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Display: Dell Latitude L400 User's Guide
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Display: Dell™ Latitude™ L400 User's Guide
To adjust the brightness of the display, you can use the key combinations shown in
Table 1.
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NOTE: When you run the computer on battery power, set your computer's brightness control to the lowest setting that affords comfortable viewing. You can extend your battery life by using the minimum brightness setting. |
Table 1. Brightness Key Combinations
and Their Functions
| Key Combinations |
Function |
| <Fn> + down arrow |
Decreases brightness |
| <Fn> + up arrow |
Increases brightness |
When working in MS-DOS® text mode, you can select the font used to display text. Press<Fn><F7> to toggle between regular video mode (serif font) and expanded video mode (a serif font with extra leading). In expanded video mode, items in resolutions other than 800 x 600 expand to fill the screen.
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NOTE: You may have difficulty using the display fonts feature with MS-DOS programs that use downloaded fonts. For optimum video performance in these cases, do not use expanded video mode. |
The Dell-installed video drivers work with the operating system to let you customize the video resolution, number of screen colors, and refresh rate of your display.
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NOTE: The Dell-installed video drivers are designed to offer the best performance on your computer. Dell recommends that you use only these drivers with your factory-installed operating system. |
Table 2 lists the combinations of resolutions and colors
supported using one controller with a computer display only or an external monitor
only.
Table 2. Resolutions and Colors
Supported Using A Single Controller and Single Display
| Resolution |
Bits of
Color
Depth Per Pixel (bpp) |
| 640 x 480 |
8 |
16 |
24 |
32 |
| 800 x 600 |
8 |
16 |
24 |
32 |
| 1024 x 768 |
8 |
16 |
24 |
32 |
| 1280 x 1024 |
8 |
16 |
24 |
N/A |
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NOTES: The display will always pan
at 1280 x 1024.
Numbers of colors per bpp rating:
8 bpp = 256 colors
16 bpp = 65,536 colors
24 bpp = 16,777,256 colors
32 bpp = 4,294,967,296 colors |
Multiple-Display Operation Using a Single Controller
With a single controller supporting multiple displays (computer display and
external monitor), operation reflects Table 2 with the difference that the
1280 x 1024 resolution will cause both displays to pan at 24, 16, or 8 bpp.
Using 1280 x 1024 Resolution With an External Monitor Under Windows 98
To use the 1280 x 1024 or the 1024 x 768 resolution on an external
monitor for a system running the Microsoft® Windows® 98
operating system, set the external monitor to Plug and Play Monitor as
described in the following procedure.
- Click the Start button, point to Settings,
and then click Control Panel.
- Double-click the Display icon.
- Click the Settings tab, click Advanced...,
and click the Monitor tab.
- Click Change..., click Next, and click Display
a list of all the drivers.
- Click Next, and click Show all hardware.
- Under Manufacturers, click (Standard monitor types).
- Under Models, click Plug & Play Monitor,
and click Next.
- Click Next again, click Finish, and click Close.
- At the Display Properties screen, set Screen area
to 1280 x 1024 or 1024 x 768, and click Apply.
- Click OK, click Yes, and click OK.
To display more colors, select a lower resolution. If you select a resolution and color
combination that the computer does not support, the computer automatically selects the
next supported combination.
- Click the Start
button, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
The Control Panel window appears.
- Double-click
the Display icon.
The Display Properties window appears.
- Click the Settings tab, and then set the resolution by
dragging the slider in the Screen Area box. In the Colors box, choose the number of colors from the menu provided. For
more information, see your operating system documentation.
If you choose a resolution or color palette that is higher than is supported, the settings
adjust automatically to the closest possible setting.
- To change
the refresh rate, click the Advanced button
and then the Adapter tab. Choose a new rate from the Refresh Rate
drop-down menu and click OK.
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NOTE: You can adjust the refresh rate only on an
external monitor. |
With Windows 98 and Windows Me,
you can use an external monitor as an extension of your display (see your operating system
documentation for more information). To set up your computer for dual-display mode,
perform the following steps:
- Connect the external monitor.
- Click the Start
button, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
- In the Control
Panel window, double-click the Display icon.
- In the Display
Properties window, click the Settings tab.
- Click Advanced....
- Click the ATI Displays tab.
- Set either the monitor or the display to Primary,
and set the other viewing device to Secondary. (The primary viewing
device will display the system icons and task bar.)
- Click Apply.
- Click Yes to confirm the settings.
- Click OK to return to the Display
Properties box.
Two display icons appear in the window.
- Select the secondary viewing device by
double-clicking the display icon marked "2."
- When asked if you want to enable this monitor, click Yes
and then click Apply.
- If desired, change the Screen Area
and/or Colors options for the secondary device, and click Apply.
- Enable the primary viewing device by double-clicking
the display icon marked "1" and repeating steps 12 and 13.
- Click OK.
If your computer is receiving power, but nothing appears on your
display (such as light, text, or graphics) or the display image does not appear as you
would expect, try the following measures to resolve the problem:
- If the
display is blank, you may be in suspend, standby, or suspend-to-disk (S2D) mode. Press the
power button to resume.
If the display is blank and the power indicator is on, the display may have timed out. In
this case, press any key on the keyboard to resume normal operation.
- If the low-battery warning occurs, connect the AC adapter to the computer or replace the
battery.
- Adjust the brightness.
- If your computer is attached to an external monitor, press
<Fn><F8> to switch the video image to the display.
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NOTE: It takes several seconds to switch the video
image. |
If the display or touch pad become smudged from use, they can be
cleaned using a soft, clean cloth slightly dampened with water. Always turn off the
computer before cleaning the display or touch pad.
To clean the display, stroke the cloth across the display in one
direction, moving from the top of the display to the bottom.
To clean the touch pad, stroke the cloth gently across the surface
of the touch pad. Do not allow water from the cloth to seep between the touch pad and the
top cover of the computer.
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