chaibuka Posted February 11, 2005 Share Posted February 11, 2005 I plan to get a lcd monitor which I use for music software and internet. The 19 inch native resolution is 1280 x 1024 and the 20 inch is 1600 x 1200. I figured the larger 20 inch would be better for everthing but a couple of user reviews at new egg said they had a little trouble with the high resolution of the 20 inch. I'm not sure how serious this would be, but I do use the internet alot and would like whatever has less eye strain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nursers Posted February 11, 2005 Share Posted February 11, 2005 Hi, I have a 20-inch LCD iMac G5 and have gotta admit the eye strain thing could be an issue. Apps like Pro Tools though allows sizing of tracks etc which can reduce this (but also defeat the purpose of a larger monitor) The Keyboard Chronicles Podcast Check out your fellow forumites in an Apple Music playlist Check out your fellow forumites in a Spotify playlist My Music: Stainless Fields Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sp3nc3r Posted February 11, 2005 Share Posted February 11, 2005 I've got a 20" Apple cinema display here at the office. I must say, it's brilliant for DAW. I don't find that my eyes get tired in the least. It's not that cheap mind you. But the university paid for it, not me. Cheers! Spencer "I prefer to beat my opponents the old-fashioned way....BRUTALLY!!!!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ITGITC Posted February 11, 2005 Share Posted February 11, 2005 Chaibuka, You bring up a very good point. Unlike analog monitors, the resolution of a LCD screen is somewhat fixed at its best or 'native' resolution. Back in the not-so-good days of MS-DOS, most of us stared at screens having resolutions of 640 x 480 pixels (Picture Elements). When we moved up to Windows 98, a lot of folks set their screens to 800 X 600 pixels. Of course, a lot of this had to do with the price of monitors and video memory. Both were decreasing in price and that was a very good thing. Today, I'm using monitors at a resolution of 1024 X 768. For this laptop I'm writing on now, this is the native resolution. It is a 15" screen. I have no problem with the size of the fonts at this resolution. I will say that I am old enough to wear corrective lenses when reading. At work I have a Dell 17" LCD screen. The resolution on it is one step higher. That would put it at 1280 X 1024. Honestly, the Dell LCD is reputed to be a very nice screen. But text at 1280 X 1024 is pixelated. It's choppy. (Yes, I use 'Clear Type' to smooth the edges of the fonts.) It's not pretty and it's hard for me to see at all angles. At home I have a 19" Dell CRT with a Trinitron (Sony) tube. The resolution is set to 1024 X 768. It's old, but it's beautiful. The colors are rich and the resolution can be set anywhere I want it to be, since it's analog. It's big, bulky, heavy, and takes up a lot of real estate on my desk. But I much prefer it over the LCD at work. There are ways to change the text size on the screen. Perhaps they work for other people, but I've never been satisfied with changing this across the board. In other words, for me, changing the font size globally doesn't look right on all applications. I prefer to leave that setting at its default and stick with a resolution no higher than 1024 X 768. The jury's still out on this. I hope that others will chime in on this topic because it will be interesting to see if someone has come up with a good solution to using higher resolutions that produce tiny text fonts. LCD screens are the future. However, the prices will continue to erode and the quality will improve. Many reviews from CNET, PC Magazine, and Tom's Hardware contend that the accuracy of color, contrast, and speed of the CRT are still superior to most LCD panels produced today. However, as with anything else dealing with technology, that could change tomorrow. Bottom line: as with evaluating loudspeakers, look at these LCD panels with your own eyes before you put your money on the table. Good luck! Tom "Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent." - Victor Hugo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaibuka Posted February 11, 2005 Author Share Posted February 11, 2005 If I get the 20 inch monitor can I just set set the resolution lower for internet purposes. Is there some drawback of not using native resolution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaibuka Posted February 11, 2005 Author Share Posted February 11, 2005 Thank's Tom I was writing that last post, but your answer came in while I was writing. You made some good points. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ITGITC Posted February 11, 2005 Share Posted February 11, 2005 Originally posted by chaibuka: If I get the 20 inch monitor can I just set set the resolution lower for internet purposes. Is there some drawback of not using native resolution. Native resolution is recommended by LCD manufacturers. Reducing resolution won't harm the LCD panel, but it probably won't look as good. My 88-year old father sets his 17" Dell LCD screen at 800 X 600 pixels. He doesn't mind it, but I think it looks less-crisp than the native resolution. On the other hand, his desk is an antique and it's very, very small. The only way he could get a larger (>15") monitor on this desk was to go with a LCD panel. He's happy. And since he calls me when he's NOT happy with his PC, then I'm happy. The solution is to stick with the native resolution of the LCD panel and change the size of the fonts. If I could get this to work across all applications, I would be more pleased with LCD technology at higher resolutions. Help me, somebody! Tom "Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent." - Victor Hugo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Flier Posted February 11, 2005 Share Posted February 11, 2005 As I mentioned in another thread, I just got a 19" LCD to replace my 17" CRT. The CRT was starting to cause me serious eyestrain given the amount of time I spend at the computer. I LOVE the way this monitor looks at its native resolution (1280x1024) but I don't think I would want to do the 20", 1600x1200 thing. I think that would make everything too small/cause eyestrain again. And yes you can reduce the resolution from "native" but it doesn't look as good. I occasionally switch this monitor to 1024x768 and it's a bit blurry compared to native. My eyes seem to be very happy for the moment, although I have to admit those huge Apple cinema displays (which they have at a studio where I sometimes work) are pretty freakin' cool. Not like I can afford one though! To avoid eyestrain, it also helps NOT to have your monitor against a wall. Make sure there's stuff at a distance behind the monitor that you can focus on. Mine is in a corner and there's a window just slightly to one side of me which I can always look out of. What I'd really like to do one of these days is put in a taller window which would bring it down to my eye level when sitting down. Then I'd be able to see my whole back yard from the office which would be nice, as well as helping the eyesight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EoS Posted February 11, 2005 Share Posted February 11, 2005 Depends on how good your eye sight is. My laptop is a 16.1" screen that runs at 1600x1200. I love it - and all that real estate comes in handy for Logic and plug-ins. But I have 20/15 eyesight (used to be 20/10 but I'm gettin old). Try to check them out at a store if you can. But beware - all the comments above regarding native resolution are true, and store display's usually don't take that into consideration. Usually they'll have ALL their LCD's hooked up to a distribution system running a single, usually SVGA, resolution. If the LCD isn't set to native, the quality is significantly degraded. So you might see a monitor that looks like crap in the store, but in actuality is fantastic. But if you want to see what that 1600x1200 lcd looks like and whether your eyes can take it, make SURE you see it running in that mode. Enemy of Silence.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeronyne Posted February 11, 2005 Share Posted February 11, 2005 Originally posted by chaibuka: If I get the 20 inch monitor can I just set set the resolution lower for internet purposes. Is there some drawback of not using native resolution. Have you seen an LCD screen when it's not at its native res? I recommend going to a store and trying it on any LCD monitor. Personally, I cannot bear to look at an LCD screen that isn't at native resolution for more than 5 minutes unless it's a game. "For instance" is not proof. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaibuka Posted February 12, 2005 Author Share Posted February 12, 2005 Thanks for all the replies I went and looked at 19 and 21 inch monitors with native and nonnative resolution. I agree they didn't look so good unless they are in native resolution. My vision isn't so great so the 19 inch with slightly larger text seems like the way to go. thank's again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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