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bbarry
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 Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2017 3:44 pm |
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Joined: Fri Nov 30, 2012 12:47 am
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Location: North Central Arkansas
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I currently use a 27" Viewsonic Smh-LED monitor, which I am generally pleased with. However, I have been reading and hearing about some new 34" curved monitors (Samsung, Dell, LG, etc.). These curved monitors seem to range in price from $400 to $900. I think I paid $200 for my current Viewsonic.
As my eyesight begins to fade, larger is better. But before I drool anymore, I was wondering if anyone is currently using a curved monitor. If so, what is your opinion?
Jay, if I'm not mistaken, I think you use a large monitor. Is it curved?
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sboots
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Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2017 3:54 pm |
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Joined: Tue Apr 10, 2012 9:48 pm
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Location: New Jersey
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I've looked at them, but haven't gone for one yet. I currently use two 23 inch monitors side by side. The thing with the 234 inch monitors, besides their beauty <g>, is that you have more screen real estate, but also a much finer resolution. I'm not sure that this is going to help our aging eyesight unless we also increase the size of display elements -- the DPI. Most programs behave okay with increased DPI these days, but some still end up with odd visual elements -- large text in undersized buttons and menus, for example.
-steve
_________________ stephen boots Microsoft MVP 2004 - 2020 "Life's always an adventure with computers!"
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jaylach
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Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2017 4:21 pm |
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Joined: Wed Mar 21, 2012 5:09 am
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Location: The state of confusion; I just use Wyoming for mail.
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I use a 42 and 32 inch but neither are curved.
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bbarry
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Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2017 4:42 pm |
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Joined: Fri Nov 30, 2012 12:47 am
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Location: North Central Arkansas
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sboots wrote: I've looked at them, but haven't gone for one yet. I currently use two 23 inch monitors side by side. The thing with the 234 inch monitors, besides their beauty <g>, is that you have more screen real estate, but also a much finer resolution. I'm not sure that this is going to help our aging eyesight unless we also increase the size of display elements -- the DPI. Most programs behave okay with increased DPI these days, but some still end up with odd visual elements -- large text in undersized buttons and menus, for example.
-steve Steve, I know what you mean by increasing the size of display elements. I already have my slider set at the max of 175%. Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought with a larger monitor (i.e., more real estate) I could move the slider beyond 175%. Not true?
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MacDuffie
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Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2017 7:51 pm |
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Joined: Wed Mar 21, 2012 5:42 am
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Not likely, Bb. You can do that on individual programs though. Most browsers you can increase a lot more, and if you use webmail, that would be enlarged as well. Outlook (Office) has its own "text" slider now so you can increase the size of the text in email. I find this covers 90% of what I do (I don't generally need to use these zooms though). Other Office programs let you zoom in different ways as well. (Word - reading mode.)
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jaylach
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Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2017 8:21 pm |
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BB, You can also right click on your desktop and select Display Settings. Now scroll down and find Advanced sizing of text and other items. You may finding something to help in the options that will be brought up.
Still, as Patty said, working between your text size slider, and also within programs, you will most likely cover just about anything needed.
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bbarry
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Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2017 10:23 pm |
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Joined: Fri Nov 30, 2012 12:47 am
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Patty & Jay - What you are saying makes sense, and I do increase text size in some of my programs as I go along.
So are larger monitors used primarily for activities such as games, watching movies, etc.?
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jaylach
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Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2017 10:45 pm |
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Yes and no... I use large monitors as my system is a media system and I also play games. I also sit 8-9 feet away from my screens.
Still, if at the same screen resolution, a larger monitor will display things larger. As an example both my monitors use 1920X1080 as the resolution. With everything set the same between the monitors everything will be larger on the 42 inch than the 32 inch.
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MacDuffie
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Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2017 12:21 am |
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Not really, Bb, as Jay said. If you need a much larger image, you can use a very large monitor and set the resolution at lower numbers. You may lose crisp edges, but things will appear much larger - depending on the resolution you choose. Try it on your current 27 inch monitor. Go to your resolution, see what you are set at so you can return to it, and bring the slider down a notch or even two and see what happens. You'll see what I mean. Now go one higher than what you were set at (if it lets you). You will see things get smaller, but crisper. It is a trade-off.
You get the same trade off with your big TV screens. That's why I told John I didn't want a huge TV screen (like 60 or 65 inches) because at that time they didn't have fine enough resolutions to support it. That's why they had to come out with 4K - to get a good resolution at very large screen sizes.
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Patty MacDuffie
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jaylach
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Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2017 12:57 am |
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MacDuffie wrote: You get the same trade off with your big TV screens. That's why I told John I didn't want a huge TV screen (like 60 or 65 inches) because at that time they didn't have fine enough resolutions to support it. That's why they had to come out with 4K - to get a good resolution at very large screen sizes. Very true Patty. When I got my 42 inch LG I could have gotten a 50 or 55 (can't remember which) inch Samsung for the same price but the image on the 42 inch was too much superior for me to take the 55 inch. Of course it was also LG versus Samsung but that is a matter largely of opinion. I just happen to like LG.  BB, they say a picture is worth a thousand words so why not a picture of what is being said? The first image is one IE window placed to show half on each monitor. The second is a full screen window on both monitors. In both cases the screen resolution is the same on both monitors as is the zoom level in the IE window. As you can see, with everything being the same other than actual monitor size, everything on the larger monitor will visually be larger. Attachment:
IMG_1671.JPG [ 137.39 KiB | Viewed 15812 times ]
Attachment:
IMG_1673.JPG [ 91.15 KiB | Viewed 15812 times ]
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MacDuffie
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Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2017 1:08 pm |
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Joined: Wed Mar 21, 2012 5:42 am
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Looks good, Jay. Nice background photo - what is it?
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Patty MacDuffie
Computer Haven Administrator
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jaylach
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Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2017 3:43 pm |
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Joined: Wed Mar 21, 2012 5:09 am
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Actually they are not photos but rather videos. Remember Dreamscenes from Win Vista? I have it in Win 10.  It isn't exactly Dreamscenes but rather Dreamscapes from Stardock Software. [youtube]w53oyhd7Y6o[/youtube]
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bbarry
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Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2017 4:56 pm |
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Joined: Fri Nov 30, 2012 12:47 am
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Location: North Central Arkansas
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@Patty - I have played around with the resolution settings on my 27" monitor, so I see the effects you mentioned. Since text size is a little more important to me than resolution, I have my slider all the way over to 175%. This works for most programs, although I will sometimes need to scale it back to 150 to see everything on the screen.
@Jay - Thanks for the pictures. As I suspected, when resolution is the same, the text is larger on the larger screen. Although it's difficult for me to tell, I assume the text 'crispness' on the larger screen is equally acceptable.
Maybe I will see if I can scrutinize a curved screen monitor at Best Buy.
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MacDuffie
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Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2017 6:22 pm |
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That 175% is a DPI (dots per inch) setting, not a resolution setting. Type in your taskbar search box, "display resolution." That will bring up the option to change display resolution. Mine is 1920 X 1200. That is always the format in which display resolution is presented. It isn't a slider anymore, but a dropdown list. You will likely see that it is currently set to the highest resolution, and that it says (Recommended) next to it. As you try the lower resolutions, see what it does.
I agree that at some point the size is more important than the fineness of the display. I do find, however, that when the resolution is higher, I can actually read smaller text more comfortably than I could at lower resolution.
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Patty MacDuffie
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bbarry
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Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2017 9:51 pm |
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Joined: Fri Nov 30, 2012 12:47 am
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Patty, my resolution is set at 1920x1080, which is the highest and the recommended setting. Lower resolutions make the text appear a little more course and fuzzy. I do understand that there are two settings I can tweak - DPI and resolution. My DPI is also set to the maximum of 175%, which makes my text larger.
If both DPI and resolution were set to the maximum on a curved 34" monitor, wouldn't my text appear even larger than it does on my 27" monitor? Jay's example images seem to bear this out.
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MacDuffie
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Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2017 10:13 pm |
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Joined: Wed Mar 21, 2012 5:42 am
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It depends on what the resolution is. It would seem likely - but monitors are capable (some) of very high resolutions. If at its highest resolution, the text were to appear to small, then just lower the resolution and it will get larger.
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Patty MacDuffie
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bbarry
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Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2017 10:23 pm |
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Joined: Fri Nov 30, 2012 12:47 am
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Location: North Central Arkansas
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Well, I think I have found the monitor I need and want:
The 105" Samsung QM105D (QM-D Series 105" Slim Direct-Lit 5K UHD LED Display)
It is currently on sale for $101,000 at MonitorMania, and there is no sales tax required! However, my computer room will require a few modifications.
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jaylach
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Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2017 11:55 pm |
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Joined: Wed Mar 21, 2012 5:09 am
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Since there is no shipping order one for me too! I prefer LG but I'll suffer through...
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MacDuffie
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Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2017 12:59 am |
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Joined: Wed Mar 21, 2012 5:42 am
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_________________
Patty MacDuffie
Computer Haven Administrator
Live Long and Prosper
Mr. Spock
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