The monitor is an essential component of your computer system.

Types of Monitors

The two most common acronyms you will see on current monitors are VGA or SVGA. Both of these terms generally refer to how many dots (or pixels) the monitor can display in each direction. VGA is 640x480 (width by height) and SVGA, 800x600. This measurement is called the monitor's resolution. Most new monitors are capable of displaying at least SVGA quality. Almost any VGA or SGVA monitor made in the last few years is capable of displaying any of these resolutions. However, it's actually the video card that determines what resolution your monitor displays at any time. The monitor is capable of switching from one resolution to another on command from the video card. You'll want to consider the size of your monitor when deciding which resolution to use. While these monitors can display many possible resolutions, higher resolutions may be too small to read on small monitors, and low resolutions will look huge and may conceal parts of the computer's output.

Recommended Resolutions

Monitor Size	Recommended Resolutions
14 inches	640x480 800x600
15 inches	800x600 1,024x768
17inches	1,024x768 1,280x1,024

NOTE: EGA, CGA, and MDA monitor types do not work with Windows 95/98.

VGA and SVGA Video Cards and Resolutions

Like monitors, video card capabilities are measured in terms of resolutions. The two most common sets of resolutions are given special acronyms: VGA and SVGA. VGA resolution is 640x480. SVGA is 800x600 and is usually also used to refer to any resolution higher than this. Any new PC will come with an SVGA card. Some older PCs will still have a VGA card. While it's not the most recent, a VGA card will do just fine as long as you don't want to play intense video games or have several windows visible on-screen at the same time. Your video card and monitor work together as a pair. The highest resolution you will be able to use is limited to the highest that either can use.

Video Cards and Colours

Another measure of video card performance is how many colours it can display at once. Video displays use three different basic colours: red, green, and blue (called RGB colour) to display all of the possible colours. Each pixel on-screen actually has a red, blue, and green component. By varying the brightness of each of these colours for each pixel, the video card mixes the three basic colours to come up with all of the hues it displays. Colour capabilities are coded with two sets of terms. In some settings, you'll see these described by the number of colours displayed, in others by the number of "bits" used to display the colours. So, how does this relate to the digital increments? 256 colours means that the card can have 256 sets of increments across the three colours. A video card can actually display any of the total possible 16-million colours. What is really limited, at any time, is the number of colours it can remember and display at once. The more colours your program's need to display at once, the more memory your card will need. This is the topic of the next section.

Video Card RAM

RAM, in your computer, stores the information and program's that you are working with. RAM on the video card stores information about each screen pixel--what colour it is, and how bright it is. The more pixels you are displaying on-screen at once (higher resolution), the more RAM it takes on the video card to track the colours for all of the pixels. And the more colours you are displaying, the more RAM it takes to track the colour for each pixel. An 800x600 display has about 50 percent more pixels than a 640x480, and a 1,024x768 has about 160 percent more. So, to display the same number of colours in these higher resolutions will take about 50 percent and 160 percent more video RAM, respectively.

Video Cards, Video Games, and Full-Motion

When you are using video for general everyday computing needs, such as using a word processor, spreadsheet, or presentation program, video card speed is not a big issue. But for playing action-oriented video games or full-motion videos, the speed of the video card is important. The faster the video card, the better the action will seem as you fly through space in your favorite application, or the fewer frames of a movie the card will miss.

Monitor Setup

Hooking Up Your New Monitor

• When you are ready to hook up your monitor, carefully unpack it and save all of the packing and boxes. If you ever need to move or have it serviced, you'll want the box and packing to transport it.
• Look in the box to see if there are any disks or CDs. If there are, read the labels; they may be software that you need to use the monitor. Or, they may just be freebies such as games or giveaway bonus software.
• The monitor should have two cables. One should be a familiar power cord with a standard three-prong plug. The other is the cable you will use to connect the monitor to the video card.
• This is the end of a standard monitor cable that you will connect to your video card. Most of these have thumbscrews to attach them to the video card.

To connect the monitor:

1. Shut down the PC, and turn off the power.
2. Look at the back of the PC, and find where the monitor cable is attached.
3. Connect the monitor cable to the video card connector. Don't force the connection. The connector is longer on one side than the other, so you may need to turn it over to line it up.
4. Once you feel the connector slide into place, tighten the thumbscrews.
5. Plug the monitor into the power outlet and then turn on the PC and monitor. If the picture looks odd, you may need to adjust it. This is detailed below.

Setting Up a New Monitor in Windows 95

To get the most out of your monitor in Windows 95/98, you'll want to tell Windows what type of monitor you have. To do this:

1. Click the right mouse button on any blank area of the desktop, and choose Properties from the pop-up menu. Or, click the Start menu, choose Settings, then choose Control Panel, and double-click the Display icon in the Control Panel folder.
2. In the Display Properties dialogue box, click the Settings tab, then click the Change Display Type button to open that dialogue box . This dialogue box shows your computer's current monitor type. Click the Change button to set up a different type.
3. Click the Change button to open the Select Device dialogue box, which should look similar to the one shown. In the middle of the dialogue box is the area where we choose the monitor type.
4. Scroll through the Manufacturer list in the dialogue box, and select the brand of monitor you have. Then, in the Models list (to the right) select the model. Click OK.
   NOTE: If your monitor came with a disk with driver software for Windows 95, insert the disk and click the Have Disk button. Click the Browse button in the Install from Disk dialogue box to select the drive with the installation disk, then click OK. This will then give you a list of possible monitors to choose from in the Select Device dialogue box.
5. This is a list of all of the brands and models of monitors that Windows supports.
6. Windows now enters your selection in the Change Display Type dialogue box. Click Close in that dialogue box, then click OK in the Display Properties dialogue box and you are ready to go.
   CAUTION: Choosing the wrong monitor display type during the preceding procedure can damage your monitor. If your brand and model aren't listed, call the manufature's technical support number to find out what setting you should use.
   NOTE: Some graphics cards come with their own utilities for changing the monitor settings. In fact, they may even add extra features in Windows 95/98's own Display Properties dialogue box.

Adjusting Your Monitor Settings

On the front of your monitor, there are usually several controls that affect the appearance of your monitor display. These controls may be small dials or buttons. Here are some typical controls that you will find, and what they do:

• Brightness This controls the overall brightness of the picture on-screen. Use this when the picture is either too bright or too dark.
• ContrastThis changes the contrast between the light and dark areas displayed on-screen. Adjust this if your picture looks washed out, gray all over, or if the whites hurt your eyes.
• Horizontal and vertical sizing If the picture on-screen doesn't reach close enough to the top and bottom or the sides, use these controls to resize it. On most monitors, there will be a small black border area around the picture when it is correctly sized. Enlarging the picture too much to try to get rid of this border will distort and curve the edges of what's on-screen.
• Centering If your picture isn't centred on-screen, use the centring controls to adjust it. You may need to work with the centring and sizing alternately to get it centered and sized.
• DeguassThis is almost always a button. Monitors generate large magnetic fields; over time these fields can build up and distort the picture. Other magnetic items, unshielded speakers, can also generate fields that distort the picture. If this happens, press the Deguass button. You will usually hear a pop, and the picture will disappear and resize. When it comes back, it should look better. If not, you may want to see the troubleshooting section at the end of the module. Most monitors' controls have centres that put these settings at their middle grounds or factory presets. On dial controls, you may feel a small click as you turn the control to the center point. On button controls, there will usually be an indicator on-screen that shows the centre.

Changing the Numbers of Colours Windows Can Display

How many colours do you want to be able to see on-screen? That answer depends a lot on what you use your PC for and what kind of video card you have. If all you use your PC for is word processing or spreadsheets, the standard display options of showing 16 or 256 colours at once should work for you. But, if you like to look at pictures or video, or play photo-realistic games, you may find that the colours look all wrong on-screen with the default settings. To change the number of colours Windows 95/98 can display at once, follow these steps:

1. Click the right mouse button on any empty space on the desktop and choose Properties from the pop-up menu.
2. Click the Settings tab in the Display Properties dialogue box.
3. Click the Colour Palette drop-down list and choose from one of the options as shown in the figure above. The options available here will depend on your video card and desktop display size. Windows won't display options that are over the limit for your card. Choose from a minimum of 16 colours at once to a maximum of 16 million.
4. Click OK once you have made your selection.
5. In order for this change to take effect, Windows must restart. Click Yes to allow Windows to restart.

Changing the Resolution You can increase the size of the desktop display area to be able to fit more visible open windows on-screen at once, or see a bigger area of the windows you have open. However, because your monitor doesn't actually change size when you change the resolution of the display area, making the display area bigger makes each item on-screen look smaller. To change the display area size, follow these steps:

1. Click the right mouse button on any empty space on the desktop, and choose Properties from the pop-up menu as shown above.
2. Drag the slider for the Desktop Area to a higher or lower setting. If the slider is all the way to the right edge of the control area, then you can't make the display area larger. Likewise, when it is all the way to the left, it is as small as it will get.
3. Click OK to resize. Windows will inform you that this setting may cause problems. Click OK to continue.
4. If it looks normal, click OK to keep the new setting. If things didn't go well and the display doesn't look right, click Cancel, and Windows will return you to the previous setting. If the display is so messed up that you can't see it to cancel it. Windows will return to the old setting after 5 seconds if you do nothing.

Monitor - Troubleshooting Display Problems

The following sections present some common monitor and display problems and offer some potential solutions.

The Picture Is All Wavy, Fuzzy, and Won't Work in Windows

This usually means that the video card or monitor settings are wrong. Shut down the computer and restart it in Safe mode; then check to be sure your display settings match the brand and model of monitor and card that you have. If this doesn't work, try setting the display settings to the generic VGA or SVGA display card and monitor types. Contact the video card vendor's technical support to see if they have a more recent set of drivers.

The Picture Keeps Getting Smaller

Bad news: The picture tube in the monitor is going bad. If it's under warranty, send it back for repair. Otherwise, it's probably a better investment (and no more expensive) to shop for a new monitor.

Program Tells Me I Can't Display the Right Number of Colours

Your screen resolution may be too high to display more colours with your video card. Try selecting a lower screen resolution in the Display Properties dialogue box.

The Monitor Doesn't Come on When I Turn on the PC

Look for a separate on/off switch on the monitor itself, and turn it on there.

Note: Monitors are very complicated components to your computer system. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO OPEN THE HOUSING.