Nvidia control panel: what is it and how to configure it correctly?

Nvidia graphics cards are a component that many users share across the globe. It is true that, recently, AMD has managed to recover part of the market, but we can still affirm that the green team remains strong. For this reason, today we are going to explain the features and options that we find in the Nvidia Control Panel.

Index of contents

The Nvidia Control Panel

To begin, we have to warn you that these options will only be available (for obvious reasons) on computers with Nvidia graphics. Also, the installation methods and so on are closely related to Windows , so if you use Linux or MacOS the settings may change.

On the other hand, if you have an AMD graphic, you will have another set of clustered options in the AMD Radeon Settings . If you are interested in knowing the software of the competition, tell us and maybe we will upload another similar configuration tutorial.

But without further delay, let's start by talking about the Nvidia Control Panel .

The Nvidia Control Panel is a configuration software that has been active almost since the beginning of the green team's career. This is something that, unfortunately, we quickly noticed with its interface, since it is not very intuitive, it is not visual and it has some obsolete options.

However, despite all its weaknesses, it is a program that contains a large part of the configurations that we can establish for the graph. Also, we can force some options to be played from the graphics card, which slightly changes the way of implementation.

The most obvious case of this is 3D configuration , as we can force certain programs to apply certain processing and post-processing filters.

The important thing is that the Nvidia Control Panel continues to receive updates and new improvements with each patch. They may not prune the parts that we think are 'leftovers' , but what they do do is add new features to the application that revalues it in certain contexts.

Open the Nvidia Control Panel

How do we open the Nvidia Control Panel ? Maybe you are wondering. There are two main ways to open this window:

In the task bar, the Nvidia symbol should appear . If you press it with the left button, the panel will open or else you can right-click on the symbol and the Nvidia Control Panel . On the Desktop (anywhere there are no icons), right-click. The classic options such as New , Update … will open, and one of the first should be the Nvidia Control Panel .

If you do not get either option, you may not have updated the drivers for your graphics card. To do this, visit the Nvidia website and download the latest drivers.

If it still doesn't appear, you can choose to try downloading the Desktop app from the Microsoft Store . Sometimes some problems happen, but it's one more option you can try.

3D configuration

Starting with the first point, we have the 3D setup . Here we can access many of the most interesting features of the Nvidia Control Panel .

The first section, 'Adjust Image Settings with Preview', allows us to choose which tasks the graphics card will focus on.

Here we can choose between:

An automatic configuration assignment according to the application we are using chosen by the program. A default setting made by the user. A standard among three (Performance / Balanced / Quality) , where the program will optimize applications to meet what the user asks for.

By placing the pointer over each of the three options you will see how the Description / Typical situations of use section is being updated. This will happen in almost all windows and although the information is not very complete, it is better than nothing.

In 'Control 3D Settings' we will choose the default settings mentioned in the second point above.

Here we have a Global Configuration , where we will choose different options for all the programs that use the graph. And, on the other hand, we will have a Program Configuration , where we will choose a program individually and we will choose if we want to force it to use a different configuration.

It is relatively common to select games in this last section and force them to have some default technologies made by graphics. For example, they can be forced to use an Ambient Occlusion type or even FXAA .

Finally, in the 'Surround, Physx' section we have the ability to activate Nvidia Surround and assign who runs the Physx .

Nvidia Surround allows us to extend screens using the graphics software. With this we can do things like watch a video using various screens.The Nvidia Physx are a series of algorithms that calculate a kind of realistic physics. With this, the Nvidia graphics allow for more realistic hairs, better effects and more.

Set up the screen using the Nvidia Control Panel

The 'Screen' section will allow us to touch all kinds of parameters regarding the image on the monitor / s.

The first point, 'Change Resolution' , is quite self explanatory. Here we can choose the screen on which we want to edit and choose both the resolution and the refresh rate.

In addition, we can slightly edit the characteristics of color, range and others, of our screen, although everything will depend on the quality of it.

Next, we will review the characteristics of several options quickly, since they are much less relevant points:

'Adjust Desktop Color Settings' : allows us to edit the brightness, contrast and gamut values of each screen. As an interesting point, we can also change the vibrancy of the colors and the hue of them. 'Rotate screen' : A fairly self-explanatory function. 'View HDCP Status' : Refers to an Intel standard for viewing high-quality images and sound. Here they only tell us if the graphics and the screen are compatible. 'Set Digital Audio' : Here we will see the different video outputs and the monitors they are associated with or without sound. We can also access Windows sound settings.

In the next tab we will have some more interesting options.

First, 'Adjust Desktop Size and Position' will allow us to edit how the image will be scaled (Screen / GPU) . On the other hand, we can also choose the resolution and refresh rate again, as well as the size of the image on the screen.

In 'Configure G-Sync' we can activate the compatibility with G-Sync through software . We remind you that this powerful technology allows games with unstable frames to look and feel good (as if the fps were stable) .

We can activate it in one or more screens and for Full Screen mode or for Full Screen and Window mode. However, you have to remember that not all screens are certified as compatible with G-Sync , so it may give you problems.

In the last section, 'Configure Multiple Screens' , we can only edit the position of the screens, if we have more than one. We also have the option to extend the image with Nvidia Surround , which leads us to the options that we have previously seen.

Extra options

We have three sections to review between Video and Portable .

On the one hand, the 'Portable' section refers to portable computers. The option that allows us to activate here is to optimize battery use.

As laptops tend to appreciate consumption quite a bit, the Nvidia Control Panel allows us to reduce this value. It also allows us to limit the energy consumed by the screen, which increases the life expectancy of the equipment.

In the 'Video' section we have the video color settings, where just as in the desktop color we can touch up some values.

If you don't want to touch anything, you can let the same application choose the most recommended configuration, but otherwise we can change the ranges, contrast and similar values.

On the other hand, in video image settings we can activate several options to improve image quality. We have the edge enhancement, for smoother curves and noise reduction, to reduce foreign artifacts on screen.

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These image enhancement methods will not be particularly noticeable as they are default technologies, but they may improve the overall experience a bit.

Options that can improve image quality

In this section we want to discuss some options that may improve the quality and clarity of the image without affecting performance too much.

To start, in Screen> Change Resolution we can change the 'Nvidia color settings'.

If your screen allows, change the color depth from 8bpc to 10bpc , the Desktop Color Depth from 16-bit to 32-bit, and the dynamic range from Limited to Full .

On this same screen, if you can, always choose the native resolution of your screen (1920 × 1080, 1280 × 720..) and the highest refresh rate supported (60Hz, 144Hz…) .

In Video> Video Color Settings we can touch the contrast, brightness, hue and other values. However, the value that we are interested in unlocking is in Advanced , where we will see the Dynamic Range . If you can, change it from Limited (16-235) to Complete (0-255) .

Nvidia Control Panel configuration options

If we look at some of the configuration options of the Nvidia Control Panel we will see that there are some buttons not available.

In File we will have Configuration Page , Preview and Print disabled and we can only use the Exit button.

In the Edit tab we can Cut, Copy, Paste and Select All with their respective shortcuts. However, in most windows we will not be able to use these commands.

In the Desktop section we can activate three options:

Developer Settings: Activate an extra tab to determine if we control the use of the graphics card. Contextual Menu of the Desktop: that will allow us to access the Nvidi Control Panel by right-clicking on the Desktop . This option is activated by default and if you deactivate it we will lose a type of access to the Panel . GPU Activity Icon: If we activate this option, we will have an icon in the taskbar that will indicate the status of the graph, that is, how much it is working and how many programs are active.

Finally, the Help section, which is slightly abandoned.

The user guide that is usually in F1 does not work, so we cannot know the detailed operation of some actions. Technical support will open the Nvidia contact web page. System Information will allow us to know the drivers we have and the versions of the different Nvidia technologies. We can access the system information in any window of the Nvidia Control Panel.

Debugging mode will slightly change the operation of the program to detect errors. About the Control Panel Nvidia will only open a small window where it will indicate the version and some general information about the application.

In some images you may see 3D Settings or Show , but these are only sections that are activated by being on certain panel options.

Final words on the Nvidia Control Panel

As you can see, it is a fairly complete application, but it still has some strange options. We don't know exactly why, but we think Nvidia should polish and prune some of its options.

For example, the competition program seems slightly better to us. It doesn't have as many options as the Nvidia Control Panel , but it is much more visual and intuitive. This always helps less expert and brain teaser users experiment and test configurations.

However, we also have no other option. It is not like choosing whether to use one program or the other for benchmarking. If you have an Nvidia graphics, this will be your control panel until the company decides to visually update it.

If you have any recommendations about any configuration, feel free to share it in the comment box. We hope you have understood the article well and that you have learned something new.

Now tell us: what option would you add if you could? Do you think the interface of the Nvidia Control Panel is acceptable? Share your ideas in the comment box.