Toshiba's 22-inch monitor touts insane 3,840 x 2,400 resolution (and price)
By Thomas Ricker 
posted November 2nd 2007 2:42AM
posted November 2nd 2007 2:42AM
Ready for yet another 22-inch LCD? How 'bout if it was pumping 4 times as many pixels as just about every other monitor in its class? We're talking 3,840 x 2,400 pixels for a WQUXGA display. Unfortunately, the specs fall off quickly (but not too quickly) from there: 235cd/m2 brightness, 300:1 contrast, and a weak-sauce 120-degree top/bottom and 100-degree left/right viewing angle. Of course you'll need a dedicated (dual-link, presumably) PCI graphics card to drive that resolution over the monitor's single DVI input. Shipping in Japan before summer for an anticipated ¥2,079,000. Right, a staggering $17,500 or about 50 of Dell's 22-inchers.P.S. Sorry, no picture, that's just a generic 22-incher to the right.
Update: Toshiba will sell you a PCI graphics card for an additional ¥312,000 ($2,783). How nice.
[Via Impress]
WQUXGA??? Shit, all these "xGA" names are approaching my fabled "WSQFGXVGA" moniker.
Come on! I'm still waiting on the magic 16:10 4k screen (4000x2500), so those of us who still idolize the red one will have viewing space (and I just happen to like 16:10; it gives me room to put extra stuff live video controls while watching.)
You are all talking about the same monitor that has appeared in many similar incarnations. The version did indeed use a custom graphics driver. The latest model upped the top frefresh rate from 41 to 48 Hz. When IBM sold its laptop and PC hardware divion to Lenovo this business was also sold. Refurbished or off-lease IBM T221 or VP2290Bs go for between $600 and $3500 on EBay.
There is a superb yahoo group that is a font of knowledge for this technology as well as high resolution devices in general http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/IBM_T2X_LCD/links. Also a useful wikipedia entry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_T221
I got my vp2290b off ebay for only $800 although it did have a small scratch on the screen. I think the IBM DG5s are a over-priced just for the increased refresh rate. I am amazed that this thing has worse specs than my vp2290b other than refresh rate... Also 3840x2400 is dooable with games on an 8800 GTX. I was able to get around 80 FPS on CS:S @ 3840x2400 and 340 FPS on older games like quake 3 when I tested with my vp2290b. Right now it runs off my system at work (geforce 6600 gts) which runs it at 33.7 Hz using linux + XGL/compiz which the 6600 is fast enough for @ 3840x2400
Funny how Thomas changed the wording from "dual-channel" to "dual-link" on the sly after I made my comment.
More resolution is fine, Make it a 44" with
3840 x 2400 and you will find a market.
Ultra-high def. anyone? larger screens would be
nice, 60" at 6000 x 3000 !?!
The main problem with these is not lack of demand. It's lack of hardware support, both in terms of interface cables that can provide a decent refresh rate, and graphics cards powerful enough to handle that resolution. Also, try running a game in SLI mode or Crossfire at 3840x2400. I'll bet it will crash every five minutes because nVidia's and ATI's (AMD's) drivers aren't up to snuff. These monitors have been around for years starting with the IBM T221, but until the rest of the hardware catches up they're no good for everyday computer applications. Incidentally, you can find older versions of these on eBay for less than four thousand dollars from time to time. Who's going to pay $17,000 when you can get an equivalent panel for less than $4,000, unless you just have to have the 60Hz refresh, which would be more compelling if they could make that simple plug and play.