Controlling Desktop "Appearance"

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Is there a url that lists which Items listed under Display
Properties|Appearance|Advanced|Items manages or controls the various
fonts and areas of, both, the Desktop and elements of a WinXP
application, such as Word, etc.?

I'm trying to configure a 19" LCD under its native resolution
(1280x1024) so as to maximize screen clarity. I have already increased
dpi to 120 but find that I also have to expand or increase the font size
of various elements under Windows, so as to enhance readability.


--
Paul R
-------------------------------
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Have you tried Clear Type? It is part of the PowerToys now. You'd be surprised how
much better your text will look on a flat panel monitor.
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx

--
Mary Sauer MS MVP
http://office.microsoft.com/
http://www.msauer.mvps.org/
news://msnews.microsoft.com
"Paul R" <195prosete@195earthlink.com> wrote in message
news:aKMdd.3233$5i5.1148@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net...
> Is there a url that lists which Items listed under Display
> Properties|Appearance|Advanced|Items manages or controls the various fonts and
> areas of, both, the Desktop and elements of a WinXP application, such as Word,
> etc.?
>
> I'm trying to configure a 19" LCD under its native resolution (1280x1024) so as to
> maximize screen clarity. I have already increased dpi to 120 but find that I also
> have to expand or increase the font size of various elements under Windows, so as
> to enhance readability.
>
>
> --
> Paul R
> -------------------------------
> For email reply, please remove 195

 

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Mary Sauer wrote:
> Have you tried Clear Type? It is part of the PowerToys now. You'd be surprised how
> much better your text will look on a flat panel monitor.
> http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx
>

Yes, I'm using Clear Type already. Again, the problem is not how clear
the font is -- it is quite sharp and clear at max res of 1280X1024. The
problem is I have to find a way to increase the font size within some
elements of the desktop, at least for those properties that affect XP
apps like Word and others.

Even with Clear Type active, the lower res I prefer (1024x780) remains
quite blurry and fuzzy, no matter what, and in spite of Clear Type.
Actually, I have found that Clear Type shows up best on desktop captions
and some websites. Text within standard Win XP apps show no difference
or don't seem to be afected.

I just need to find out which elements in the Display
Properties|Appearance|Items affect what elements of various apps, so I
can attempt to change the font and/or its size whenever illegible.

--
Paul R
-------------------------------
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[Guest]

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From XP HELP...

[[If you want to increase the size of text on your screen to make it more
readable, use Font size on the Appearance tab in Display Properties.

Open Display in Control Panel.
On the Appearance tab, in Font size, click a new font size.
Notes
To open Display, click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and
then double-click Display.
This option enables you to enlarge the fonts used in window headers, icon
labels, and menus. For information about enlarging all items on your screen,
click Related Topics.
The font size options are based on the current theme, visual style, and
color scheme. For some themes, styles, or schemes, you may only have one
font size option. ]]
=====

Open Help and Support | Type: font size | Click the arrow

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.
Wes

In news:yoTdd.4805$ta5.715@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net,
Paul R <195prosete@195earthlink.com> hunted and pecked:
> Mary Sauer wrote:
>> Have you tried Clear Type? It is part of the PowerToys now. You'd be
>> surprised how much better your text will look on a flat panel
>> monitor.
>> http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx
>>
>
> Yes, I'm using Clear Type already. Again, the problem is not how clear
> the font is -- it is quite sharp and clear at max res of 1280X1024.
> The problem is I have to find a way to increase the font size within
> some elements of the desktop, at least for those properties that
> affect XP apps like Word and others.
>
> Even with Clear Type active, the lower res I prefer (1024x780) remains
> quite blurry and fuzzy, no matter what, and in spite of Clear Type.
> Actually, I have found that Clear Type shows up best on desktop
> captions and some websites. Text within standard Win XP apps show no
> difference or don't seem to be afected.
>
> I just need to find out which elements in the Display
> Properties|Appearance|Items affect what elements of various apps, so I
> can attempt to change the font and/or its size whenever illegible.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.newusers (More info?)

On Thu, 21 Oct 2004 10:16:36 -0400, Mary Sauer wrote:

> Have you tried Clear Type? It is part of the PowerToys now. You'd be surprised how
> much better your text will look on a flat panel monitor.
> http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx

Can't live without ClearType on my flat panels. Marry, thanks for the heads
up that this is now a standalone Power Toy. Much easier to use this than
finding that online tuner!

--
Sharon F
MS-MVP ~ Windows XP Shell/User

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.newusers (More info?)

On Thu, 21 Oct 2004 18:40:30 GMT, Paul R wrote:

> Actually, I have found that Clear Type shows up best on desktop captions
> and some websites. Text within standard Win XP apps show no difference
> or don't seem to be afected.

Check menus of your application for font related settings. Often
fine-tuning the appearance of a program is controlled by the program
itself.

--
Sharon F
MS-MVP ~ Windows XP Shell/User

 

[Guest]

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On Fri, 22 Oct 2004 10:28:49 -0500, Sharon F <sharonfDEL@ETEmvps.org> wrote:

Maybe there's a diff tween XP and XP pro. clear type is a setting on my display
properties -> appearance -> effects tab.

I assume clear type is intended for flat panel monitors as I haven't seen any
difference myself.

>On Thu, 21 Oct 2004 10:16:36 -0400, Mary Sauer wrote:
>
>> Have you tried Clear Type? It is part of the PowerToys now. You'd be surprised how
>> much better your text will look on a flat panel monitor.
>> http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx
>
>Can't live without ClearType on my flat panels. Marry, thanks for the heads
>up that this is now a standalone Power Toy. Much easier to use this than
>finding that online tuner!

--
more pix @ http://members.toast.net/cbminfo/index.html

 

[Guest]

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On Fri, 22 Oct 2004 12:05:45 -0400, Husky wrote:

> On Fri, 22 Oct 2004 10:28:49 -0500, Sharon F <sharonfDEL@ETEmvps.org> wrote:
>
> Maybe there's a diff tween XP and XP pro. clear type is a setting on my display
> properties -> appearance -> effects tab.
>
> I assume clear type is intended for flat panel monitors as I haven't seen any
> difference myself.

Yes, the basic feature has an On/Off switch within XP. From there, a visit
to the ClearType pages on Microsoft's website leads to an online tuner
where you can fine tune the ClearType effect to your liking. The power toy
that Mary is referring to, replaces that tuner.

Not everyone likes Clear Type and results can depends on the hardware and
drivers that are present. ClearType increases the horizontal DPI - up to
300%. On some monitors the results can make quite a difference and for the
better.

--
Sharon F
MS-MVP ~ Windows XP Shell/User

 

[Guest]

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On Fri, 22 Oct 2004 13:06:22 -0500, Sharon F <sharonfDEL@ETEmvps.org> wrote:

Well BTDT with XP pro. I'm on a desktop with a plain old VGA monitor. I saw a
difference the tune up, but there's still no change on my monitor. Only
difference was in that one single box. The [next] button to step 3 didn't work,
had to use the text step 3 link at the top of the page. And the move didn't
really do anything. Must be a laptop or other style monitor it affects. Has
zero effect here.

>On Fri, 22 Oct 2004 12:05:45 -0400, Husky wrote:
>
>> On Fri, 22 Oct 2004 10:28:49 -0500, Sharon F <sharonfDEL@ETEmvps.org> wrote:
>>
>> Maybe there's a diff tween XP and XP pro. clear type is a setting on my display
>> properties -> appearance -> effects tab.
>>
>> I assume clear type is intended for flat panel monitors as I haven't seen any
>> difference myself.
>
>Yes, the basic feature has an On/Off switch within XP. From there, a visit
>to the ClearType pages on Microsoft's website leads to an online tuner
>where you can fine tune the ClearType effect to your liking. The power toy
>that Mary is referring to, replaces that tuner.
>
>Not everyone likes Clear Type and results can depends on the hardware and
>drivers that are present. ClearType increases the horizontal DPI - up to
>300%. On some monitors the results can make quite a difference and for the
>better.
>

--
more pix @ http://members.toast.net/cbminfo/index.html

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.newusers (More info?)

On Fri, 22 Oct 2004 14:42:07 -0400, Husky wrote:

> Well BTDT with XP pro. I'm on a desktop with a plain old VGA monitor. I saw a
> difference the tune up, but there's still no change on my monitor. Only
> difference was in that one single box. The [next] button to step 3 didn't work,
> had to use the text step 3 link at the top of the page. And the move didn't
> really do anything. Must be a laptop or other style monitor it affects. Has
> zero effect here.

Although some folks will use it with CRT monitors (I did), there is not as
much benefit. The dot pitch is different and does not suffer the same
troubles with smoothing as LCD monitors.

--
Sharon F
MS-MVP ~ Windows XP Shell/User

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.newusers (More info?)

Sharon F wrote:
> On Thu, 21 Oct 2004 18:40:30 GMT, Paul R wrote:
>
>
>>Actually, I have found that Clear Type shows up best on desktop captions
>>and some websites. Text within standard Win XP apps show no difference
>>or don't seem to be afected.
>
>
> Check menus of your application for font related settings. Often
> fine-tuning the appearance of a program is controlled by the program
> itself.
>

Well, I'm almost there...I use a couple of uncooperative apps (office
billing and scheduling program) that just won't work well with the 120
dpi 1280x1024 res. Neither of them has a way to alter the fonts on their
menu and tool bars. In fact, their online KB tells you that if the
fonts on the tool/menu bars aren't reading correctly (or even being
seen), that the user must then drop down to 96 dpi. That's just too
small for me on a 19" screen. So...I've been going up and down the dpi
scale to find that point where the text is readable vs. not. Once I
find that, I should be able to re-configure the XP desktop and those
apps that are more "appearance friendly" so I can adjust these for
better readability.


--
Paul R
-------------------------------
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[Guest]

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On Fri, 22 Oct 2004 17:23:19 GMT, Paul R wrote:

> Well, I'm almost there...I use a couple of uncooperative apps (office
> billing and scheduling program) that just won't work well with the 120
> dpi 1280x1024 res. Neither of them has a way to alter the fonts on their
> menu and tool bars. In fact, their online KB tells you that if the
> fonts on the tool/menu bars aren't reading correctly (or even being
> seen), that the user must then drop down to 96 dpi. That's just too
> small for me on a 19" screen. So...I've been going up and down the dpi
> scale to find that point where the text is readable vs. not. Once I
> find that, I should be able to re-configure the XP desktop and those
> apps that are more "appearance friendly" so I can adjust these for
> better readability.

Paul, have you considered dropping down the desktop resolution? While
something like 1152x864 is not the optimal setting for your monitor, it
could go a long way in curing the readability problems for you. And it's
not as big of a drop as 1024x768.

Personally, I've grown accustomed to the extra real estate 1280x1024
provides. I've played around with font settings and always come back to 96
DPI, ClearType fine tuned to a lesser degree than the default and adjusting
fonts within applications.

I know some folks that go the other way - 120 dpi, choosing to put up with
the incongruities that can appear within some program interfaces. And
another handful of friends that just "chuck it all" and go for a lower
resolution.

--
Sharon F
MS-MVP ~ Windows XP Shell/User

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.newusers (More info?)

Husky wrote:

> On Fri, 22 Oct 2004 10:28:49 -0500, Sharon F <sharonfDEL@ETEmvps.org> wrote:
>
> Maybe there's a diff tween XP and XP pro. clear type is a setting on my display
> properties -> appearance -> effects tab.
>
> I assume clear type is intended for flat panel monitors as I haven't seen any
> difference myself.
>

Yes, my XP Home has that option and I have it checked; however, I
believe a trip to the MS Clear Type web interface page is still needed
to properly adjust it.

--
Paul R
-------------------------------
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