[Sigia-l] 800 or 1024 - Which min. display resolution to build for?

[Listera]

Skot Nelson:

> "Media" type PCs that are being used to drive HDTV screens. Quite
> large, but extremely low resolution really.

Talking about "resolution" without context is pretty much meaningless.

For example, I was just watching a movie on a 60-inch HDTV screen. Its
"native" resolution is 1920 x 1080. At half the size, my 30" monitor
display's resolution is 2560 x 1600. Which one is better to watch "media"
on? 

Well, I don't design or read on the 60-inch HDTV screen and at a 10-foot
"movie watching" distance that screen is very sharp and certainly not
"extremely low resolution." In fact, if Sony *doubled* the pixel count on
that one, at a 10-foot distance, I don't think one would notice the
difference all that much for moving images.

When we watch movies we don't mind that the screen effectively "overflows"
beyond our peripheral vision, which provides cues for a heightened sense of
realism. But when we read or concentrate on a detail (as we always do a PC
monitor), the useful area of attention is much more compressed. At a
3-6-foot distance, I'm not sure if I'd want to read text or try to decipher
something that filled the length of a 60-inch screen, no matter how high
resolution it was.

----
Ziya

Usability >  Simplify the Solution
Design >  Simplify the Problem