When a Dell™ computer is running on battery power, you can conserve power by setting the display brightness to the lowest comfortable setting by pressing <Fn> and the up- or down-arrow key on the keyboard.
NOTE: Brightness key combinations only affect the display on your portable computer, not monitors or projectors that you attach to your portable computer. If your computer is connected to an external monitor and you try to change the brightness level, the Brightness Meter may appear, but the brightness level on the external device does not change.
You can press the following keys to adjust display brightness:
Press <Fn> and the up-arrow key to increase brightness on the integrated display only (not on an external monitor).
Press <Fn> and the down-arrow key to decrease brightness on the integrated display only (not on an external monitor).
Using a Projector
When you start the computer with an external device (such as an external monitor or projector) attached and turned on, the image may appear on either the computer display or the external device.
Press <Fn><F8> to switch the video image between the display only or the external device only.
Making Images and Text Look Bigger or Sharper
NOTE: If you change the display resolution from the current settings, the image may appear blurry or text may be hard to read if you change the resolution to one not supported by your computer and display. Before you change any of the display settings, make a note of the current settings so you can change back to the previous settings if you need to.
You can enhance the legibility of text and change the appearance of images on the screen by adjusting display resolution. As you increase resolution, items appear smaller on the screen. In contrast, lower resolution causes text and images to appear larger and can benefit people with vision impairments. To display a program at a specific resolution, both the video card and the display must support the program, and the necessary video drivers must be installed.
NOTE: Use only the Dell-installed video drivers, which are designed to offer the best performance with your Dell-installed operating system.
If you choose a resolution or color palette that is higher than the display supports, the settings adjust automatically to the closest supported values.
To set the display resolution and refresh rate for your display, perform the steps in the following section that corresponds to the operating system your computer is using.
Microsoft® Windows® XP
Click Start®Settings®Control Panel.
Under Pick a category, click Appearance and Themes.
Under Pick a task..., click the area you want to change, or under or pick a
Control Panel icon, click Display.
In the Display Properties window, click the Settings tab.
Try different settings for Color quality and Screen resolution.
NOTE: As the resolution increases, icons and text appear smaller on the screen.
Windows Vista™
Click the Windows Vista Start button , and click Control Panel.
Under Appearance and Personalization, click Adjust screen resolution.
In the Display Settings window, under Resolution, slide the slide bar to
the left/right to decrease/increase the screen resolution.
Click How do I get the best display? for further instructions.
Setting Display Resolution and Refresh Rate
NOTE: If you change the display resolution from the current settings, the image may appear blurry or text may be hard to read if you change the resolution to one not supported by your computer and display. Before you change any of the display settings, make a note of the current settings so you can change back to the previous settings if needed.
You can enhance the legibility of text and change the appearance of images on the screen by adjusting display resolution. As you increase resolution, items appear smaller on the screen. In contrast, lower resolution causes text and images to appear larger and can benefit people with vision impairments. To display a program at a specific resolution, both the video card and the display must support the program, and the necessary video drivers must be installed.
NOTE: Use only the Dell-installed video drivers, which are designed to offer the best performance with your Dell-installed operating system.
If you choose a resolution or color palette that is higher than the display supports, the settings adjust automatically to the closest supported values.
To set the display resolution and refresh rate for your display, perform the steps in the following section that corresponds to the operating system your computer is using.
Microsoft Windows XP
Click Start®Settings®Control Panel.
Under Pick a category, click Appearance and Themes.
Under Pick a task..., click the area you want to change, or under or pick a
Control Panel icon, click Display.
In the Display Properties window, click the Settings tab.
Try different settings for Color quality and Screen resolution.
NOTE: As the resolution increases, icons and text appear smaller on the screen.
Windows Vista
Click the Windows Vista Start button
and click Control Panel.
Under Appearance and Personalization, click Adjust screen resolution.
In the Display Settings window, under Resolution, move the slide bar to
the left or right to decrease or increase the screen resolution.
NOTE: For additional instructions, click How do I get the best display?
and click Control Panel.
