1280 x 1024 is a weird resolution

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Mani

Diamond Member
Aug 9, 2001
4,808
1
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If you guys really don't like 1280x1024, you can always just select 1280x960 and force your LCD into 1:1 scaling. You lose a little real estate but you get your aspect ratio...
 

MrChad

Lifer
Aug 22, 2001
13,507
3
81
Originally posted by: Viper GTS
Are 1280x1024 panels actually 5:4 in physical dimensions?

Never bothered to check, I just assumed they were 4:3.

And yes it is a PITA, I hate 1280x1024 with a passion.

Viper GTS

Yes, I believe the physical dimensions are in fact 5:4.
 

dullard

Elite Member
May 21, 2001
25,913
4,506
126
1280x1024 is very useful. It lets you get the full page in view on a lot of items. 1280x960 doesn't have enough vertical pixels so you are always scrolling. Thus for the user, 1280x1024 is much better.

CRTs have these things called adjustments. GASP! Guess what, if you have a 4:3 monitor at 4:3 resolution, but you have adjusted the monitor then you are probably watching a skewed picture! Heck, even if you leave it at the factory default it probably isn't set to exactly 4:3. Double gasp! The world is going to end.

The difference betweeen 4:3 and 5:4 is 6%. You can easilly stretch a CRT to fit 1280x1024 without any distortion if you want.

Plus LCDs are 5:4 anyway, so 1280x1024 is automatically right.

Let 1280x960 die a peaceful death as a useless resolution. In an ideal world where all monitors are set to exactly 4:3 and not set to fill the screen, then 1280x960 had a minor niche use for people who don't mind scrolling. But that ideal world doesn't exist.
 

Rubycon

Madame President
Aug 10, 2005
17,768
485
126
I remember a gig at a whorehouse where they had a dozen 21" CRT's that looked nice - they were using a custom rez of 1400x1050. I liked this so much I edited my detonators so I was using this. 1280x1024 was reetarded and 1600x1200 was just too damn small for my peepers. The compromise was perfect.

1400 background we had
 

Sureshot324

Diamond Member
Feb 4, 2003
3,370
0
71
Originally posted by: Mani
Originally posted by: Insane3D
Originally posted by: Mani
It's SXGA, a VESA approved standard video timing. It was a standard res because it fell nicely between 1024x768 and 1600x1200 in the days of CRT, and so LCD fabs laid out their 17 and 19" glass around it.

Ummm...what was wrong with 1280 x 960?

Nothing. VESA tried to push it through but 1280x1024 was already ubiquitous. If you look at VESA's standard timings spec 1280x960 is on there, but noone chose to adopt it. Think about it as a monitor manufacturer - no way the marketing guys will support limiting to 1280x960 when other guys are doing 1280x1024. Most consumers don't care about 5:4 vs 4:3, they just see the number of pixels.

1280x1024 goes back to almost the 70's, and originated from CAD/CAM. One of those things where the industry just had a standard that survived because of its popularity despite being non-optimal. Think VHS vs Beta.

Makes sense, but there's got to be a market for a 1280x960 monitor. There's a lot of enthusiasts that know the difference between 5:4 and 4:3 and would prefer 4:3, yet there isn't a single monitor with that native res, and there's monitors with all kinds of funky wide screen resolutions.
 

NiKeFiDO

Diamond Member
May 21, 2004
3,901
1
76
its part of the technology, im sure its not just wimsicle (spelling/proper word use?)- it's probably more cost effective or just easier to produce at that resolution (there are limits and such to how LCDs are made)
 

vshah

Lifer
Sep 20, 2003
19,003
24
81
i'm using 1600x1200 on both monitors right now but it is a bit small (19")

i'm going to try 1400x1050 when i get home
 

xanis

Lifer
Sep 11, 2005
17,571
8
0
What's wrong with 1280x1024? I use it on my 19'' LCD and it works very nicely.
 
Aug 27, 2002
10,043
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It's a hexadecimal thing you people don't seem to understand. and I'm not about to take the time to write out all the equations for you.
 

Mani

Diamond Member
Aug 9, 2001
4,808
1
0
Originally posted by: Sureshot324
Originally posted by: Mani
Originally posted by: Insane3D
Originally posted by: Mani
It's SXGA, a VESA approved standard video timing. It was a standard res because it fell nicely between 1024x768 and 1600x1200 in the days of CRT, and so LCD fabs laid out their 17 and 19" glass around it.

Ummm...what was wrong with 1280 x 960?

Nothing. VESA tried to push it through but 1280x1024 was already ubiquitous. If you look at VESA's standard timings spec 1280x960 is on there, but noone chose to adopt it. Think about it as a monitor manufacturer - no way the marketing guys will support limiting to 1280x960 when other guys are doing 1280x1024. Most consumers don't care about 5:4 vs 4:3, they just see the number of pixels.

1280x1024 goes back to almost the 70's, and originated from CAD/CAM. One of those things where the industry just had a standard that survived because of its popularity despite being non-optimal. Think VHS vs Beta.

Makes sense, but there's got to be a market for a 1280x960 monitor. There's a lot of enthusiasts that know the difference between 5:4 and 4:3 and would prefer 4:3, yet there isn't a single monitor with that native res, and there's monitors with all kinds of funky wide screen resolutions.

Difficult to quantify that enthusiast market though. And secondly, a lot of video cards do not support 1280x960 by default which would create a whole lot of TS calls from the non-enthusiasts. Also, as I said above, there's nothing to stop enthusiasts from forcing 1280x960 at 1:1 scaling. They lose 64 vertical pixels this way, but they get to preserve the aspect ratio.

All said and done, it's very hard to justify a business case around using an unpopular resolution as native, and not enough people have complained about it to change anything. It's also hard to see monitor manufacturers bending over backwards to change a standard 5:4 res to 4:3 when 16:9 is all the rage right now. Not to mention a severe cost disadvantage since LCD glass is already optimized for 1280x1024.