Let Windows tune your LCD for top text legibility

Windows 7 is the first Windows OS for which, at its introduction, LCD monitors have truly been the overwhelming display standard. (They were well on their way at the time of Vista’s introduction, but the trend has accelerated with the ascendancy of laptops and the wholesale move to LCDs on desktop PCs.) The new OS includes a dedicated LCD-tweaking wizard that lets you improve the look of text on your screen. It’s called the ClearType Text Tuner (CTTT).

You access CTTT from the Windows Control Panel; click on the Displayitem, and, in the resulting dialog, click on Adjust ClearType text. That will launch the wizard. Make sure on the first screen that the box next toTurn on ClearType is checked, and follow the prompts. Windows 7 will first check that your monitor or monitors are running at their native resolutions. (Native resolution generally delivers the best possible text legibility.) Then, it will take you through some comparisons reminiscent of a vision test at the eye doctor. The wizard runs a series of visual tests, asking you which block of text looks clearer to you, like this:

When you’re done, chances are you’ll see a noticeable difference in text quality. After you’ve run CTTT, you may wish to return to the Display Control Panel and tweak the size of default Windows text. Under the subhead Make it easier to read what’s on your screen, try tweaking the setting from Smaller to Medium or Larger if that’s more comfortable for you. If you do indeed decide to change the default text size, however, we recommend running CTTT again so your screen is optimized for the new size.