DPI scaling on 1024x768 to check 1600x1200 text readability?

[stlouislouis]

I'm used to working on a T30 at work with a 14 inch 1024x768 screen. My wife also has a 15 inch T60 with a 1024x768 screen I could test on.

I'm thinking of getting a T60p with a 1600x1200 resolution Flexview screen. Not sure if the text would be "all day readable" without eyestrain.

Crisp, sharp text is THE most important factor to me, since I spend 60-80 hours every week reading and writing text on an LCD screen. Plus, since I'm a programmer in my day job, I need to notice those little details (like the difference between the number 1 and the letter l that makes compilers "unhappy").

Could I use DPI scaling in Windows XP Pro to simulate a 1600x1200 resolution on a T60 1024x768 screen? Would this be a realistic, valid test?

Also, if I do get a 1600x1200 resolution laptop, is it true that I could change the resolution to 800x600 and have no loss of text sharpness if I get tired of the small text size at 1600x1200? Along this line, can I use DPI scaling to increase the text size with no loss of sharpness on a 1600x1200 screen?

Thanks!

[JHEM]

No, no and yes.

Get a 15" SXGA+ display, not the UXGA!

Unless you've got 21YO MkIII eyeballs, the 15" UXGA display will be very taxing over that period of work time IMHO.

I use UXGA on my 20" desktop LCD with my docked A31P, SXGA+ on my other 15" and 14" daily drivers and XGA on my 12.1" display X31.

There are a lot of folks here in the Forums that have the 15" UXGA displays and spend an equal amount of time on them as you, I'm sure you'll hear differing opinions.

$.02

Regards,

James

[oggialli]

Yeah, you definitely can use DPI scaling with no loss in sharpness. You can also use 800x600 but that's not a good idea - yep, you won't see any scaling blurriness but you'll have only one quarter of the pixels, which is in my opinion kinda "worse" in terms of resolution.

I don't get it why people are always like "whaa so big resolution it's bad you can't see a thing" while actually the opposite holds true. You can always enlarge the fonts. The only thing that changes is the better readability due to more resolution. However, I still use 96dpi and 8pt fonts with my UXGA display, because I think it's none too small.