can you stop calling them 1200p?!!!!!

All 1080i/p TVs that I know of are actually 1200p. They just have hidden lines that are not used for a visual display and act more as a information carrier... or something along them lines. Thats why if you create a video of some kind and slap it on a DVD parts on the sides can be cut off. Your eating into the title safes.

Now I know that this shouldn't be the case with computer monitors. So if thats the case and keeping in mind what I said above wouldn't all "1080" monitors be really 1200?

 

It's not that they're "1200p" though, it's that they may have 1200 vertical pixels, and therefore they can display "1080p video" without loss of information, like a display with less than 1080 vertical pixels would.

 

This is a ridiculous arguement. Fact is we SHOULD have a unified format. Why is it that TVs use a 16:9 widescreen format while computers use 16:10? As far as I'm concerned, the pc industry created a non-standard video format (as 16:9 was already in place due to the movie industry, though in all fairness that industry uses 2 formats as well), so if a pc company (AW) decides to use TV terminolgy (p) to describe the pc rough equivalent, it should not only be acceptable, but expected.

Later this year the pc industry will be switching to the 16:9 standard and therefore a lot of this confusion will be cleared up and Alienware can call their screens 1080p- because they WILL be. Until then, they can call their 16:10's anything they like.

 

@Spartacus - Sorry but your argument makes no sense. That shouldn't be acceptable, or expected. Assuming you know about your ratios, 16:9 is completely different from 16:10. Having them say it is 1200P makes people like me assume that they are selling a 16:9 monitor, which they are not. It just confuses everyone more.

People know TV's as 480i/p 720i/p 1080i/p and they know computers as (whatever resolutions).

Why would I want a rough equivalant of my laptop display? When I am paying 3K for a laptop, I want to know EXACTLY what it has. You know by saying that the M15x has "720P" resolution they are saying it has a 1280x768 resolution, which sucks.

This isn't a ridiculous argument at all. Maybe we should have a unified format, but having companies lying to us about what are screens really are doesn't help in any way. Alienware should stop trying to use all these marketing schemes that confuse people like me even more.

 

Stone825,

"People like me"? What demographic does that phrase address? Tech geeks? Nope, they would know that a laptop screen is currently manufactured in a 16:10 aspect ratio and that 1200 vertical lines therefore would indicate a 1920x1200 WUXGA screen resolution. Average Joe consumers? Nope, they wouldn't even be aware or care that there is a difference between a 1080p TV resolution and a WUXGA pc resolution. So who is this confusing?

No one. Tech geeks aren't confused, they are simply upset that the terminology and nomenclature is not technically accurate. The average Joe isn't confused because the pc manufacturer is explaining pc tech jargon (WUXGA?) in the more common and popular language of home theatre electronics. It's not a big deal.

As I stated before, the pc industry CREATED this needless complexity by introducing another video aspect ratio into the market. They are now realizing that wasn't such a great move and are moving toward a unified 16:9 aspect ratio. Until then however we're stuck with two different formats with two separate languages and two separate sets of common resolutions. Since the TV industry's terminology and catch phrases are more popular and well known, marketing common sense would have the pc industry adopt them to appeal and make sense to a wider audience. This does not "dumb down" the product OR the buyer. If you want the FULL SPECS, you may click a link and read them for yourself like any self respecting informed consumer should.

 

A few average-joe users here have thought the 1440x900 screen only had 720 vertical pixels, after taking onboard the "1200p" fiasco.

 

Has anyone read...
http://www.atsc.org/standards/a53.html
Part4 would answer the 1200p question.

for those who do not want to read it...
there is currently no published standard for 1200p.

Of course things change.

 

Why? Alienware CLEARLY states the native resolution of both screens giving all possible terminology:

WXGA 1440x900 (720p)
WUXGA 1920x1200 (1200p)

What part of 1440x900 are people not understanding? Furthermore, average joe users don't post on nerd websites, so the forum members you speak of were simply doing what they should be doing if they were confused or misinformed- asking questions.

I actualy think AW should change the WXGA terminology to "900p" to be both more marketable and to be more synonymous with their own terminology, so it is indeed odd that they "downgrade" their WXGA screen to 720p status. However considering the alternative costs $300 more, I would be willing to bet they are wanting the customer to opt for the WUXGA screen and are therefore talking it up more (1200p!!!).

You guys are acting like AW is the only company out there that "confuses" the market by flipping their forked marketing tongue and whispering half truths in your ear in order to entice you to spend your hard earned cash on their delectable goods. So I guess it wouldn't do much good to remind you that this is America, land of capitolism and consumerism. You have no one to blame but yourself if you fall for these marketing tactics. Do some research, ask some questions, read reviews, compare products AND THEN make a decision. Marketing preys on the uninformed- so rather than whining about it, inform yourself so as to not become its victim.

 

Actually, there are 16:9 laptops that are going to be released soon. That will mean that we will have a 1080P laptop and a 1280P laptop, but both have different aspect ratios.

Also: Alienware says "1440x900 (720P)". They are saying 2 different things in that sentence. They are saying that they have a 1440x900 (1280x768) screen which makes no sense at all. I don't care if companies call their screens 1080P when they actually are 1080P, but this is just confusing. If I purchased a 1200P laptop, I would expect it to have a 16:9 resolution.

They are pretty much taking a term and deciding, "hey, we are going to call this something that isn't correct, lets make a new definition for a word!"

It is completely ridiculous. And with the new ACTUAL 16:9 laptops being released it is going to be VERY confusing.

So I guess that all laptop screens aren't manufactured in 16:10 then.

Maybe you are getting your wish. Dell's new laptop is going to be 16:9, and other companies are also following. However, this will end up more confusing. Then we will have people wondering why their screen is "shrunk" compared to others screens.

Edit: Then which screen am I getting when I order the M15x. Am I getting a true 1200p screen, or I am I getting a 1920x1200 screen? That is what some people will think that are not stupid, but not tech savvy. As someone said earlier, people thought the 720p only has 720 bars vertically. I'm not going to argue about this anymore because I would rather hear other opinions instead of getting this thread closed. All I have to say is that I know that this is marketing, but it is only making it more confusing on the consumer.

 

Stone825,

I'm not arguing that this marketing isn't misleading (most marketing is) I'm just confused as to why you (and others here) care about "the consumer" so much? I mean, if they did any research, then they wouldn't be confused... So I'm curious as to why you're confused about this matter. Have you not done any research or are you just playing the part to make a point?

Obviously you know a little about LCD resolutions as you youself stated that most HDTV "720p" screens actually have 768 lines of resolution. So wait, isn't that confusing to the customer? "It says 720p on the marketing sticker but the full spec sheet says this TV has a native resolution of 1280x768!!!" So according to your logic, Samsung is just as responisble for confusing marketing as Alienware is.

I know 16:9 pc screens are almost here- and that's a good thing, but they aren't here yet, therefore any CURRENTLY manufactured laptop advertising a "1200p" screen would be a WUXGA 1920x1200. When 16:9's are in production, THEN you'll have to dig a bit more. And by dig, I mean read the same description line on Alienware's website that you claim is confusing which clearly indicates the EXACT native resolution of the screen you are purchasing.

I think the specs in parenthesis on Alienware's website speak to some consumers. I think the actual geek speak specs on the same line that are NOT in parenthesis should be used by everyone who understands what it means. For everyone that falls between the cracks, they should ask a few simple questions before purchasing, as per usual.

 

It is really no different then the hard drive storage fiasco that has existed since the dawn of electronic storage. Why the only people on earth who cannot get the number 1024 through their heads have to work in HDD marketing departments is beyond me.

 

1. The bigger number sells better.
2. Giga = 1000, Gibi = 1024. Officially.

 

Yeah but then why not call the 720p capable screen "900p".

Whether you support the idea or not, they have got one rule for one screen, and another for the other.

 

not really, i would expect more people to know the resolutions of screens...

 

Hmm, so my Gateway XHD3000 isn't really "1600p"?

Product Hype:
http://www.gateway.com/programs/widescreen/30_overview.php

Actual Specs:
http://support.gateway.com/s/MONITOR/7010671R/7010671Rsp2.shtml

Although, I must say the upconversion feature is damn nice. I can't tell a difference on most modern games (Crysis included) between 1920x1200 and native 2560x1600.

 

Alright I respect your opinion but Alienware is getting really ridiculous. The M15x 1920x1200 screen is labeled as having "1200P" and the M9750 1920x1200 screen is labeled as having "1080P". Sure if the company sticks to labeling the screens using the latter pixel number that would be okay I guess. However, to label the same screen differently is just ****ing over the consumer, especially when the M9750 screen is a lot nicer and less expensive.

Annoying ass company. At least make them both 1200P.