Well, it was time to upgrade my wife’s monitor to an LCD flat panel. So, Friday i went down to my local PC supplier, and he was out of the one I wanted.. (A 19 inch standard aspect ratio). So, I thought the 19″ widescreen would be great on my development PC, and she could have my 12 month old LCD.
So, after purchasing, and installing on my new (3 weeks old) PC, I felt something was wrong. It looked “smaller” than my old 19″ screen. I could not see as much screen real-estate, so I measured each of them. Yep, the new one sure was wider, but also a lot narrower. And I had trouble getting an aspect ratio I was comfortable with.
Next, a switcheroo, whilst she was out shopping. I got my old 19″ LCD back, and it looked great again. Then I finally got the new 19″W LCD installed on my Wife’s PC. With some effort, and upgrading of video drivers, I finally was able to get a picture on the new screen.
Today, three days later, it was back to the store, fork out the 10% re-stock fee, and pay another $30 for the only other standard 19″ they had in stock.
Buyer Beware. The newer Widescreen monitors can be a hassle to match some video output.
Do some research and convince yourself that it is really what you want. Otherwise you will end up with distored screens. A handy link I found is Screen Ratios Explained
