(^376) PC Hardware: A Beginner’s Guide
- Change the Screen Area setting to its lowest (the slide all of the way to the left)
value. It should be 640 × 480. Now change the color depth (Colors) to 256 (8-bit)
color. These settings are the VGA standard settings. Click Apply. Do not restart
the system when asked and apply the new settings without restarting the PC. - Unless these settings were what your monitor was set on to begin with, the
displayed image should be constructed of much larger elements and may not
fit onto the display. - Reopen the Display Properties window and change the resolution (Screen
Area) and color depth (Colors) to the highest settings available. Once again,
accept the settings without restarting your PC. The display should be much
more detailed, and all of the elements should be much smaller than under
VGA standard settings. - Reset the Display Properties to their original settings, unless you prefer their
new values.
Refresh Rate
Another key setting on a video system is its refresh rate, or the number of times per
second that the screen is entirely redrawn. The refresh rate is actually a function of the
video card and indicates how many times per second the data used by the monitor to
refresh the displayed image is sent.
The phosphor on the CRT’s screen begins to dim almost immediately, so the electron
gun must sweep back over each pixel a number of times per second to keep the display
shar pand bright. A low refresh rate can make the CRT screen flicker and can cause eye
fatigueandheadaches.Youdefinitelywantamonitorthatsupportsarefreshrateof75Hz
(Hertz) or faster, especially at higher resolutions and color depths. LCD displays do not
have refresh rate issues. Because of the way LCD technology works, it can provide stable
images at 60Hz and sometimes less.
To set the refresh rate on your monitor, or to check to see what it is set at, follow the
steps used above to display the Display Properties Settings window. Click on the Advanced
button to display the Properties window for the video adapter in your PC. Select the
Adapter tab. The Refresh Rate is selected from a list box that is located about in the middle
of the window. On most Windows 9xor Windows 2000 systems, the refresh rate is likely
set to Optimal.
If you change the refresh rate and the result is a distorted or blurry image, reboot your
PC into Windows Safe Mode and reset the refresh rate.