Windows 7 / Getting Started

Display Enhancements in Windows 7

Windows 7 now supports WDDM 1.1, which reduces memory consumption for Windows Aero and provides improved display performance, improved video overlay presentation, a better viewing experience on TVs and widescreen laptops, and improved reliability and ability to diagnose problems. Windows 7 includes improved support for high-dot-per-inch (DPI) monitors, and users can configure DPI settings by using the enhanced Display utility in Control Panel.

In Windows 7, the Display utility uses scaling percentages instead of the raw DPI values for a more intuitive user experience by allowing users to adjust their text size and other elements to make it easier for them to read their screens. The correlation between the scaling percentages and DPI settings presented by the Display utility are as follows:

  • 100% scaling equals 96 DPI
  • 125% scaling equals 120 DPI
  • 150% scaling equals 144 DPI (this High DPI option is new in Windows 7)

Similar to Windows Vista, advanced users can still access the Custom DPI Setting dialog box in Windows 7 to specify a custom DPI setting for their monitors. To open this dialog box, select the Set Custom Text Size (DPI) setting.

Beginning with Windows 7, however, DPI settings can be configured on a per-user basis instead of on a per-machine basis. In addition, DPI settings can now be changed without the need for rebooting the system, although a logoff/logon is still required for the changes to take effect. Windows Internet Explorer 8 also includes native support for High DPI.

DPI settings can now be configured during deployment by configuring the <DPI> setting under <Display> in the Unattend.xml answer file to a value of 96, 120, or 144. Note that some applications can have rendering issues at nonstandard DPIs. To resolve such issues, Windows 7 (like Windows Vista before it) includes support for automatic scaling (also known as DPI Virtualization) to enable ISV applications that are not yet DPI aware to be displayed properly. Automatic scaling can be disabled on a per-application basis by selecting the Disable Display Scaling On High DPI Settings check box on the Compatibility tab of the application's Properties dialog box.

Other display enhancements found in Windows 7 include support for integrated display brightness control, a new Display Color Calibration (DCC) tool, and an enhanced Windows Touch technology that supports multi-touch. For additional information on display enhancements in Windows 7, see the Hardware Design For Windows 7 page on Windows Hardware Developer Central (WHDC) at http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/hwdesign/HWdesign_Win7.mspx.

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In this tutorial:

  1. Managing Devices and Services
  2. Understanding Device Installation and Management
  3. Device Enhancements in Windows 7
  4. Display Enhancements in Windows 7
  5. Understanding Device Installation
  6. Driver Store and Driver Packaging
  7. Driver Staging vs Installation
  8. Driver Staging and Installation Process
  9. Detailed Installation Process
  10. Managing Driver Packages
  11. Using PnPutil.exe
  12. Using Dism.exe
  13. Driver Signing
  14. Driver Ranking
  15. Installing and Using Devices
  16. Enhancements to the Device Installation Experience in Windows 7
  17. Scenario 1: Driver found in Driver Store
  18. Scenario 2: Driver found on Windows Update
  19. Scenario 3: Driver in Driver Store, But Better Driver on Windows Update
  20. Scenario 5: No Driver Can Be Found for the device
  21. Scenario 6: Vendor -supplied media is available
  22. Scenario 7: Additional Device Software is Available For Download from vendor
  23. Configuring Device Installation Settings
  24. Using the Devices And Printers Folder
  25. Understanding Device Stage
  26. Understanding the Device Experience Architecture
  27. Device Containers
  28. Device display object
  29. Device Metadata System
  30. Managing Device Installation Using Group Policy
  31. Managing Device Installation Behavior
  32. Managing Driver Installation Behavior
  33. Blocking Installation of Removable Devices
  34. Managing Device Redirection Behavior
  35. Troubleshooting Device Installation
  36. Using Windows Error Reporting
  37. Using the SetupAPI Log File
  38. Using Driver INF Files
  39. Using Device Manager Error Codes
  40. Using Driver Verifier
  41. Repairing Driver Store Corruption
  42. Repairing Index File Corruption
  43. Understanding Power Management
  44. Power Management Enhancements in Windows 7
  45. New Power Policies in Windows 7
  46. Configuring Power Management Settings
  47. Configuring Power Management Settings Using the Power Options Utility in Control Panel
  48. Configuring Power Management Settings Using Group Policy
  49. Configuring Power Management Settings Using the Powercfg Utility
  50. Understanding Services
  51. Service Enhancements in Windows 7
  52. Managing Services
  53. Managing Services Using Task Manager
  54. Managing Services Using the Sc.exe Command