Many of today's newer websites employ a variety of new technologies to enhance the web surfing experience. We've all heard of Java, ActiveX, Netscape plug-ins, VRML...the list goes on and on. Each of the new technologies extends the envelope, bringing more engaging and exciting media formats to the Web. The purpose of this page, however, is not to deal with every emerging Web fad, but to offer a few pointers on how anyone can make their own web surfing (indeed computing!) experience more enjoyable. As a web designer and a graphic artist, I'm obviously first-and-foremost concerned that users view my work just the way I intended them to: with graphic objects having the correct size, proper orientation, and in the beautiful array of colors with which they were designed! This page contains simple, straight-forward instructions to optimize your viewing of web graphics and page layout.
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Display Color Depth under Windows 95/NT
"Color Depth" refers to the maximum number of individual colors a video card is set to display. By default, the Windows 95 display is configured for a 256-color palette. A 256-color palette, unfortunately, is often not adequate to display detailed graphic images, especially photographic-quality images and those with subtle color gradations. If you are using Netscape Navigator, the browser will force a High Color image to be "dithered" so as to conform to the Netscape 216-color palette - this dithering can cause noticeable image degradation. Many images simply can not be rendered well in a set palette of only 216 colors!
The web designer is therefore up against a wall: either he conforms to the Netscape palette, ensuring compatibility with everyone's display settings, but sacrificing image quality for all, or he uses High Color images that display beautifully on most systems, but may not display as well as possible on 256-color systems.
Many of the pages designed by and hosted at Lynchburg.net and YoYoSurf employ High Color imagery. We believe that the graphical nature of the Web is what gives it such promise, and in an age where we are making the transition to digital and HDTV, it's not much to ask that our computer monitors display more than 256 colors! It is simple to alter the default video configuration.
Virtually every video card and monitor shipped with computer systems in the past three or four years is capable of High Color or True Color graphics. The problem lies in the fact that a palette of 256 colors is set by default and many people are not aware that they are being cheated out of a more pleasurable graphical experience. Not only web graphics are enhanced, but most popular entertainment titles take advantage of High Color graphics. Don't even try graphics work in 8-bit color! Font Smoothing is another reason to use High Color.
To change your color depth (or screen resolution...), context-click (right mouse click) on the Windows Desktop (your background/wallpaper) and select "Properties" from the menu which appears. This will call up the "Display Properties" tabbed dialogue box, a representation of which appears below:
Click on the "Settings" tab to bring up the settings page. Simply select the appropriate color level from the drop down box labeled "Color Palette" and you're set! Your choices may vary from those displayed above. Generally, anything >256 colors is sufficient. "True Color" is 24-bit color only necessary for photorealistic graphics work; "65536 Colors" or "High Color" is perfect. You may also change your screen resolution from this page. 640x480 pixels is the Windows default. 800x600 is sufficient for most purposes and 1024x768 at a respectable refresh rate (=/>70 Hertz) is ideal. Click "OK" to exit the Display Properties window and confirm your settings. Windows may ask you to reboot your computer for the new settings to take effect. You will at least need to close and re-start your web browser to notice any difference!
QuickRes is a Microsoft PowerToys GUI enhancement tool that allows the user to alter the color depth and screen resolution on the fly, without the need to reboot for new settings to take effect. Once installed, the program is accessible from the Windows 95 taskbar. Clicking on its taskbar icon brings up a menu of available color depth/resolution combinations. Simply select the combination desired off this menu.
QuickRes is part of a suite of GUI (Graphical User Interface, pronounced "gooey") extensions that make life easier and more attractive under the Windows 95 shell. You may download the package from Lynchburg.net's FTP archive. [Note: This package is not officially part of the Windows 95 operating system, and Microsoft does not offer technical support relating to the PowerToys Collection.] To install the package, simply extract the archive, context-click on the "install.inf" file, select "Install" from the menu, and follow the onscreen instructions.
Click here to download MS PowerToys Collection (204 KB).
Many Web sites, including a number designed and hosted by Lynchburg.net and YoYoSurf, utilize a variety of TrueType fonts to enhance the appearance of text on-screen. Both Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 and Netscape Navigator 3.0 support the font face tag which allows the web designer to specify particular TrueType fonts for display, rather than the default Times New Roman and Courier New fonts. The only problem with this is that many computers do not have some of the more common web fonts installed, and they simply display all text in the default face.
Microsoft freely distributes a collection of the common TrueType fonts utilized on web pages. The package includes: Verdana, Georgia, Trebuchet, Impact, Arial Black and Comic Sans. You may download this collection from Microsoft here.
Font Smoothing Under Windows 95
Display fonts often have a jagged appearence on screen which detracts from the pleasure of viewing materials published on the Web (not to mention your company's annual earnings report...). Microsoft has released an add-on mini-app that remedies this problem by using anti-aliasing to "blend" the font edges into the background. Font Smoothing can only work on displays set to High Color. Font Smoothing is included with the Microsoft "Plus Pack," a set of add-on programs for the Windows 95 OS. If you have the Plus Pack installed, you can activate the Font Smoothing option by clicking "Smooth edges of screen fonts" on the "Plus" tab of the Display Properties window.
Font Smoothing is also freely available from Microsoft, and downloadable from Lynchburg.net. To get Font Smoothing, click here.
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