Re: Monitor Choices for Elderly Vision?

Either shop VERY carefully for an LCD monitor or get them a larger old-style CRT
monitor in good working condition.

CRTs can operate at all manner of resolutions, giving flexibility in choosing
the ideal resolution for their older eyes. A 19" CRT at 1024x768 or a 21" CRT
at 1280x1024 would work well, provided there is enough deskspace for a large
bulky CRT. Used large CRTs in good condition are very inexpensive.

LCD monitors typically have an optimum resolution at which they operate,
generally more and more pixels as the screen size increases. If one chooses a
resolution below the optimum, worst case is that the LCD monitor will not work
at all, or maybe the screen image would fill a smaller portion of the LCD space,
leaving a large black margin around the image. The other possibility is that a
lower resolution than optimum will often result in blocky images with artifacts
that distort what is on screen.

If you go for an LCD monitor, you need one capable of working well with various
resolutions. This probably means a more expensive name brand, rather than the
cheap stuff sold in most mass market big box stores... Ben Myers


On Thu, 14 Aug 2008 14:28:20 -0500, Boris <Boris> wrote:

Hi,

I'd like to get my in-laws a new desktop and monitor. Their use is very
basic...email and browsing, and online purchasing.

Monitor choices is my main concern. They currently use a 17" CRT, set
at 1024 x 768, and I think the font size is set at normal DPI. I know
this can be set larger, but they then lose real estate, and have to
start scrolling. With this current configuration, they sometimes put
their face as close as 12" to the screen.

I'd really like to get them a large-ish (22"?) LCD, but the larger the
LCD, the smaller the native resolution. I don't want any solutions that
just enlarge a portion of the screen at a time, like the enlarge button
on a mouse. Is a properly sized (screen size, resolution setting, and
font size) CRT still the best choice for their needs?

Thanks.
.