Widescreen or Regular LCD?

  • Thread starter Thread starter QZ
  • Start date Start date
Q

QZ

I am trying to determine what shape LCD to get.

We don't watch movies, play games, or photo edit, just web browsing. I did
some reading, and I agree with one person's assessment, that it is easier to
read text close to the center of the screen. So, I am thinking a 'regular'
5:4(?) LCD is the way to go.

Is there any reason why I would want a 16:9 LCD? Even if not now, but
consider that we keep our monitors for 5-6 yrs.

Thanks,
QZ
 
QZ said:
I am trying to determine what shape LCD to get.

We don't watch movies, play games, or photo edit, just web browsing. I did
some reading, and I agree with one person's assessment, that it is easier to
read text close to the center of the screen. So, I am thinking a 'regular'
5:4(?) LCD is the way to go.

Is there any reason why I would want a 16:9 LCD? Even if not now, but
consider that we keep our monitors for 5-6 yrs.
Click to expand...

Well, the obvious answer is that a widescreen may allow you to
"multitask" better, allowing two applications to each have half of the
screen.
 
chrisv said:
Well, the obvious answer is that a widescreen may allow you to
"multitask" better, allowing two applications to each have half of the
screen.
Click to expand...

Well, I am usually fine switching between windows, but I will have to think,
if I had more real estate, would I want to multitask on one screen. The only
trouble with that is, I would still have to position the windows side by
side.

Another Q, is it true that on widescreen monitors the desktop uses the
entire screen without stretching?
Same thing if I choose to open a window at full screen?
 
I just bought a new 19" LCD last night and therefore had to also
scratch my head about widescreen versus regular.

Although my TV is a widescreen TV, I chose a regular LCD screen for my
computer. There is very little computer content (WEB pages, games,
etc.) designed to be seen on widescreen at this point in time. My
guess is that my next LCD (in 5 to 7 tears if they last that long) will
probably be a widescreen because, by then, widescreen will be
mainstream and therefore content will be optimized to take advantage of
it. But not not and not for the next couple of years, IMHO...

Andre
 
Melandre said:
I just bought a new 19" LCD last night and therefore had to also
scratch my head about widescreen versus regular.

Although my TV is a widescreen TV, I chose a regular LCD screen for my
computer. There is very little computer content (WEB pages, games,
etc.) designed to be seen on widescreen at this point in time. My
guess is that my next LCD (in 5 to 7 tears if they last that long) will
probably be a widescreen because, by then, widescreen will be
mainstream and therefore content will be optimized to take advantage of
it. But not not and not for the next couple of years, IMHO...
Click to expand...

Since the content of an Internet windows adjusts when the window is
re-sized, I wonder if a 16:9 or 16:10 monitor will ever be needed,
regardless if it is preferred.
How exactly could a window's content be optimized for widescreen?
 
From what I saw in the store last night, it depends if your video card
supports widescreen (16:9 or 16:10) resolutions. At the store, they
had the LCD hooked up to a cheap computer and we couldn't find a
resolution supporting the widescreen (like 1440 X 900). Therefore,
things looked all stretched out including the icons on the desktop.

Needless to say I wasn't impressed with the poor setup in the store ans
walked out pretty quickly. This was also one more reason why I chose
to go with the regular size (at a differnet store). Andre
 
QZ said:
Another Q, is it true that on widescreen monitors the desktop uses the
entire screen without stretching?
Click to expand...

yes, nothing is stretched on a widescreen as long as you've set the
resolution to widescreen, which all modern and even most older graphics
cards support. whether games run stretched depends on if they support
widescreen resolutions.

if all you do is browse the web then maybe a 4:3/5:4 monitor with
firefox browser would be ok, you get multiple tabs which makes life
easy, but still i would never give up my widescreen for gaming and DVDs.
even if you don't use full screen mode its cool to be able to write a
doc or browse the web and have a lil' TV window in the corner with no
overlap :)
 
gimp said:
yes, nothing is stretched on a widescreen as long as you've set the
resolution to widescreen, which all modern and even most older graphics
cards support. whether games run stretched depends on if they support
widescreen resolutions.

if all you do is browse the web then maybe a 4:3/5:4 monitor with
firefox browser would be ok, you get multiple tabs which makes life
easy, but still i would never give up my widescreen for gaming and DVDs.
even if you don't use full screen mode its cool to be able to write a
doc or browse the web and have a lil' TV window in the corner with no
overlap :)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. One thing I particularly like about widescreen monitors
or TVs is that they more closely resemble our natural field of vision. The
more I think about it, I do like the added space of a widescreen LCD.
 
QZwrote
I am trying to determine what shape LCD to get
We don't watch movies, play games, or photo edit, just web browsing I di
some reading, and I agree with one person's assessment, that it i easier t
read text close to the center of the screen. So, I am thinking 'regular
5:4(?) LCD is the way to go

Is there any reason why I would want a 16:9 LCD? Even if not now bu
consider that we keep our monitors for 5-6 yrs

Thanks
Q
Click to expand...

I don't know, like you, I like the idea of having multiple app
running in different windows. And, like you, I like to look to th
center of the screen

I run a 19 on the bottom, and a 17 right above it. Works for me
 
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Feel free to email us if you need assistance.
Good Luck!
PMBBAY
Click to expand...

I just purchased a Dell 2005FPW wide screen. You need a video card
that supports 1050x1680 and DVI to take full advantage of wide screen
LCD. I don't think there's a disadvantage to owning a wide screen,
and if you get one that supports portrait (pivot) mode it's excellent
for browsing the web.
 
I personally would go with the widescreen, just for future support, the
extra area, and just looks nicer, I think. Besides, for price, its not
any more than a regular LCD. For example, here at newegg.com, a 19"
Widescreen:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824009073 is only
$265 ( the cheapest widescreen on the site ) and a regular 19" LCD:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824024102 is only
$230. So I like the widescreen more.

Here are all the widescreen monitors on newegg.com:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...TR12=&ATTR13=&ATTR14=&ATTR15=&ATTR16=&ATTR17=

JSV
 
creAtive said:
I personally would go with the widescreen, just for future support, the
extra area, and just looks nicer, I think. Besides, for price, its not
any more than a regular LCD. For example, here at newegg.com, a 19"
Widescreen:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824009073 is only
$265 ( the cheapest widescreen on the site ) and a regular 19" LCD:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824024102 is only
$230. So I like the widescreen more.
Click to expand...

Of course you know that a 19" widescreen is significantly smaller than
a 19" 4:3 monitor...
 
Of course you know that a 19" widescreen is significantly smaller than
a 19" 4:3 monitor...
Click to expand...

Shorter, but not a whole lot smaller in area.

A 19" 4:3 screen would have H x V dimensions of
roughly 15.2" x 11.4" (about 383x 290 mm), or 173.3
sq. inches (1110 sq. cm). A 19" 16:10 would be about
16.1" x 10.1", or 162.6 sq. in (409 x 256 mm, or 1047
sq. cm). 10% shorter (which some people like as it may
fit better under a bookshelf or some such), but with almost
95% of the screen area.

Except...19" "standard" LCD monitors generally aren't
4:3; they're 5:4 (SXGA format, or 1280 x 1024 pixels),
with an active screen of about 376 x 301 mm, or
1131 sq. cm and 1.31 Mpixels. The 16:10 version
gives you 1440 x 900 pixels, or just under 1.30 Mpixels,
in 93% of the active area - and about 2" shorter in
overall height.


Bob M.
 
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