http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/06/benqs-fp72v-17-inch-monitor/ Engadget Comments for BenQ's FP72V 17-inch monitor http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/06/benqs-fp72v-17-inch-monitor/http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/06/benqs-fp72v-17-inch-monitor/Dec 19th 2005 12:53AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/05/06/benqs-fp72v-17-inch-monitor/http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/06/benqs-fp72v-17-inch-monitor/
High density LCD screens do not generally exist in the consumer marketplace. If you do the math, you'll realize that the density of all consumer LCD screens is about the same - in the range of around 95-115dpi, regardless of size or pixel resolution. (The exception is LCD's made specifically for medical or other professional uses, although these can run into the many thousands of dollars.) There's obviously a cost vs. benefit reason for this. If you suddenly jump from a 100dpi density to a 150dpi density, the costs scale up with the number of transistors involved and the tolerances with which you've got to manufacture them, while the yields scale down... meaning much higher prices for all of us.

There's a high end and a low end to the density range, but 17" screen densities are not at the low end... 19" screens take that honor. The 19" LCD is the bastard child, sort of a tweener with no real benefit over a 17" model except for watching video or gaming (or for those with vision problems). 15, 17, and 20/21 inch models, though, all give you resolutions that scale up logically at around the same density.

btw, depending on your point of view, 17" models have something of an advantage over 15" and 21" models in that they're 5:4 displays vs. 4:3 displays. So they are actually slightly larger than you would otherwise expect a 17" display to be. (Don't ask me why this is the case - I don't know who decided the 5:4 1280x1024 was the next step up from the 4:3 1024x768, with a return to 4:3 in 1600x1200 after that... but there it is. 1280x1024 LCD's do still have square pixels, so they are true 5:4 displays.)
]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:53AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/05/06/benqs-fp72v-17-inch-monitor/http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/06/benqs-fp72v-17-inch-monitor/Dec 19th 2005 12:53AM