Perhaps the least recognized, yet most important part of the computer, is the monitor. And rarely does someone ever spend the time telling anyone how to configure a monitor properly for the best visual quality possible. I decided to take on the challenge, and the fruits of my labor are right before your eyes: the Monitor and Visuals Tweak Guide.
Resolution and Refresh Rate
Setting the proper resolution and refresh rate for your monitor is very important. Below is a table with the best resolution for your monitor sorted by screen size:
14" - 800x600
15" - 800x600 or 1024x768
17" - 1024x768
19" - 1152x 864 or 1280x1024
21" - 1280x1024 or 1600x1200v
The optimal refresh rate for any given resolution on any monitor is 75Hz. Anything higher than this can be overly taxing on your monitor and can cause its overall image quality to degrade. Only use a setting higher than 75Hz if you spend long periods of time at a computer without a break (more than two hours at a time). Of course, if you spend that much time at a computer often, you really ought to invest in an expensive monitor (in which case this becomes a non-issue). Both of these settings can be changed within the Display applet in the Control Panel. Resolution is under the Settings tab and the refresh rate can be changed from within the Advanced button on the same tab.
Screen Geometry
Screen Geometry is very important as well. Depending on your make and model of monitor, changing these settings may vary or not apply to you. First, you will want to center your screen and stretch it out so that it covers the entire viewable area of the monitor. Then, if the monitor's display appears to be crooked or warped, you may need to play with the trapezoidal, pincushion, and tilt properties of your monitor. I usually just eyeball these settings, but if for some reason you need these settings to be precise, I would recommend holding a straight edge up to the sides of the display and match the settings up with the straight edge. Make sure you have it level though!
Contrast, Brightness, and Color Depth
Begin this next step by turning the contrast up to full. Then tweak the brightness setting until you can just barely see the difference between the two darkest blocks of the graphic below. A red line denotes the separation of the two blocks, if you are having trouble finding where to look.
32-bit color depth will generally give you better visuals, but you will sacrifice game performance if you leave the desktop running in 32-bit color mode (a.k.a. True Color). To change this setting back to 16-bit (or High Color) mode, open the display applet in the Control Panel and go to the settings tab.
Color Temperature
Color temperature refers to the monitor's value of white. And since every other color in the spectrum is derived from white, this can be a very important setting. On most monitors, 9600K is as close to natural white as you are going to find (this is also called "cold" white, because on some older monitors this setting gave the screen a light blue tinge). The other standard setting for white, although you see it less often, is 6500K, or warm white (this is because of the slight reddish cast that this setting gives everything). If you wanted to compare this to color photographs, the color of 9600K is like the pictures that come out of a 35 mm camera - the colors are as close as possible to natural. On the other hand, the color of 6500K is more like a Polaroid, giving everything a slight warm glow (Polaroid film is designed to be more sensitive to red light, giving it a slightly warmer feel...). Personally I recommend 9600K, but if you are on an older monitor, you may get a "better" white from the 6500K setting.
Degaussing and other Monitor Options
Degaussing is essentially the same process that the monitor goes through during startup, except that the monitor is fully operational during the process. If you are having problems with your monitor after extended use (greater than usual flickering, discoloration of some areas, etc.), degaussing your monitor might just fix it for you.
Moire is in reference to certain kinds of distortion that should only ever effect improperly shielded monitors. If you are having problems with it and your monitor is fairly new, you should probably move, because you probably have a high voltage wire running through your house creating EM interference. Seriously though, moire patterns are created by the misalignment of the cathode ray onto the filaments that create the image. If you are having trouble with wavy lines on the screen, or a particularly fuzzy image (particularly at high resolutions), you may find it to your benefit to tweak these settings a bit. Most people can probably leave them alone though. These patterns can also be removed by using the sharpness setting (on less expensive monitors).
Booting CD Rom System Cleanup CPU & Motherboard Hard Disk Sound Card
Modem Monitor Mouse System Enhancements Windows Shell
Some part of this document is taken from www.tweak3d.net and www.pcguide.com.
