Why flat panel monitors at so low resolution?

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Postby klinky » Wed Jan 08, 2003 5:29 pm

Because they know YOU want one. :shock:


Ask DELL, who knows maybe one of those interns can go russle one up in the back for you and earn that promotion he so obviously needs. From tech monkey to bathroom cleaner... Big time :shock:


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Postby Vlad G Pohnert » Wed Jan 08, 2003 10:09 pm

One other thing is that you are stuck with a laptop's screen basically as the primary video interface. But on a desktop, you have the choice of going to a bigger size at the start or at any time after. I think the 15" flat screens are desgined as mentioned to handle resoltions typical to thier size. If a larger resolution is required, most people will go out and buy a bigger sized monitor. I personally would find that reolution way too small for me, but if I had a laptop and my setup was based on that, I would have to settle for the 15" display size since I'm not going to lug around a karger screen.... That's my take on it...


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Postby kthulhu » Wed Jan 08, 2003 10:29 pm

I bet the janitors at Dell get paid pretty well. Unless they get paid in WebPCs. God, those things sucked.

Maybe they even make more than some of the tech monkies. Everyone has an MSCE or A+ certification, but how many can wield a mop effectively?

Anyhow, maybe the reason that you can get 1600x1200 on a laptop LCD is due to the fact that you can customize the display controller and video chipset more? Basically, optimize the video display and adapter to work together really well. The downside is compatibility with other brands of hardware, but in a laptop, this is typically seen as an ok thing. After all, who needs or want to put an LCD from a Toshiba machine onto a Dell laptop?

I also think it has something to do with analog to digital conversion or vice versa. Maybe I'm blowing smoke out my tookus.
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Postby NicholasDWolfwood » Wed Jan 08, 2003 10:30 pm

I work solely on a 17".

I would have to sit in the middle of my hutch to see both monitors, and I need either two video cards (AGP and some shitty PCI) or a dual-monitor capable video card to use two monitors. Plus, another 17" is $200 (USD) and I don't have enough room on my desktop, unless I got rid of this thing and just got a foldout picnic table or something.
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Postby Phade » Tue Jan 14, 2003 2:58 pm

Hey,

I was thinking and I think I figured it out why they don't make 1600x1200 regular 15" flatpanel monitors even though they make them for laptops.

1) The monitors would be about the same price to produce as the current lower resolution ones. But, if they made them, they would have to lower the cost of the lower resolution monitors to make the 1600x1200 ones have a competetive price. This would lower their profit margins because Joe Consumer really doesn't see the real value of very high resolutions and would just get the lower resolution one instead since low resolution is what they are used to anyways on their current crappy monitors.

2) Higher resolution means more pixels. More pixels means more chance for dead pixels. The more chance of dead pixels means the more chance for returns. The more returns they get, the less profit they get.

The combination of these two reasons is why they don't want to offer 1600x1200 flatpanel monitors even though they really could at a reasonable price (and do on laptops).

Make sense? Dang it...

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Postby Mr Pilkington » Tue Jan 14, 2003 3:12 pm

I would take some serious mods and wicked investents but....
<a href="http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/52/wo/Zf3crGFTPafe2uEbJwsotuMBu71/1.5.0.3.27.12.0.5.1.1?48,24">MMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Cinemalicous. </a>
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Postby alternatefutures » Tue Jan 14, 2003 3:50 pm

It is a nice resolution size for editing, but Mac flatpanels are not on the cuttingedge of LCD technology. Their contrast ratios and response times leave much to be desired when compared to an Iiyama or a Samsung. I once liked Viewsonic until they just decided one day to raise the published specs without doing anything to the monitors themselves. And honestly, for the price of that Mac display you could get two 20" 1600X1200 Iiyama or Samsung monitors WITH a Matrox Parhellia card! I actually feel sorry for Mac users who don't have much of a choice here.
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Postby alternatefutures » Tue Jan 14, 2003 3:51 pm

Oh, and Phade, I love it that you can click a link in the "Topic Review" window and it pops up in that little frame. Cool! And the back button even works! Neato!
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Postby Mr Pilkington » Tue Jan 14, 2003 4:17 pm

True, I'll just stick to my 20" Sun Trinitrons anyways. 1600x1200 is plenty for me. And I'm not bothered by CRT.
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Postby Phade » Tue Jan 14, 2003 4:24 pm

Hey,

The visiual quality dosn't bother me that much. It's just the massive amount of desk length space. I barely have enough room for my keyboard! :?

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Postby TaranT » Wed Jan 15, 2003 1:39 am

Phade wrote:The visual quality doesn't bother me that much. It's just the massive amount of desk length space. I barely have enough room for my keyboard!


My problem, too. Also, figure the heat output of multiple CRTs in an upstairs room at the height of summer.

I was out "window shopping" over the holidays and noticed that LCD monitors are really moving. The Best Buy's seemed to go through their floor stock in a matter of days. I saw small local computer shops with stacks of LCD monitors that were almost gone by New Year's. Tonight, I was in a Costco that had 40-50 Princeton LCDs (15", $269). Not to mention about ten copies each of two different brands of 42" plasma tv's.

All of which leads me to believe that the distribution pipeline is loaded with these things. This could be the year that LCD monitors start taking over the market as their prices fall to acceptable levels ('bout time, too).
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Postby alternatefutures » Wed Jan 15, 2003 2:18 am

Actually, the begining of the takeover has long past as companys began replacing aging CRTs with LCDs last year. This year, however, there is more demand than supply, as you have noticed, so expect a price hike. The good news is that more money to LCD manufacturers means higher capacity factories and better equipment. Higher capacity factories means long term price drop. Better equipment means more 600:1 - 800:1 contrast ratio panels running at 16ms response time. My advice is to hold off buying the panels this year and get a panel next year for either a lot less or that has almost no downside in comparison with CRTs besides price.
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Postby TaranT » Wed Jan 15, 2003 3:45 am

I'm taking the opposite position on prices since I'm observing more supply than demand; i.e. no matter how many they sell, there's always more on the shelf in a few days. Everything I've seen indicates pressure to move inventory. I've been to several places just in the past couple of weeks that have had dozens of these things stacked on the floor. And I can't recall the number of different brands - ten to twenty at least (even though the number of manufacturers is probably much smaller).

The next few months will tell. Keep an eye on the online sites. LCD monitor prices at googlegear, newegg, etc. have been falling since well before Xmas.

You're right about the quality, though. Prices are falling the most for basic units with no DVI jack, higher response times, and lower contrast ratios. Most people would not notice and will buy as long as the price is low enough. As phade said, picture quality is not the only issue, especially if you're just Web browsing or doing Office-type work.
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