7" vs 8" - size, rez, & reliability

**brain21** · 01-03-2005, 01:59 AM

Trying to decide on getting a 7" Lilliput vs an 8" Lilliput

First off, can someone give me the actual dimensions of the 8" ??? I imagine that it should be as wide as the 7", but just a bit taller. I am thinking that if the 7" is 5in tall then the 8" should be close to 6.65 in tall...

As for the resolution, I see that the actual screen resolution of the 7" device seems to be ~800x480, but I see people talking about them running at 1024 x XXX - how is that happening? What is the comparative resolution of the 8"?

Because this will serve dual purposes, I would really have a need to run this thing in 1024 x XXX at least some of the time.

People say that there are (virtually) no complaints on the 8" but there are tons on the 7" so if you have the room, go for the 8".

Seeing as how they are basically the same monitor other than size, would it be MORE reasonable to say that there are fewer complaints against the 8" because there are fewer users of the 8" rather than any REAL reliability factor?

Thanks,

Brain21

**fantomas** · 01-03-2005, 02:07 AM

Originally Posted by brain21

Seeing as how they are basically the same monitor other than size, would it be MORE reasonable to say that there are fewer complaints against the 8" because there are fewer users of the 8" rather than any REAL reliability factor?

you might be on to something there. i have the 8"....and really have no complaints. but i also have not taken it apart yet. i plan to over the summer when i get my new car. i emailed armin a few days ago because i lost the spec sheet to the 8" just to see the actual layout of the panel

otherwise.. found here: http://www.digitalww.com/VGA_TM_810VGT.htm

-Monitor: Height 6 3/8" (162mm) x Width 8 1/16"(204mm) x Depth 1 1/2" (39mm)

-LCD Panel: Height 5 1/2" (141mm) x Width 7 3/16"(183mm) x Depth 1/2" (14mm)

**Zip-Lock** · 01-03-2005, 09:20 AM

I don’t know of any complains about the 8" but then again there are a lot less 8" out there. That’s changing and the 8” are staring to become more popular, especially with people who do complete custom overhauls of their dashboard.

**RedGTiVR6** · 01-03-2005, 09:43 AM

I'm not using the Lilliput but rather the Xenarc. I have to say that the difference in the 7" when compared to the 8" has to be a good 25%. I keep kicking myself in the butt for not taking comparison shots of the two monitors before I sold my 7" screen....there is a HUGE difference in the size, it makes the car pc much easier to use...and that's just while it was on my desk....it's all in the process of going into my car right now....

**mgithens** · 01-03-2005, 10:47 AM

I'm not sure why you would HAVE to run it at 1024x768, but the issue with what resolution people are running vs what they want to run comes from the limitations of hardware...

#1 screen res is fixed, your best results will be to match the computer output to the actual display resolution, so 800x480 for the Lilli/Xenarc 7" and 800x600 for the 8" unit...

#2 most people are having troubles getting a true 800x480 output from a video card, most solutions involve major bucks, so people settle for 800x600 and the image is "squished" horizontally by 20%...

running anything but native resolution on a digital screen (LCD, plasma, DLP, LCoS) will give LESS detail... so running 1024x768 will cause the image to blur because the screen is forced to interpolate the data that it is give to make it match the hardware...

**brain21** · 01-03-2005, 03:15 PM

Thanks for all the info so far...

The reason why I would need to run it in 1024 x XXX is because this will be used in my car, but will also be used with a portable HDD video recording system (basically a tiny PC running WinXP and a copy of DVRack Software) to monitor whats going on on the PC. The DVRack software requires that it be run in at least 1024 x XXX.

I can switch the monitor resolution depending upon whether it is in my car or being used as part of a HDD video recorder system, so that is no big deal.

So, all other things being equal, the basic difference is the 8" ease of use due to size.... correct?

The 7" is 800x480 whereas the 8" is 800x600. Neither is 1024. So how does this work? Do I just set the resolution via WindowsXP or PowerStrip, and the monitor will accept it even if it is higher than the hardware is "capable" of displaying?

As far as Red GTi VR6's comments, is that just because the 8" monitor seems so much bigger? I mean compared side-by-side the difference shouldn't be THAT huge (at least not 25%), but I am guessing that it may SEEM like that. Is that correct?

My biggest concern is that I really don't have much room in my car, and I am not going to fabricate anything as I need to remove this from the car w/o too much difficulty. I have a 96 BMW 318ti, and the dash area is basically the same size (a little bit taller I think, but not much) than the BMW Z3s. I am thinking that the 8" might look awkwardly large when mounted somewhere there. I guess I'll have to make cut up some paper to the size of the 7" & 8" and compare them.

If I had enough room for the 8" I think I would definitely go for it. The question is really about a trade off between the 8" looking to huge and awkward on my dash vs the 7" not really functioning as well as I'd like when used with the mini PC HDD video recording system.

Thanks again for all of the info!

Brain21