Hi mamajob-ga,
I just got an LCD panel myself and am familiar with the trade-offs
involved, so here goes.
You've certainly hit upon the problem - larger LCDs come with higher
resolutions. However, as the screen gets larger, you can pack more
pixels in while maintaining the same number of pixels per inch, which
is the number that makes reading easy/hard. If you can get a good
list of specifications for an LCD monitor, it should tell you what the
native ppi is, along with brightness, contrast, etc. As you've no
doubt noticed, reading from an LCD monitor is much easier than reading
from a CRT at the same resolution, so if the LCD is a little finer
than you would like it tends to even out.
As for non-native resolutions, resizing algorithms vary from LCD to
LCD, with more expensive models typically having better ones but it
is immediately apparent if resizing is taking place (except in the
case of even multiples, vis running a 1600x1200 screen at 800x600).
If you want more screen real estate but do not want the higher
resolutions of larger displays, I would recommend using two 15" LCD
monitors, as these are quite inexpensive (compared to 19"+ monitors)
and will give you more total pixels anyway. Multiple monitor desktops
are well-supported by all modern operating systems and many newer
graphics cards support two or more monitors at once (otherwise you
have to use more than one video card).
There are new technologies for the screens themselves (such as organic
LED screens, some years away still, though they're being used in
certain cellphones already), but nothing that will let LCDs display
more than one native resolution like CRTs can.
As to changing text size, that would depend on your window manager and
applications. The window manager can make certain system-wide
changes, but applications are free to choose their own favorite text
size so you may or may not have much luck there. As for web browsers,
if you're having problems resizing text you're suffering needlessly -
use a modern browser such as Mozilla which has very good text resizing
capabilities. In fact, you can just edit its default stylesheet so
you won't have to always be hitting the text zoom keys.
If you would like more detail on any of this, don't hesitate to
request a clarification; I check back frequently.
-Haversian |
Request for Answer Clarification by
mamajob-ga
on
03 Nov 2002 15:28 PST
Thanks! Your response was well informed and helpful, you mentioned
some options that I hadn't come across, and I'll consider them.
What you said about "...reading from an LCD monitor is much easier
than reading from a CRT at the same resolution, so if the LCD is a
little finer than you would like it tends to even out." doesn't ring
true for me - I can't read the 1280 x 1024 on an LCD any better than
on a CRT. Having tried both settings on my new LCD screen I'm back to
1024 x 768 - and the clarity doesn't seem to be suffering, so maybe
the Compaq is doing OK at the lower resolution? Or else maybe my
vision isn't good enough to pick up on the difference, which is
possible since I have one nearsighted and one farsighted eye....
Meanwhile I had tried using the monitor's higher native resolution,
and installed Microsoft's Web Accessories so I could zoom in on images
with the browser, but since that utility is intended for IE5.x and I'm
using IE6 it seems to have screwed up my browser - I can't see ANY
images on the browswer any more, ugh! In case you know any fix for
that I'm all ears.
Thanks again for your awesome response!
Melinda
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Clarification of Answer by
haversian-ga
on
03 Nov 2002 21:46 PST
I'm sure it depends quite a bit on the relative quality of your LCD
and CRT, as well as on individual preference. I've got a pretty
high-end CRT monitor and a respectable LCD and I find the LCD easier
to read on, though it's running at 1024x768 rather than 1280x1024 like
my CRT. To be fair though, the CRT's a 19" model and the LCD a mere
15. *shrug* Can you quantify what you find hard to read about text
on the LCD? In my case I prefer the LCD because it is absolutely
crisp whereas the CRT has blurriness because the pixels are round
rather than rectangular (though that very quality makes movies look
better on the CRT than the LCD).
I'm unfamiliar with the compaq LCD, but if you'd like to try out
monitors, go to your local Fry's or what have you and look at the
pricier Samsung or Sony LCDs. Others may be comparable - you want
something in about the $700 range for a 17" LCD or $1000 for an 18" or
19" one. A Samsung 171T, for example, is a pretty good LCD monitor to
use as a benchmark for comparing others. I've been doing some
research since borrowing my brother's 15" LCD here (it's so pretty!)
and looking at his 17" Samsung model (even prettier) because I insist
on excellent monitors, and that's what I've concluded.
Sorry, can't help you at all with IE (I absolutely hate it - Mozilla
is so much better), so it's a good thing you fixed the images deal.
Is there a comparable stylesheet parameter to change the text sizes
for you?
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