Ask Jim why.

Do the math to find the best fit for PowerPoint show

March 28, 2005|By James Coates.

Q. I need to show a PowerPoint presentation on a plasma screen, but I am having trouble getting the presentation to display on the wide screen without either elongating the image horizontally or (keeping proper geometry) having a letterbox effect on the sides. How can I get proper geometry and still fill the screen? Thanks.

D.B., Akiva

A. It's dangerous to seek mathematical advice from a computer columnist, Mr. A., but here goes:

Take a number. No, make that two numbers, specifically 1,000 pixels by 562 pixels. Now set the resolution of your screen to 100 dpi. To do that, right-click with the cursor arrow on the Desktop and select Properties and then Settings in the Properties box that appears. Now open the Advanced button and you will find the tool to set the DPI number.

This 1,000 by 562 at 100 dpi is the geometry passed along by PowerPoint pilots to create a full-screen display that fits slides made by Microsoft's ubiquitous presentation software. As you know by experience, PowerPoint was written for the computer monitor's square 4:3 layout rather than the 16:9 letterbox screen that digital LCD and plasma television monitors use best.

Once you have recast every one of your images and other elements to fit on 1,000 by 562 master slides, your show will look like the latest in HDTV programming as your work fits the screen just so.

As proper geometry users will note, the 1,000 by 562 is calculated by matching the proportion dictated by the 16:9 format, which is 0.562. So to create an image compatible with the new format you take the largest side of the picture and multiply it by 0.562, as in 16 x 0.562 = 8.99.

Q. I have recently installed a Sprint DSL modem, which works great but I have tried every which way to Sunday to install a Linksys Wireless-G broadband router, model WRT54G, to no avail. After I go through the whole install and try to access my server, it says server is not available (but it is fine if I just hook up the modem again).

Is there a secret to this?

Bonnie Feldman

A. I hope I can keep the techno-babble to a minimum, Ms. F., but the secret is that you need to make sure your router's MAC address has acquired the ISP's IP address for your account. Then you need to make sure your networking is set to use DHCP in its TCP/IP settings. Ouch.

Now let's try English. Turn everything off--the DSL modem and the router and the computer itself. Then remove the connection from the wall to the modem itself. Wait about as long as it takes to eat a gumdrop to ensure that all items have lost their prior settings.

Now switch them on in this order: PC first, then reconnect the Internet line to the modem and power it up. Then fire up that router and wait as it talks to the DSL connection to acquire the IP address that it needs to use.

The problem you encountered usually sets in because the router has one address in its memory while the ISP's connection has changed its own address.

Once they get in sync they will stay in sync, but you need to start each piece of equipment all over again to make them do that.

The way to update the IP addresses after things are working properly is to use a Repair command that can be found by right-clicking on the icon for your connection. Find that by opening the My Network Places icon and picking the View Connections command in the panel at the left. Right-click on the icon that appears for your network and you'll see the Repair tool.

In rare cases your problem occurs because the computer isn't set to use the aforementioned DHCP. So open the My Network Places icon in the Windows XP start menu and once again select the View Connections option in the panel to the left. This time double click the icon instead of right-clicking as you did before.

In the tabbed menu that pops up, make sure the two boxes are checked ordering the computer to acquire the IP address and the DNS setting automatically. Then click on the Advanced tab. You need to see "DHCP enabled" there.

If it isn't, click on the Add button and select DHCP from the options presented.

