Sorting Out Your Displays
To see what's happening on your computer, you need a display-or perhaps several of them. Windows enables you to use either a single display or multiple displays. This section shows you how to configure your displays.
Note:
Windows also uses the word "monitor" to refer to a display.
Connecting a Display
Connect the display to your computer using a suitable cable, such as HDMI or DVI, and to a power source. Press the Power button to turn on the display. If the display has multiple input sources (such as HDMI, DVI, and VGA), set the display to use the source to which you connected the cable.
Windows should then recognize the display, and you can configure it as explained in the next sections.
Opening the Display Pane in Settings
To start configuring your displays, open the Display pane in the Settings app. The quick way to do this is to right-click or long-press open space on the desktop and then click Display Settings on the shortcut menu. You can also choose Start, Settings and then click System; this brings up the Display pane because Display is the first item on the System screen.
Choosing Essential Display Settings
The controls in the Display pane enable you to perform basic configuration. Here's what you can do:
- Verify that Windows shows all your displays:
Look at the display thumbnails under the Customize Your Display heading. If all the displays are represented, you're good to go. If not, click Detect to make Windows detect the missing displays.
Tip:
If Windows can't detect a display, make sure that the display is connected to the correct ports and that it is receiving power. Restart Windows if necessary. - Identify your displays:
If you have connected multiple displays, click Identify to display a black box with the identifier number on each display. - Position your displays: Click the thumbnails and drag them to position them in the same way that the physical displays are positioned-for example, side by side, or in a vertical arrangement (as in the example).
- Boost the size of text, apps, and icons:
If everything appears too small on the screen, drag the Change the Size of Text, Apps, and Other Items slider to the right. - Click Apply to effect the change:
Windows then prompts you to sign out and back in to make sure all apps pick up the change; you can click Sign Out Later if you want to make other changes first. - Change the orientation of a display:
If you've rotated a display, click its thumbnail, open the Orientation drop-down menu, and then click Portrait, Landscape (Flipped), or Portrait (Flipped) instead of the default Landscape setting. Portrait orientation is rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise; Portrait (Flipped) is rotated 90 degrees clockwise; and Landscape (Flipped) is rotated 180 degrees, or upside-down in everyday terms. - Choose how to use multiple displays:
If you've attached multiple displays, open the Multiple Displays drop-down menu and click the appropriate setting: Duplicate These Displays, Extend These Displays, Show Only on 1, or Show Only on 2 (or Show Only on and a higher number if you have more displays).
Tip:
If you're using multiple displays for work, choose Extend These Displays to give yourself more desktop space. You'd typically use Duplicate These Displays when giving a presentation or a demonstration. The Show Only On commands let you turn off the other displays without disconnecting them; you may find this capability useful occasionally, but normally the whole point of connecting multiple displays is to use them. - Designate your main display:
Click the thumbnail for the appropriate display, and then check the Make This My Main Display check box.
Note:
The main display is the one on which the task-switcher appears when you press Alt+Tab, and Task view appears when you press Windows Key+Tab.
After choosing settings, click Apply to apply them.
Choosing Advanced Display Settings
If you need to change settings that the Display pane doesn't offer, such as changing the resolution or calibrating the colors, click Advanced Display Settings at the bottom of the Display pane to show the Advanced Display Settings pane.
In the Advanced Display Settings pane, you can identify displays, reposition them, and specify what to show on multiple displays, just as you can in the Display pane. But you can also take the following actions:
- Change resolution:
Click the display you want to affect, click the Resolution dropdown menu, and then click the resolution you want to apply. Tip:
Each LCD panel has what's called a native resolution, the resolution at which the pixels the computer is outputting actually align with the physical pixels that make up the screen. The native resolution gives the sharpest image. This is why Windows discourages you from changing resolution (by not putting resolution settings in the Display pane) and recommends changing the size of text, apps, and icons instead. - Calibrate color:
Click Color Calibration to launch the Display Color Calibration Wizard, which walks you through the process of configuring the display by choosing basic settings; adjusting the gamma values; and adjusting brightness, contrast, and color balance. You can save your new calibration and switch among calibrations as needed.
The Display Color Calibration Wizard walks you through adjustments such as gamma, brightness, contrast, and color balance. - Configure ClearType:
ClearType is a Microsoft technology for improving the look of text on LCD screens. To configure ClearType, click ClearType Text at the bottom of the Advanced Display Settings pane and follow through the steps of the ClearType Text Tuner Wizard. Tuning is easy-you just need to look at various blocks of text and pick the one that looks best to you.
Note:
ClearType is a clever technology, but its effects don't suit everyone. If you don't like the way ClearType looks, turn it off by unchecking the Turn On ClearType check box on the first screen of the ClearType Text Tuner Wizard. - Apply Custom Sizing to Text and Other Items:
If you need finer control over the size of onscreen items than the Change the Size of Text, Apps, and Other Items slider in the Display pane provides, click Advanced Sizing of Text and Other Items at the bottom of the Advanced Display Settings pane and then work on the Display screen in Control Panel. In the Change Only the Text Size section, you can choose an item in the drop-down menu, choose the font size (the default size is 9 points), and then check the Bold check box if you want boldface as well. Click the Apply button to put the changes into effect. - Set properties for the display adapter:
Click Display Adapter Properties at the very bottom of the Advanced Display Settings pane to display the Properties dialog box for the graphics adapter. Figure shows an example of this dialog box, but the tabs and controls in it vary depending on the adapter's capabilities and the tools that the manufacturer has provided for configuring it. The change you're most likely to want to make here is on the Monitor tab, where you can open the Screen Refresh Rate drop-down menu and then set the refresh rate you prefer.
Tip:
The usual reason for changing the screen refresh rate is to eliminate flicker on a CRT screen (a cathode ray tube screen-one of the old-style, bulky monitors). Generally speaking, the higher the refresh rate, the less you'll notice flicker. Small CRT screens usually need a refresh rate of 60 Hertz or more; 72 Hertz is better. Large CRT screens may need 85 Hertz or more.
Caution:
Leave the Hide Modes That This Monitor Cannot Display check box checked to avoid applying a refresh rate that might damage the monitor. On some computers, you'll find that this check box is dimmed and unavailable, which helps you to avoid the temptation of finding out whether your monitor is vulnerable.
Using Virtual Desktops
Windows provides virtual desktops, extra desktops that you can create and remove as needed. You can use virtual desktops to organize different groups of apps and windows. For example, you may want to keep your productivity apps on one virtual desktop and your communications apps on another.
Windows makes virtual desktops easy to use. Here are the moves you need to know:
- Create a new desktop:
Click the Task View button on the taskbar and then click New Desktop in the lower-right corner of the screen.
Tip:
You can also press Windows Key+Tab to open task view. You can press Windows Key+Ctrl+D to create a new desktop. - Switch to another desktop:
Click the Task View button on the taskbar and then click the desktop you want to use.
Tip:
You can press Windows Key+Ctrl+right arrow to display the next virtual desktop to the right of the one you're on. Press Windows Key+Ctrl+left arrow to display the next virtual desktop to the left. - Move an app to a different desktop:
Click the Task View button on the taskbar, and then right-click or long-press the window for the app you want to move. On the shortcut menu that opens, click or highlight Move To, and then click the appropriate desktop on the submenu that opens. - Close a desktop:
Click the Task View button on the taskbar, move the mouse pointer over the thumbnail for the desktop you want to close, and then click the Close (x) button that appears. The windows open on the desktop you close move to the previous desktop.
Tip:
You can close the active virtual desktop by pressing Windows Key+Ctrl+F4.