Table of Contents
Start of Chapter : Optimize your Alphabetics
Previous: Try extra font display settings
Experiment to find the best settings for you
Everyone has their own preferences. Now that you know several key settings that control your display, feel free to try different combinations to get the best effect. You might like to start with the following table as a guideline depending on the maximum resolution you have.
| Resolution |
Colors |
Refresh Rate |
DPI |
Font Size |
Clear Type |
| 1024 x 768 |
Min 16 bit |
Min 72 Hertz |
Normal |
Normal or Large |
Off/on |
| 1200 x 900 |
Min 16 bit |
Min 72 Hertz |
Large size - 125% |
Normal or Large |
On |
| 1360 x 1024 |
Min 16 bit |
Min 72 Hertz |
Large size - 125% |
Normal or Large |
On |
| 1600 x 1200 |
Min 16 bit |
Min 72 Hertz |
Custom - 150% |
Normal or Large |
On |
Compatibility with applications
You now need to check your existing applications to see how they perform under higher resolutions. Some applications have difficulty with higher resolutions or larger custom font sizes. I find that leaving the font size as "Normal" and adjusting the DPI has the least adverse impact on applications.
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Sometimes, you may need to go looking for font settings specific to that application. For example, in Microsoft Outlook I increased the size of fonts in several views. Use the command View > Current View > Customize Current View, then click "Other Settings." Some web pages in Internet Explorer may also have difficulty with these settings. It's often not the browser's fault. Website designers don't always consider people with higher resolution screens.
You may need to make a tradeoff between the applications you use and the resolution you want. Another alternative might be to configure two user accounts in Windows XP with different display settings. In addition, check if your display drivers support multiple display profiles. For example, the base NVIDIA display driver includes a desktop manager that lets you switch between display profiles quickly. See the image above for an example.
Next: Summary
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