Universal Design Icon Changing the monitor resolution in Macintosh

Why change the monitor resolution?

The Macintosh monitor has several available resolutions. A high resolution corresponds to a smaller, clearer picture. A low resolution corresponds to a larger, slightly fuzzier picture. Some people with low vision can see the information on the monitor better at low resolution.

Another way to adjust the size of the information shown on the screen is to use Close View, a screen magnifier. When you magnify the screen using Close View, only a fraction of the screen is shown on your monitor at any one time. You control which part of the screen appears on your monitor by moving the mouse. With low resolution, on the other hand, the entire screen is displayed at any given time.

How does this work? A pixel is a unit of measure that is used to define the size of text, images, etc. However, it is not an absolute measure like a millimeter or an inch. The absolute size of a pixel depends on the screen resolution. The resolution is a number like 1024 x 768, corresponding to the number of pixels in your display. (The monitor is a rectangle. The larger number refers to the width, and the smaller number refers to the height.) Since your monitor always stays the same size, the number of pixels in your display determine how big each pixel is. Imagine a resolution of 2 x 2, or four pixels per monitor. This would make each pixel one-fourth of the size of your monitor! In general, the lower the resolution, the larger each pixel is.

Large pixels can make things easier to see, but they sometimes make images look blocky or jagged. For example, at low resolutions, a diagonal line may look like a string of squares rather than one continuous line. You need to choose a resolution that makes the images on your screen the clearest for you.

Changing the monitor resolution

Note that on the Macintosh keyboard, the Command key is the one with the picture of the apple on it.

  1. Bring up the Monitors & Sound window. You can do this with the mouse, which is the easiest option, but it is also possible to do this using only the keyboard.
  2. The Monitor button is the default. If it is not selected, select it with the mouse. You should now see a box listing the available resolutions.
  3. Select the resolution you want. The screen should update after a small delay. If you do not like the result, you can simply choose another resolution. Remember, changing to a lower resolution will make the images on your screen appear larger and slightly less clear.
  4. When you are satisfied with the appearance of your monitor, hit Command + w to close the Monitors & Sound window. If you opened this window using the keyboard, the focus will switch to the Control Panel. You can continue using Command + w to close windows until all of the desired windows are closed.

Open the Monitors & Sound window using the mouse

  1. Choose the apple menu in the upper left corner of your screen.
  2. Select the Control Panel.
  3. Choose Monitors & Sound from the Control Panel submenu.
  4. Go back to step 1 above.

Open the Monitors & Sound window using the keyboard only

  1. Move the focus to the desktop. You should be able to do this using Command + d, but it does not always work.
  2. Hit Tab until the focus is on the hard drive.
  3. Press Command + o to open the hard drive.
  4. Hit s and then Tab until the focus is on the system folder.
  5. Press Command + o to open the system folder.
  6. Hit c and then Tab until the focus is on the control panel.
  7. Press Command + o to open the control panel.
  8. Hit m and then Tab until the focus is on the Monitors & Sound icon.
  9. Press Command + o to open Monitors & Sound.
  10. Go back to step 1 above.

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