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 or docking device. 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, the external device only, or the display and the external device simultaneously.
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.
If the video resolution setting is higher than that supported by the display, the computer enters pan mode. In pan mode, the entire video image cannot be displayed at one time, and the taskbar that usually appears at the bottom of the desktop may no longer be visible. To view the parts of the video image that are not visible, you can use the touch pad or track stick to pan (or move) the image up, down, left, and right.
NOTICE: You can damage an external monitor by using an unsupported refresh rate. Before adjusting the refresh rate on an external monitor, see the user's guide for the monitor.
Using Both a Monitor and Your Computer Display
You can attach an external monitor or projector to your computer and use it as an extension of your display (known as dual independent display or extended desktop mode). This mode allows you to use both screens independently and drag objects from one screen to the other, effectively doubling the amount of viewable work space.
To use extended desktop mode, perform the steps in the following section that corresponds to the operating system your computer is using.
Microsoft® Windows® XP
Connect the external monitor, TV, or projector to the computer.
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.
NOTE: If you choose a resolution or color palette that is higher than the display supports, the settings adjust automatically to the closest supported values. For more information, see your operating system documentation.
Click the monitor 2 icon, click the Extend my Windows desktop... check
box, and then click Apply.
Change Screen Area to the appropriate sizes for both displays and click
Apply.
If prompted to restart the computer, click Apply the new color setting
without restarting and click OK.
If prompted, click OK to resize your desktop.
If prompted, click Yes to keep the settings.
Click OK to close the Display Properties window.
To disable dual independent display mode:
Click the Settings tab in the Display Properties window.
Click the monitor 2 icon, uncheck the Extend my Windows desktop onto
this monitor option, and then click Apply.
If necessary, press <Fn><F8> to bring the screen image back to the computer display.
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, click the monitor 2 icon, click the Extend
the desktop onto this monitor check box, and then click Apply.
Click OK to close the Display Settings window.
To disable extended desktop mode:
In the Display Settings window, click the Settings tab.
Click the monitor 2 icon, uncheck the Extend the desktop onto this
monitor option, and then click Apply.
Using a Monitor as Your Primary Display
To swap your primary and secondary display designations (for example, to use your external monitor as your primary display after docking), perform the steps in the following section that corresponds to the operating system your computer is using.
Microsoft® Windows® XP
Click the Start button and click 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.
Click the Settings tab®Advanced®Displays tab.
See the documentation that came with your video card for additional information.
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, click the monitor 2 icon, click the This is
my main monitor check box, and then click Apply.
