16:9 and me
Feb 10th, 2007 by ck
800X600 belongs to last century, 1024X768 is so yesterday, 1280X1024 is the standard, and 1680X1050 is the future (you know I’m talking about display resolution right? LOL) Anyways, I’m using neither of them, but 1440X900.
I’ve got my LG’s L194WT Widescreen monitor. With 19″, 5ms response time, 2000:1 digital fine contrast and DVI support at the price tag of RM695 is actually pretty good. I am not going to write a full-fledged review for this gadget, but overall the specs are pretty good at its price, the unit is fairly heavy (if compare to other 19″ WS brands), the display is pretty decent, and the design is simple (simplicity is the key anyway, no?)
Back to the display resolution thingy - It’s the first time I use a display with 16:9 aspect ratio, and compare to 4:3, it looks wider and shorter; in fact, I feel like sitting in front of a LCD TV.
There are pros and cons of using monitors with 16:9 aspect ratio of course:
Pros:
- Since it is “wider”, there is more space on my desktop of course. It’s possible to open more windows at any given time (a strong point for multi-taskers). With more space, it makes more sense to set my Windows Sidebar Gadgets to be on top all the time without affecting the display of other applications (web surfing, for example).
- More and more videos nowadays are in widescreen and high definition format (especially US series), and widescreen monitor is definitey designed to cater for it.
- It looks much cooler than a 4:3 monitor, at least for me. Imagine having a mini LCD TV in front of you.
Cons
- Most of the games today are NOT 16:9 compliant. Meaning to say, if you were to get a widescreen monitor, you might need to bear with a even shorter and fatter Wayne Rooney while playing Fifa 2006 (anyways, Fifa 2007 does support widescreen ^^)
- While 16:9 videos are getting common nowadays, they are still many videos are cater only for 4:3. Which means you still have to suffer the same thing in my previous statement.
- More difficult to find wallpapers designed for widescreen (most sexay wallpapers are still in 1280X1024 nowadays)
Anyways, the present disadvantages of widescreen monitr are mainly because of it is not that common yet, but it will probably be taking over 4:3 as the mainstream in future. Given the pros and cons, it’s really up to individual which one should he/she go for.
