OT: Wide screen LCD monitors

try over on alt.machines.cnc Lots of cad guys over there.

Gunner

"I don't want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub.

-- Grover Norquist

One of the guys here needs a new monitor and is looking at wide screens. He's worried about the screen ratio distorting CAD drawings and such. He doesn't want it stretched or cropped. That computer is about 2 years old with a Nvidia onboard video. I'll check what the video can do but I don't know how to answer his questions. Is there potential ratio problems? What do I need to know and do? Does the application software have to be able to do this or is it the OS (XP), or the video card?

Check, but I think it is simply a matter of selecting a height/width setting that is compatable with the screen format.

Picking the wrong one gets you a stretched image.(ie: selecting

Cheers Trevor Jones

It was something that worried me at first but the monitor manufacturers usually supply an add that integrates with the existing screen driver so that correct proportions are retained.

Widescreen proportions make a computer much more natural to use, go large enough and a two portrait page view fills the screen and remains perfectly readable - saving lots of scrolling around.

I was concerned about that too but I'm running a 1440 x 900 19" wide format monitor and it's one of the best upgrades I ever made! As long as you select the correct resolution for your video driver it handles CAD just fine. The only place I've noticed a problem is with an older TV card I have. If I maximize its window it just stretches its normal picture to fit the wide screen and looks a bit odd.

I'm also using an nVidia chipset that's at least a couple of years old but it's not onboard. It's a separate card.

I bought mine in the day-after-Thanksgiving sale at Target of all places. It's a Westinghouse (I didn't even know they made/sell monitors!). I got it for $149 and as I said, it's one of the best computer-related purchases I've ever made.

Best Regards, Keith Marshall snipped-for-privacy@progressivelogic.com

"I'm not grown up enough to be so old!"

No distortion, but do make sure that the video chip can be set to match the native resolution of the monitor, otherwise picture quality will suffer and you'll be paying for resolution you're not getting. Also be sure the that the monitor you choose has video inputs to match the type of outputs available on the video card.

I'm writing this on a 24" 1920x1200 monitor that I use extensively for CAD. Comparable monitors are down to around $700 compared to the $900 I paid 18 months ago. You get more pixels and screen area per dollar with, for example, dual 19" screens, but I prefer the single large screen.

Ned Simmons

If it's in Windows, the application software has virtually nothing to do with screen resolution or screen ratios. It's a driver/video card thing. The 24" Gateway I recently bought has built-in options where you can go to a 4:3 ratio, if you want, just takes a little button fiddling for old video hardware. It also has a full set of AV inputs as well, can do HDTV. Your buddy would need to find out what Nvidia chipset he has, then go looking on their website to see resolution capabilities and match them up against the proposed screen purchase. Or go to the OEM site and see what the drivers they supply can do. If there's no match for the desired resolution, he's going to have to go video card shopping. Generally, the on-board video chipsets have a lot less capability than a separate card anyway.

Stan

On a modern machine with an Nvidia he should have no problems..

As has been pointed out you have to set the display resolution corectly but other than that it should be no big deal.

FWIW I've got a 5 year old box with what was a top of the line Nvidia then and I run a dual monitor setup with a 24 inch Sony wide aspect ratio monitor at 1920x1200 and an old 19 inch running 1280x960 and circles and squares are just fine on both...

--.- Dave

Don't buy anything with less than 1600x1200 lines resolution. The higher the better IMHO.

Most of the wide screens out there are really lame - i.e. 760 or 900 lines. Who needs wider when you loose half your height!

You can get some good deals on some 24" models now. As I get older I need the bigger screens ;-)

No, there's no problem.

Make sure the card can drive the display *in its native resolution*, or distortion will be the least of your problems.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

YA' THINK!!! (I'm waiting for the 36" to come down)

I use a widescreen with AutoCad 2005 in 3d to draw wood buildings up to two-story 2400sq ft. Just set the software settings to match the hardware specifications. I recommend dual monitors; I use a 19" widescreen for the graphics, then a 17" sitting to it's right for the inevitable open windows of the calculator, notepad, specs sheets, bill of materials, photos, web browser, etc. Works very well, and I'm considering adding a second small screen to the left.

Regards, Jim Brown

There will not be any distortion if his adapter supports the native mode of the monitor. Right click on the desktop and select properties/settings/advanced/adapter/list all modes. My laptop is 1440x900 native, but will support larger for external monitors.

i run a 24 inch samsung widescreen for autocad 2008 and inventor , i dont have any problems , i am running it on a workstation class machine with a 512mb video card , quadro 4500, and plenty of ram.

the video card is the most crucial , anything less than 128 mb will give substandard results.