Widescreen (16:9 / 16:10) - Getting the Right Perspective

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imagerap

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Robin
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I have up until now been using a 17" TN 4:3 screen for general computing and image processing, but feel the need to up the ante and go for an IPS monitor (probably Dell U2412M or ASUS PA248Q 16:10 options).

How does one set-up the monitor so that images aren't 'stretched' across the screen, yet avoid having an unusable black area to the left and right of the visible work area ?

I only ask as the last time I (temporarily) hooked-up a larger wide-screen tv to the PC it ended up having to be run in 4:3 mode to maintain perspective, which kinda defeated the whole object of having a larger screen.

BTW: I mostly use Adobe Photoshop & (Canon) DPP.
 
imagerap said:
I only ask as the last time I (temporarily) hooked-up a larger wide-screen tv to the PC it ended up having to be run in 4:3 mode to maintain perspective, which kinda defeated the whole object of having a larger screen.
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as neil says, that would be down to the resolution set by the pc and doesn't really have anything to do with the tv/monitor. If your graphics card/motherbpard can't display at widescreen resolutions it doesn't matter what you plug it into.
 
neil_g said:
As long as you have it running the correct resolution nothing should be stretched
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antihero said:
as neil says, that would be down to the resolution set by the pc and doesn't really have anything to do with the tv/monitor. If your graphics card/motherbpard can't display at widescreen resolutions it doesn't matter what you plug it into.
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OK, fair enough. When I do get a new monitor, it'll probably be around the same time I change my PC, which I intend going with an Intel i5 + NVIDIA® GeForce graphics card.

Will that combi display at widescreen resolution and if so, what res will that be: 1900x1200?

Can someone provide some screen-shots of how it would look compared to a 4:3 set-up please?

Sorry if this all sounds a bit daft to those already using widescreen, but I've clearly got a mental block as to how it will display everything and maintain perspective.

Thanks.
 
that combi can display any resolution. as long as you install drivers Windows 7 should be able to detect and set the resolution correctly.

1920x1200 is quite a bit wider than 4:3, 4:3 would be 1600x1200. imagine 160 columns of pixels on either side of 1600x1200
 
Rest assured that if you buy modern equipment everything will almost certainly just work.

If it helps, think about the screen as a desk. Now think of a wider desk. You've got more room but the things on it aren't the wrong shape are they?
 
wuyanxu said:
that combi can display any resolution. as long as you install drivers Windows 7 should be able to detect and set the resolution correctly.

1920x1200 is quite a bit wider than 4:3, 4:3 would be 1600x1200. imagine 160 columns of pixels on either side of 1600x1200
Click to expand...

So then that would mean black areas on each side of the screen then?

Or...the top and bottom of the image is truncated, no? yes?
 
imagerap said:
So then that would mean black areas on each side of the screen then?

Or...the top and bottom of the image is truncated, no? yes?
Click to expand...
16:9 compared to 4:3, at 1200 pixels high, you get 160 columns of extra pixel on either side. not black, you get that extra space in your computer, extra space to move your mouse, extra few columns of icon on the desktop.

Steve's table analogy is perfect.
 
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It is not like TV, as long as you set your pc to the native resolution of the monitor you buy there is no stretching/scaling or out of proportion pictures going on.

What you experienced with the connection to the TV could be several things, many tvs are only wide screen on broadcast resolutions but connecting a pc they can only so in "old" 4:3 ratios. Or alternatively some tvs like the old pioneer plasmas come with so called rectangular pixels, thus it would be the opposite and you shouldn't send a native resolution image but let the TV scale instead.

Bottom line is, you shouldn't worry about any of this. You'll be absolutely fine.
 
I actually had one of these delivered yesterday, Dell U2412M. What a lovely monitor to work on:thumbs: I would definitely recommend one for general non colour critical use and for 230 quid you can't go wrong. I will now be ordering the previous U2410 for that, which is what I thought I had ordered in the first place:bonk::shake:
Still, I'll have two 24" monitors now:D
 
I had a good night's sleep last night and think I get it now, thank you everyone.
The U2412M will probably be my choice: After all up until now I've been processing stuff on a cheap 17" 'TN' which did me alright, it just needs to be bigger.
 
We don't tend to change displays too often, if your budget allows, check out the Dell dell u2713, the extra pixels from the 2560x1440 resolution will come in handy for DPP/PS.
 
No doubt this will upset the purists but I have a 33" LED monitor which is the viewing area on my 40" Samsung LED TV (set at 1024x768).

I find it gives a perfect view (for me) at that resolution and I also use it for editing my photos.

I don't have the £100+ set up tools but set the screen by using a calibration image supplied by DSCL colour labs and have adjusted the greyscale so that I can see all of it from white to black.

I find this works perfectly and rely on the MK1 eyeball to set the colour so it looks good to me.

And of course I can occasionally watch a few films on it - lol.

.
 
I went with the Asus and it's lovely, but can't compare to the dell. Like you I went from a old laptop ( I know your going from a old screen).

also got the spyder 4 pro, but used it yet as haven't had time to get into it.
 
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