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I wonder if someone can help me. I work on a computer program with a very small font and there is no way to change it. I have a 15 inch laptop connected to a 21 inch monitor. I am using a resolution of 1280 x 720, but the monitor's native resolution is 1920 x 1080 x 60. The computer belongs to the company I work for and this is how the laptop resolution was set up. I tried using the monitor's native resolution but things do not fit on the screen so I have the 1280 x 720 resolution. I have extreme eyestrain. I do wear computer glasses. My question is would getting a different monitor help me see better and if so, what size monitor and resolution would be best? Do I have to buy a monitor that has the same resolution as the laptop? Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Eleanor

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    Are you using Windows? If so there is the magnification tool built in that may help you out
    – Eric F
    Commented Jan 11, 2019 at 17:30
  • I do use windows but do not really know how to use the magnification tool and am not sure if it works but thanks for your advice.
    – ELEANOR
    Commented Jan 11, 2019 at 17:32
  • Otherwise you could bring it a step lower which is probably 640x480 but this makes it kind of unusable
    – Eric F
    Commented Jan 11, 2019 at 17:34
  • I'm somewhat unclear about "I tried using the monitor's native resolution but things do not fit on the screen". But according to you, the monitor's native resolution is larger, so it should have more space for things, not less?
    – grawity_u1686
    Commented Jan 11, 2019 at 17:41
  • I cannot remember if they did not fit or were stretched out so I will have to try it again, but do not think it is a good thing.
    – ELEANOR
    Commented Jan 11, 2019 at 17:48

2 Answers 2

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Simple solution

On reflection, the problem is probably NOT so much the screen size but the difference in resolution of your laptop and external monitor. I postulate you are using these in "mirror " mode - ie same picture on both, and because of the different resolutions it looks blurry on the monitor.

The cheap solution is to expand your monitor onto the large screen rather then duplicate the screen, so each screen runs at its native resolution.

**Old answer **

(technically a better answer but probably does not solve your actual problem)

What you have written about "using the monitors native resolution but things not fitting on the screen" does not really add up. If the native resolution is 1920*1080 that will show MORE on the screen then running in 1280*720.

There are 5 factors (some are actually a restatement of the same thing) to understand to solving your question -

  • (All else being equal) The higher the resolution, the smaller the dots on the screen, the smaller images/txt will look.

  • Running at native resolution will provide the sharpest/clearest images because there us no scaling to distort the image.

  • For a given resolution, a larger monitor will display the same image/amount of information, so the information will look bigger.

  • Some OS's / programs have an idea of "DPI" (dots per inch). If available to you, The lower you set this number, the larger/more readable things will appear.

  • Screen sizes are measured diagonally.

So, putting this altogether you probably want to get a larger screen - at a guess 27/28 inches - with a native resolution of 1920*1080.

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I hope I'm not misundertsanding the problem, but one solution you can try is right-clicking on your screen and go into display settings. Depending on what build/OS version you are using somewhere there will be an option to change the size of texts, apps, and other items in the first window that opensFirst window, or by navigating from there to Advanced display settings>bottom of first windowAdvanced sizing of text and other items>second windowset a custom scaling levelthird window, and then change the drop down menu.Custom sizing options The first method will change instantly, the other one you'll have to sign out and back in to see it. Normally the default is 100%, but I have seen some where the default is 150%. Increasing the percentage changes the size without changing the resolution. I'd try it with both resolutions you've mentioned to se if they help.

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