[UK-CONTEST] Wide screen monitors

[Clive Whelan]

A tad off topic, but quite relevant I think.

Monitor sizes seem to increase all the time as prices for
TFT screens fall. Sadly, my bijou shack cannot accommodate
anything larger than a 17" screen. This is fine for my
contest needs I think, but for reasons with which I shall
not bore thee, I have had recently to realise the height of
the monitor by about 4 inches. Althpgh my eyes are virtually
level with the ( horizontal) centre of the screen and most
of the Although windows are towards the bottom of the a
screen, I confess I am finding it a "pain in the neck"
looking at ( say) the log which I have positioned towards
the top of the screen. This is not a show stopper, but it
would be nice if it didn't happen.

I note that a significant number of monitors are now sold as
wide screen, and I am familiar with the 16:9 format in
respect of my domestic TV of course. which seems more
natural than the old boxy 4:3 format. However, I note from
some stuff I have seen, that the available screen area is
about 9 or 10% less on a wide screen monitor than on a
conventional one, and I can see that as opposed to 1280x1024
max. resolution on my conventional 17" screen, it's only
about 1280x780(?) on the wide screen equivalent.
Paradoxically however, the vertical dimension ( physically)
of the wide screen is about the same as the conventional
which puzzles me a tad, but perhaps that's  not universally
so?

So my question is: would I gain any advantage in going to
wide screen format, particularly with respect to the
vertical aperture required to view. Further, are there any
downsides to such a change?

Your experience and expertise are solicited.


73



Clive
GW3NJW
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