Dumb viewing angle question

the issue isn't the resolution/aspect ratio, it's the manufacturers. The WXGAs all have good angles because only good manufacturers are making them. The SVGA+ on the Asus M6BN has the same (just about) good viewing angles as the WXGA. Seems the WXGAs are slightly better overall but the perceived huge difference is that a lot of manufacturers can use cheap 4:3 LCDs but don't have a lot of choice on the WXGA ones.

It has nothing to do with the resolution, I think it's just the quality or cheapness of the panel. It seems like the white box type laptops mostly use older tech 4:3 panels, which explains the bad viewing angles. I think a13antichrist is right about the WXGA panels.

I have been wondering the same thing you are though, because I've gotten the impression from following the forum that on some models the XGA screens might have better viewing angles than the same model with an SXGA/SXGA+ screen. I think it has to do with the specific panels used though and not the resolution. I guess it's possible that some manufacturers are using better quality XGA panels than SXGA, since a decent XGA screen is probably generally cheaper than a decent SXGA screen.

Anyway, I think it depends on the specific model of notebook. Some brands XGA might be better than their SXGA, while others might have the same narrow viewing angle.

I wouldn't mind hearing from people who have been able to compare two of the same machines with both XGA and SXGA screens.

Andrew,

Every normal aspect screen ive seen does have worse vert viewing angles than the widescreen. But i havent seen very many normal aspect screens. It seems the local super stores are overloaded with widescreens.

The only example i can come up with is a 15" XGA HP screen that i saw vs a 14.1 Sony sxga+ (non xbrite), The HP screen had better viewing angles, but not by much. The sxga+ was really bad though. It was really hard to see the same colors on tthe top and bottom of the screen.

I think the answer is yes, im pretty sure widescreen is going to have better viewing angles both vert and horizontal. I couldnt tell you why though, since im pretty sure its not a quality issues. Even the known "good" normal aspect screens are worse than the mediocre widescreens.

I wish i knew why man...

Fujitsu, Sony and Toshiba have all sold models with excellent quality wide-viewing-angle SXGA+ and XGA screens, so it's not impossible.

Ive seen a sony 14" sxga+ (no xbrite) and it was horrible.

I keep hearing that that 14.1" SXgas suck in general. SXGA should only be on 15" and up.

i know this doesn't answer ur question... but for those 15.1" SXGA+ screens... there's some really different ones out there that give different view angles...

a couple of Asus M6N's i seen at school have very good view angles, but a gateway i saw at costco - one side of the screen would turn black if i move my head a bit to the side

i guess most of the time you would have to see it in person to really tell... cuz i posted links to 15.1" vs 15.4" lcd comparison videos that showed crappy view angles on the 15.1" M6N, but it's different when i see in person

as for xga vs wxga... try looking for manufacturer specs first... then try to find one offline to confirm

aamsel:

Since it seems that you were the only one to quote some spec figures, let me add to the confusion.

Dell's specs for Inspirons stipulate the same brightness 150 cd/m2, viewing angles horizontal +/- 40 and vertical +10/-30 degrees, and contrast ratio 250:1 for 12.1" XGA, 14.1" XGA, 14.1" SXGA+, 15" XGA, and 15" SXGA+ screens.

The 15" UXGA has 180 cd/m2, horizontal +50/-60 and vertical +/-70 degrees, as well as contrast 400:1.

Finally, all 15.4 wide aspect screens (WXGA, WSXGA+, WUXGA) have 185 cd/m2, horizontal +/-65 and vertical +/- 50 degrees, and 300:1.

These specs are "worst-case" in the sense that all screens (which come from several manufacturers) should meet them, although some manufacturers tend to deliver screens with much better specs.

Note that the 15" UXGA is the only 4:3 aspect screen with high specs which carries the Ultra Sharp trademark, otherwise currently appearing on the 15.4" screens only. This Ultra Sharp variant was introduced about two years ago, when cheaper 15" 4:3 UXGA screens were available as well.

I think other posters provided several plausible answers to your questions.

Among several possibilites, I would bet on the following one, more or less mentioned before.

I guess WXGA has better vertical viewing angles than XGA in most manufacturer's offers simply because WXGA is based on a more recent technology, which allows manufacturers to achieve better viewing angles at a cost that is competitive with the cost involved in producing XGA screens with the older technology.

I am not saying that it is not possible to produce better XGA screens; I am just pointing out that, as with any other hardware, the products available on the consumer market must have a competitive ratio of cost to perceived quality. In other words, apparently manufacturers could deliver XGA screens with better specs, but their cost might be too high in order to find sufficiently wide demand.