Better LCDs, what the heck

[ZetaEpyon]

Ok.

I am sitting here looking at a Dell Inspiron 8200 laptop that just came into the office. It has a gorgeous LCD using 1400x1050 resolution. Why aren't there stand alone LCD displays that boast resolutions similar to this on the same screen size? Or am I just blind and missing them?

Please enlighten me! Thanks!

 

[Gosharkss]

There's a distinct difference between the laptop and desktop monitor markets, and therefore between the panels designed for each. Desktop monitor panels tend to be brighter having better contrast ratios and viewing angles then those high-resolution versions used in laptop displays. In many cases the manufactures intentionally keep viewing angles narrow on laptop monitors for privacy reasons.

Desktop LCD monitors have been designed intentionally for lower resolution (pixels per inch), in order to make them more competitive with the desktop standard CRT monitor. Also most people who what higher pixel densities want larger sized monitors not smaller. High resolution on a small screen is often very difficult for most users due to the small size of text and Icons etc. If you look at the trend for LCD monitors the sizes and approximate dot pitches match (or are close) to those of the standard CRT.

 

[ZetaEpyon]

I don't dispute the fact that they are basically competetive for resolution/size with CRT displays. I guess I'm just disappointed in what seems to be a lack of real progress in technology, as increasing the resolution and simply using larger fonts results in a display that is just as easy to read, and actually clearer. The Dell I was looking at looked absolutely stunning with ClearType enabled.

 

[Gosharkss]

Its not a function of technology its basic math. Think about it, LCD?s use a matrix of cells, the distance between each cell (dot pitch) multiplied by the resolution defines the size of the panel. If you want higher density (dot pitch) the panel gets smaller. If the density gets to large above 0.28 ? 0.30mm the image becomes very grainy. That?s the trade off.

 

[Shalmanese]

Interpolation is still horrible on any modern LCD and winXP still doesnt handle changing the font dpi properly. I find that its a matter of tast, 800x600 on a 12" was "perfect" for me 3 years ago until I moved to 1024x768 on a 14.1" which was excellent until I moved to 1400x1050 on a 15". I dont know if I can still handle the jump all the way up to 1600x1200. Another reason is that the DVI spec only goes up to 1280x760 so any digital desktop LCD has a max resolution of 1280. Laptops use proprietry connections so they can go as high as they want.