19" monitor owners: How can you read the microscopic Windows text?

[Samsonid]

Just purchased a brand new 19" monitor.

Very excited about it, hooked it up realy quick and looked forward to finaly get some higher resolutions than my old 15" (800X600).

...but....

even at a reasonable 1280X1040 the Windows text appears too small (it hearts my eyes)

Adjusting the appearence Properties didn't help 100%, because there are a lot of option dialogues and control panels that contain some kind of default system font which is too microscopic.

How do you people do it? How can you live with such small font at 1280X1040 or 1600X1200?

 

[JohnnyPC]

I could never figure out why some users insist on killing there eyes with anything more than 1024x768. I mean 1600x1200...get real dooodz...

 

[GT578]

1280x1024 is not hard to get used to. I think you should take a couple more days to get used to the new resolution.....800x600 ....I remember using that resolution for win95.

 

[arigato]

<< 1280x1024 is not hard to get used to. I think you should take a couple more days to get used to the new resolution.....800x600 ....I remember using that resolution for win95. >>



I have the same resolution (1280x1024) on my 19". Maybe you could work up to it. Change your settings every week or so.

 

[DoOLiE11]

i just go y my 21in and running it at 1600*1200 and its fine...

 

[venk]

After using 640x480 for years, i got a computer that did 1024x768, i didn't think i could use a computer with that res because everything was sooooo tiny. But, after a few days, my eyes adjusted and today, i think 1024x768 is HUGE.

 

[John]

When I had a 19" monitor, I ran 1280x960 and it was easy on the eyes. Now that I use a 21" FD Trinitron, I run 1600x1200.

 

[DPOverLord]

I have a 21" Iiyama I run @ 1900@x1200 Its the vision master pro 510 Its crystal clear. Guess 1k cna go a long way. But I had to use large text....

 

[ShadowFox]

15" @ 800x600
17" @ 1024x768
19" @ 1152x864
21" @ 1280x960

With these resolutions, all icons and text should be the same size

 

[Samsonid]

Thanks guys for all the responces!

However, most likely I would never want to get used to such small fonts (at 1280 and above).
My vision is currently 20/20 without correction and I intend to keep it as such, given that I have to work with this monitor 12 hours a day.

After playing a little bit with the resolution settings I found a sweet spot at 1024X768.

That's a shame though since this monitor can easily do 1600X1200 (with max at 1920X1440)

... if only stupid Windows didn't have those limitations....

 

[nortexoid]

do this:

1. go to display properties (i.e. by right clicking on your desktop and clicking "properties")
2. click on the "settings" tab
3. click the "advanced" button
4. under the "general" tab, change the "dpi settings" to whatever u want.

another way to change only the font is offered at the top of the dpi settings, whcihc tells u to go to the "appearance" tab and select font size.

 

[Samsonid]

ShadowFox,

You are right, 1152X864 is sweet as well. Thanks!


Nortexoid,

Somehow, when I was playing around with the dpi settings it changed everything else except the system font that appears in every control panel.
I' ll try it again to make sure, but somehow I doubt it.

 

[nortexoid]

then just hcange the font size like i said, under display properites, appearance tab..

 

[Samsonid]

Nortexoid,

It seems that neither the Appearance setting nor the dpi setting has any effect on the "system" font size.

For example:
When you open the Display Properties window and look at the tabs on the top where it says Background, Screensaver, Appearance etc etc THATs what I call "System font". There is nothing that can adjust the text size of these tabs in any control dialogue.

 

[frazzled]

Funny coincidence, I've migrated "down" to 1152 x 864 on my 19 inch CRT as well ...it's really a nice compromise, keeps my ego from being overly bruised by this aging thing .

Now on an LCD I can handle 1600 x 1024 (SGI 1600SW) .....really wish I had one at home.

Enjoy the real estate!

fraz

 

[Samsonid]

Ok, I take it back. Nortexoid is right!

Changing the dpi setting does effect the text size that appears in the control tabs, I pumped it up to 200% and it does make the system text larger.

Unfortunately, the excitement didn't last too long; because even at the higher dpi the palletes in applications such as Illustrator and Photoshop are still using miniscule text.

ayayaaai... well 1152 X 864 will be just fine for me then.

Thanks to all people in this thread for offering valuable sugestions and help.

 

[nortexoid]

what OS are u using?

because i've noticed, just now, that winxp doesn't offer system font adjustment, like win9x does...that's odd....in fact, it MUST offer it...lemme check it out..

 

[Samsonid]

Nortexoid,

This machine runs Win98SE.
So there is no need for you to check WinXP.

Thanks

 

[BurnItDwn]

I run my 19inch monitors at 1600x1200 ... Everything is clear and big enough for me to read

 

[Scootin159]

I have 2 monitors:

1x 19" @ 1600x1200x32
1x 17" @ 1600x1200x32 <- with all fonts on this monitor set to be 133%

 

[GrumpyMan]

To change the system font try the icon setting in the appearance tab. Have explorer open and you will see that it changes the whole system font there.

 

[GoSharks]

i run my 21" at 1600x1200 with 120% fonts, looks great and its easy to read for me

 

[VTrider]

I've been running 1280x1040 for quite a while now, I think you get used to it. I like fitting many icons on the desktop, some web pages (text) seems small once in a while though. I probably could take it down a bit in resolution (1152x864 is nice also).
Didn't these forums go through some change a while back that made the text smaller on almost everyone's screen? I could've sworn I remember this, everybody (including me) was complaining. People didn't want to lower their resolution just to make AT forums readable. If I remember correctly somebody suggested the idea
to increase the font size in your preferences on AT forums (instead of Windows OS), I think many did this including me, because I don't have a problem with small text on these forums anymore.

-VTrider

 

[RSI]

<< Just purchased a brand new 19" monitor.

Very excited about it, hooked it up realy quick and looked forward to finaly get some higher resolutions than my old 15" (800X600).

...but....

even at a reasonable 1280X1040 the Windows text appears too small (it hearts my eyes)

Adjusting the appearence Properties didn't help 100%, because there are a lot of option dialogues and control panels that contain some kind of default system font which is too microscopic.

How do you people do it? How can you live with such small font at 1280X1040 or 1600X1200? >>

Do you wear glasses or need to? I don't mean to insult you, but it seems you are having trouble reading where you probably should not. I use 1152x864 and very often 1280x1024 resolutions. But I have a 15" monitor! If I had a17", 1024x768 would seem too big. 1152 would be ok, and 1280 the optimal choice. So therefore if I had a 19", 1280x1024 would be the lowest I'd like to use. I can definitely understand people using 1600x1200 and up on large monitors. The space is necessary for some users. I had an appointment for my eyes a few weeks ago, and was told my eyes were still in "20/20" condition. Although I do notice a slight deviation in quality in my right eye. Still, I do agree that at 1280 resolution, it can be difficult to read some text, on my 15" monitor. I can not however imagine that on a 19", it would be difficult to read any text at 1280x1024.

-RSI

 

[ShadowFox]

<<I use 1152x864 and very often 1280x1024 resolutions. But I have a 15" monitor!>>

HOLY CR*P!!! how can you read that!!! i'm not saying its impossible, but it would be more comfortable at a lower resolution. I didnt even know they made 15" monitors that could go that high.

OH well, i guess its all personal preference