mohaa1-ga:
First, I'd like to say that I am very jealous! Both your 30" Sharp
AQUOS and your 21" Sony E540 are very nice display devices.
The answer your question ("HOW GOOD ARE THE GRAPHICS?") is a
subjective one, as there are many other variables at play here besides
the capabilities of the two units. These variables include viewing
distance, viewing angle (both vertical and horizontal) and lighting
conditions. The results will also depend on what operating system and
driver version you are using with the nVidia GeForce 5200FX ultra.
However, before I cover those, let's look at the capabilities of the
two devices.
From the Sharp USA website at:
http://www.sharp-usa.com/products/ModelDetailedSpecs/0,1161,1039,00.html
the AQUOS LC-30HV4U has:
- maximum resolution of 1280x768 (Wide XGA)
- a viewable screen size of 29.51 inches (diagonal)
- a 500:1 contrast ratio
- a 170 degree viewing angle
- color temperature 8300 K
From the Sony USA website at:
http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/-/-/-/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start?ProductSKU=CPDE540
the Sony CPD-E540 has:
- maximum resolution of 1920x1440 (@48 Hz; recommended 1600x1200
@85Hz)
- a viewable screen size of 19.8 inches (diagonal)
- a 0.24 dot pitch with high-constrast screen coating
- effectively a near-180 degree viewing angle (due to visually flat
screen)
- color temperature adjustable from 5000 K to 11000 K (default 9300 K)
Depending on what resolution you currently run your display at,
switching from the Sony E540 to the Sharp AQUOS will probably mean
that your graphics card is working easier. For example, if you are
running at anything above 1152x864 resolution, switching to 1280x768
results in a smaller number of total pixels to manage. As a result,
again depending on what resolution and colour depth you are currently
using, you may be able to increase your colour depth for a richer
picture. The trade-off is a smaller desktop size than you may be used
to.
Please note, however, that while Windows 2000 and Windows XP are able
to work with a 1280x768 sized desktop (and, depending on your nVidia
driver, can also use nVidia's nView to manage multiple desktops on two
separate display devices), any games that you are playing may not be
able to support Wide XGA. Your actual results, therefore, will depend
on the applications you intend to use with the Sharp AQUOS as your
display. Assuming that the computer and the AQUOS are located in the
same room (since a DVI cable can only be six feet long before you need
to invest in a repeater), you can have both the Sony and the AQUOS
connected to your GeForce 5200FX, and compare the results for each
application.
The other variable that will have the most impact in this scenario is
the viewing distance. The typical computer user sits within 2 feet
from their monitor. If you take the ratio of the two screen sizes
(approx. 30 inches versus approx. 20 inches, or 1.5), if the AQUOS is
more than 3 feet from your viewing position then it will appear
visually smaller. However, if the intent is to be able to watch movies
streamed from your computer, then the improvement in your seating
options (for multiple viewers) will more than make up for that!
So, from a purely technical comparison, the Sharp AQUOS should give as
good a picture as the Sony E540, as long as you are not currently
running the E540 above 1152x864. If you are, then depending on your
viewing distance to the AQUOS, the picture will not be as "sharp" or
"crisp" as you may be used to on the E540 (especially if you are
running the E540 at 1280x1024 or higher). The caveat is that some of
the specialized applications that you are running (such as games) may
not be able to support the Wide XGA resolution of the SHARP.
The final answer, though, will have to come from your own eyes (that's
why I said it was subjective), because to paraphrase Plato, "beauty is
in the eye of the beholder".
I hope this helps,
aht-ga
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Google Searches:
site:sharp-usa.com AQUOS LC-30HV4U
site:sonystyle.com E540
site:nvidia.com 5200 ultra
Additional links:
Sony E540 specs in PDF format:
http://www.ibuyernet.com/prodpdf/1/139103_SONY_ELECTRONICS_INC_ITA_CPD-E540.pdf
nVidia white-paper about nView:
http://www.nvidia.com/object/LO_20020201_6041.html |
Clarification of Answer by
aht-ga
on
07 Aug 2003 21:27 PDT
mahaa1-ga:
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you.
To clarify, the graphics quality for games is limited by the maximum
vertical resolution of the AQUOS, which is 768 pixels. When you play
any game in full screen mode, you are limited to selecting a "typical"
computer monitor resolution... in this particular case, that would be
a maximum of 1024x768 since that will use the maximum vertical
resolution. What this means is that only the middle 1024 pixels will
be used for the horizontal display. There will be 6% of the screen
unused on either side. It's similar to how, on a laptop computer with
an LCD screen, if you run in full-screen mode and select a resolution
lower than the actual resolution of the screen, you will get a black
border around the actual "full-screen" window.
Alternatively, you can run MOHAA in a windowed mode, but that would
result in XP displaying the left and right edges of your desktop in
the area that would otherwise be black in full-screen mode.
Unless the game itself natively supports a full-screen mode resolution
of 1280x768 (also known as Wide XGA), the closest thing to a true
full-screen experience would be if nVidia releases a driver that
"stretches" the displayed image horizontally - however, all this would
result in is degraded graphics due to the interpolation adding
"jaggies" to the picture.
For most users, MOHAA runs best at 1024 x 768 x 32 bit colours. If
that is the setting you are already using, then your performance
should not be any worse with the AQUOS as your monitor.
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