Display settings overview

Settings in this subgroup control the power management of the display.

Subgroup, GUID, aliases, and setting visibility

Subgroup: Display settings

GUID: 7516b95f-f776-4464-8c53-06167f40cc99

Windows provisioning path: Common\Power\Policy\Settings\Display

PowerCfg alias: SUB_VIDEO

Hidden setting: Yes

In this section

Specifies whether the OS automatically scales the display idle time-out based on user activity.

If the user provides input to the system shortly after the display idle timeout is reached, Windows automatically extends the display idle time-out to deliver a better user experience.

Specifies the policy to decide visual quality of Advanced Color capable displays.

Specifies whether Windows allows applications to temporarily prevent the display from automatically reducing brightness or turning off to save power.

This setting denotes the user annoyance detection threshold. It specifies the duration between automatic display brightness level reduction and user input to consider the automatic display brightness level reduction as an annoyance to the user.

Denotes the reduced display brightness level after the dim idle timeout has been reached.

Specifies the default display brightness level.

Specifies the period of inactivity before the display is automatically turned off.

Manage the input and display language settings in Windows 10

To manage all aspects of the input and display language settings on your Windows 10 device, use the following methods.

To switch the keyboard layout you’re using in Windows 10, press and hold the Windows key and then repeatedly press the Spacebar to cycle through all your installed keyboards. (If this doesn’t do anything, it means you have only one installed.)

You can also select the language abbreviation on the far right of the taskbar and then choose the language or input method you want to use.

Note: In the input field, press Windows +period (.) to access the emoji keyboard, if your language supports this.

If you can’t find the keyboard layout you want, you may have to add a new keyboard.

Adding an input language lets you set a language-preference order for websites and apps, as well as change your keyboard language.

Select the Start button, then select Settings > Time & Language > Language.

Under Preferred languages, select the language that contains the keyboard you want, and then select Options.

Select Add a keyboard and choose the keyboard you want to add. If you don’t see the keyboard you want, you may have to add a new language to get additional options. If this is the case, go on to step 4.

Return to the Language settings page, and select Add a language.

Choose the language you want to use from the list, and then select Next.

Review any language features you want to set up or install, and select Install.

The display language you select changes the default language used by Windows features like Settings and File Explorer.

Select the Start button, then select Settings > Time & Language > Language.

Choose a language from the Windows display language menu.

If a language is listed under Preferred languages but doesn’t appear on the Windows display language list, you’ll first need to install its language pack (if it’s available).

Select the Start button, then select Settings > Time & Language > Language.

Choose a language from the Add a language list under Preferred languages, and then select Options.

Select Download from the Download language pack option.

After the language pack is installed, select Back .

Choose a language from the Windows display language menu.

If you receive an «Only one language pack allowed» or «Your Windows license supports only one display language» message, you have a single language edition of Windows 10. Here’s how to check your Windows 10 language edition:

Select the Start button, select Settings > About, and then scroll down to the Windows specification section.

If you see Windows 10 Home Single Language next to Edition, you have a single language edition of Window 10, and you can’t add a new language unless you purchase an upgrade to either Windows 10 Home or Windows 10 Pro.

Select the Start button, then select Settings > Time & Language > Language.

Under Preferred languages, select the language you want to remove, and then click Remove.

To remove an individual keyboard, select the language in question (see step 2), select Options, scroll down to the Keyboards section, select the keyboard you want to remove, and click Remove.

ChangeDisplaySettingsA function (winuser.h)

The ChangeDisplaySettings function changes the settings of the default display device to the specified graphics mode.

To change the settings of a specified display device, use the ChangeDisplaySettingsEx function.

Syntax

Parameters

A pointer to a DEVMODE structure that describes the new graphics mode. If lpDevMode is NULL, all the values currently in the registry will be used for the display setting. Passing NULL for the lpDevMode parameter and 0 for the dwFlags parameter is the easiest way to return to the default mode after a dynamic mode change.

The dmSize member of DEVMODE must be initialized to the size, in bytes, of the DEVMODE structure. The dmDriverExtra member of DEVMODE must be initialized to indicate the number of bytes of private driver data following the DEVMODE structure. In addition, you can use any or all of the following members of the DEVMODE structure.

Member	Meaning
dmBitsPerPel	Bits per pixel
dmPelsWidth	Pixel width
dmPelsHeight	Pixel height
dmDisplayFlags	Mode flags
dmDisplayFrequency	Mode frequency
dmPosition	Position of the device in a multi-monitor configuration.

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In addition to using one or more of the preceding DEVMODE members, you must also set one or more of the following values in the dmFields member to change the display setting.

Value	Meaning
DM_BITSPERPEL	Use the dmBitsPerPel value.
DM_PELSWIDTH	Use the dmPelsWidth value.
DM_PELSHEIGHT	Use the dmPelsHeight value.
DM_DISPLAYFLAGS	Use the dmDisplayFlags value.
DM_DISPLAYFREQUENCY	Use the dmDisplayFrequency value.
DM_POSITION	Use the dmPosition value.

Indicates how the graphics mode should be changed. This parameter can be one of the following values.

Value	Meaning
0	The graphics mode for the current screen will be changed dynamically.
CDS_FULLSCREEN	The mode is temporary in nature. If you change to and from another desktop, this mode will not be reset.
CDS_GLOBAL	The settings will be saved in the global settings area so that they will affect all users on the machine. Otherwise, only the settings for the user are modified. This flag is only valid when specified with the CDS_UPDATEREGISTRY flag.
CDS_NORESET	The settings will be saved in the registry, but will not take effect. This flag is only valid when specified with the CDS_UPDATEREGISTRY flag.
CDS_RESET	The settings should be changed, even if the requested settings are the same as the current settings.
CDS_SET_PRIMARY	This device will become the primary device.
CDS_TEST	The system tests if the requested graphics mode could be set.
CDS_UPDATEREGISTRY	The graphics mode for the current screen will be changed dynamically and the graphics mode will be updated in the registry. The mode information is stored in the USER profile.

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Specifying CDS_TEST allows an application to determine which graphics modes are actually valid, without causing the system to change to that graphics mode.

If CDS_UPDATEREGISTRY is specified and it is possible to change the graphics mode dynamically, the information is stored in the registry and DISP_CHANGE_SUCCESSFUL is returned. If it is not possible to change the graphics mode dynamically, the information is stored in the registry and DISP_CHANGE_RESTART is returned.

If CDS_UPDATEREGISTRY is specified and the information could not be stored in the registry, the graphics mode is not changed and DISP_CHANGE_NOTUPDATED is returned.

Return value

The ChangeDisplaySettings function returns one of the following values.

Return code	Description
DISP_CHANGE_SUCCESSFUL	The settings change was successful.
DISP_CHANGE_BADDUALVIEW	The settings change was unsuccessful because the system is DualView capable.
DISP_CHANGE_BADFLAGS	An invalid set of flags was passed in.
DISP_CHANGE_BADMODE	The graphics mode is not supported.
DISP_CHANGE_BADPARAM	An invalid parameter was passed in. This can include an invalid flag or combination of flags.
DISP_CHANGE_FAILED	The display driver failed the specified graphics mode.
DISP_CHANGE_NOTUPDATED	Unable to write settings to the registry.
DISP_CHANGE_RESTART	The computer must be restarted for the graphics mode to work.

Remarks

To ensure that the DEVMODE structure passed to ChangeDisplaySettings is valid and contains only values supported by the display driver, use the DEVMODE returned by the EnumDisplaySettings function.

When the display mode is changed dynamically, the WM_DISPLAYCHANGE message is sent to all running applications with the following message parameters.

Parameters	Meaning
wParam	New bits per pixel
LOWORD(lParam)	New pixel width
HIWORD(lParam)	New pixel height

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DPI Virtualization

The winuser.h header defines ChangeDisplaySettings as an alias which automatically selects the ANSI or Unicode version of this function based on the definition of the UNICODE preprocessor constant. Mixing usage of the encoding-neutral alias with code that not encoding-neutral can lead to mismatches that result in compilation or runtime errors. For more information, see Conventions for Function Prototypes.

Change Screen Resolution, Color Calibration, Calibrate ClearType Text in Windows 10

It is very important to have the correct screen resolution settings on your Windows PC as it facilitates a better display of content and the clarity of images. Higher is the resolution, the sharper are the images and contents on your PC. While, Windows, however, has its own set default scaling settings and colors for each display in your PC, which are usually the best for your system, you can always adjust it according to your own preferences.

Change Screen Resolution on Windows 10

In this post, we will learn about how to how to change the Screen Resolution, Color calibration, ClearType Text, Display Adapter, Text sizing, and other Display settings in Windows 10. Adjusting the screen resolution is easy, and you can get to the Screen Resolution settings via Display Settings:

1. Open Settings
2. Click on System settings
3. Select Display from the left side
4. Scroll down till you see Display resolution
5. From the drop-down select the screen resolution you want.

Let us see this in more detail.

Go to your Desktop, right-click your mouse and go to Display Settings.

The following panel will open. Here you can adjust the size of text, apps, and other items and also change the orientation. To change the resolution settings, scroll down this window and select the drop-down menu for Display resolution.

1920 X 1080 is the recommended screen resolution for my PC. It may be different for you.

However, you may want to modify if you want the items in your PC to appear larger. Please note that the lower is the resolution, the larger is the content displayed on your screen. From the available options in the drop-down menu, select the one you want and click Apply.

If it is not the optimal setting for your system, you will see an Optimal Resolution Notification like this.

You may ignore the notification and confirm your Screen Resolution changes by clicking on Keep The Changes. or you may select another screen resolution. You will get just 15 seconds to confirm the changes or else it will revert to the default display settings.

While here in the Advanced Display settings panel, you can also change the following settings.

Change Color Calibration in Windows 10

You can also calibrate your display. Windows provides you with a Display Color Calibration Wizard, which helps you set up your computers brightness, gamma, contrast & color settings easily. Using this wizard, you can improve the color on your display and make sure that the colors appear accurately, in Windows 10/8/7.

Search for DCCW or Color Calibration in the search bar of Settings and click in the Calibrate display color option.

This will open the color calibration wizard where you just have to follow the instructions and adjust the settings.

The wizard will guide you to set the color, gamma, brightness, contrast, color balance and also make the text on your screen easier to read.

You will then reach a window shown below where you can adjust how the colors appear on your screen by moving the red, blue, and green sliders.

Calibrate ClearType Text in Windows 10

Make the text on your PC clearer by checking this small box under the Clear Type Text section.

Search for ClearType text in the search bar of Settings and click in the Adjust ClearType text option.

This will open the Text Tuner where you have to follow the instructions and keep clicking on ‘Next’ button to tune the text on your monitor.

Date: July 14, 2020 Tags: Screen Resolution