New 24" monitor scaling issue

[piikea]

I'm coming from a 19" CRT to a ZR24w 24" LCD Flat monitor. So to me, at it's 16:10 1920x1200 native res, desktop icons, various software , webpages, etc all display TOO small. Text tends to be less than 1/8" actual size, the taskbar is 1/4".

I know i can increase the icons & font through Windows but the difficult part is having to use zoom on most webpages for them to be readable. Constantly "re-sizing" things gets annoying. Is this just a fact of life using larger screen sizes? It seems to me there ought to be some scaling going on automatically. The monitor has 2 "Custom scaling" options but neither of them "fix" what I'm talking about.

Is there a good/proper (i.e., "accurate") method of taking a screenshot that would adequately show the screen as I see it AND so someone knowledegable on here could identify if it looks "right/normal" or if something's off?

[RickyTick]

Just use PrtScn button and save it in Paint as a .png file. You can post it on here or on a hosting site like Photobucket and provide a link.

http://forums.mysuperpc.com/faq.php?faq=vb3_reading_posting#faq_vb3_attachment s

[piikea]

I know "how" - I guess what I was getting at was: some way to show "scale" as it is on my screen vs. how it appears to the person viewing the screenshot on their screen. It seems difficult to convey accurate, "real-life size" w/ a screenshot since anyone viewing it at whatever res their screen is - it will appear differently, no?

In other words, IF the viewer of the attached screenshot here is viewing it on the same monitor size of which the the screen is taken OF (24", 16:10, 1920x1200 native res) - then it will appear exactly as my screen appears to me.

As I type this the font is less 1/4". There is even smaller font on this page than that - less than 1/16". The monitor is about arm's length from my eyes (w/ 20/20 vision) - so I can see & read it but it's too small for comfort (for instance most documents are typed in 10 or 12 font size, not 4 or 6). I know one can increase the size of font/icons through Windows on the desktop, etc & zoom in on webpages BUT is it normal to have to zoom most webpages to see it at a "decent" size (at my monitor's spec's)? That is a pain & also often distorts badly how some webpages display if you zoom too much.

On a CRT, webpages' perimeters by design display as centered & relatively uniformly from webpage to webpage. On large LCD flats there's no "standard" so they appear center or left justified, some fill the whole screen as this one does (yet things are very small). Is there no way to "auto" zoom so to speak so that going from one webpage to the next you don't have to be adjusting to various zoom levels constantly?

http://img260.imagevenue.com/loc116/th_12110_screen1_122_116lo.jpg (http://img260.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=12110_screen1_122_116lo.jpg)

[RickyTick]

Oh, I see what you're saying. Sorry for the confusion. :)

I run at the native resolution of my monitors. It took some getting used to, but I like the smaller fonts. Guys at work use a lower resolution so they can see the works more easily, but they always have to scroll around to see the whole webpage or document. I really don't know how to answer you question.

[piikea]

But the screenshot looks about right to you (whatever your monitor size & res is)?

[RickyTick]

But the screenshot looks about right to you (whatever your monitor size & res is)?

Yep.

[The Wise Monkey]

You can change the resolution to be less so that the text and things appear larger, but try and keep the same ratio so that things don't appear stretched. Try changing the resolution to something like 1680x1050 (iirc) and see if that is any better.

[zburns]

Piikea: I have used a Samsung 24" monitor since mid 2008; here are some random comments. I too, went from a 19 " CRT to a 24" flat screen. The main reason I wanted the change had to do with typing letters, documents in Wordperfect and printing on 8 1/2 x 11 inch paper. On the 19" CRT, I could not even see a full single page without scrolling vertically. Most important, I wanted two 8 1/2 x 11 pages to show simultaneously so that as I transitioned from the first page to the second, I could see both pages and maintain 'my continuity of thought'. Leaving half a sentence on the first page and then having to compose and finish up on the second page is a real pain if you cannot see the first page.

The following is exactly the process I use to read text from left to right. (This is an EDIT about one hour from finishing the post and rereading it several times. When I say I do not move my eyes, not sure that is correct; if I do move them, it is only in small increments. My whole topic of eye movement is built around the idea of scanning the entire width of the monitor and trying to read the text -- I cannot do it, not because of the text size, but it is too much data to process, I guess. )

First monitor brightness set to about 18% to 25% of full brightness. The main difference in what I do and what you describe has to do with 'distance from the monitor'. I routinely get as close as 14" from the screen to approx 20" away; most of the time it is about 20"; but what I never try to do is read the full entire horizontal screen dimension (20 1/4") at arm's length from the screen. When I back away to arm's length and look at text over the full width of the screen, my field of vision may include the whole screen but I still have to move my eyes (left to right) and head to read fully the screen left to right and doing this is uncomfortable and disconcerting.

When I work from 14" to 20" away and have text running the full screen left to right, I fixate towards the left, eyes stationary, and shift my head to the right (eyes stay stationary) to finish up the entire line of text left to right. As I read text, continously and mentally uninterrupted, my eyes do not move, but I will shift my head, once or twice, left to right (and then back to the left for the next line down).

Note: The above is the way I think I have always used the monitor, but this is the first time I ever sat here, looked at it, and said to myself, "just exactly what do I do for this reading process" -- so the above (the whole post!) sounds sort of silly in a way -- but what makes my method comfortable for me is 'the eyes not moving and the head moving one or two times towards the right to read a horizontal line of text'.

My font sizes are the same as you describe. I also do a lot of webpage work, and my text size on the Website Builder Site is 8 pt. That is more of a concentration challenge and I use exactly the same technique but the total text line width is about 5 to 6 inches when composing. But the finished web page (as you said in one of your posts) is apx 8 1/2 wide -- not the full monitor width.

Just tried this: At arm's length, about 24", no combination of moving either the head or the eyes or both is satisfactory. I guess I am seeing too much text and trying to process that amount is, again, disconserting and uncomfortable. Also, at arm's length, as I look at this post, I see the entire post and automatically try to process it all, but if I am closer to the screen, what I concentrate on is much less than the entire post (even tho, the entire post is available, I am just not focused on the whole post, just several lines up and down and concentration on what I am reading is much improved).

Last comment. I do not remember anytime since I starting using this monitor that I have been uncomfortable using it and I have never had the desire to increase the font size from the default size. Sitting back at arm's length, I cannot 'deal with' the full lines of text left to right in a comfortable manner.

In regards to the eyes being 14" from the monitor, I have asked my ophthalmologist at least twice over a period of two years if it is dangerous for me to be so close to the monitor; also, I always tell her I keep the brightness reduced to about 18% to 25% of full brightness. Every time I have raised the subject, there is an immediate NO, not a problem; nevertheless, it is prudent for each user to ask this same question to their eye physician, regards 'closeness to the monitor' and level of brightness.

(Later EDIT) I can look at this entire post from Arm's length distance and I cannot begin to read it with any clarity -- it just does not process.