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for configuring all of your video settings. From the main screen you can adjust both the resolution and the color depth. Windows only displays resolutions and color depths that your video card/monitor combination can accept and that are suitable for most situations. Everyone has a favorite resolution, and higher isn’t always better. Especially for those with trouble seeing small screen elements, higher resolutions can present a difficulty—already small icons are much smaller at 1280 × 1024 than at 800 × 600. Try all of the resolutions to see which you like—just remember that LCD monitors look sharpest at their native resolution (usually the highest listed).

The color quality is the number of colors displayed on the screen. You can change the screen resolution with a simple slider, adjusting the color depth from 4-bit all of the way up to 32-bit color. Unless you have an older video card or a significant video speed issue, you’ll probably set your system for 32-bit color and never touch this setting again.

Figure 19-60 Settings tab

Another option you may see in the Settings tab is dual monitors. Windows supports the use of two (or more) monitors. These monitors may work together like two halves of one large monitor, or the second monitor might simply show a duplicate of what’s happening on the first monitor. Dual monitors are handy if you need lots of screen space but don’t want to buy a really large, expensive monitor (Figure 19-61). Microsoft calls this feature DualView.

Figure 19-61 My editor hard at work with dual monitors

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EXAM TIP Windows supports DualView technology, enabling you to use multiple monitors.

There are two ways to set up dual monitors: plug in two video cards or use a single video card that supports two monitors (a “dual-head” video card). Both methods are quite common and work well. Dual monitors are easy to configure: just plug in the monitors and Windows should detect them. Windows will show both monitors in the Settings tab, as shown in Figure 19-62. By default, the second monitor is not enabled. To use the second monitor, just select the Extend the desktop onto this monitor checkbox.

Figure 19-62 Enabling dual monitors

If you need to see more advanced settings, click on…that’s right, the Advanced or Advanced Settings button (Figure 19-63). The title of this dialog box reflects the monitor and video card. As you can see in the screen shot, this particular monitor is a Samsung SyncMaster T220 running off of an ATI Radeon 3800 Series video card.

The two tabs you’re most likely to use are the Adapter and Monitor tabs. The Adapter tab gives detailed information about the video card, including the amount of video memory, the graphics processor, and the BIOS information (yup, your video card has a BIOS, too!). You can also click on the List All Modes button to change the current mode of the video card, although any mode you may set here, you can also set in the sliders on the main screen.

Figure 19-63 Advanced video settings

If you’re still using a CRT, you’ll find the Monitor tab a handy place. This is where you can set the refresh rate (Figure 19-64). Windows only shows refresh rates that the monitor says it can handle, but many monitors can take a faster—and therefore easier on the eyes—refresh rate. To see all of the modes the video card can support, uncheck the Hide modes that this monitor cannot display option.

Figure 19-64 Monitor tab

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NOTE All LCD monitors have a fixed refresh rate.

If you try this, always increase the refresh rate in small increments. If the screen looks better, use it. If the screen seems distorted or disappears, wait a moment and Windows will reset to the original refresh rate. Be careful when using modes that Windows says the monitor cannot display. Pushing a CRT past its fastest refresh rate for more than a minute or two can damage it.

Most video cards add their own tab to the Advanced dialog box, such as the one shown in Figure 19-65. This tab adjusts all of the specialized settings for that video card. What you see