screen resolution question 1280x960 or 1280x1024 ?

The next one for me is 1280x960 on my Nvidia GeForce2 MX/MX 400 humm

Maybe its my ati allin wonder video card,still dosnt make sense.TV is at the same screen ratio as the standard PC screen.

The next one past that is of course 1600 x 1200.Which would be correct.

Depends on the graphic card and the monitor that you are using.
When I had Savage4 card and a CTX monitor, I had 800 x 600, 1024 x 768, 1280 x 960 and 1280 x 1024
Now with a ATI Radeon and a Dell monitor, I get all of the above plus 1280 x 768, 1600 x 1200, 1792 x 1344 and 1920 x 1440.

1280*960 is the correct resolution for CRT monitors, while 1280*1024 is correct for TFT monitors

Well, if you want to keep in the usual 4:3 ratio (TV, etc...), then 1280 x 960 is the way to go.

Why the difference between CRT and TFT?My video card is only giving me the option for 1280 x 1024 even tho I am on a CRT.

My laptop has both 1280 x 1024 and 1280 x 960 as options.
For simple scalability, I stick with the 4/3 ratio.
I'm using a Fujitsu with the TFT that looks like a CRT. It is the reason I bought it over other brands.
I photograph eagles and do some highend graphics. It isn't worth the hassle to have to optimize for a resolution outside the standard ratio.
Speaking of which, anybody know the HTML/whatever to check the screen resolution of someone visiting your site? I'd like to set up for automatic switching of file sets.
Thanks!

1600x1200 and 1024x768, 800x600, are for normal monitors, 1280x1024 is for monitors more closely shaped to a square, widescreen monitors run on ever stranger ones

I vote for 1280x1024

1280x960 just doesn't look right, despite being the next logical step. 1280x1024 is soooo much better...

1280*1024

Best of both worlds.

Besides it will fit the other one some what nicely.

Or design the wall to accomidate the size difference by haveing black on the top and bottom.

#9 by Developer horiz0n - 9/5/2003 5:25:10 PM 1600x1200 and 1024x768, 800x600, are for normal monitors, 1280x1024 is for monitors more closely shaped to a square, widescreen monitors run on ever stranger ones

This is absolutely correct, with the advent of flat screen, flat panel, and widescreen monitors, screen resolutions have had to adapt to a greater degree of resolutions. The 1280X960 format was created for the old type monitors which are now all but gone. The same size monitor but Flat screen CRT would use 1280X1024 because it offers more "viewing area" while maintaining the same dimensions.

1280x1024

Hmm, I never knew that 1280x1024 was supposed to be for TFT screens. Didn't matter much to me, because I like it better anyway on my 19" CRT.

Still dosnt make sense to me.I'm on a normal 17" monitor but 1280 x960 isnt even an option.Dosnt make sense to go from one ratio to another.

The key is the aspect ratio: 1280*960 has a ratio of 4:3 and 1280*1024 has one of 5:4. CRT monitors are designed for 4:3 and not any other ratio. That's why 1280*960 is better on CRT monitors. For an example: That means that on 1280*1024 a circle looks like an ellipse. If you do not see it then don't worry about it.

On a flat screen designed for 1280*1024 (aspect ratio 5:4) the height of the screen should be a bit taller than an equivalent CRT monitor to correct the effect.

On wide screen displays there are even weirder resoltions, but most should have an aspect ratio of 16:9.

On CRT monitors all popular resolutions have an aspect ration of 4:3.
640*480
800*600
1024*768
1152*864
1280*960
1600*1200
1792*1344
1856*1392
1920*1440
2048*1536

My Matrox supports all the above and the following 5:4 aspect ratios:
1280*1024
1600*1280
1800*1440

It also supports the following 16:9 aspect ratios:
1280*720
1920*1080

And a 16:10 (8:5) aspect ratio:
1920*1200

And even various odd resolutions have been supported. Most approximate 16:9, 16:10 or 1.85:1. Others are intended for portrait page monitors. Some seem to come from thin air, but are mostly intended to reduce cost by omiting a few scanlines or to fit a block of memory convenient to the hardware/software engineers. All these resolutions exist, because hardware is made for them.
848*480
864*480
856*480
960*2400
1024*1536
1024*512
1072*600
1280*720
1280*768
1360*768
1376*768
1600*1024

BTW: Some laptops offer a 1400*1050 resolution which has an aspect ratio of 4:3.

anything above 800 x 600 is overkill for me. I have a hard time seeing anything when it is small.

I didn't list the ancient MDA, Hercules, CGA, EGA, MCGA and VGA modes that were common before Windows became popular. All modern VGA cards still support these.