monitors

[codswallop]

Has either a widescreen or square screen monitor an advantage over the other?
Has anyone a preference?

[vehelpfulguy]

Well I guess the most obvious advantage a widescreen has over a "square" monitor is the fact the widescreen monitor can show a DVD movie (or movie clip on your computer) in widescreen format, which is how it was intended in the cinema.

Showing the same clip on a "square" monitor means the clip can only go so wide, and therefore you will have an area at the top and the bottom of the monitor showing nothing of the DVD.

[vehelpfulguy]

Lets look at pixel sizes in relation to monitors. All the figures below relate to TFT's.

Note that all TFTs have a "native" resolution and run poorly if you do not use the native resoultion. All the figures below are the native resolution.

A 17" square monitor usually has a pixel size of 1280x1024.

But a 19" square monitor ALSO has a pixel size of 1280x1024.

So buying a 19" square TFT does not show you any more info than a 17", it just shows the same info but larger.

A 17" widescreen monitor is usually 1440x900, so it is wider than a square monitor, but narrower.

A 19" widescreen monitor is ALSO usually 1440x900 so again you see no more info on a 19" widescreen than you do on a 17", it is just the same image but larger.

20" and 21" and 22" widescreens are usually 1680 x 1050, so you see a lot more than a 19" widescreen.

So if you do plan to get a widescreen try to go for a 20" or bigger as you see a lot more than on a 19".

You can get 20" widescreen for �175 or less nowadays.

Note that laptops have different pixel resolutions because of their screen sizes.

[Potatoman]

I use a widescreen monitor. I find it much easier on the eyes, as it feels more 'natural'. I cant stand square monitor now. Get at least a 1440x900 resolution, tho!

[codswallop]

Thank you all for your info but it was you,potatoman, who hit the nail on the head for me,by saying it was easier on the eyes.

[Potatoman]

Cool, you gonna buy one?

[codswallop]

I have a birthday coming up so I'm making obvious noises.
One more question TFT of LCD besides the cost.....WHY????

[dodgyshirt]

Bought a 22" Belinea widescreen yesterday for �149.99 from Staples. Must be the cheapest in the country.

[WoWo]

dodgyshirt - it's also possibly the worst in the country, half joking and half serious. You get what you pay for, you can get good vsalue by buying unknown brand names but equally you can get a load of rubbish. I purchased a cheap monitor from Staples and the quality was rubbish.

To answer the question I prefer square or even portrait monitors, this is especially true if you look at the web often as they are still designed to look good in normal mode rather than widescreen. I have a Samsung Widescreen TV as my monitor and while the picture is fantastic it's not great for looking at websites.

At work I have two monitors, one is landscape and one portrait. The portrait one allows me to see much more of a web page than if I have it in landscape format.

But as others have said very much depends on what you will be doing with it, if it's watching Films then widescreen, if it's general computer work it makes little difference.

[codswallop]

cheers WoWo,my mind was made up,now I,m not so sure!!

[dodgyshirt]

WoWo - Belinea have been making monitors for a lot of years and are the choice of many Local Authorities.
If you have never heard of them, you are hardly in a position to rubbish them.