Desktops forum: monitors - wide screen?

Wide screen can be helpful if you are multitasking. The images are not 'distorted' becuase wide screens should be set to wide dimensions. A set number of pixels such as 1600x900. Since an image is always the same number pixels across, as long as you are using the correct resolution its fine.

The slide show will be fine. If it isn't just disable stretch to fit in the screen saver settings.

I was going to start a thread like this, not about "why", but "where".

Really dislike the widescreen for everything I use my computer for. I DO own a TV for movie watching, really hate the black lines on the sides of monitors with most programs/games I have and/or missing parts of my wallpapers (most of which come from my camera and fit perfectly).

Where are the best sources for buying 22" and up 4x3 computer monitors, or the best models??

I totally agree with John3347! Many websites are also setup for a widescreen format which means you have to scroll back & forth as well as up & down to read a page. Very irritating! Makes me think of formal written documents printed the longways on standard 8X11 paper! Not proper protocol! And as for TV, I also hate the new "short-screen" format. New TVs in widescreen size look lopped off, like where's the top half! I won't watch anything that's not broadcast in standard screen size format. The standard camera snapshot also went "wide" some years ago. However, I see most people holding their cameras vertically to capture individual photos. THE WIDE FORMAT IS ONLY GOOD FOR PANARAMAS! If there are so many people who really like this new widescreen then somebody needs to invent some way to provide an option for TV screens, i.e., standard or widescreen! Without losing quality for either size.
GrannyCin

After much research and varied usage we have found the top monitors
are as follows:

#1 Samsung model 226CW
#2 Sony 19" 4x3 model SDM HS95P analog/digital--best for graphics
#3 Sony 19-20' model SDM HS94P analog/digital--best overall usage
#4 HP NEW 22"
#5 Viewsonic 20-22" many models analog/digital--watch carefully!

CAN VIEW AT > http://techbuyer.spaces.live.com

Hoping this helps and contact at above site if you need more assistance.

I have a wide screen digital 1680 x 1050 and the the right of that my older analog 1280 x 1024. I run several websites and this enables me to have two main documents open side by side on the main screen and various stickies, images, address books and calendars open on the secondary display. This is very easy to set up and documents can be slid seamlessly from one monitor to the other as though it were a single screen. If I had a third monitor I would add that too if I could find a graphics card to handle it. My present on is NVidia GS 7600. If you are used to working with your Windows at full screen, you have to change that habit, but after that it gets better and better.

monitors from some manufacturers. Not as cheap as 16:9/10 because mass production nowadays are in wide formats. Why? Small screens, ie. for computers, are sidebars for glass mfrs. TVs are the main customers so monitors get cheaper in wide formats. Why wide TV? Because movie theatre screens are that way. Just gotta roll with the punches but it's OK to whine. Lots in these forums.

I also dislike the widescreen formats of most new monitors, and would like to stop all the scrolling that is needed to read most pages. I was going to buy the widest screen I could afford, as long as it had rotating capabilities, and rotate the screen so it's tall, eliminate alot of scrolling,,any thoughts how this might work in the long run, or would it be just as frustrating side scrolling?

Supply me your SYSTEM INFO...as to Operating System, Memory, and Video
then watch for my reply as to how to make setup relative to video adjustments.

From someone who just went from a Dell UltraSharp 18.1" 1280x1024 LCD monitor to a Samsung SyncMaster 220wm 22" 1680x1050 widescreen (ws) monitor, I definately see what you're getting at. However, I don't quite agree with you completely. You also need to factor in other things too.

1) people don't upgrade just for the widescreen aspect.
For most people, I'd like to think if they're gonna upgrade their 17" LCD monitors, they're not just going to get a 17" ws monitor instead. They're gonna get something bigger AND in ws, like a 20" ws monitor.

Case in point, with me, I set my old Dell UltraSharp on 1024x768 (one setting below the monitor's native and max res) since that makes things easier for me to view while lounging back in my chair. I set my new Samsung SyncMaster to 1280x1024. I'm still getting more vertical viewing area while having excellent sized images that I don't need to squint at even while wearing glasses.

To note, ideally, I'd like to set my new ws monitor to 1440x900 to get the best tradeoff of lots of pixels and easier to see images, withOUT having the black bars all around the viewable image area, but that's another topic (esp. for ATI tech supp)

2) people like having 2 windows side by side for comparisons.
Whether if it's spreadsheets, documents, images, code, contracts, or whatever, it's easier to do that on 16:9 ws monitor than the std 4:3 aspect ratio. For the latter, the monitor would have to be bigger to compete with the ws

3) Many PC games support ws
What one poster said about humans seeing more range in side-to-side than up-and-down is true. I believe that's at least one of the reasons the motion picture industry uses the 16:9 aspect ratio. You get the maximum amount of picture that most people can handle at once without it being too much.

I KNOW that's the reason Nintendo made their handheld gaming system, the GameBoy Advance (GBA) widescreen (it was mentioned in the first issue of Nintendo Power Advance, Nintendo Power's 'specialty magzine issues' dedicated to the then brand new GBA handheld). If you recall, the previous gameboys (Gameboy, Gameboy Color) were practically square screens (160x144 on 2.6" size). By contrast, the GBA is 240x160 on a 2.9" screen. I thoroughly enjoyed the orig GB and also enjoyed the GBA, but I'd say among other things, Nin definately did themselves good by making the GBA widescreen b/c the GBA is the top selling gaming handheld behind its orig GB line. PSP also followed suit with its 4.3" widescreen at 480x272 pixels.

Console gaming may have eaten away at some of the supporters for PC gaming, but there's still a sizeable # of PC gaming players out there. I'm talking about those who play games like Call Of Duty, Doom3, other first person shooters, various sports games, and RPGs. Not those who play online flash games like Bejeweled. Those that do more "hard core" PC games get the maximum effect from ws monitors

4) Some LCD monitors let you pivot the screen
Reach out to turn the monitor 90 degrees, change a setting in your video card, and now you've got ALOT of vertical viewing area, just like a book. While you can do this with certain non-ws monitors as well, being able to pivot at ws monitor gives you an ideal viewing experience for long winded documents and articles

If you're interested in this feature, note that the monitor will likely have to have a stand of higher height to allow clearance for it to pivot like you see in here
http://computers.pricegrabber.com/flat-panel-lcd-monitors/m/13468534/

5) even if you square-ish screens do have noticeable advantages, by design (dunno if it's really cheaper for manuf to produce ws over non-ws) or by what the manfuacturs produce (to keep up for the consumers overall preferance for ws), ws appear to be cheaper than their square-ish counterparts

.

Those points being said, I still have my old LCD standing by. It's collecting dust, but at a moment's notice, it can be dusted off and swapped back. However, assuming the black bars at 1440x900 resolution doesn't get fixed, at the very least, I'll keep the res at 1280x1024 and change it to 1680x1050 when I need a HUGE area.

To be honest tho, a larger 4:3 LCD monitor was on my radar. I got my new monitor only b/c it was only $200 at a huge sale, so for me, price was more of an issues. Of my points above, #1, #2, and #5 are what made my ws purchase most desirable. I've alr gone into detail for #1. #2 isn't required for any work related activity, but it is nice but not necessary to have. #5 came up when a big sale occurred. #3 I get with a freeware board game thjat's nice to have all those pixels, and widescreen helps for some setups, but for "real" PC games, it would've have been fully worth it since I'd probably wanna upgrade my vid card first.

If you're still into the 4:3, consider getting a 22" monitor at 1600x1200 resoltuion or someth like that. Be forewarned tho, my quick searches return those at $500+. Others on the otherhand will FLAT OUT REFUSE to use a square screen, some of it directed at handhelds, while others at computers. The choice is yours.