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Nvidia Control Panel

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Revision as of 18:09, 27 April 2012 by 1R0N W00K13 (talk | contribs) (Start of page, basic settings on Control Panel)
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The NVIDIA Control Panel is a tool created by NVIDIA designed to allow you to customise various settings for your NVIDIA graphics card. A similar tool is available for ATI graphics cards, the Catalyst Control Center. By using the Control Panel, you can modify various graphics card settings such as stereoscopic 3D and desktop size and position as well as force certain graphics options such as anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering.

Simple Modifications

Adjusting Desktop Colour Settings

To modify the colour settings which your monitor renders with, locate the Display menu in the left hand tab and click on the Adjust desktop colour settings option. This will bring up another menu with various options. If you wish to modify settings for all applications, ensure to check the 'Use NVIDIA settings' box before continuing. The definitions of each subsequent option are as follows:

  • Brightness: Quite literally the brightness of your screen. It is important that brightness is somewhat tied to the gamma value - if you modify the brightness value by an extreme amount, it will limit the range of gamma values your monitor can display for that brightness.
  • Colour channel: This allows you to modify Brightness, Contrast and Gamma values for individual colour channels. Each channel is a 'component' of the display, and computer monitors use three channels - RGB or Red, Green and Blue. This means that the image you see on your screen consists of three images; one red, one green and one blue, which when combined in different ways produce the image you see on the screen. By editing each channel individually you can fine-tune the brightness and contrast of single components of your display image, allowing you to more accurately obtain colour settings you are happy with. Generally however, it is advised you modify the settings for 'All Channels', as this will still allow you to achieve a wide range of effects.
  • Contrast: Contrast is the difference, or contrast, between the colours your screen displays. Increasing this value with increase the vibrancy of all colours and the ease with which you can distinguish them. Generally, you will want to avoid setting this too high or too low as it will strain your eyesight during extended play.
  • Gamma: Gamma, or gamma correction, is an operation your computer carries out to determine luminance settings for images. In simpler terms, it 'optimises' images displayed on your computer to emphasise colour differences the human eye is sensitive to (for example, shadows) and to prevent storage from being wasted on distinguishing colour differences the human eye struggles to detect. Generally speaking it is advised you leave this value at the default +1.00 setting.

Several image enhancements are also available:

  • Digital vibrance: This setting essentially acts like contrast, allowing you to fine tune the way your monitor displays the vibrancy of colours with values between grayscale and a high-contrast setting.
  • Hue: This is the amount an image is 'shifted' on the colour spectrum towards one of the unique hues (red, green, blue and yellow).

Changing Monitor Resolution

One of the ways to change the resolution your monitor displays at is to edit it via the Control Panel. To do this, navigate to the Display drop-down in the left hand tab before selecting the Change resolution option. Select a resolution from the drop down list. Your default resolution will be listed with the suffix '(native)'. If you are using multiple monitors you can easily change between settings for each monitor by clicking on the monitor icons towards the top of the screen. By clicking the 'Customize...' button, you can create custom resolutions for your screen to render at.

Also note that this sub-menu allows you to change the refresh rate, or vertical scan rate, of your monitor. This is the number of times in a second that your monitor will 'draw' data, so it can be thought of as a 'frames per second' for your monitor, except it is measured in Hertz, or Hz. Generally speaking you will want to use the highest refresh rate value your monitor can render.

Modifying Default Graphics Stance

It is possible to set a default 'stance' for 3D rendering via the NVIDIA Control Panel for all 3D applications with regards to graphical quality. This means many games will detect the stance you set - either Performance, Balanced or Quality-orientated, and adjust graphics settings appropriately. To do this, select Adjust image settings with preview from the left hand tab under 3D Settings. 3 options will appear:

  • Let the 3D application decide: This option essentially prevents the Control Panel from overriding graphics settings that a game might decide is suitable for your computer, or the default graphics settings a game loads up with. Choose this option if you wish to fine-tune graphics settings manually to best optimise performance and quality.
  • Use the advanced 3D image settings: This option forces all 3D applications to conform to the detailed rules you can set up under Manage 3D Settings. If you modify these advanced settings be sure to enable this option to see them enabled in-game.
  • Use my preference emphasising: Choosing this option enables a slider which allows you to quickly choose to focus graphics on performance or quality, or a compromise between the two. The Control Panel will then ensure that 3D applications are set up to conform to your choice.

Rotating the Display

By navigating to the Display drop-down in the left hand tab and selecting Rotate display, it is possible to change the orientation of your display using the selectable list.

Setting up Multiple Displays

To enable multiple monitors for use with your computer, navigate to the Display drop-down in the left hand menu, and select Set up multiple displays. A list of all monitors that your computer recognises as connected to the system will appear - simply tick the boxes for the monitors you wish to enable and drag them into the box below to determine your monitor layout. If you do not see some monitors in the list, ensure that the adapter connecting your monitor to the computer is properly inserted at both ends.

Note that by pressing the 'Display' tab at the top of the screen and clicking 'Identify Displays', the Control Panel will show you an on-screen representation of your display layout on each monitor, numbered 1, 2, 3, etc.