IBM Aptiva Handbook page 46

The values you can choose for screen area
(resolution) and colors will be limited by:
W Your monitor's maximum horizontal and vertical
frequencies.
W The amount of memory dedicated to video on
the computer's system memory.
Your Aptiva PC has 4 MB of system memory
dedicated to video memory.
4-4 Chapter 4: Getting started with your Aptiva computer
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Of the settings that your monitor supports, you should select
the ones that are most comfortable for you to work with. The
highest resolution and color settings are not always best. For
example:
W Higher resolutions display more pels (picture elements).
While this allows more text and graphics to be displayed,
it makes them appear smaller. For most users, 640x480
or 800x600 is a comfortable resolution setting.
W When you select more colors, most software programs
will slow down. Choose only as many colors as you
need.
W You can determine which settings are most comfortable
to work with by selecting and trying each one.
W While your monitor resolution may allow you to change
the font size, some programs do not support large fonts.
Large fonts may cause words to appear cut off or
pushed together.
W If attaching a monitor other than an SVGA monitor, you
may need to change the Screen area in Display
Properties to 640 x 480 pixels and set the Palette to 16
colors to prevent the image from scrolling, blinking, or
flashing. Read "Is anything displayed on the monitor" on
page 10-4 in the "Diagnosing and recovering from
problems" chapter for the steps to restart your computer
in Save mode and reconfigure your monitor.