How to change the screen resolution in Windows

From the first versions of the Windows graphical operating system, each user had to know how to change the screen resolution. Without it, working with applications was inconvenient. Not to mention the fact that the frame rate of the CRT - based monitors at the time was directly dependent on the screen resolution.

More than 10 years have passed and the old features of the work have been safely forgotten, and newcomers now do not even imagine how much had to be comprehended by users of previous versions of Windows (before Win XP). Now, as before, everyone still needs to understand very well how to set the screen resolution. Only in this case, the interaction with Windows will be convenient. Who doubts: set a minimum resolution and try so to work in the system.

Looking at the image on the monitor screen, a person, in fact, observes an illusion woven from a huge number of luminous points, sometimes called pixels. The horizontal resolution is the number of points displayed in the same name plane, starting from the upper left corner. Accordingly, the vertical resolution - all those points that are located down from the corner. Depending on the physical dimensions of the screen (matrix), there are different aspect ratios: 4: 3, 8: 5, 16: 9, 16:10, etc. For example, at the time of "almost square" monitors, the aspect ratio of their screens was 4: 3 , So resolutions of 640x480, 800x600, 1024x768 were used. In this case, the image retains its natural proportions. Then, with the appearance of widescreen monitors, the proportions of which became 16: 9, resolutions of 1280x720, 1920x1080 (the famous HD 1080), etc. were proposed. The change in screen proportions made it necessary to add support for new resolutions. Trying to use 640x480 on a widescreen monitor will simply stretch the image, distorting the proportions. However, some monitors have learned to work correctly with such resolutions, leaving the inactive parts of the screen at the edges. This is only a small part of a huge and interesting topic, but before you begin to study it, you need to understand how to change the screen resolution. This is one of the key features of Windows. The need to change the screen resolution arises for two main reasons: if you need to set the resolution of the corresponding matrix of the modern TFT-monitor, or optimize the image on the screen.

Each modern monitor has its own, native resolution, specified in the instructions to the device. It depends on the size of the diagonal, the aspect ratio, the properties of the matrix used and the manufacturer's settings. For example, for 20-22 inch monitors with sides 16: 9 native was 1680x1050. It is in this mode that the best image quality is achieved. All other resolutions, even with the appropriate aspect ratio, make the picture fuzzy. It is recommended for permanent use, as well as automatically exposed by the latest operating systems. A user who knows how to change the screen resolution can do this at any time, if necessary. This function is available to everyone and it is easy to use.

How do I change the screen resolution? On the desktop, press the right mouse button. In the latest versions of Windows in the appeared menu there is a link "screen resolution". Following it, you can select the desired resolution. After pressing the "OK" button, the change takes place for 15 seconds. This is necessary in order to return everything back in case of problems with work in the selected mode. If everything is fine, then we confirm the change.

In previous versions, you had to click the right button on the desktop, select "Properties" and open the "Settings" tab. Moving the slider, you can change the resolution.

It is also possible to change by editing the registry, but this is required only in very specific situations.