Selecting a lower-res display?

1 points by 4midori 13y ago ↗ HN

My setup consists of a Windows 7 PC with two monitors:

- 26" 720p (1366X768) primary display - Toshiba 26AV502U LCD Television - 20" 1024X768 secondary display (Generic Dell monitor)

I prefer lower resolution, as this allows me to sit further from my screens, and is easier on the eyes. I have tried, for example, to run Thunderbird on a 1900X1200 display, and everything is just too damn small.

I'd like to add a third display that is energy-efficient (Energy Star) and gives me 720p, or close, at 26" display size - native resolution, but the trend is in the other direction - higher and higher resolution.

I know I can try running something at half the native resolution, but that requires I get a display which runs something ridiculous like 2600X1600.

I suppose I can get another of the Toshibas, but I'd prefer something more energy-efficient.

Ideas?

1 comment

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benaiah 13y ago ↗

Have you never heard of OS-level scaling? I run 1080p on a 13" screen (116 ppi) and if I set the "Make text and other items bigger" setting in Control Panel to the largest option (150%), then I can get it looking like this: http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/3294/bigscreen.png (Chrome doesn't automatically zoom with the OS, but you can zoom it easily or use another browser).

You don't need to double the resolution to do this (besides, 2600x1600 isn't as ridiculous as you might think). 200% isn't your only option - the two that Control Panel gives you are 125% and 150%, but there are other ways you can make it bigger that allow for different percentages (try your graphics card settings if you need those).

It's well worth it to get a higher-res monitor and scale it - everything will look far better, particularly text, than if you get a low-res monitor. It also gives you a lot more options.