JPEG Saver's config dialog — Position/Resize tab

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The Position / Resize tab allows you to control where the image will appear on the screen, and what size it should be.

Position buttons

These buttons allow you to choose where on the screen the image will be positioned. The arrow buttons align the image at the edges and corners of the screen, the round button in the middle centres the image in the middle of the screen, and the “Random” button picks a new random position for the image each time the image changes.

Auto-rotate images

Some cameras automatically save a value to the EXIF metadata that is part of the image file to say which way up the camera was being held when the photograph was taken. Enabling the “Auto-rotate images” option makes JPEG Saver check for this information and autmatically rotate the image to be the right way around.

Display mode / Multi-monitor button

If you have more than one monitor configured then this area displays a button saying “Multi-monitor…” which takes you to the Multi-monitor options dialog. Otherwise it displays a drop-down box containing a list of display modes.

This option allows you to choose a different display resolution for JPEG Saver to use. The list of options is generated by asking the graphics card which modes are available - though these are the modes supported by the card and might not be supported by your monitor!

If you do choose a different display mode, JPEG Saver will be slightly slower to start up and exit but could perform a bit better during transitions. This is because in “No change“ mode it uses a window that covers the whole screen instead of using DirectX “exclusive mode”.

Resizing options

The image on this page shows advanced resizing mode. Simple resizing mode has just the two options for fit and method, with both larger and smaller images being resized to 100% of the display size.

To switch between the modes, right-click the dialog and choose the other mode from the popup context menu.

Resize large images

Setting this option means that images larger than the specified size are to be scaled down to fit. The small button at the end toggles between scaling to a percentage of the screen size, or a fixed size in pixels.

Resize large fit

Sets the method for fitting the image to the screen. The options are:

• Width and height — the image is scaled so that both the width and height fit the target size.
• Width — the image is scaled so that the width fits the target size. Tall images could overflow at the top or bottom or both.
• Height — the image is scaled so that the height fits the target size. Wide images could overflow at the left or right or both.
• Fill — the image is scaled to completely fill the target size. Unless the image is the right shape it will overflow the target area.
• Stretch — the image is scaled to git the target size without maintaining its original shape.

Resize large method

Sets the scaling method or antialiasing filter to use when resizing larger images.

Resize small images

Setting this option scales images smaller than the specified size up.

Resize small fit

Sets the method for fitting the image to the screen.

Resize small method

Sets the scaling method or antialiasing filter to use when resizing smaller images.

Colour management

Clicking on the “Colour Management” button opens up this dialog:

Enable colour management

This checkbox turns on colour management - without it enabled, images are sent to the screen without any colour adjustments.

The dialog below the checkbox is divided into two areas called “Output” and “Input” - colour management uses an input profile to describe the image being loaded, and an output profile to describe the monitor screen.

If JPEG Saver is unable to load both an input profile and an output profile, then no colour management will occur for the image.

Use monitor profile

Uses the profile set up for the monitor in Windows.

Use this output profile

Allows you to choose your own monitor profile file.

Use embedded profiles only

This option will use any colour profiles that are embedded in images, but will not perform any colour management for images without an embedded profile.

Use sRGB for images without embedded profile

Embedded profiles will be used if they are present, otherwise a standard sRGB profile will be used.

Use this profile for images without embedded profile

As an alternative to using sRGB, you can choose a different profile to use for any images that do not have an embedded profile.

Gamma / Dimming

Clicking on the “Gamma / Dimming” button with present you with this dialog:

Enable gamma checkbox

This checkbox enables gamma adjustments, using the sliders and the interactive controls. Since there is no visual feedback when using the sliders on the dialog, better results can be achieved by using the number pad keys from the screen saver.

The colour management functions transform the image before displaying it, and the gamma options use DirectX functions to affect the whole screen.

Main gamma slider

Adjusts the red, green and blue components together.

Red component slider

Adjusts the red component individually.

Green component slider

Adjusts the green component individually.

Blue component slider

Adjusts the blue component individually.

Enable dimmer checkbox

This checkbox enables the timed dimmer. After the chosen delay, the screen saver brightness is reduced.

The interactive controls page lists the keys that can control dimming from the screen saver: “d” to dim the screen gradually, “D” (shift and “d”) will dim to fully dimmed immediately, and “b” will bring the screen back up to full brightness.

Dimmer amount slider

This slider controls the amount of dimming. The range allowed is from 10% brightness up to 99%. 10% might not seem very dim, but attempting lower values made my monitor turn itself off.

Dimmer delay

This edit control works in the same way as the main image change timer, though this time it specifies the length of time before the screen is dimmed.

The dimmer delay timer is restarted when you use the “b” key to return the screen to full brightness after it has been dimmed.

Dimmer start time

This control is a 24-hour clock, displaying the time that the screen should be dimmed. The radio buttons in front of the “Dim after” and “Dim between” text determine whether JPEG Saver dims using the delay or fixed times.

Dimmer end time

This control is also a 24-hour clock, displaying the time that the screen should return to full brightness.

Multi-monitor options dialog

If you only have one monitor, you will not be shown this dialog, which lets you configure how JPEG Saver displays things on each screen.

Main display

This drop-down box lists the displays that are available on your computer, numbered the same way as in the Display Properties section of the Control Panel. The monitor you select here will be the one that JPEG Saver displays transitions and real-time items on.

The monitor name comes from the EDID information stored in the registry. This could be incorrect, but it is more likely to be useful than the “Generic PnP Monitor” that other Windows functions report. The resolution shown after the monitor name is the current resolution of the screen.

The “Windows main” option at the start of the list means that JPEG Saver should use whichever display you have set as your primary in the Control Panel.

Span across screens

This option is at the bottom of the list of monitors - enabling it makes JPEG Saver draw on one window that spans across all the displays. How well this works depends on your graphics card and the positions and sizes of the different screens, but the effect can be quite enjoyable.

Screen mode

This is the same as the display mode selection from the main dialog, populated with the modes supported by your selected main display.

Other displays

This drop-down box allows you to choose what is shown on the other displays – any display that is not the one selected as the “Main display”. The options are:

Previous image

The image previously shown on the main display is shown on all the other displays.

Same image

The same image is shown on all displays.

New image

A new image from the sequence is shown on each display.

Background only

The background of every screen is filled without a foreground image.

Blank screen

Other displays show a plain black screen.

Nothing

JPEG Saver doesn't cover the display at all and the desktop will show through. Depending on your operating system version, security settings and how JPEG Saver is started this could be the screen saver desktop, which is not very useful.

Stagger updates

With this option enabled, images will be loaded on secondary screens at regular intervals between the primary screen updates. For example, if you have three screens and your change delay is set to 30 seconds, the primary display will update every 30 seconds, the second display will update 10 seconds after the primary and the third screen will update 10 seconds after that. The update interval is the change delay divided by the number of screens.

Transitions on all displays

This option enables Direct3D transitions for all the displays. This works best when the “Stagger updates” option is enabled, since it means the transitions are not happening on multiple screens at the same time.

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