Issue 11.15
What kind of monitor do you have? Is it VGA, XGA, WVGA or some other and what does that actually mean? I remember (and so do some of you) the computers we were first exposed to that were big a bulky, but they had a small tv type screen that was black with green text on it. That’s all. No pictures, no shades of green – just green letters and numbers on a black background. Then came amber characters, not in addition, but as a replacement for the green. Though there were others in between, the next big thing was VGA (video graphics array) color which was an approach to computer graphics similar to what you would see on tv.
At first, VGA was blocky and somewhat fuzzy, but we didn’t care because computers actually could do color pictures. I should point out that when VGA came out, Atari had been doing color screens for a couple of years and Commodore and Apple followed suit – but that’s another story. VGA rapidly improved until it became fairly clear and realistic. When computer manufacturers realized how much of a market there was for good graphics, they really went to work to drastically improve what was available and today we have extremely lifelike and fast response video cards and monitors with which to show movies, animations, CAD (Computer Aided Design) and especially intense and very realistic online games. Games have actually been the engine that has pushed manufacturers to improve this area of the computer.
So what type of graphic capability do you have? I was surprised to learn how many different designations there are and what the resolution is of each. Including the old VGA standards, there are at least 44 different standards in 5 broad categories. The categories are VGA, XGA (Extended Graphics Array), QXGA (Quad Extended Graphics Array), HXGA (Hyper Extended Graphics Array) and HiDef or High Definition. Within each category are a number of separate standards depending on the number of pixels per inch or per screen and whether the display is normal (4:3 aspect ratio – which means that the number of pixels are 4 horizontal for every 3 vertical), wide (16:10 – not in use much any more), wide standard (16:9) and cinematic (21:9).
Suffice it to say, the wider the screen and the higher the number of pixels displayed, the more realistic and more like cinemascope movie screens your monitor appears. It is also true that the larger and wider the screen, the more money it costs. Just to give you a general idea, here are the basic sizes and costs of some of the more popular or interesting displays available: XGA (1024×768) 17” $90 WUXGA (1920×1200) 23” $150 WQUXGA (3840×2400) 27” $1000
WHUXGA (7680×4800) 40” $1500 QUHD (15360×8640) 85” $4000
These prices are approximate and some are hard to come by. Additionally, most high power monitors require high end graphics cards that are hundreds of dollars to add to your system, but hard-core gamers are willing to pay the price. For most of us, sticking with a wide screen Ultra XGA display in the 24” inch range is plenty big and fun. Many still use the old XGA standard for basic computing just fine. I thought it would be fun to let you know what is out there and available if you can afford it and have the space for a large display. Have fun – and always remember to back up anything on your computer that is important to you.
Shaun McCausland has worked in the computer industry for over 33 years, 26 years of it locally with Bits ‘N’ Bytes and Musicomp and currently does in-home and on-site computer consultation, service, training and repair. If you have questions you can reach him at 435-668-7118 or shaun@musicomp.net.