Video Screen Resolution

[Casey H]

OK, am I the only one who does not like the way new video monitors are in terms of aspect ratio and resolution that works well, etc? It appears that the new standard for wide screen monitors is a much more rectangular shape to be a lot wider than tall. Resolutions go up to numbers like 1680 x 1050. Over the past few years, even as resolution increased, I've been setting my monitors at 1024 x 768. I found that to be the best setting for someone like me (over 50) who doesn't like text, icons, etc. to strain my eyes. Now I have a new notebook with a wide screen. I can set it to 1024 x 768 and make that fit the whole screen, but the "stretching" causes some distortion. I have tried the higher resolutions and changed Window's, IE, and Outlook settings for larger fonts but I still don't find it as comfortable as my good old 1024 x 768 on a display that is closer to a square shape. I hear that this is the new standard and monitors like we used to have are going away.Anyone else find this? Am I nuts? (I mean about THIS)... Blurry Eyed in PA Casey

[edteja]

Dear Blurry Eyes,It is all part of the Gates/Rockefeller/Bush/Clinton/Contra/Iraqgate conspiracy--although a small part. Still, now that you have noticed you should be very, very careful. The reality that they keep from you is that you really do not want to see everything that is on the screen clearly. If you did, your mind would instantly be filled with rebellion and seditious thoughts and then they would have to send JohnnyDean1 to your house and force you to collaborate with him on all future songs.I hope that clears up this technical matter.

[og]

The really scary part is that due to the constant eyestrain, JD would look like Judy Collins, so you really wouldn't mind...

[Casey H]

Quote:The really scary part is that due to the constant eyestrain, JD would look like Judy Collins, so you really wouldn't mind...Judy Collins NOW? ... Or as she was in the 60's or 70's?

[Casey H]

Quote:Dear Blurry Eyes,It is all part of the Gates/Rockefeller/Bush/Clinton/Contra/Iraqgate conspiracy--although a small part. Still, now that you have noticed you should be very, very careful. The reality that they keep from you is that you really do not want to see everything that is on the screen clearly. If you did, your mind would instantly be filled with rebellion and seditious thoughts and then they would have to send JohnnyDean1 to your house and force you to collaborate with him on all future songs.I hope that clears up this technical matter.Ah... If I could read the news on the internet, I would know way too much...

[nickbatzdorf]

Judy Collins probably doesn't look too good right now, because unfortunately she's no longer alive.Casey, I'm 51 but fortunately my eyes haven't changed yet (no reading glasses), and for me the new resolutions are very good - I like having the extra real estate. 1440 x 900 on my MacBook Pro is fine for me, and the Apple 30" Cinema on my desktop machines is just great (I love it).Can't you get glasses that will let you see the monitors at smaller resolution? I'm not asking that to be a jackass, I'm curious.

[Casey H]

Quote:Judy Collins probably doesn't look too good right now, because unfortunately she's no longer alive.Casey, I'm 51 but fortunately my eyes haven't changed yet (no reading glasses), and for me the new resolutions are very good - I like having the extra real estate. 1440 x 900 on my MacBook Pro is fine for me, and the Apple 30" Cinema on my desktop machines is just great (I love it).Can't you get glasses that will let you see the monitors at smaller resolution? I'm not asking that to be a jackass, I'm curious.Thanks for responding.Judy Collins is alive to the best of my knowledge. But I still think she probably looked a tad better in the 60's and 70's. Actually, I have special glasses I got a while back, made for computer monitor viewing, about 25 inches distance. But they just make things sharper at this distance (to try to prevent neck and back strain which I get), not bigger. And I am fairly mobile with my notebook computer, sometimes connecting to monitors at home or at work or using the laptop screen itself while in other locations. So I find the viewing distance varies.I see many others really enjoying high resolution wide screens- I think I'm in the minority. For certain types of work such as CAD (computer aided design), it's great. Also, I'm sure it's nice for a studio computer. I mainly use this machine for work which is writing software, Word, Excel, etc... Don't watch videos on it... For me, I'm fine with less.I've settled in to 1024 x 768 on this 14.1 inch wide screen. I'm getting used to the slightly "stretched to fit" look. I tried a lot of settings including advanced ones such as changing the DPI from 96 to 120... But this seems best for me... I'm getting used to it.Thanks again! Casey

[nickbatzdorf]

You're right about Judy Collins! I wonder who I was thinking of who died fairly recently.And about your eyes: sorry to hear that they're not perfect, but I think you may be right that you're in the minority. For me the extra width on my laptop makes a huge difference. Now when I travel and work on the laptop, it doesn't slow me down; the one I had before (and still have, actually) is a Pismo PowerBook, which I think is 1024 x 768 on a 12" screen, and between the lack of screen real estate and the clumsy keyboard it really slowed me down.Now, the Pismo is a great laptop - I bought it in 2000 and I still use it to run a synth librarian that only works in OS 9; it has a G4/500 upgrade in it that makes it fine for a lot of things when you're traveling - but laptops have finally advanced to the point that you can use them in the studio. The larger screen would be a pretty big part of that if I were using the MacBook Pro as a main machine, although it's the increased processing speed and especially 4GB RAM capacity that finally prompted me to upgrade.

[og]

Quote:Judy Collins probably doesn't look too good right now, because unfortunately she's no longer alive.That would be news to the folks who run her website.Casey, I was thinking of sweet Judy Blue Eyes from our youth.

[nickbatzdorf]

I just said I made a mistake, og. Last post.