Widescreen Laptop

[Guest]

This might be one for a VBA expert.

I am now using a lap-top with a "widescreen" display area approx 36 x 23 cm.
It took me a while to find the best size for on-screen show presenting from
the lap-top (33cm wide by 20cm tall uses the full display area). My problem
is that I sometimes present 1-2-1 from the lap-top but also need to give the
same presentation to groups using a projector and so would like to revert to
original sizes on all my presentations as and when needed.

Rather than save everything twice in the different size formats, could
anyone suggest a way of switching between the two when required.

Many thanks,

David

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

This might be one for a VBA expert.

I am now using a lap-top with a "widescreen" display area approx 36 x 23 cm.
It took me a while to find the best size for on-screen show presenting from
the lap-top (33cm wide by 20cm tall uses the full display area). My problem
is that I sometimes present 1-2-1 from the lap-top but also need to give the
same presentation to groups using a projector and so would like to revert to
original sizes on all my presentations as and when needed.

Rather than save everything twice in the different size formats, could
anyone suggest a way of switching between the two when required.

I'd check to see if the laptop has a mode that gives you a standard 4:3 ratio
live screen area centered on the wide screen.

There's no good way to swap between differently proportioned presentations w/o
distorting things like mad. If you stick to backgrounds that don't use photos
or graphics (ie, nothing to distort) and use just placeholder text and such,
you might be able to switch back and forth with minimal tweakage.

 

[Bill Dilworth]

Doing this depends on how you like the computers idea of scaled placement
(which, to put it more kindly than it deserves, is sub-optimal).

The difference in the ratios (16:9 vs 4:3) causes PowerPoint to adjust the
object placement. If you will be using the presentations for use on any
other computers or for projection, than I would recommend keeping the 4x3
ratio on all your presentation development systems (until or unless you are
sure
they all support the 16:9 screen ratios). I know this means not using the
full width of the wonderful screen that you have, but you will need to make
the choice of wide spread compatibility vs. wide screen usage.

Of course there is also the option of dual development. I know of no
software that can consistently and correctly resize, scale and place objects
from one ratio to the other without the need of human intervention. So the
idea of just rescaling one presentation at run time is not a solution. You
will need to rescale the presentation in advance, then go through the slides
for errors and fixes. This is one area that computers still have not been
able to master as well as most people.

There may be a software program out there that will switch your computer's
display settings between the two ratio configurations, but I have not heard
of any off hand. Perhaps one of the other MVP's knows of such an animal.

This is one of the items that should be evaluated when buying a new laptop.
Does the new technology help, or will it be something I'll have to
work-around? In the case of wide laptop screens, frequent presenters may
want to think twice. Of course this is just my opinion, subject to change
without notice, actual mileage may vary.

--

Bill Dilworth
Microsoft PPT MVP Team
===============
Please spend a few minutes checking vestprog2@
out www.pptfaq.com This link will yahoo.
answer most of our questions, before com
you think to ask them.

Change org to com to defuse anti-spam,
ant-virus, anti-nuisance misdirection.
..
..

 

[Guest]

Many thanks Steve & Bill,

Steve's spot on re distortion - most obvious in shadow effects with text and
Bill makes an excellent point re assessing what you want out of a lap-top
before you buy it. I specifically wanted WOW factor at 1-2-1 meetings with
clients so the best screen display available was important. I think the best
solution is dual development of all presentations - me being lazy probably
won't make for the most interesting performance anyway - of course if
anyone does come up with a way for me to stay lazy and still be
interesting....

Aye,

David

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

Many thanks Steve & Bill,

Our pleasure (if I may speak for Steve, being him after all). ;-)

If you develop for wide-screen, PPT should show the presentation on standard
systems "letter boxed" (like a wide-screen movie on your TV) on a standard
system.

That might not be *too* obnoxious as a standard; before a large audience, it
wouldn't be apparent. Fill the screen width with the image and black's black for
the rest of it. The only time it'd be a bit odd is printouts and when you give a
copy of the presentation to another user.

 

[Sonia]

If you design a template for 16:9 you can then use Insert > Slides from File and
check "Keep source formatting". Chances are that the same 16:9 presentation
will show nicely on a regular projector and screen as well, but it will be in
"letterbox" format.

I took the blank.pot template and just set the Page Setup to 16:9. Then I
adjusted the text sizes in the placeholders to the sizes used in the 10X7.5
layout, e.g. Title Text gets changed to 63 pt. and I changed it back to 44 pt.
You could also add your company logo, set the background, change font color,
etc. Then be sure to save the template to a new name, e.g. "Widescreen.pot".
Then I used Insert > Slides from File to bring in a previously created
presentation and had very little adjusting to do. Your mileage may change
depending on the presentation.

Assuming that "letterbox" is acceptable, for future presentations, use the
Widescreen.pot to build them.

 

[Guest]

Thanks Sonia, very helpful.

i just got the Dell Inspiron 9200 with WUXGA 17" widescreen notebook. (1200
X 1920)and creating new ppt deck and including 1080i video loaded onto the
notebook via the DVI connection

any other tips would be appreciated

karl meisenbach
HDNet

 

[Guest]

Thanks Sonia, very helpful.

i just got the Dell Inspiron 9200 with WUXGA 17" widescreen notebook. (1200
X 1920)and creating new ppt deck and including 1080i video loaded onto the
notebook via the DVI connection

any other tips would be appreciated

karl meisenbach
HDNet