All Questions about Displays, resolutions... - Page 3

It runs at a slower speed on battery power. Download SpeedSwitch if you want more control over it's power management behaviour (and display the speed in the system tray)

New question:
How do the sizes of things like text, icons, etc, compare on the following displays? I would prefer terms like "bigger" "smaller" "about the same" to hard numbers (math isn't my strong point...).

1. 12.1 inch set to 1024x768
2. 15.4 WUXGA set to native

I mean, fitting 1024 pixels accross the bottom of a 12.1 is a lot of pixels, since a lot of 15 inch displays use that resolution... I'm trying to fingure out what the move from this toshiba tablet to a WUXGA would be like. To me, 1024x768 on this 12.1 isn't too small at all, but on the other hand, I use the same resolution as a WUXGA on the 23" flat panel i have at work. So yeah, what do you think?

kdynamic:

All you need is to translate number comparisons into vague statements while perusing Tommi's compendium

http://www.hut.fi/~tgustafs/screensize.html

Let me help a little.

A 12.1" XGA 1024x768 monitor has 106 PPI (pixels per inch).

A 15.4" WUXGA monitor has 147 PPI.

Therefore, what you see on the 12.1" XGA screen will be reduced by 106/147 = 72.1% on the 15.4" WUXGA screen. In words, everything will look three quarters smaller. Most people would deem it "much smaller".

If you are superhuman, just tell your eyes to reduce what they see on your 12.1" XGA by three quarters. Otherwise, print a WUXGA screenshot at its true size; see this thread

http://notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=34061

Ok, thanks KCK

Hmm, so what's the deal with having a WUXGA for when you need it, but using a lower-than-native resolution when you want things to be bigger (like if you're reading)? Is there some reason this is not a good scheme?

wait wait wait KCK, i just either confused myself or else ... i don't see how it would be 3/4 smaller... erm, wait (I told you i'm bad with numbers) does that mean that everything on the WUXGA will be about 3/4 the size of how I see it on my 12.1 XGA right now? That must be what you mean since that now makes sense to me. And then a WSXGA+ would display things about 9/10 the size they are on this 12.1. I think I'm seeing how this works out.

I think what KCK is trying to say is that everything on the UXGA will only be three quarters the size of what it is on a 12.1" XGA. I believe his method of calculating "percent reduction" is an error. It instead nearly represents the relative size of objects on the UXGA as compared to the XGA. To calculate percent reduction(difference) I would use: ((|value1 - value2|)/((value1 + value2) * .5))) * 100%.
So the percent difference(reduction) would = ((|147-106|)/((147 + 106) * .5))) * 100% = (41/126.5) * 100% = 32.4%.

Therefore based on those PPI values objects on the UXGA will be about 32% smaller than on the XGA. This is similar to saying that the objects are reduced by a third, or that they will be displayed at two-thirds the size. Hope that impoved your understanding of the matter dynamic, instead of clouding it further.


The "deal" is that with LCD technology displays look best at their native resolutions. In order to scale the display, which is what is required when changing resolutions, the new display has to interpolate the new image sizes for every pixel. This limitation is due to the fact that each pixel is actually a small transistor, as opposed to CRT's where electrons illuminate a phosphorous coated surface.

In short going from a native resolution to a non-native resolution can cause the display to lose image quality and even appear "fuzzy". This effect is minimized, however, on UGXA screens due to smaller pixel pitches(distance between pixels).

Thanks so much for clearing that up.

Next question: DPI. People always say you can raide the dpi to make things more readable on a hi-res screen. But then I was reading in the general FAQ that this causes weird problems with things getting cut off. What exactly does that mean? Has anyone had problems with this?

This is an easy one. Programs are generally made to look and function best in certain resolutions and the default (96) DPI setting. Changing this DPI setting cuts out parts because if that program has not been made with this in mind it will be bigger but outside the limits of the normal window. Thus parts of windows or text get cut off, rather hard to explain but immediately apparent when you see this happen.
stu

thanks! that makes sense... is it usually a big problem for people who adjust thiers?

It varies by what programs you are using. Some people can get by and it cause no or very little annoyance for them. Other people (like me when I had he WUXGA on my old i8500) use quite a few programs which this makes almost unuseable. I had several programs I was using for my course which were cut off, I could not get to the proper buttons even using tab... and on 96DPI it was too small hence I got WSXGA on new system. So it does depend, but if you do set it to 120 or more DPI you will notice the side-effects at some stage.
stu

Hey I just got an i8600 and my display dims when I dont have the AC Adaptor plugged in. Is this suppose to happen (Maybe to save power)?

yes, its for power saving. To change the brightness, hit the fn key, and up arrow (fn+up, or fn+down)

1 row of Yellow pixels from top to bottom.

Hello all,
I have had my I9100 for about three weeks, about a week ago on the extreme rightside of the display a yellow stripe appeared. I have the A03 Bios, and all other up to date drivers. I am running XP Pro SP1. I have tried both the Omega drivers and the Dell drivers. It is always there even when I access the Bios and during boot. I have a Samsung model WXGA display. Should I begin divorce proceedings? I mean does it sound like I have a bad screen?

Regards

Could be your vid card. Call Dell.

No, appearing in the BIOS and startup sounds more like it is an LCD issue rather than a vid card issue. Hook it up to an external monitor and see what happens. If the stripe appears there it will be a video problem, if not it is likely to be the LCD. In any case at least one piece of hardware will need replacing... so give Dell a call.
stu

Ooops, totally missed the part where he said it showed up in the BIOS as well. However, my advice to call Dell still stands

Ow yeah !!!
Just received my laptop and t has the Samsung screen.
Just happy for that

How does Dell's ultrasharp compare with other companies like sony's xbrite and toshiba's Trubrite? It seems like they are all the same so would a dell xga be just as good as a toshiba xga?