Change your monitor resolution
Published: September 7, 2006
If you ever find yourself squinting to read text on your monitor screen or want to fit more windows on your desktop, you may be able to fix these problems by changing the resolution of your monitor. Changing the resolution changes the size of your computer desktop.
Note: Flat-panel monitors support only a single resolution. If you change the default resolution of a flat-panel display, text will appear blurry. If you have a flat-panel monitor like the ones in the image below, the default resolution provides the sharpest image for the size of your monitor screen.
If you have a CRT monitor (any monitor that is not a flat-panel monitor) and want to increase the size of text and pictures to make them more readable, you can decrease your monitor’s resolution (or decrease the size of the desktop that displays on your monitor). If, on the other hand, you would like text and pictures to appear smaller so that you can fit more windows on your desktop, you can increase your monitor’s resolution.
Resolution is the number of pixels (the building blocks of a picture) that are used to display your desktop on your monitor screen. For example, a resolution of 1024 x 768 means that a monitor displays 1,024 pixels across and 768 pixels down. A picture that is 500 pixels wide would cover about half the width of that screen. If you decreased the resolution of the monitor to 800 x 600, the same picture would appear bigger because it would cover about two-thirds of the screen. Similarly, if you increased the resolution of the monitor to 1600 x 1200, the picture would appear smaller because it would cover only about one-third of the screen.
The following image shows the same Web page displayed on two monitors with different resolutions. The monitor on the left is set at a high resolution (1600 x 1200), so the page appears small and covers only a portion of the desktop—this makes the text harder to read but leaves room for other windows. The monitor on the right is set at a lower resolution (1024 x 768), so the page takes up the entire area of the desktop.
To change your monitor’s resolution
1. | Right-click the desktop, and then click Properties. 
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2. | In the Display Properties dialog box, click the Settings tab. |
3. | Drag the Screen resolution slider to the left to decrease the resolution of your monitor, making text and pictures appear larger. Or drag the Screen resolution slider to the right to increase your monitor’s resolution, making text and pictures appear smaller. 
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4. | Click Apply to have the new resolution take effect. 
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5. | If the Monitor Settings dialog box appears, look at your display. If you like the new resolution, click Yes. If you do not like the resolution, click No, and return to step 3 to try a different resolution. |
6. | Click OK. 
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Microsoft Windows XP changes the resolution to the settings you chose.
