Changing Refresh Rate Settings; Tips For Choosing Display Properties - IBM Aptiva Handbook

The values you can choose for desktop area (resolution)
and colors depend on:
•
Your monitor's horizontal frequency.
•
The amount of video memory available on the
computer's system board.
To find out how much video memory your system
uses, view the Video Information menu in the Setup
Utility. For these instructions, see "Changing video
configuration" on page 33.

Changing refresh rate settings

The refresh rate automatically selected for your monitor
is determined by the monitor's capabilities. If you
purchased a monitor that supports DDC, the refresh rate
is automatically set for optimum performance. If you
purchased a monitor that does not support DDC, this
rate is automatically set to the default settings for VGA
(60Hz noninterlaced in 640x480 resolution mode).
If your monitor does not support DDC or has capabilities
greater than VGA, you can manually select a monitor
refresh rate by following these steps:
1.
From the Display Properties window, click on the
Display Modes tab.
2.
In the Refresh rate area, if the BIOS default box
contains an "X," click on the box to clear the "X."
3.
In the Refresh rate list, click on the refresh rate
you want your monitor to use.
14 Chapter 2: Getting started with your Aptiva computer
4.
Click on the Apply button.
5.
Follow the instructions in the message box that
appears when you click on Apply.
If you apply a setting that does not match the
capabilities of your monitor, the image may become
distorted. To clear an unsupported setting, click on the
Cancel button. If you cannot read the screen, wait ten
seconds. Ten seconds after you select an unsupported
setting, the computer will return to the last supported
setting.

Tips for choosing display properties

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:
•
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.
•
When you select more colors, most software
programs will slow down. Only choose as many
colors as you need. A color setting of 256 typically
provides the fastest performance.
•
You can determine which settings are most
comfortable to work with by selecting and trying
each one.