 Time
was when all computer monitors had the same ratio of screen width to
height and only a few screen resolution options. But as this
chart to the right shows, those days are long
gone. Many laptop and wide screen LCD monitors use a
5:4 or 16:10 ratio of width to height.
These
differences sometimes require you to manage your
display settings for different programs in our catalog.
And if you don't know how to adjust your graphic settings, the software
can look strange, small, fuzzy, or stretched. This article is here to
help!
Your
first computer was likely 640 pixels wide by 480 pixels high (a 4:3
aspect ratio or proportion. Then came 800x600 (also a 4:3 ratio).
Then came the wide-aspect screens and higher
resolution monitors. Laptops, especially, tend to
have wide-aspect (widescreen) dimensions They are great for
wordprocessing and browsing the web, but you need to be able to adjust
the settings for many kids games.
Many
kids software programs, were designed f to display at a 4:3 aspect
ratio, and at a lower resolution setting than your newer computer
came set at. This is
particularly true of some good older programs and 3d style games in our
catalog.
Fortunately, your computer comes equipped with
graphic chip options that allow you to reset your
computer to various resolutions and aspects. Older
computers usually have fewer options.
Unfortunately, MOST people either don't know they have
such options, don't understand them, or they change things
without understanding how it affects certain software.
That's why I
wrote this article, because it's especially important for our
customers using kids software on their church computers to know
how to make changes to their display options to optimize the
appearance of their software.
1. Change your "Aspect Ratio" graphic
setting to correct the "fat" appearance of some software on a wide
aspect monitor (such as a laptop).
Software designed for a 4:3 proportioned screen will
often S-T--R--E---T---C----H too
wide across a wide aspect screen ---and this makes the game
graphics look "fat." For example... look at
"Robin" from our Joseph CD on my 5:3 wide aspect laptop, and then
after I opened up my graphic display panel and selected the "panel
fit" option to "center desktop":
(Click here to read more
about Joseph's Story CD seen in this graphic.)
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2. Change the Screen
Resolution to increase the appearance of software on your
monitor. Aspect
Ratio isn't the only setting you may need to adjust for many
kids programs. Many kids programs were
designed to fit a certain "fixed" size on the screen and
won't resize themselves to spread across a higher resolution
you may have set. These "fixed width" programs are
especially found among kids software
made prior to 2006.
No matter what your screen resolution (pixed
width/height) is set to, these programs will only occupy a
certain area on the screen, and the operating system will
fill the rest of the screen with a black box around it.
(Life of David for example, or Life of Christ, Pathways
through Jerusalem, etc)
Here's an example of this fixed width
design and the consequent 'black box' which appears around
the program's screen...
What you want to do is set your
display resolution to as close to 800x600 as you display
control panel will let you.
To adjust your graphic display settings
and Aspect Ratio in Vista and XP....
In VISTA,
the quickest way to adjust graphic properties is to
RIGHT click a
blank area of your desktop
and select from your graphic
options.
In the example below below
you can see the "resolution" option
for my Intel graphics chip on my laptop. For most of our
software, set your resolution as close to 800x600 or a
notch above that.
Also in the example below,
you can see the Aspect Ratio option,
which I recommend setting to "center desktop" (if you
have that or a similar option) to keep software from
stretching too wide across a wide aspect screen.
In XP and earlier
versions of Windows,
you may need to open your "Display Properties" in your
Windows Control Panel to make such adjustments.
Your graphic control panel
may look different
than mine depending on the chip brand and version. But
you can get the general idea by looking at my example
here....
This is the setting I have set to keep
my 3d games from stretching "fat". I could change the
'Screen Resolution' lower, if this were my church lab's
computer, but because this is my home computer, I'm
sticking with my laptop's native resolution.
Changing the aspect ratio does NOT
affect the appearance of any other software I have, such
as IE or Word.
Depending on your operating
system, and depending on the BRAND and QUALITY and AGE
of your graphic card/chip/driver, your options MAY VARY.
But most graphic chips/drivers are headed in the right
direction: getting smarter and giving us more choices.
Older computers, older
operating systems, and those with old drivers and
'inexpensive' graphic components may have FEWER options.
Vista
has an option to "show an older
program in a 640x480 window" --which comes in
handy when trying to run some older but still good
software like Play and Learn Children's Bible CD or Life
of Paul which have a fixed display of 640x480.
By selecting
this option for those older programs, you can get them
to fill more of the screen on a newer computer.
To make the change in Vista:
Right click the program's
startup icon and look in the
Properties/Compatibility option for that nice option.
This will make the older programs fill more of the
screen, but it still may not look as crisp.
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 What
do "maintain aspect ration," "full screen," and "center desktop"
mean in your graphic settings?
Intel's website is little help.
Here's my interpretation...
Fullscreen: This is the preset option
which will stretch every program to fit your screen no
matter what ratio you have. Thus, some programs, especially
kids software, will look fat. Great for wordprocessors, bad
for kids programs.
Maintain Aspect Ratio: This will stretch your program
to fit your screen but keep a 4:3 aspect ratio. The problem
with this setting is IF your computer's display resolution
is set to 1200x800 pixel resolution, but the program was
designed for 640x480 pixel resolution, the program graphics
will appear MORE FUZZY as it 'interpolates up' to use all
the pixels your display is set to. Use this setting only
if you have set your screen resolution below 1200x800
pixels. If your display resolution is a mammoth 1900 x
whatever, your game software graphics may look quite fuzzy
as the driver attempts to fill in pixels by surrounding one
pixel of info into several copies around it to fill the
available pixels your screen is set to.
Center Desktop: This is the preferred option for
many kids programs. This will maintain BOTH the aspect ratio
of 4:3 and keep a program designed with 800x600 pixels in an
800x600 box. Thus the graphics will look CRISPER (in
theory). And in my experience it doesn't affect your
wordprocessor or internet browser appearance.
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3. Adjust your Resolution and
Color Depth settings to improve graphic performance...
The
human eye can barely distinguish between 16 bit and 32 bit
color quality (aka "depth"). Thus, at this date
(2009) we recommend setting your color depth to 16 bit color
for most Sunday Software titles IF your computer is older
than 2 years old.
Having your computer set to
higher resolutions and color depth settings (aka, "quality"
or "bit") can bog down your processor and affect the
performance of certain graphically intense software.
Your Display control panel may
look different depending on your operating system version of
videocard/chip brand.
In XP, open "Display" in
your Windows Control Panel. In Vista, right click an
empty area of your desktop and the graphics options will
appear. Again, it might depend on your system and setup. |
I welcome
comments that help clarify this article. Your questions are also welcome
if you are a customer of ours.
Read my
book and/or online articles.
They tell you what else I know about setting up and teaching with
software in Sunday School.
Neil MacQueen, Sunday Software
neil@sundaysoftware.com
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