In order to prolong the battery life, the default setting of the refresh rate on Intel Graphics is most likely is set at 40Hz only. This is a very good feature on Sandy Bridge platform to preserve power, my few months old Sandy Bridge HP laptop on single charge can last up to 7 to 8 hours on wired network, or 4 to 5 hours on WiFi [okay, okay, it should be longer, but I always open at least 15 Windows at same time, not including over 30 Chrome tabs :P ]
However if your eyes are sensitive like mine, 40Hz refresh rate would be more like a burden than convenient. I would rather bring along the charger than killing my eyes.
To make Intel Graphics more comfortable to see, here are few simple steps:
1. Open Intel Graphics and Media Control Panel (the top left icon in below picture) by double click on it.
2. Change the refresh rate from 40Hz to 60Hz. Save it as a new Display Profiles.
3. Repeat the step while the laptop on charging as well. My laptop has both on charging and on battery at 40Hz refresh rate, so I have to change the refresh rate and save the Display Profile for both.
Do note that changing power profile might change it back again to 40Hz again, use the above step to make your eye comfortable. :)
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source: I wrote this tutorial!
