Hard to read the text on the webpage

[stevep]

Have a look at

http://www.lowendmac.com/tech/pixels.html​

About half way down the page is a table showing the screen dpi's for different macs. I thought they would all be the same, and like many had wrongly assumed that the Mac dpi was a fair bit lower than that of a pc - it used to be but Apple changed all that some time ago.
Although the Mac mini isn't in the table, there are plenty of other models shown which you can use as a yardstick. Note that the 14" iBook has the lowest dpi of all, but its not that much lower than a Windows pc (96 dpi).
As CanadaRam says:

Since you are comparing with Windows, I think you are also seeing the effects of the OS X font smoothing.

 

[hob]

You're also running at a slow refresh rate...I run my LCD at 75 not 60hz.

Do LCD's have refresh rates?

 

[Jigglelicious]

Do LCD's have refresh rates?

Not in the same way that a CRT refreshes the screen, no. LCD's do have pixel response times, though this is not affected by the Hz of the signal.

 

[ITASOR]

Do LCD's have refresh rates?

My Samsung Syncmaster doesn't let me change it from 75Hz.

Anyone know the native resolution for a Samsung Syncmaster 715V? That would be nice to know.

 

[jeremy.king]

I don't think Apple will swap a new machine to me, they may just say something like, well, its your monitor; go and get a DVI one....

You will never know unless you call.

 

[CanadaRAM]

You're also running at a slow refresh rate...I run my LCD at 75 not 60hz.

Naw. 60 Hz is correct for a LCD. The pixels (transistors) on an LCD turn on and STAY ON until the colour of that pixel changes, so refresh rate is immaterial.

The reason refresh rate is important on CRTs is that the pixels (phosphors) of the screen fire, glow, then immediately start to fade to black, then the gun comes along and fires them again (refreshes them). If the rate at which the electron gun refreshes the pixels is near 60 x per second, then an ugly strobing flicker effect takes place between the screen and the 60 Hz AC current which is pulsing the *room lighting* at nearly the same rate. The solution for CRTs is to increase the refresh rate until it is far enough away in frequency from the room lights that the interference doesn't happen (or use the computer outside in the sunlight, or move to a country with 50 Hz AC frequency.

But since LCDs don't glow and fade, they don't need refreshing, and the 60 Hz setting is essentially meaningless.

 

[CanadaRAM]

Anyone know the native resolution for a Samsung Syncmaster 715V? That would be nice to know.

Ummm... www.samsung.com -> Support -> Search "715V" -> click first result -> Max/Native Resolution: 1280x1024

A similar process will find the specifications of most products from most manufacturers...

 

[ITASOR]

Thanks CanadaRAM! I changed it to 1280x1024, but it had lots of little lines through the display. I then changed it from 75Hz to 60hz and the lines went away. I've been working on 1152x870, but this had the little barely noticable lines, because it was only available on 75Hz. The only resolutions the Samsung does on 60Hz are 1280x1024 and 1024x768. 1024x768 is what I was using on Windows, but on Mac is makes everything so big, that it looks blurry. Same on 1152x870. Changing the display to 1280x1024 made everything really crisp, but the downside is that everything is too small.

Everything also looks a little squashed vertically, which I'm not sure if it really is or that I was used to 1152x870, which I'm guessing is an odd resolution, since I've never heard of it.

Opinions?

 

[mwpeters8182]

Thanks CanadaRAM! I changed it to 1280x1024, but it had lots of little lines through the display. I then changed it from 75Hz to 60hz and the lines went away. I've been working on 1152x870, but this had the little barely noticable lines, because it was only available on 75Hz. The only resolutions the Samsung does on 60Hz are 1280x1024 and 1024x768. 1024x768 is what I was using on Windows, but on Mac is makes everything so big, that it looks blurry. Same on 1152x870. Changing the display to 1280x1024 made everything really crisp, but the downside is that everything is too small.

Everything also looks a little squashed vertically, which I'm not sure if it really is or that I was used to 1152x870, which I'm guessing is an odd resolution, since I've never heard of it.

Opinions?

The reason everything looks blurry is that you aren't at the native resolution of the screen. The native resolution of an LCD will look much, much better than any other resolution

MP

 

[ITASOR]

Yeah...it's just too bad that everything is SOOO small on 1280x1024.....it's hard to read small. Although it's great for photoshop and iMovie! I think I'll try and get used to it!

 

[jeremy.king]

Changing the display to 1280x1024 made everything really crisp, but the downside is that everything is too small.

You do realize you can customize the size of icons and menu text, right?

 

[Lacero]

My sister at work uses a 21" CRT monitor with the resolution set a 800x600. Go figure.

 

[ITASOR]

I know about icons and menus, but everthing else is small and I don't really like changing text sizes all the time just so I can read it. I just wish it let me use other resolutions at 60hz to get rid of the small lines.

 

[jeremy.king]

I just wish it let me use other resolutions at 60hz to get rid of the small lines.

LCDs are designed to run at one resolution. The refresh rate doesn't apply.

 

[ITASOR]

When I use any resolution that actually gives me the option of 75 or 60, 75 puts these micro-lines on the left side of the screen. They look like a line of lighter pixels, then darker one, and so on. Changing the display to 60Hz fixes the problem, but 75hz is the only option on the resolution I want to use.

Hope that clears it up. Also, thanks for the responses, I appreciate it.