Going from CRT to LCD - what do I need to know about wide format ?

[The poster formerly known as Colleyville Alan]

I am going to be getting rid of my old 20" CRT and will be buying an LCD
monitor to replace it. I am having a cabinetmaker build me a set of
bookshelves and it will incorporate a computer station where I will not have
room for my old CRT.

Since my current computer was purchased in 2000, lots has happened in the
world of hardware and I have a few questions. Are there any real advantages
to buying an LCD monitor with a wide aspect ratio? Is that really only
useful for watching DVDs or for gaming or are there other benefits? Are
there any drawbacks? Is it all just a matter of personal taste or are the
pros and cons related to the type of task you are performing?

Thanks


p.s. I am an old guy (52 yrs) so I rarely play games on the computer. My
use is mostly surfing the Internet or working with some MS Office product.
While I may play a game occasionally, I cannot imagine watching a 2-hr movie
on my computer.

 

[DaveW]

The standard view LCD is better if you will primarily be viewing one page at
a time.
The wide view LCD is better if you will be viewing two or more pages of
material simultaneously routinely.

 

[kony]

I am going to be getting rid of my old 20" CRT and will be buying an LCD
monitor to replace it. I am having a cabinetmaker build me a set of
bookshelves and it will incorporate a computer station where I will not have
room for my old CRT.

Since my current computer was purchased in 2000, lots has happened in the
world of hardware and I have a few questions. Are there any real advantages
to buying an LCD monitor with a wide aspect ratio?

Yes, if and only if the things you more often look at are
displayed in a wide aspect ratio.

The answer seems too simple, right? Nope, it really is that
simple. Most often cited things people use them for is DVDs
or spreadsheets, or having two windows open side-by-side.
Many people prefer regular ratios instead of widescreen
still.

Is that really only
useful for watching DVDs or for gaming or are there other benefits?

They're not so useful for gaming yet, because many games
don't support the widescreen resolutions.

We would need to install a camera on you to watch you work
if we were to know if you need a widescreen. You just need
to pay attention to the things you have on-screen and decide
whether you'd like it wider or not. I suggest adjusting
your CRT to near the same vertical resolution as the
proposed LCD would be to make such a comparision, otherwise
it's more difficult to gauge.

there any drawbacks?

Yes, of course there are.
The only useful purpose of widescreen is if what you want to
look at, has a high width:height ratio.

Is it all just a matter of personal taste or are the
pros and cons related to the type of task you are performing?

Yes, if your task is wide, get a widescreen.
If it's not, don't. Figure out which are most important,
then in the end you'll probably just conclude what was
already written: That if you don't watch a lot of DVDs, do
a lot of spreadsheets, or always have windows open
side-by-side, widescreen will waste more screen real-estate
and isn't what you want.

You didn't mention what size you are considering that, and
that is an important variable that is directly applicable to
your question because widescreen means a reduced number of
vertical pixels.

It is almost never a good idea to try to force people to
isolate two things like widescreen or not and decide between
them, as they must be seen in the context of the monitor,
like the native resolution. Go to a store and look at a
few... they're probably running windows so it should be easy
to get some idea of how it'll look.

p.s. I am an old guy (52 yrs) so I rarely play games on the computer. My
use is mostly surfing the Internet or working with some MS Office product.
While I may play a game occasionally, I cannot imagine watching a 2-hr movie
on my computer.

Then get a 20.x" 1600 x 1200 4:3 ratio LCD instead of
widescreen. That is, unless with your present CRT you were
always wishing it were much wider but no taller.

 

[Mitch Crane]

I am going to be getting rid of my old 20" CRT and will be buying an
LCD monitor to replace it. I am having a cabinetmaker build me a set
of bookshelves and it will incorporate a computer station where I will
not have room for my old CRT.

Since my current computer was purchased in 2000, lots has happened in
the world of hardware and I have a few questions. Are there any real
advantages to buying an LCD monitor with a wide aspect ratio? Is that
really only useful for watching DVDs or for gaming or are there other
benefits? Are there any drawbacks? Is it all just a matter of
personal taste or are the pros and cons related to the type of task
you are performing?

Thanks


p.s. I am an old guy (52 yrs) so I rarely play games on the computer.
My use is mostly surfing the Internet or working with some MS Office
product. While I may play a game occasionally, I cannot imagine
watching a 2-hr movie on my computer.

I'm not far behind you at 45. I do some gaming and watch an occasional
movie on my PC, but even if I didn't I think I'd still prefer widescreen.

One trade-off is horizontal vs. vertical size. Given the same diagonal
size monitor you'll do more vertical scrolling on the widescreen. You'll
do less horizontal, though. Horizontal scrolling isn't usually necessary,
but when it is it's annoying. If you use large fonts to help your old
eyes then horizontal scrolling may be more of a problem. My widescreen
has a greater vertical size than my old CRT, so I don't miss the trade of
in vertical vs. horizontal and I'm quite happy with the cange.

I use apps that use floating palettes and I think that works better on my
widescreen. In fact, I use dual monitors, but since I got the widescreen
LCD I keep my second monitor turned off most of the time.

If you are happy with a 4:3 screen and not sure about widescreen then you
are probably better off sticking with what you know. I can't think of any
compelling reasons to change in your case. For me it's an easy choice;
I'll never buy another 4:3 monitor.

BTW, there is also the option of a widescreen with a pivoting base, so
you can use it in long format.

 

[The poster formerly known as Colleyville Alan]

I'm not far behind you at 45. I do some gaming and watch an occasional
movie on my PC, but even if I didn't I think I'd still prefer widescreen.

One trade-off is horizontal vs. vertical size. Given the same diagonal
size monitor you'll do more vertical scrolling on the widescreen. You'll
do less horizontal, though. Horizontal scrolling isn't usually necessary,
but when it is it's annoying. If you use large fonts to help your old
eyes then horizontal scrolling may be more of a problem. My widescreen
has a greater vertical size than my old CRT, so I don't miss the trade of
in vertical vs. horizontal and I'm quite happy with the cange.

I use apps that use floating palettes and I think that works better on my
widescreen. In fact, I use dual monitors, but since I got the widescreen
LCD I keep my second monitor turned off most of the time.

If you are happy with a 4:3 screen and not sure about widescreen then you
are probably better off sticking with what you know. I can't think of any
compelling reasons to change in your case. For me it's an easy choice;
I'll never buy another 4:3 monitor.

BTW, there is also the option of a widescreen with a pivoting base, so
you can use it in long format.

Yeah, the one I was considering was the Dell Ultrasharp2007WFP which has a
pivoting base. I didn't think that I would find the pivoting feature that
useful, but now that you mention it, that might be a useful feature
afterall. I often work with spreadsheets and with mutltiple windows, but my
current CRT is a 20" model and I never found it a problem with a screen that
size.

I have the resolution on my current monitor set to 1024x768 and that works
well for me; I've had glasses since I was 8 years old and my eyes haven't
exactly gotten better over the years. Text much smaller than that would be
hard to read. I believe that the native resolution on the Dell is
1680x1050. Since this is a different monitor than I have used before, I am
not sure how comparable that is to my current resolution. I mean it would
seem that the tezt would be smaller, but I may be mistaken about that. Any
ideas about that?

 

[Al Pilarcik]

I have the resolution on my current monitor set to 1024x768 and that
works well for me; I've had glasses since I was 8 years old and my
eyes haven't exactly gotten better over the years. Text much smaller
than that would be hard to read. I believe that the native
resolution on the Dell is 1680x1050. Since this is a different
monitor than I have used before, I am not sure how comparable that is
to my current resolution. I mean it would seem that the tezt would
be smaller, but I may be mistaken about that. Any ideas about that?

Take a look at a 19" LCD, where the native resolution is 1280x1024.

In practical terms, a 19" LCD many have slightly greater real estate than a
20" CRT.

A higher resolution may not be suitable for your specific needs.

 

[darklight]

Just putting my 2 cents worth in, i have a 17" wide screen
it is the same width as a 19" screen but only 2 thirds the height
so this might or might not suit you. So if space is a problem
this might be an option.

 

[kony]

On Sun, 01 Oct 2006 01:53:03 GMT, "The poster formerly known

I mean it would
seem that the tezt would be smaller, but I may be mistaken about that. Any
ideas about that?

Check your applications- most allow changing text size
whether through that app or through Windows' global
settings.

 

[Jon Danniken]

"The poster formerly known as Colleyville Alan":

p.s. I am an old guy (52 yrs) so I rarely play games on the computer.

You'd be surprised at how many guys (and gals) your age (and older) play
first-person shooters online.

Jon