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Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 5:00 pm
by Matthew
You act as if by having a widescreen you lose vertical space :/

Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 7:49 pm
by d3jake
For the same diagonal measure, you lose verticle space.

Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 9:35 pm
by Matthew
But you get a higher diagonal measure >.>

Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 11:27 pm
by d3jake
Exactly, you get a higher diagonal measure, but the total visible area is less than a 4:3 of the same diagonal measure. the whole "widescreen" monitor crazy is a cheap marketing trick. I guess as a programmer I realize this more easily than others. I could get a 18" or 20" widescreen, but it would have much less vericle length than a 4:3 which is more important in some cases.

Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 7:51 am
by Matthew
Except most 4:3 monitors are MUCH smaller than a widescreen. Trust me, my new widescreen is the same height as my old 4:3 CRT.

Why do you need vertical space so badly? Good luck finding a 20" 4:3

Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 8:29 am
by d3jake
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6824002138
Expensive, but that's irrelevant. I found that after maybe a minute or two.

The main reason why I want vertical space is because I'm a programmer. The more code I can see the better off I am. Ideally I'd print out all of the code, but that's not practical. When it's on paper you can basically see it all without any pesky scrolling, losing where you were in your code before, etc. More generally the more vertical space you have the more you can read at at one time browsing web pages, reading documents, etc.

Also, as I no doubt said above: For the same diagonal measure a 4:3 gives you more visible screen space. The measurements for a widescreen are misleading as usually they give the same diagonal measure, but neglect to mention that it isn't a vaild comparison.
This backs up my point. In the article it says that the screen area loss is at max ~12%, but that's significant to me.

I am curious, what are the diagonal measures of your old CRT and your new screen? I'm willing to bet that the widescreen's diagonal is greater than your old moniter, and yet they have the same height...hmm... interesting marketing wouldn't you say? I don't know if you bought your screen new, or what specifically, but in general, it would be significant.

Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 6:15 pm
by Matthew
Let's see... For 800$, what could I get in a widescreen...


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6824001246

For almost 200$ cheaper I can get a 24" widescreen with the same vertical space. And that one you linked is the highest 4:3 resolution of any monitor on newegg. But you can still go even bigger with widescreen. Up to 1600 vertical pixels.

Also, most things stretch to fill the screen, so you can either choose to have it display vertically, or horizontally. Also, some monitors, and most video cards, support rotating the screen. If it's such a big issue, mount it sideways and rotate the screen and get 1200 x 1920.

Don't get me wrong, I see what you're saying, and back when widescreen LCDs cost a fortune it would be a valid point. And if you no room for a widescreen, it still is a valid point. But beyond that, getting a bigger widescreen is simply more cost effective.

And there are some things where widescreen is ideal. Watching movies, playing games, etc.

Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 10:28 pm
by aldo
d3jake wrote:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6824002138
Expensive, but that's irrelevant. I found that after maybe a minute or two.

The main reason why I want vertical space is because I'm a programmer. The more code I can see the better off I am.
Not sure about that one, myself - for an IDE like Eclipse I'd find a widescreen far handier than 4:3.

Albeit if I wanted I can flip my work LCD 90 degrees anyways.

Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 10:29 pm
by BloodEagle
I prefer CRTs, myself. Shame that they're all but dead. :(

Posted: Sun Jul 05, 2009 1:53 am
by Flipside
I use a CRT but I have a nightmare with it, because most graphics cards have to use a converter plug these days to output to a CRC monitor. These plugs are some of the worst designed hardware I've encountered, which fall out the socket if you sneeze too hard...

Posted: Sun Jul 05, 2009 10:13 am
by Top Gun
Flipside wrote:I use a CRT but I have a nightmare with it, because most graphics cards have to use a converter plug these days to output to a CRC monitor. These plugs are some of the worst designed hardware I've encountered, which fall out the socket if you sneeze too hard...
Really? The DVI-to-VGA adapter that came with my 5+-year-old Dell has never given me any problems. If anything, it's rather difficult to remove from the machine, as the screws holding it on are smallish and don't have a lot of clearance.

Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2009 3:14 am
by d3jake
I've had the same issue. The adapters work without fail, it's just when it comes to removing them for whatever reason that they're the most annoying. Flip, maybe you were using some off brand or bad-batch hardware?

Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2009 8:19 pm
by Flipside
It's a cheapy thing, I'm not even sure of the make, but it really comes secondary to what I think is a slightly dry joint in the kettle lead, which is more of a concern anyway.

Only reason I'm not fixing it is because I'm getting a new computer in the next 6-8 weeks anyway :D