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Why are screen sizes still measured in inches?

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They probably first started doing inches a long time ago when the US was the main market. Since then no one has really cared.

I honestly dont think i would really care if all the monitors suddenly switched to a unit complete foreign to me, as long as I had a conversion scale.

Now, if you want to get a debate of metric vs imperial in general, i say metric all the way. Imperial has never made sense to me. It's just that diagonal monitor size is the last place i would ever care to see it change.
 
Throckmorton said:
Because those are the increments. Do you expect a company to stamp 50.8cm on their product package?

Are bra sizes in France in cm instead of inches?
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technically, the manufacturer can do whatever they want

those 32" TVs that you buy? They're technically in the "32 inch class" but actually 31.5 inches = 80cm
 
All Americans with half a brain also hate non-metric measurement systems. It drives me nuts to use these idiotic systems. We should have abandoned this crap 30 or more years ago.
 
paperwastage said:
those 32" TVs that you buy? They're technically in the "32 inch class" but actually 31.5 inches = 80cm
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There is enough ambiguity in measurements to make me doubt that. Take for example the 55 inch screens of the manufacturer mentioned earlier. Local Samsung sites report various 55" screens anything from 55" to 54.6", to 139.7cm (which the exact equivalent of 55" in metric), to 138cm (which could mean either an approximation of the equation 54.6"=138.684cm or that it's actually 138cm=54,33").
 
I think they just don't care. People are used to monitors in inches so why should they bother swapping them to cm for metric countries. They've gotten along well enough for this long and it's not like measuring in inches is any less accurate than cm.
 
zokudu said:
I think they just don't care. People are used to monitors in inches so why should they bother swapping them to cm for metric countries. They've gotten along well enough for this long and it's not like measuring in inches is any less accurate than cm.
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By "people" you mean Americans. Well by your rationale, the whole world may as well go back to imperial units for everything since the Americans are used to their silly own units.
 
KAZANI said:
By "people" you mean Americans. Well by your rationale, the whole world may as well go back to imperial units for everything since the Americans are used to their silly own units.
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Tell me, do international computer users cross out and put metric units on monitor boxes? No? They know how big a 24 inch monitor is without swapping it to metric units. That is what I mean when I say everyone uses it. The metric populace already knows how big each monitor size is so there is no appreciable gain by changing the measurement method.
 
The American military have been metric for decades. Will the general population ever change? Probably not for a while. Eventually, there's hope, especially in the Southwest. Interstate 19 south of Tucson is signed in both miles and kms.

With monitors coming in different aspect ratios, the diagonal measurement is really less than useful. When I buy a monitor, I need to know the physical width to fit into defined spaces. So, I always check the specs for such measurements.
 
zokudu said:
I think they just don't care. People are used to monitors in inches so why should they bother swapping them to cm for metric countries. They've gotten along well enough for this long and it's not like measuring in inches is any less accurate than cm.
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This. Even in places where people are used to cm and not inches, they can't just change overnight due to public perception.

"Well this TV is 80 and this one is only 32, I'll take the 80!" even though they are both the same size. It's unfair and essentially false advertising until everyone is on board.

Lawyers (at least here in the states) are required to have a J.D. -- a Juris Doctor. And yet we address them as "Mr./Ms." and not "Dr." Why? Even though they have a doctorate, the public assumes those addressed as "Doctor" are medical professionals or scientists, so it would be false advertising for them to call themselves "Dr.", even though it's not exactly wrong. Wouldn't you rather have an injury lawyer that is also an MD?
 
zokudu said:
Tell me, do international computer users cross out and put metric units on monitor boxes? No? They know how big a 24 inch monitor is without swapping it to metric units. That is what I mean when I say everyone uses it. The metric populace already knows how big each monitor size is so there is no appreciable gain by changing the measurement method.
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No, it's not like that at all. If that was the case then you wouldn't be so stubborn to keep the privilege of having everything in inches; you would have accepted the metric conversion long time ago. But no, it's convenient to assume you *know* the rest of the world is comfortable with it.
 
KAZANI said:
No, it's not like that at all. If that was the case then you wouldn't be so stubborn to keep the privilege of having everything in inches; you would have accepted the metric conversion long time ago. But no, it's convenient to assume you *know* the rest of the world is comfortable with it.
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So now you're the rest of the world? See this works both ways. At the end of the day though it would cost the companies money and is a worthless change. Get over it.
 
Binky said:
All Americans with half a brain also hate non-metric measurement systems. It drives me nuts to use these idiotic systems. We should have abandoned this crap 30 or more years ago.
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AGREED. i am a proud american and i HATE standard units of measure. metric is better and everyone knows it. it is completely idiotic that we still use two different measures.

NASA would even tell you the same thing. costs them nothing but $$$$$$$$$$$
 
I don't think it makes sense to just switch to metric. A lot of stuff is still in imperial measurements, like the entire construction industry. Land surveys and the Jeffersonian land grid we have is in miles and feet. We can't change that ever. Europe doesn't have any such grid. http://nationalatlas.gov/articles/boundaries/a_plss.html

What's so inherently superior about the metric system anyway, aside from conversions being easy to remember? Imperial is generally base 8 which is pretty awesome.
 
Throckmorton said:
I don't think it makes sense to just switch to metric. A lot of stuff is still in imperial measurements, like the entire construction industry. Land surveys and the Jeffersonian land grid we have is in miles and feet. We can't change that ever. Europe doesn't have any such grid. http://nationalatlas.gov/articles/boundaries/a_plss.html

What's so inherently superior about the metric system anyway, aside from conversions being easy to remember? Imperial is generally base 8 which is pretty awesome.
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why cant we change it? its not like anything has to be redrawn, it would just all be in decimal format. as it should be. because its easier not only like you said to remember, but easier to work with too.

and i thought the original measurement for a "foot" was just that, some english kings actual foot. disturbing how we never pulled away from that.
 
zokudu said:
So now you're the rest of the world? See this works both ways. At the end of the day though it would cost the companies money and is a worthless change. Get over it.
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Pffft...now you dispute the fact that most of the world is switching to metric? Get over YOURSELF!

Tell me how measuring screens in metric is going to cost anything, except for some chagrin to the imperial system arteriosclerotics.

Throckmorton said:
Imperial is generally base 8 which is pretty awesome.
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pure awesomeness
 
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Throckmorton said:
What's so inherently superior about the metric system anyway, aside from conversions being easy to remember? Imperial is generally base 8 which is pretty awesome.
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except when it's base:
3
12
5280 (or 1760 depending on which your converting to)
2000
640
or for some reason using a modification of the 8 (4 or 16)

If it just stuck to 8 (or i prefer 16), it would be a little nicer, still doesn't work well with our base 10 system though.
 
Throckmorton said:
What's so inherently superior about the metric system anyway, aside from conversions being easy to remember? Imperial is generally base 8 which is pretty awesome.
Click to expand...
Everything about metric is superior, unless you focus on the simple fact that both can be used to accurately measure something. In daily use, that's not very relevant for comparing which is better.

Even if everything was base 8, which it isn't, it is still stupid. Americans can BARELY handle simple math. People just aren't generally smart enough to handle anything more difficult than 2+2.

8x2=16
8x3=24
What's 8x27?
2 cups in a pint, and 2 pints in a quart, but 4 quarts per gallon...
3 teaspoons per tablespoon, but 16 tablespoons per cup...
8 ounces per cup, but 4 cups per quart...but 16oz per pound...
12 inches per foot, but 3 feet per yard...
i.e. lack of consistency, harder to do the math quickly, and just plain stupid

10x2=20
10x3=30
What's 10x27? (If you can't answer this instantly, go back to school)
1,000ml in a liter
1,000mm per meter
1,000g per kilogram
i.e. consistent, more logical, easier, far Superior

What's the next wrench size after 5/8 inch?
What's the next wrench size after 10mm?
^^Which of these two questions do you think is easier to answer for the VAST majority of people, including those that never used a wrench in their life?
 
Binky said:
Everything about metric is superior, unless you focus on the simple fact that both can be used to accurately measure something. In daily use, that's not very relevant for comparing which is better.

Even if everything was base 8, which it isn't, it is still stupid. Americans can BARELY handle simple math. People just aren't generally smart enough to handle anything more difficult than 2+2.

8x2=16
8x3=24
What's 8x27?
2 cups in a pint, and 2 pints in a quart, but 4 quarts per gallon...
3 teaspoons per tablespoon, but 16 tablespoons per cup...
8 ounces per cup, but 4 cups per quart...but 16oz per pound...
12 inches per foot, but 3 feet per yard...
i.e. lack of consistency, harder to do the math quickly, and just plain stupid

10x2=20
10x3=30
What's 10x27? (If you can't answer this instantly, go back to school)
1,000ml in a liter
1,000mm per meter
1,000g per kilogram
i.e. consistent, more logical, easier, far Superior

What's the next wrench size after 5/8 inch?
What's the next wrench size after 10mm?
^^Which of these two questions do you think is easier to answer for the VAST majority of people, including those that never used a wrench in their life?
Click to expand...

I've never seen a recipe use ml instead of teaspoons. I know for a fact other countries don't use spoons with metric volumes...
 
I think US was going through the same thing in the tire market, Some reason the conclusion was split and now its metric tire sizes on inch rims.
 
Honestly, from a theoretical standpoint, a Hex system would be better than Decimal anyways. Just make A B C D E F their own symbols and move everything at once to a Hex-SI derivative.

It would never happen because people are too resistant to change, but a lot of math gets simplified when moving to a 2^4 system.
 
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