fiza Posted December 23, 2014 Posted December 23, 2014 We are going to be refreshing some of our IT Suites this year and we have always had 4:3 monitors. Are there any benefits or downsides to going with widescreen monitors? Any benefits of using widescreen with new versions of Office or Photoshop?
DalekSec Posted December 23, 2014 Posted December 23, 2014 (edited) We replaced all our student computers with widescreens purely because they look more modern and future proof, most staff have laptops and I would say only about 2 or 3 machines we have now have a 4:3 screen, they look naff and out of date Edited December 23, 2014 by DalekSec 1
fairm010 Posted December 23, 2014 Posted December 23, 2014 We went with 16:9 in our suites last year. The more modern LED screens look great for Photoshop. Also the fact that 4:3 screens are really hard to find these days! 1
VeryPC_Colin_M Posted December 23, 2014 Posted December 23, 2014 4:3 (squares) are always more expensive than an equivalent widescreen too, so I say; Pay less, get more with widescreen. Ta, Col 1
fiza Posted December 23, 2014 Author Posted December 23, 2014 Expense is a good argument against 4:3 but I need more tangible benefits to widescreen other than they look good.
fiza Posted December 23, 2014 Author Posted December 23, 2014 Bigger is better? At the moment the arguments against widescreen are : takes up more valuable space in already cramped IT Suite 19" widescreen is wider but shorter than 19" 4:3 1
localzuk Posted December 23, 2014 Posted December 23, 2014 Widescreen are *much* better for Photoshop. Being able to have your various tool windows open permanently is a huge advantage. I'd also argue that in Office, being able to have 2 pages next to each other is good too, or a spreadsheet and another window etc... I, quite frankly, can't see any advantage in buying a 4:3 monitor any more. We fit 23" widescreen monitors in our suites, where previously a 4:3 17" had been. We've got very little space too (we cram em in). So, I doubt space is that much of an issue either. 1
VeryPC_Colin_M Posted December 23, 2014 Posted December 23, 2014 An 18.5" Widescreen monitor is about as wide as a kids shoulders when using the keyboard and mouse (thus the minimum limit of their movement potential and desktop footprint); sounds very cramped. You're talking £66-80 for a 17" square monitor compared to £50-60 for a 19" widescreen monitor, so the additional cost is going to be a minimum of £16+VAT per seat in the suite for 2" less of viewing pleasure. Cramming kids in like sardines sounds like the problem here and not whether monitor should be square or widescreen. How about one of the SLT swaps their monster office for your ICT suite, the kids get more space, you save money on monitors, everyone wins? If you can play with 444mm (372mm for 17" square) or so plus a couple of cm gap between screens then you'll easily fit 19" widescreens in. 1
fiza Posted December 23, 2014 Author Posted December 23, 2014 @localzuk @VeryPC_Colin_M - These are the types of points I need to convince the powers that be that widescreen is what we need. Thanks 1
SHimmer45 Posted December 23, 2014 Posted December 23, 2014 I prefer 4:3 in sizes up to 21" after that wide screen all the way 18.5 look very odd
fiza Posted February 26, 2015 Author Posted February 26, 2015 I am still at a crossroads regarding 4:3 or 16:9 I have now come across this article which doesn't make it any easier! Time to ditch awful HD 1080p widescreens- The Inquirer
Norphy Posted February 26, 2015 Posted February 26, 2015 I'd say that as long as the vertical resolution of the new widescreens isn't less than what you had before, go for those. We do have some 18/19" widescreens in college which are 1366x768 and that just annoys the snot out of me. Yes, you get a bit more horizontal resolution over an old fashioned 17" screen but you get a lot less vertical. 1680x1050 or 1920x1080 should be the minimum resolutions that you look at in my opinion.
nathan Posted February 26, 2015 Posted February 26, 2015 all media and print is pretty much aimed at widescreen resolutions now a days.
Marshall_IT Posted February 26, 2015 Posted February 26, 2015 What do you do regarding computers attached to projectors, most (all) of ours still only support 4:3 resolutions so i bought 19" 4:3 monitors for these machines. I'm yet to see a decently priced projector that can do wide-screen at a reasonable resolution.
abillybob Posted February 26, 2015 Posted February 26, 2015 A few reasons: Think of future proofing your environment. When looking at Windows 8 and Windows 10 both make use of the multi app snap-in feature where you can run two apps side by side on a Windows 8 and 4 in Windows 10. Having them cramped both ends and stretched due to 4:3 won't look as good and may make it unproductive to do work on them. Most Windows apps nowadays are designed to be run on 16:9. 4:3 is actually more expensive now. They look older and trust me you say "don't care about looks" but it's parents that bring in the money for the school, we have had students come to us just because "Apple" so if you're using 4:3 no matter what hardware you have got when a Parent looks around the school it could make them think you are using old IT kit. Resolutions tend to be better and higher on newer 16:9 screens. I could go on.....
Boredguy Posted February 26, 2015 Posted February 26, 2015 For offices I normally go for widescreen monitors now as they are cheaper and more screen real estate is perfect for SIMS. For classrooms I still tend to go for 4:3, mainly because most of our projectors only like 1024x768 and it's easier to have the classroom at the same resolution as the teachers computer. As/When/If we replace projectors & do room refresh we will go for the cheaper widescreen monitors (space isn't an issue as we allow a minimum width of 750mm per station in the suites)
machin05 Posted February 26, 2015 Posted February 26, 2015 If you extend your displays you can have a different resolutions for your projector and monitor.
Boredguy Posted February 26, 2015 Posted February 26, 2015 If you extend your displays you can have a different resolutions for your projector and monitor. Not if you only have single output graphics cards you can't.
fiza Posted February 26, 2015 Author Posted February 26, 2015 If you extend your displays you can have a different resolutions for your projector and monitor. Too confusing for our users.
Marshall_IT Posted February 26, 2015 Posted February 26, 2015 Too confusing for our users. Same here!
sonofsanta Posted February 26, 2015 Posted February 26, 2015 22" 1080p monitors in classrooms here, for about the last five years; compared to 17" square they're cheaper, easier to source, with more range (it can be bloody hard work getting decent square monitors with DVI), look better and have more screen space, even vertically. In an ideal world I'd have 16:10 monitors, as I prefer them, but they're not cheap. Teacher PCs are either 17" square for standalones, or dual monitor with a 22" & 17" in a computer room that has 22". I've just bought some refurb monitors from @ICTDirect_Dave for these, though, as I'm sick of paying so much for such old fashioned monitors - he's about a third the price of a new monitor. 1
thebatman Posted February 26, 2015 Posted February 26, 2015 When we replace our pupil screens we replace with widescreen (they take up no more space on the desk as the keyboard is normally bigger). For staff we have stayed with 4:3 as the projectors are all 4:3.
gaz350b Posted February 26, 2015 Posted February 26, 2015 Less than 19 inch go 4:3 20inch and up go with wide screen
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