On 2026/9/20 9:21:44, c186282 wrote:
On 9/20/26 04:03, Paul wrote:
On Sat, 9/19/2026 4:24 PM, J. P. Gilliver wrote:
On 2026/9/19 10:56:18, Daniel70 wrote:
On 19/09/2026 8:13 am, J. P. Gilliver wrote:
On 2026/9/18 22:19:52, Paul wrote:
On Fri, 9/18/2026 5:09 PM, Joel W. Crump wrote:
On 9/18/2026 5:05 PM, Hank Rogers wrote:
<Snip>
Because laptops have small screens and keyboards are also usuall
y crummy.
Tiny ones, yes. But since the switch to *shortscreen* (which I thin
k
generally was a Bad Move, but it does have this advantage), even 15
"
ones (which tend to be 15.6 since that change) have at least a nume
ric
keyboard. And the screen size has never bothered me.
"shortscreen"??
Sorry, the industry (TV and computer) uses the term "widescreen". Sin
ce,
in many cases (especially in TVs), the same diagonal measurement
certainly gave no increase in _height_ and generally a reduction, I c
all
it shortscreen.
Particularly, when 16:9 (ish) TV sets started to appear, I saw some
cases where a 16:9 set of a given WIDTH actually cost MORE than a 4:3
set of the same WIDTH (which had greater HEIGHT). So anyone sensible
would buy the cheaper one - they could still watch 16:9 programming _
at
the same size_ (sets by then had switchable scans so no loss of
resolution), but could view 4:3 material at a bigger size. People wer
e
just afraid of being _seen_ to have a 4:3 screen, regardless of the f
act
that it was no less wide.
I think "widescreen" is _not_ a good fit for general computer use; wh
en
it first came in, it was presented as "do you want to watch movies in
a
little strip across your screen" - but at _that_ point, few people we
re
_actually_ watching movies on their computer monitors. But it stayed,
and we're stuck with it. (IMO it's _still_ not a good shape for web
pages; I have to do a lot of up-and-down scrolling to read the averag
e
web page.) OK, monitors (and graphics cards) have now got big enough
that you can work on two documents side-by-side (though I still wonde
r
how many people actually do).
If you put two 16:9 monitors side by side, that gives you 32:9
which is pretty boring.
If you rotate two monitors and slap them together, you can make 18:16
.
We were talking about laptops and whether they're usable - multimonitor
setups are I think for specialized users - (some) gamers, or high-power
editors (of videos, multiple documents, etc.), coders, or people who
want to show off (or have a wall to hide behind!).
16:10 (so really 8:5) is a ratio some computer monitors come in - though
I have a strong suspicion that was really mainly so the monitor-only
industry could have something to stop people just buying a TV instead.
(Though small TVs seem to have disappeared.)
You set one monitor up physically for 90 degree rotation,
the other one for 270 degree rotation, so the thin (top) bezels meet i
n
the center. A lot of things have to go right for you, for that
to be any sort of practical project.
I think with most monitors you'd still get a line down the middle.>>
Some monitors "fully support" rotation to compass points. The mount su pports
horizontal or vertical operation (pivoting mount), and the panel PCB h
as
a gravity-based sensor for detecting that the monitor is no longer
at zero degrees. You are unlikely to get that kind of support in a
$100-$200 monitor. Maybe at the $600 level, you'd get that level
of automation. Full rotation support, a "tall" monitor mount.
But you can still take "naive" monitors and do such a setup, as
long as the control panel scan controls are there to make it work.
Yes - it came up recently on here; in Windows 10 (and possibly back to 7
or XP?) there's an orientation setting among the display settings, and
on some the graphics driver will switch if you just press one of the
arrow keys with some modifier (shift? ctrl-shift? I can't remember as
this machine doesn't have that driver, which I'd not expect for a laptop)
.
The video card apparently has everything needed, for controlling
the output for any weird rotation plans you've got. It's the
intermediate software that may not be up to the task of
fiddling the controls.
The verification plan for multi-monitor, is extensive, and would be
a pain in the ass for software that is frequently modified. As
an example of an obscure bug, I was testing four monitors on two
video cards, and just in the naive panoramic orientation (no rotations
or funny stuff). In the middle of a session, out of the blue, the
video card numbering swapped. FX5200 Number 1 became FX5200 Number 2,
and vice versa, which of course messes up the panoramic orientation
with the mouse disappearing in the center of the screen or so. There
can be a lot of permutations and combinations to test, to prove
display control panels work. And some display control panels,
hardly anything works right :-) You don't have to "search" for
bugs, as your first bug is just waiting for you in plain sight.
Yes, such bugs/features include where the taskbar appears (across both
or just in one), whether there's a default/safe place, losing things off screen(s), and so on.
Never underestimate the mayhem available in a Display control panel :-
)
While you may "dream big", that control panel will get in your road
(as the Scot at work would have put it).
Um ... just kinda SKIP the "super-wide" view.
Not really useful - except maybe to 'gamers'.
I'm not one of those. Less CPU/display is
just FINE with me. Can get by on mini-boxes.
Yea ... I'm more a 'minimalist'. Plenty of us
out here. YOU pay out the fuckin' ass, WE
do not - but are still happy.
Yes, I'm happy with this 1920 by 1080 screen (any bigger and the CPU
[see other thread] would struggle anyway). And most windows I _don't_
even run full screen anyway - not my email/news, browser, command
prompt, text editor, ... about the only things I regularly use full
screen are VLC (movies) and _sometimes_ IrfanView (images). I have
enough trouble with softwares that don't "play nice" with my
double-height taskbar (bits often disappear behind it).
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()ALIS-Ch++(p)Ar++T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf
"Mary Poppins is a junkie"
- bumper sticker on Julie Andrews' car in the '60s
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* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)