screen size

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bryanjak

New member
hello
i was looking at getting the optimus ix in 17.3" with 3840x2160 screen but this option has now been removed.

i don't use a laptop for games just photo editing and also other non demanding work programs but do need maximum screen estate for multiple programs.

would i get more screen estate with a 15.6" and 3840x2160 or 17.3" and 1920 x 1080

i currently have optimus iv 17.3" with 1920 x 1080 i can live with this size but more would be useful

size, weight and portability is not an issue, noise i would like to keep to a minimum

thanks for any advice
 
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Tony1044

Prolific Poster
Oussebon said:
4k over a 15.6" screen may not really be worth it: https://www.techradar.com/news/mobi...gorgeous-but-they-re-not-worth-it-yet-1291430

If the laptop is used mostly in one place you could always get an external 4k monitor for your home/office etc where you mostly use it, and stick to 1080p when travelling.
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I'll be honest - I bought my Defiance II with the 15.6" 4K screen and it's been a terrible experience.

The screen itself is beautiful - bright and clear with superb contrast etc. No, it's been the Windows experience that was bad. Applications that have tiny or massive controls, even some MS applications themselves misbehaving.

Knowing what I know now, I'd have gone for a 1080 screen.

I did try again with 1803 going on and the problem is still there.
 
SpyderTracks

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
Tony1044 said:
I'll be honest - I bought my Defiance II with the 15.6" 4K screen and it's been a terrible experience.

The screen itself is beautiful - bright and clear with superb contrast etc. No, it's been the Windows experience that was bad. Applications that have tiny or massive controls, even some MS applications themselves misbehaving.

Knowing what I know now, I'd have gone for a 1080 screen.

I did try again with 1803 going on and the problem is still there.
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For 4K I maintain the optimum screen size is 32”, anything under that (I have 28”) is just a little or a lot too small.
 
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Tony1044

Prolific Poster
SpyderTracks said:
For 4K I maintain the optimum screen size is 32”, anything under that (I have 28”) is just a little or a lot too small.
Click to expand...

I'd tend to agree with that, although I'm still not sure how things will scale even on a screen that size - VLC Media Player is a good example. On my machine, the viewing screen is fine but the controls are minuscule.
 
ubuysa

ubuysa

The BSOD Doctor
I've said this before I know, but I don't believe the human eye can see 4k on a 15" screen....

In any case, at 3840x2160 on a 15" screen the text will be too small to read comfortably unless you scale the Windows screen - which kind of defeats the object.
 
SpyderTracks

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
ubuysa said:
I've said this before I know, but I don't believe the human eye can see 4k on a 15" screen....

In any case, at 3840x2160 on a 15" screen the text will be too small to read comfortably unless you scale the Windows screen - which kind of defeats the object.
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I would wholeheartedly agree with this, and also as Tony1044 says, windows scaling leaves a lot to be desired also.
 
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Tony1044

Prolific Poster
I agree with both of you. To read 4k on a 15" screen, you need a large level of zoom (I seem to recall mine defaulted to 200% but I could be mis-remembering).

Anything less than that and you can't read things.

Which is, of course, the whole point of High-DPI scaling. Apple have managed it well since they released their retina displays, so it clearly can be done but MS and Windows just don't seem to have the same level of finesse.
 
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mdwh

Enthusiast
I've found things fine on my Surface Pro (smaller resolution and screen - the pixel density is only slightly less than 4K at 15" I believe). If there are applications not support high resolutions, I'd say they're at fault, and time to find an alternative - Windows has had support for this for several years, and does just as fine as Mac OS imo. A poorly supported or out of date application would be bad on either platform (and Apple's support on IOS is particularly bad - they've only been able to handle increases by doubling the resolutions every so often to avoid problems with older applications because everything was originally written for just one screen size, not to mention black bars when the aspect ratio changed - so there's certainly nothing special about apple).

I agree it doesn't give extra "screen real estate" though, as you just scale things to make them better (my Surface Pro's at 225%), so there's no real advantage for most people, and a bigger screen will provide the "more space to do things". Again, that's true of apple with their "retina" displays which is just a trademark slapped on other company displays.

ETA: Just installed VLC on my Surface Pro - the skinned interface comes out awful yes, though a custom UI that doesn't support different pixel resolutions would cause problems on any platform. I don't have problems with the non-skinned VLC though - or other video players like Media Player Classic (or indeed the default Windows one which I tend to use more often these days).
 
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Tony1044

Prolific Poster
mdwh said:
I've found things fine on my Surface Pro (smaller resolution and screen - the pixel density is only slightly less than 4K at 15" I believe). If there are applications not support high resolutions, I'd say they're at fault, and time to find an alternative - Windows has had support for this for several years, and does just as fine as Mac OS imo. A poorly supported or out of date application would be bad on either platform (and Apple's support on IOS is particularly bad - they've only been able to handle increases by doubling the resolutions every so often to avoid problems with older applications because everything was originally written for just one screen size, not to mention black bars when the aspect ratio changed - so there's certainly nothing special about apple).

I agree it doesn't give extra "screen real estate" though, as you just scale things to make them better (my Surface Pro's at 225%), so there's no real advantage for most people, and a bigger screen will provide the "more space to do things". Again, that's true of apple with their "retina" displays which is just a trademark slapped on other company displays.

ETA: Just installed VLC on my Surface Pro - the skinned interface comes out awful yes, though a custom UI that doesn't support different pixel resolutions would cause problems on any platform. I don't have problems with the non-skinned VLC though - or other video players like Media Player Classic (or indeed the default Windows one which I tend to use more often these days).
Click to expand...

Please do tell me an alternative to MICROSOFT RDP client because that scales badly too - but at random. You cannot solely blame the applications.
 
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