nbeck@weber.ucsd.edu (Nathaniel Beck) (12/11/90)
I am currently upgrading my 386 from herc mono to vga. Since the future seems to be with svga I am getting a board that can do the svga mode also (Paradise with 512K). Ok, so now comes the monitor. On my budget I cannot get multisynch, but have found several monitors that handle svga. They differ in whether I have heard of the brand name, but also in dot pitch. So the question is - can my eye tell the difference between .28 and .31 dot pitch (or .25). Is the difference visible in vga mode (since most of my software only has drivers for vga and I don't use windows, I care most about what I see in vga mode)? Are people out there with .31 dot pitch sorry they have such resolution? Thanks in advance. Neal Beck Dept of Politcal Science, UCSD beck@ucsd.edu Dislaimer: The Regents pay me (a bit!) to distribute my opinions.
sheinfel@grad1.cis.upenn.edu (Aviad Sheinfeld) (12/12/90)
In article <4194@network.ucsd.edu> nbeck@weber.ucsd.edu (Nathaniel Beck) writes: >... >So the question is - can my eye tell the difference between .28 and >.31 dot pitch (or .25). Is the difference visible in vga mode (since >most of my software only has drivers for vga and I don't use >windows, I care most about what I see in vga mode)? > >... > >Neal Beck >Dept of Politcal Science, UCSD >beck@ucsd.edu >Dislaimer: The Regents pay me (a bit!) to distribute my opinions. I used to use an IBM 8513 (which I believe is .31 dp, correct me if I'm wrong.) and now use a .28dp monitor. The difference is noticeable. Images have noticeably sharper edges. In looking for a monitor I'd definitely recommend looking for .28 or .25 dp. I must admit that the 8513 had fuzziness problem notoriety, but even in comparison to brand new 8513s at work, my monitor is much sharper. Aviad
medici@dorm.rutgers.edu (Mark Medici) (12/13/90)
In article <4194@network.ucsd.edu> nbeck@weber.ucsd.edu (Nathaniel Beck) writes: >>... >>So the question is - can my eye tell the difference between .28 and >>.31 dot pitch (or .25). Is the difference visible in vga mode (since >>most of my software only has drivers for vga and I don't use >>windows, I care most about what I see in vga mode)? Dot pitch is the distance (in mm) between two dots of the same color. The greater the dot pitch, the more granular your display will be. Also, depending on the size of the CRT, dot pitch can also limit the maximum displayable resolution. Take, for example, a typical 14" display (the NEC MultiSync IIa). The active screen size is 240mm (9.36") horizontal and 180mm (7.02") vertical. If the dot pitch for this typical monitor is 0.31mm (which it is for the MultiSync IIa), the result is a maximum horizontal resolution of 774 dots, and a vertical maximum of 580 dots. Though this doesn't meant you won't be able to display 800x600 resolution, some information cannot be physically descerned due to lack of unique pixels. However, if the dot pitch were 0.28mm, the resulting 857x642 pixel resolution would be fine. Similarly, if the active image area were larger (such as on the MultiSync 4D), a 0.31mm dot pitch would still be adequate. As for whether your eye will be able to notice the difference between 0.31 and 0.28mm dot pitch, that's difficult to say. Many factors other than dot pitch affect monitor clarity and sharpness. At 640x480 VGA resolution, there may not be enough of a difference for you to notice. That is, unless you use graphics applications that write small letters on the screen, where the smaller dot pitch monitor will likely be more readable. >sheinfel@grad1.cis.upenn.edu (Aviad Sheinfeld) writes: >I used to use an IBM 8513 (which I believe is .31 dp, correct me if >I'm wrong.) and now use a .28dp monitor. The difference is noticeable. >Images have noticeably sharper edges. In looking for a monitor I'd >definitely recommend looking for .28 or .25 dp. Actually, the IBM 8513 is a 0.28mm dot pitch monitor. The 8512 is a wopping 0.41mm dot pitch unit. The large size dot pitch on the 8512 results in very grainy looking images and very poor sharpness. >I must admit that the 8513 had fuzziness problem notoriety, but even >in comparison to brand new 8513s at work, my monitor is much sharper. As mentioned above, many factors affect monitor sharpness and quality. Having once been on the manufacturer's side of the monitor market, the best advice I can offer is to ACTUALLY SEE AND WORK WITH THE MONITOR before making up your mind. Go to a local computer store and ask to run some of your standard programs. If possible, do a side-by-side comparison of the models you are interested in. It is impossible to select the best monitor for your application and budget through published specifications and reviews. Though reviews will help steer you away from the lemons, they cannot substitute for hands-on evaluation. P.S., I am not now, nor have I ever been affiliated with either IBM or NEC; except as a customer. I used their products for examples only because I had their specifications available and are experienced as a user of their displays.
davidsen@sixhub.UUCP (Wm E. Davidsen Jr) (12/13/90)
In article <4194@network.ucsd.edu> nbeck@weber.ucsd.edu (Nathaniel Beck) writes: | So the question is - can my eye tell the difference between .28 and | .31 dot pitch (or .25). Is the difference visible in vga mode (since | most of my software only has drivers for vga and I don't use | windows, I care most about what I see in vga mode)? The answer is "maybe." The important thing is the number of dots and the viewing distance. On the same size screen a coarse dot pitch may look less sharp. However, consider the NEC 3D and 4D. The 3D has finer dor pitch, but also a smaller screen. Therefore the number of dots is about the same, and at the same number of pixels, viewed from an appropriate distance, they look about the same. All things being equal I would rather have fine pitch, but it does not always mean that you will get a fuzzy picture. If you string 1024 pixels along eight inches, you have ~5 pixels/mm, or 0.20 "pixel pitch." If you think you lose resolution on both .31 and .28 dot pitch you are dead right. Until you go to something like a 5D, which is 20 inches, or a bit over 12 wide, you are going to lose at the high res display modes. Remember that sharp looking workstation display, like a Sun, is 72 dpi, or about .35mm dot pitch. I didn't give you an answer, but hopefully you can come up with your own now. -- bill davidsen - davidsen@sixhub.uucp (uunet!crdgw1!sixhub!davidsen) sysop *IX BBS and Public Access UNIX moderator of comp.binaries.ibm.pc and 80386 mailing list "Stupidity, like virtue, is its own reward" -me
marshall@wind55.seri.gov (Marshall L. Buhl) (12/15/90)
sheinfel@grad1.cis.upenn.edu (Aviad Sheinfeld) writes: >In article <4194@network.ucsd.edu> nbeck@weber.ucsd.edu (Nathaniel Beck) writes: >>... >>So the question is - can my eye tell the difference between .28 and >>.31 dot pitch (or .25). Is the difference visible in vga mode (since >>most of my software only has drivers for vga and I don't use >>windows, I care most about what I see in vga mode)? >I used to use an IBM 8513 (which I believe is .31 dp, correct me if >I'm wrong.) and now use a .28dp monitor. The difference is noticeable. >Images have noticeably sharper edges. In looking for a monitor I'd >definitely recommend looking for .28 or .25 dp. >I must admit that the 8513 had fuzziness problem notoriety, but even >in comparison to brand new 8513s at work, my monitor is much sharper. >Aviad I've never used a .28 dp monitor. All mine are .31 dp. I was working on someones 8513 yesterday, and could not believe someone would put up with such a pathetic picture. It was really fuzzy. What I'm saying is there's more than dot pitch to having a good picture. Check them out before you buy. Don't just buy on specs. -- Marshall L. Buhl, Jr. EMAIL: marshall@seri.gov Senior Computer Missionary VOICE: (303)231-1014 Wind Research Branch 1617 Cole Blvd., Golden, CO 80401-3393 Solar Energy Research Institute Solar - safe energy for a healthy future
kevinc@cs.athabascau.ca (Kevin Crocker) (12/21/90)
davidsen@sixhub.UUCP (Wm E. Davidsen Jr) writes: > Remember that sharp looking workstation display, like a Sun, is 72 >dpi, or about .35mm dot pitch. I knew there was a reason why I didn't like the Sun Monitors. Because of eye problems I had to find a monitor that had better than 72 dpi so I needed one that went up to at least 90 dpi. I finally found one that has 1600 pixels and is 16 inches wide giving me 100 dpi. Of course, since I can't drive it at 1600 resolution I get only about 90 dpi. At 90 dpi, things start to look reasonable and almost WYSIWYG -- Kevin "auric" Crocker Athabasca University UUCP: ...!{alberta,ncc}!atha!kevinc Inet: kevinc@cs.AthabascaU.CA