From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Received: from pigeon.gentoo.org ([208.92.234.80] helo=lists.gentoo.org) by finch.gentoo.org with esmtp (Exim 4.60) (envelope-from ) id 1OtRgD-0008Ve-Nx for garchives@archives.gentoo.org; Wed, 08 Sep 2010 20:55:42 +0000 Received: from pigeon.gentoo.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by pigeon.gentoo.org (Postfix) with SMTP id DA86DE0763; Wed, 8 Sep 2010 20:54:52 +0000 (UTC) Received: from mail-ey0-f181.google.com (mail-ey0-f181.google.com [209.85.215.181]) by pigeon.gentoo.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 9E640E0763 for ; Wed, 8 Sep 2010 20:54:52 +0000 (UTC) Received: by eyf6 with SMTP id 6so487164eyf.40 for ; Wed, 08 Sep 2010 13:54:52 -0700 (PDT) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=domainkey-signature:received:received:from:to:subject:date :user-agent:cc:references:in-reply-to:mime-version:content-type :content-transfer-encoding:message-id; bh=yGUKAdFaguBchbmvkwwKT2u6aGxMu17bynjN+BSt8zo=; b=PZyAiw1sQRef0D2ITIvTkGVxmYsoajKr07WQzziWG14dAu63nutUXRkh7Z083GdsKN sPLvuIbTEpivkOuvK04D2wMjaEzOwGFC+LWPK2jnzfmjjxxitgOkee/ZliqqzYMp7kED 7bzm3EyaOrU/HaEnTjhaJxh/FPEtgU59dsVwM= DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; c=nofws; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=from:to:subject:date:user-agent:cc:references:in-reply-to :mime-version:content-type:content-transfer-encoding:message-id; b=GSvMDntXVVTNi4sxSlgxNBKyg6OGgTXg1uRDnOVXGhCAloM5uVX1Yc3+7+Di1jsOb+ mPDrFbKC/X9XSm+oizIx8qJmQAICscB1F63or8JpJvYzViFeT1iKeCDClRkcV1XdrLoi 7QIWvpST1x1iYFfaDaagkXFeMLQ/KrgZ56In0= Received: by 10.213.6.203 with SMTP id a11mr326730eba.38.1283979289998; Wed, 08 Sep 2010 13:54:49 -0700 (PDT) Received: from nazgul.localnet (196-210-153-155.dynamic.isadsl.co.za [196.210.153.155]) by mx.google.com with ESMTPS id v8sm719223eeh.2.2010.09.08.13.54.46 (version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=RC4-MD5); Wed, 08 Sep 2010 13:54:48 -0700 (PDT) From: Alan McKinnon To: gentoo-user@lists.gentoo.org Subject: Re: [gentoo-user] Re: OT: advice sought on new laptop for Gentoo Date: Wed, 8 Sep 2010 22:54:41 +0200 User-Agent: KMail/1.13.5 (Linux/2.6.35-ck-r2; KDE/4.5.1; x86_64; ; ) Cc: Paul Hartman References: <201009082206.01244.alan.mckinnon@gmail.com> In-Reply-To: Precedence: bulk List-Post: List-Help: List-Unsubscribe: List-Subscribe: List-Id: Gentoo Linux mail X-BeenThere: gentoo-user@lists.gentoo.org Reply-to: gentoo-user@lists.gentoo.org MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: Text/Plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Message-Id: <201009082254.41637.alan.mckinnon@gmail.com> X-Archives-Salt: d3e596be-77f1-4c52-a829-2fc0101ac0cd X-Archives-Hash: f6110f9c61c06597ca4048f956d6d33a Apparently, though unproven, at 22:27 on Wednesday 08 September 2010, Paul Hartman did opine thusly: > On Wed, Sep 8, 2010 at 3:06 PM, Alan McKinnon wrote: > > Then there's non-square pixels. Without funky voodoo graphics algorithms, > > my screen displays circles as ovals. > > That problem should not exist on LCD if you're using the screen's > native resolution. For example, the most common case of this in CRT > days was 1280x1024 resolution which is not a proper 4:3 aspect ratio > (it is 1.25 rather than 1.33). In other to make a circle look like a > circle you'd need to use 1280x960 instead and adjust the monitor to > make the picture fill the screen, or your programs would need to be > aware of the pixel shape and adjust accordingly (those funky voodoo > graphics algorithms). > > With LCD monitors, the 1280x1080 panels are actually a small bit > taller than a standard 4:3 panel, so a circle should look like a > circle without having to do anything special. (However, if someone > uses any other resolution their circle will be oblong). > > I was a die-hard CRT guy but I've found LCD with at least 100 dpi to > be acceptable compared to the CRTs I've had in the past. And in the > case of my S-IPS monitor I think it is really superior to any CRT I've > ever used. (My monitor with TN panel, however, is pretty bad.) I spent 10 years fixing TVs of every imaginable model and type from the best to the worst, and all the improvements in between. As a result I'm finely tuned to departures from the ideal with any display device. probably finely tuned to a fault :-) I can see pixels refreshing on all flat panels, even the best of the best LED models from Samsung. I finally understood why when I found out how that "Xms refresh time" spec is actually measured. I can see non-square pixels by looking at thin but wide arcs, even more so when an oblong pixel is in a square grid. LCDs are easiest driven in terms of pixels - it maps to video memory. If they are no-square, one has to know the horiz and vert dpi and apply a fudge factor to make the image proportional. If the pixels are on a square grid, then one does not fudge the image. All very horribly complex and frankly, more detail than I can really be bothered with. Which all goes to say that I have an unusual frame of reference, one that is *not* universally applicable :-) Your point about poor CRTs is taken. A lousy CRT is unwatchable but a lousy LCD is tolerable. The finest CRTs though still outshine even the best LCD (again, imho only) -- alan dot mckinnon at gmail dot com