Z2 - More questions on this HD 1920x1080 ... thing

Im still trying to get my head around this HD 1920x1080 resolution thing. Things seem to be fairly all over the place as far as windows interacting with it, and browsers as well.

For example I typed "display" into my start search box and clicked "Display" in the menu that appeared above. Up pops a screen informing me that my windows has been set at "zoom of 125%" since I got this thing a week ago.

So the resolution FOR WINDOWS is set to 1920x1080 but windows has a separate setting that came factor, forceably zooming it to 125% for all windows applications. I dont get the logic of doin that. Are they admitting no human being can possibly use 1920x1080 on a 13 inch screen? If so, why bother even making this laptop capable of that?

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Likewise - Internet Explorer operates at a semi-blurry 125% zoom and web sites look like they should look width-wise. Yet if you open up Firefox or Chrome you get the proper 100% zoom and web sites are totally unreadable. Way too small. Facebook is almost a joke.

But my brain wants things to work "the way they were intended" so I told the windows OS zoom to go back to 100%. My outlook has 10x more space available now, true, but I fear I will destroy my vision if I try to work on this thing 8 hours a day at the "proper" resolution. Proper used loosely.

At the same time - more confusion - the resolution settings are at 1920x1080 .... yet they give you the option to revert to 1600x900. Yet ... dont forget! youre also at 125% zoom! so you'd end up at 1600x900 with 125% zoom. That makes sense. I assume youd have to revert that to 100% if you go to 1600x900 ? .... what a confusing mess ....

Can someone explain - why would you ship an entire computer with a certain resolution if windows is going to operate the whole thing under a different zoom level simply because the intended resolution isnt possible for human consumption? I dont get it? is the logic that movies will look good? I thought the Z2 was the "business man's laptop" ? Are they assuming we are almost all going to be connecting to larger monitors? If thats the case I can see the logic I suppose .... i dont know ...

 

im sure u can operate at 100% zoom and in native resolution if you force it

some people have bad eyes or simply getting old. i have a 11" 1366x768 laptop for my 60 yr old mom, and i have to make the text go 125% so she can read website texts more comfortably

so i think it comes down to how comfortable you are viewing at full HD at 13 inches. im sure there are people who will make use of all that screen space

 

Sorry - what are you saying? I dont get your point. Force it? My eyes are literally in pain right now trying to use native resolution at 100%. its too small and I have 20/20 vision. I dont get your logic. People should "force it" to use the laptop at its native resolution?

sorry again your statement really has nothing to do with my post. Im referring to people with perfect vision. Why are you discussing extreme exceptions / outliers like your senior citizen mom? this laptop was made for business professionals.

That was my point. If you're working with text - I would dare say that nobody is comfortable like that.

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Another issue - I try setting it to 1600x900 and guess what? Its blurry. Looks big and gawdy. So basically this laptop can't handle the resolution it shipped with so it has to zoom it to an artificial level. Then if you want to actually change your resolution to something a human can read, this laptop cant handle that resoolution. without blurry edges and poor quality.

I have the other Z right here at 1600x900 and its crisp, brilliant, and clear. But this superior laptop cant do the same thing with that resolution. Makes total sense (???)

I guess my main question is - why is this 13 inch laptop shipping with full HD? Because they think business professionals want to watch full HD movies? Or because they assume we will be connecting to a larger monitor? These are the only two things I can think of. You'd think they'd at least make 1600x900 look proper if the assumption is that we'd be switching back and forth a lot ...

 

The Z2 has an FHD option because there are people who want it. That it's not right for you, doesn't mean that it's not right for everybody.

'nuff said.

 

why dont you set your DPI at 100% instead of 125% and try it out, i have use that for about 2 yrs now on my Z11 and it is completely fine not too big i think my eye can even manage smaller text (ie like on my cellphone)

good luck

 

Argh! Its fine at 100% zoom for many people including me. I used a Z11 at 1080p with no scaling and I was totally comfortable with it at distances up to arms length, despite being short sighted. Evidently this is not the case with you but don't make like its totally unusable or anything. It really isn't.

 

For text, the 1080p can be tough due to the small pixel size at native zoom and resolution. However, with that being said, many of us do other things like Adobe Illustrator/Photoshop and the bump in vertical resolution is quite helpful. Also, the vertical lines really do help in programs like Word when Im writing manuscripts. This is just one of those to each his own type situations. Either you like it or you dont.

 

I'm not sure why you're so confused? 1080p on 13" is a very high dpi, so obviously text will be very small. What did you expect?

I would recommend setting your DPI to 100% and just manually using zoom for those specific applications you need it (browsers, Word).

At some point in the future, when resolutions get very high and there's more support for vector-based applications, that DPI setting will come in handy. For now, it's pretty much only used as an "accessibility" feature.

 

If you're viewing a PDF document on a 13.1" screen with 1920x1080 resolution panel, it will look nicer/sharper than on a 13.1" screen with 1600x900 resolution panel.

 

I personally don't think that the 168 DPI on the FHD Z is all that high. A 900P Z is 140 DPI, so it is not that much different but a lot less over all resolution. My VAIO UX has 264 DPI and my P is 222 DPI... so to me the FHD Z seems like quite a large legible display. It all comes down to what you like. I want the maximum possible resolution and the smallest possible size. It sounds to me like people expect closer to 100 DPI which is pretty normal for a desktop display these days. If you want a normal 100 DPI here are some examples, a 15.4" laptop with 1366x768 resolution (available on many laptops), a 22" 1080P monitor (widely available from many vendors), or a 30" WQXGA monitor like the Apple Cinema or Dell Ultrasharp.

The best way to figure out what you are going to like is by figuring out what DPI you like, then calculate the DPI of your perspective notebook to see if it is close. There is a handy DPI calculator that someone posted in another thread recently

 

CC, don't forget pxcalc.com.

 

First off, DPI and zoom are different things. Sony sets the DPI to 125% to make text larger. There is no zoom involved.

Secondly, you should read up on the technology you are complaining about before posting. You don't seem to understand what native resolution is. Read this then re-read your statement:

Lastly, you have a major tenancy to lash out at folks who are nice enough to try and help you. The moderators have already modified your comments in another thread.

You most obviously have buyer's remorse. Return the machine if you are unhappy with it.

 

A display is good for displaying more than just text. In my case, I need to use it for checking focus and sharpness in photography, and I need as much resolution and DPI as I can get. The more resolution I have, the closer I can display a photo at 100% original size, which means I can more easily check details without constantly zooming in and out.

If you work with lots of general text/reading and don't have an immediate need for vertical resolution, and/or plan to game a lot where you could get better performance off of 900p resolution vs 1080p, then obviously the 900p screen is a far better choice. As far as reviews from previous Z1 goes, overall image quality of the 900p display is just as good, so it's simply a matter of personal need or preference.

 

Ditto. I got put off from responding after seeing NotebookBurger's impolite response in this and another thread. Too much pride and not willing to (think through and) accept others' opinion I guess.

But I should also explain NotebookBurger's confusion with the resolution for his/her benefit.
Your other Z most probably have 1600x900 as its native resolution, hence the crispness.
Your new Z2 has 1920x1080 as its native resolution. The pixels' size on the screen are fixed (due to LCD's manufacturing process), hence you can't really change them when you switch resolution (unlike CRT monitors). The display controller has to interpolate (imperfectly) between pixels to fit 1600x900 onto a 1920x1080 pixel grid. This is why they look blurred.

Hence, you can't blame it on Z2. It's an inherent flaw in LCD technology. If this flaw bothers you, you can always return it and get the 1600x900 version. And one more piece of advice, always research on the thing you plan to purchase.

 

If I wanted 1600*900, I would buy a SA and saved myself the trouble of getting Z2 in my country.

 

^the 1600x900 panel in the Z is nothing like the 1600x900 panel in the SA. Nothing at all alike.

 

Yeah, luckily, MS has a low level AA that works ontop of at least the text (cleartype or something similar), otherwise, nonnative res might of been otherwise completely unuseable, lol.

I agree.

 

I had a fully specced SA from the US for a few hours.
I found the screen on the Z way better but the screen was a lot better than I expected...it wasn't that bad...

 

I am used to Toshiba tablet screen, anything is an improvement
But I meant mainly the resolution.
But than again, thanks for clarification

 

I got a 15.6" laptop with 1920x1080 and it gave me eye strain headaches with 100% DPI. 125% DPI messed up websites and programs and distorted icons, so I couldn't stand it. I ended up returning the computer and got a 1600x900 14" CA which works much better. I recommend you return yours as well.

 

Funnily, I hated my 1080p at first, and I think that if I had it to do again, I would order the 900p.

But I have gotten accustomed to 1080p at 100%. I just have to sit closer to the laptop than I'm used to.

 

I used a new MBA 13 the other day and hated the low resolution for text on web sites.

 

WSXGA+ what the hell? that is the best they can do on a 13" screen, terrible.

 

Jobs left. Cut them a break lol

 

I also have a Z with 1600x900 and I see everything very small, i would like a 1366 version if it exists

 

^the Z probably isn't for you. Mighat want to look at the S line

 

I you're ok with that resolution, you have a lot of choice. Check out the Lenovo 220 and the Toshiba 700 series, both of which are very nice.

 

Would the display model with 1920x1080 panel have been set to 125% at Fry's?

need to go back and check that.

if it's not usable at 100% DPI, I would go with 1600x900.

 

Has anyone tried a custom resolution of 960 x 540 on a 1920 x 1080 screen? That's integer scaling - might look a little better than the 125%.

 

I think they come default 125% dpi...

960x540... that's the res i'd like on a cellphone... (although Fujitsu/Toshiba is planning to release a 1280x720 4.3" in japan... i'm so darn jealous!)

 

I know it is low res. I want to know how the text looks - that's the point of this discussion, isn't it? Also, a test on 200% DPI. The idea is to use whole number (integer) scaling instead of fractional scaling, and avoid the dithering altogether. Changing the ClearType setting at each test setting should also be done.

 

Using anything but the screen's native resolution will leave artifacts. Going down-res makes everything bigger, but blurry. I can't cope with this, but some people at my office seem to be OK with it. Unaware, even

960x540, incidentally, isn't an available resolution.

DPI settings don't have this problem, but not all apps support the function.

Net-net, if you get the FHD screen, you better have decent vision and be willing to have the machine somewhat close to you. I have to squint a bit if the display is further than 3 or 4 feet away.

The extra pixel density is important to me for a few apps, but the most important one is Outlook. The extra horizontal space makes using Xobni easier. You can leave it open and have respectable list and preview sizes. It's just a wee-bit tight at HD

If you haven't used Xobni before, try it. It's the dog's bollocks. The SSD's make it fly

 

I proposed 960x540 for a reason - it is exactly half the native resolution on both axes (960 = 1920/2 and 540 = 1080/2). So each pixel at the reduced resolution will be made up of 4 pixels at the native resolution. It is fairly easy to check out - in the Z1, at least, using the nVidia control panel ... I don't know about the ATi. I have the 1600x900 screen, so trying the same thing on it would result in 800x450.

 

I get the math. it isnt an option on the z2. I only tried on the intel gpu

 

Bummer. On my system too the Intel GPU doesn't allow custom resolutions.

Can you try on your Z1 and see how bad is it? Thanks. It will be very weird - I haven't used anything less than 1024x768 myself for decades now, and this is less than that. But what I want to know is how the text and images get rendered at that particular resolution, and whether or not they are acceptable to your discerning eyes.

Don't worry about custom resolutions not being available on the Intel GPU. If you need that facility, I'm sure Nautis, ComputerCowboy and co. will figure it out.

 

Yea, I can make that work. That is a ridiculous resolution though, how do you expect to use that. My UX has a higher resolution than that/

 

Yes, yes, I know. I just want to see if it solves the problem that has been reported about text being blurry.

 

Sorry to bump such an old thread, but I'm about to pull the trigger on a replacement screen for my Z1 and want to know whether I should get the 1600x900 or the 1920x1080 resolution. They both cost the same here.

So, what will I have trouble with at the higher resolution? Browsers and Office apps etc. have configurable (text) zoom which works quite well. What else? Windows Explorer, et. al.?

 

The Z1 is a 13.3", right?

Personal opinion, but 1080p on a 13.3" laptop is overkill. 900p is the perfect compromise.

13.3" = 1600x900
15.6" = 1920x1080

The pixel density IMO is too high for a 13.3" and will make reading text difficult at native resolution unless you use Window's native text scaling to zoom in. If you plan on doing any sort of gaming as well, it does stress the graphics unit much more. Take a look at the Retina MacBook.. you can't get decent frames on native resolution. Lower the resolution? Everything looks like .

I had the ASUS Zenbook Prime, and god, while it was beautiful and sharp, my eyes probably suffered a bit.

I have the Sony Vaio S15 now, and the 1080p screen is perfect, so IMO, 1600x900 on your Z1 will be just as perfect.