of your display, and many other properties. Most of this power resides on the Settings tab of the Display Properties dialog box, shown in Figure 11-12. Open this dialog box by right-clicking any empty space on the desktop, selecting Properties from the shortcut menu, and then clicking the Settings tab.

Figure 11-12: The Settings tab of the Display Properties dialog box

Changing the Screen Resolution

The Screen Resolution slider on the Settings tab of the Display Properties dialog box controls the dimensions of your desktop in pixels, which are the colored dots on the screen. The current dimensions are stated under the slider. Increase the dimensions by moving the slider to the right; decrease them by moving the slider to the left.

Naturally, the size of your monitor doesn't change (the number of inches on your monitor is fixed); so when you increase the number of pixels on your desktop, each pixel gets correspondingly smaller, increasing the resolution. Icons and fonts shrink as well. As you increase the desktop area, you may want to increase font and icon size to compensate. (See the "Changing Fonts" and "Changing Icon Size" sections earlier in this chapter.)

The range of resolutions depends on what type of monitor you use. For a 14-inch monitor, your choices may range only from 800 0xd7 600 to 1,024 0xd7 768. For a 17-inch monitor, you can increase the resolution up to 1,600 0xd7 1,200. Larger monitors support even higher resolutions. If you have a monitor larger than 14 inches, consider increasing your screen resolution settings so that you'll be able to see more information on your screen. Here are our recommendations for screen resolution based on monitor size (that is, the size of the CRT tube that can display an image, measured diagonally):

Screen Size Maximum Usable Resolution 14 inches 640 0xd7 480 15 inches 800 0xd7 600 17 inches 1,024 0xd7 768 19 to 21 inches 1,280 0xd7 1,024 or 1,600 0xd7 1,200

Windows doesn't normally support resolutions of less than 800 0xd7 600. However, if you really want a lower resolution, click the Settings tab on the Display Properties dialog box, click the Advanced button, click the Adapter tab, click the List All Modes button, and choose a display mode with 640 0xd7 480.

Changing the Color Quality

The Settings tab of the Display Properties dialog box also controls the number of colors you display. The Color Quality drop-down list gives you choices that depend on the quality of your monitor. Your options may include 16 colors, 256 colors, high color (16-bit, or 65,536 colors), 24-bit true color (16 million colors), and 32-bit true color (even more colors). Below the list is a color bar showing the spectrum of the selected color palette.

The choice to be made is a speed versus beauty tradeoff. Displaying fewer colors or pixels is less work for your computer and may help it run faster. On the other hand, displaying more colors and pixels provides a richer viewing experience, particularly if you are looking at photographs. Using 16-bit color or higher produces much-improved image quality.

Colors and pixels also trade off against each other, because increasing either one uses more of the portion of RAM your system devotes to the display. Windows accounts for this automatically. If you increase the desktop area beyond the capabilities of your RAM, it decreases the color palette to compensate. Likewise, if you increase the color palette beyond what your RAM can handle, Windows decreases the desktop size.

A few programs don't work properly with the new color palette until you restart your computer. In general, we recommend restarting your computer to be completely safe; but, if you change the color palette frequently, this can get to be a nuisance. You may want to experiment to see whether the software you use has any problems when you don't restart after a color change. You can set up Windows to restart automatically when you change the color palette, ask you whether to restart, or not restart (see the "Adjusting Other Monitor Settings" section later in this chapter).

Changing Color Profiles

Subtle differences occur in the ways that different monitor and printer drivers represent a color palette. These representation schemes are called color profiles. For most purposes, the difference between color profiles doesn't matter. However, if you must be sure the colors you see on your monitor are exactly the colors you will get when you print, you can set the color profiles of your monitor and printer to reflect the exact way your monitor and printer render colors. Matching colors is especially important if you plan to edit and print photos.

Windows comes with profiles for many popular monitors. Its default profile, called the sRGB Color Space Profile, matches most monitors reasonably well. Unless you are a graphic artist, you probably won't notice the difference between the default profile and a perfectly tuned one. Most users do not need to change their color profiles.

To change the color profile of your monitor, click the Settings tab of the Display Properties dialog box and click the Advanced button. In the new dialog box that opens, click the Color Management tab (shown in Figure 11-13). Any profiles you have previously used are listed in the large window, with the current default profile in the box above the large window. To change to a new default color profile, select a new profile from the list and click the Set As Default button. To add a profile to the list, click the Add button and select from the color profiles listed. To remove a profile from the list, select it and click the Remove button.

Figure 11-13: Setting the color profile of your monitor

Changing Magnification

To control font magnification, click the Advanced button on the Settings tab of the Display Properties dialog box. You see a dialog box that displays properties of your monitor. The title, tabs, and settings of this dialog box depend on the display driver.

For higher magnification for the vision-impaired, see Chapter 16.

For most display drivers, the settings on the General tab include a magnification setting (which may be called DPI Setting, for dots per inch). For a typical monitor, a drop-down list gives you three choices: Normal Size (96 DPI), Large Size (120 DPI), and Custom Setting. Choosing Custom Setting opens the Custom DPI Setting dialog box. From this dialog box, you can type in whatever size you want as a percentage or change the size by using the ruler as a slider.

After you've made your choice, click OK to return to the display driver's dialog box, where your chosen size is displayed under the Font Size box. If you like it, click Apply. If Windows doesn't restart your computer automatically, restart it yourself.

Be careful choosing very large font magnifications. Changing the size of fonts changes the size of everything that contains text, such as the Display Properties dialog box, for example. If you choose 200% font magnification and have an 800 0xd7 600 desktop, the Display Properties dialog box gets so large that the Apply button goes off the bottom of the screen.