LCD purchase questions

[Marc]

I currently have a 19" Trinitron CRT (14" horizontal viewing width). Due to
eye surgery and eyeglass issues I have to get a monitor as low to the
desktop as possible to avoid having to look upward too much.

I'm looking at both 17" LCD and 19"LCD. I understand that the native
resolution is 1280 x 1024 for maximum clarity. Right now I have my CRT at
1024 x 768. Here are my questions:

Assuming that I have to have the maximum clarity, should I make the logical
assumtion that the icons, etc. are going to be smaller than on my 19" CRT.

Would the 19" LCD give me larger icons than the 17". This can be a potential
problem because the 19" screen size will be taller and I will have another
2" to look up.

How tall is the viewing height on each. Width can also be an issue here
becasue I don't have as good peripheral vision now and want to minimize
moving my head from side to side.

Are there any LCDs width a native resolution of 1024 x 768? Also would a
digital video card do anything here.


Thanks,

Marc

 

[bxf]

Firstly, keep in mind the fact that whereas quoted CRT measurements
include a non-visible component, LCD measurements are generally
correct. Also, most (all?) 17" LCD monitors have a 5:4 ratio, as
opposed to your CRT's 4:3.

That means that if your 19" CRT has the 14" width you indicate, the
height is 10.5" and the diagonal is 17.5". A typical 17" LCD has a
width of 13.27", height of 10.62", and a diagonal of 17". The width is
only marginally smaller than that of your 19" CRT.

I feel that 1280x1024 on a 17" LCD yields somewhat small icons,
characters, etc. I am not sure, but I believe 17" LCDs with a native
resolution of 1200:960 do exist. You'll have to look for yourself.