Set up your new display
1 PICK THE RIGHT CABLE AND PORT
After placing your new monitor on your desk, you’ll need to connect it to your PC. This may be a straightforward HDMI-toHDMI cable, or you may find your PC only has a DVI port – in this case, verify it supports 4K (some lower end graphics adapters don’t support 4K through the DVI port) before purchasing a HDMI-to-DVI cable or adapter – around $5-$10 online.
2 FIRST RUN
Switch on your PC and monitor. Consult your monitor’s setup guide to see if you need to use the built-in controls – in most cases, the automatic settings should be in play, so it detects your PC automatically. Log into Windows when promoted: you should find the display has scaled automatically to 4K (3,840 x 2,160) – icons will be smaller, and text may be difficult to read.
3 CONFIGURE SCREEN SETTINGS
Right-click some empty space on the desktop and choose ‘Display settings’. Your new display should be listed as ‘1’. Make sure it’s selected and scroll down to the ‘Scale and Layout’ section. Verify the ‘Display Resolution’ is set to 3,840 x 2,160 – if it’s not, click the drop-down menu to select it from the list. The display should automatically update – click ‘Keep changes’.
4 TWEAK TEXT SIZE
Believe it or not, the text may have already been made larger on-screen for Windows and compatible apps. On our LG 27in display, we still found things too small at the 150% setting, so click the ‘Change the size of text, apps and other items’ drop-down menu and try a higher setting. 25% more should be sufficient – any larger and incompatible apps become noticeable.
5 IMPROVE REFRESH RATE
If the screen noticeably flickers, scroll down and click ‘Advanced display settings’. If necessary, select your 4K display from the list, then click ‘Display adaptor properties for Display 1’. Click ‘List All Modes’ and check the highest frequency (typically 60Hz) for 3,840 x 2,160 has been selected. If it hasn’t, select it and click Apply. If the screen goes blank, wait: it’ll soon revert.
7 CALIBRATE ON-SCREEN COLOUR
If you’re unconvinced by your current colour settings, type ‘calibrate’ into the Search bar and click ‘Calibrate display colour’ to open the Display Colour Calibration wizard. Work your way through this in conjunction with your monitor’s on-screen controls to fine-tune the display, then run through the ClearType wizard to improve the clarity of text.
9 ADVANCED CONTROLS
Some tools offer more useful features – for example, you can split your screen into two or more zones using LG’s OSC. Choose the layout via the Screen Split menu, then drag programs into each zone to move and resize them accordingly. Click the ‘Application Position button and you can automatically configure apps to always open in specific zones on-screen.
6 UPDATE/INSTALL DRIVERS
Other basic display issues may be rectified by updating your graphics card drivers as well as by installing any monitor drivers your display manufacturer may have provided. Visit the manufacturers’ websites to track these down. You may also come across more useful software – for example, LG monitors offer OnScreen Control (OSC).
8 MASTER ON-SCREEN CONTROLS
Consult your monitor’s manual for what on-screen controls are available for tweaking other settings, such as brightness and contrast, or switching between different presets optimised for different scenarios (such as watching movies or playing games). If you’re lucky, some of these controls can be found and configured in Windows itself using a tool like LG’s OSC.
10 SET APPLICATION-SPECIFIC PRESETS
LG also supports application presets – these allow you to switch monitor presets quickly based on which application is open and in focus. Select My Application Preset, flick the switch on and click Edit to choose which apps to include (not all installed apps will be recognised, sadly). Once done, set each individual’s Picture Mode and test by clicking on an application window..