Changing dpi settings in Display Properties

[Kate]

At present, I use a 19" CRT monitor with a resolution of 1280x960, but would
like to move up to a 26" TFT LCD which has a native resolution of 1920x1200.
I have been told that this res should not be altered and I think that icons
etc will be too small for comfort. Then someone suggested that I could
change the dpi setting in Display/Settings/Advanced from 96dpi to 120dpi. I
tried this on the 19" monitor, but all that *appeared* to change were text
sizes, the icons on my Quick Launch Taskbar and in the Notification Area,
and the size of Message Boxes. Desktop icons may have been a little larger
but icons within applications - which is where I am most likely to have
problems - looked the same, despite the wording in Display/Settings/Advanced
which says "If your screen resolution makes screen items too small to view
comfortably, you can increase the DPI to compensate". Does this mean that
the dpi setting only affects Windows items, and no other programs, please?

Thanks
Kate

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

At present, I use a 19" CRT monitor with a resolution of 1280x960, but would
like to move up to a 26" TFT LCD which has a native resolution of 1920x1200.
I have been told that this res should not be altered

Yes, it's generally true that LCD monitors should used at their native
resolutions.

and I think that icons
etc will be too small for comfort.

Let me point out that 1920 divided by 1280 is 1.5. A 19" CRT monitor
is effectively about 17.5" diagonally. If you multiply that 17.5" by
the factor of 1.5, you get 26.25, almost the exact size of your
planned new monitor. That means that everything on a 26" LCD monitor
at 1920 x 1280 will be almost exactly the same size as is it was on
the 19" CRT monitor at 1280 x 960,

 

[Kate]

Yes, it's generally true that LCD monitors should used at their native
resolutions.


Let me point out that 1920 divided by 1280 is 1.5. A 19" CRT monitor
is effectively about 17.5" diagonally. If you multiply that 17.5" by
the factor of 1.5, you get 26.25, almost the exact size of your
planned new monitor. That means that everything on a 26" LCD monitor
at 1920 x 1280 will be almost exactly the same size as is it was on
the 19" CRT monitor at 1280 x 960,

Ken, you have no idea how much that has cheered me up! Thank you very much
indeed for the reassurance.

Kate

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Ken, you have no idea how much that has cheered me up! Thank you very much
indeed for the reassurance.

You're welcome. Glad to help.

(And I'm jealous of your 26" monitor)