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15.4 Widescreen smaller than 15.1???

post #1 of 6
4/5/05 at 12:20pm
Thread Starter 
I just measured the displays on a 15.4" widescreen HP NC8230 and a 15.1" Thinkpad T43 and came up with the following measurements:

HP: actual display is 13” by 8.15625” = 106.03125 sq inches
IBM: actual display is 12” by 9” = 108 sq inches

So far, the 15.1" display appears to have more surface area (and therefore more viewable area) than the 15.4' Widescreen.

I then calculated the number of pixels per square inch:

HP with 1680 x 1050 resolution (1,764,000) = 16,636.6 pixels per sq inch
IBM with 1400 x 1050 (1,470,000) = 13,611.11 pixels per sq inch

Do these numbers look accurate?

Does anyone know why there is such a big push toward the widescreen displays given that they offer less actual screen real estate?

Any comments are appreciated!
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post #2 of 6
4/5/05 at 12:29pm
Thread Starter 
Ok - I think I just figured it out after viewing this page:
http://users.tkk.fi/~tgustafs/screensize.html

The only problem is that his measurements for a 15.4" widescreen are larger than mine.

It looks like the IBM has a PPI of 117 while the HP has a PPI of 129.
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post #3 of 6
4/5/05 at 1:02pm
Well duh! The rectangle with the largest area is a square...15.1 is more of a square then a 15.4 wide. Wide gives you more viewability on the sides though the a 15.4...most people don't need that extra top to bottom viewability on 15.1
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post #4 of 6
4/5/05 at 1:29pm
The reason widescreen laptops are so common nowadays is that they offer enhanced viewing angles, I believe.
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post #5 of 6
4/5/05 at 4:14pm
Wide screen is actually popular because it sells better. Because it sells better, manufacturers make them. I actually prefer 4:3, but I may be forced to go wide screen if I want to buy the new HP workstation laptop (nw8240).
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post #6 of 6
4/6/05 at 1:10am
Screen size is measured on the diagonal. If you dredge up your high school math, you'll find that a 16:10 rectangle with a 15.4 diagonal will not be as high as a square with a 15.1 diagonal. It will be wider.

As for viewing area, they have the same vertical viewing area (depending on actual resolution - ie 768 or 1050 pixels. You will get greater horizontal viewing area.

Cheers

Steve
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