Using the Display
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FILE LOCATION: C:\Documents and Settings\reggie_davis\Desktop\Projects-07\BEN\Source\display.fm
D E L L C O N F ID E N T IA L – P R E L IM I N A RY 1 / 2 5/ 0 7 – F O R PR O O F O N LY
Using the Display
Adjusting Brightness
When a Dell™ computer is running on battery power, you can conserve power by setting the 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).
Switching the Video Image
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.
Setting Display Resolution and Refresh Rate
To display a program at a specific resolution, both the graphics card and the display must support the
program, and the necessary video drivers must be installed.
Before you change any of the default display settings, make a note of the default settings for future
reference.
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.
1
Click
Start
→
Control Panel
→
Display
→
Settings
.
2
Try different settings for
Color quality
and
Screen resolution
.
NOTE:
As the resolution increases, icons and text appear smaller on the screen.
