How to Select the Best Screen Resolution on Your PC

As we get older, our eyes may not focus as well as they once did. I often joke that as the years go by, I keep buying bigger computer monitors. I'm up to a 24-inch screen, now. What's next? Another way to make items larger is to change the screen resolution of the monitor. This is done from within the Windows operating system.

Changing the resolution on your computer monitor to enlarge or reduce the text and images displayed on the screen is a good way to match your eyes to the most comfortable viewing size. As technology has progressed, the information displayed on a monitor has become increasingly more detailed. Application programs, including photo retouching, architectural blueprints, graphic design, and page layout, require accurate and high definition displays. When the screen resolution is set high, the icons on the desktop page will appear smaller, but more icons can be seen on the screen at one time. Reducing screen resolution makes everything appear larger, but the trade-off is that less material can be seen at one time on the screen.

A typical low resolution setting on today's computer systems is 800 by 600, and typical high resolution settings are 1280 by 768 and 1600 by 1200. There are also other settings available in between these extremes. Experiment trying different settings until you find one that feels the most comfortable to your eyes. There will always be a trade-off between large text and images, and the amount of information that is seen on the screen simultaneously.

To change screen resolution on a Window's-based PC, right click on any area on the desktop screen where there are no icons. A menu will pop up. If you are using Windows XP, click on "Properties," followed by the "Settings" tab. A horizontal bar will be shown, which you can scroll right or left to increase or decrease resolution. If you are using the Windows Vista operating system, choose the "Personalize" option and click on "Display Settings".

Here's a tip for temporarily "zooming" while using the Foxfire Web browser. Hitting simultaneously (that is, the control key and the plus key) will increase the size of the text on the screen (but not any graphics). To zoom out, use (the control key and the minus or hyphen key).