Approaches to widescreen displays

[mrcakey]

I don't know how it is in other countries but there seems to be quite a
proliferation of widescreen monitors in the UK. I was just wondering what
approaches people are using to ensure their sites still look good at these
resolutions.

Of my sites, it tends to be the ones that are fixed width that come out
okay. More fluid layouts tend to change their aesthetic a great deal.

And are there any tools that can emulate widescreen layouts on a standard
sized monitor? At the minute I'm getting my mother to email me screen dumps
from her monitor!

+mrcakey

 

[rf]

I don't know how it is in other countries but there seems to be quite a
proliferation of widescreen monitors in the UK.

And just why do you think that these monitors are popular? So people can
have more than one application visible onscreen at once. *Don't* assume your
browser canvas will be "widescreen". It'll probably still around 1000 pixels
or so. Most web sites look quite stupid if they are given more than 1400 or
so px.

I was just wondering what approaches people are using to ensure their
sites still look good at these resolutions.

I do nothing at all. How a viewer views my sites is up to that viewer. I
don't care at all about their "resolution". I leave the choice entirely up
to them.

Of my sites, it tends to be the ones that are fixed width that come out
okay.

Only because you have forced *your* choice about the width of your site you
your viewer.

More fluid layouts tend to change their aesthetic a great deal.

As they should.

And are there any tools that can emulate widescreen layouts on a standard
sized monitor?

Not as far as I know.

At the minute I'm getting my mother to email me screen dumps from her
monitor!

Go down to the second hand shop and pick up a second monitor. Extend your
desktop onto this. You should be able to achieve at least 2000 pixels or so
of desktop width. Mine is currently about 4000 pixels wide.

 

[Travis Newbury]

And are there any tools that can emulate widescreen layouts on a standard
sized monitor?

Yes, open a browser window on a regular monitor. That will simulate a
browser window on a wide screen monitor.

 

[Ben C]

I don't know how it is in other countries but there seems to be quite a
proliferation of widescreen monitors in the UK. I was just wondering what
approaches people are using to ensure their sites still look good at these
resolutions.

A widescreen monitor is good for watching full-screen movies on, but is
a bit too wide for text, which is generally more readable in slightly
narrower columns.

So no need to assume people will necessarily maximize their windows.
Really such a wide monitor is useful because you can have two or three
windows side-by-side.

 

[Andy Dingley]

A widescreen monitor is good for watching full-screen movies on, but is
a bit too wide for text, which is generally more readable in slightly
narrower columns.

Not necessarily. The idea that "narrow text is more readable" applies
to widths measured in word-lengths (which we can equate to ems, but
apparently the number of words or possibly syllables is cognitively
more significant than the number of raw characters).

If you've got vision problems, cheap wide-screen monitors are finally
the solution to zooming your text. You don't even need much
resolution, just size, so low pixel-count lower-cost TV screens are
fine, rather than high-res "computer" displays. The width of a
displayed <p> might still be no more than the old 15 words or so, but
that could be physical feet wide.

Of course a "fixed stripe" width:800px; web design kills this stone
dead. Bad idea.

 

[dorayme]

A widescreen monitor is good for watching full-screen movies on, but is
a bit too wide for text, which is generally more readable in slightly
narrower columns.

So no need to assume people will necessarily maximize their windows.
Really such a wide monitor is useful because you can have two or three
windows side-by-side.

Height being more important than width re scrolling, if it was
website browsing that was wanted, widescreen is not the best
choice. Apart from landscape movies, the advantage of a wide
would be ability to have computer related things like directories
side by side. (Which does not apply when using it as a second or
third screen as is my practice). Frankly, I don't like the look
of them! They look mean and squat. The 3 x 4 format is happier,
more honest looking, more noble.

There was a time when wide-screens were much more expensive. I
notice it is getting harder and more expensive to get the 3 x 4
format in LCDs. (Just ordered one, paid a wee extra for the
privilege. Will use it as a second screen to match the already 3
x 4 main one).