Monitor aspect ratios

[Paul Stevens]

Hi there people. I am currently upgrading my system and have a couple of questions regarding aspect ratios.

At home at the moment I use a crt monitor with a resolution of 1024x768.
At work I use a resolution of 1600x1200.

Both of these have got a 4:3 aspect ratio.

I am thinking about buying a 19" TFT but I see all of these have a slightly different aspect ratio of: 1280x1024. This is not 4:3 so my question is:

will the monitor be a slightly different shape (physically) than normal or will the pixels be a different shape to keep the same physical aspect ratio (although what you will see will be squashed a bit).

Hope I explained that ok.

Thanks,

Paul.

[Sinker_UK]

The screen aspect ratio will be different (5:4) and the display area will be a different shape. The pixels remain square. You effectively get more screen real-estate.

Some very early 17 and 19 inch TFT screens had a resolution of 1280x1024 but kept the 4:3 aspect ratio, so, like a CRT with that resolution, onscreen squares weren't square and circles weren't circular!

Hope this helps.

[nvening]

The dell 1905 is the best deal for a 19" btw