LCD recomedation

The Knot · 11-22-2001, 07:32 PM

Just curious if anyone has a recommendation for specs on an LCD that will be used for DVD and GPS. What would be the minimum that I could get away with. Thanks

Telek · 11-22-2001, 08:06 PM

where are you mounting it? and how picky are you?

If you want DVD and computer usage and GPS usage, you're going to need a TFT screen that's not a TV.. Basically you can get one of the Datalux screens that will work fine, or look for a nice TFT pure digital screen (I mean digital signal all the way from the computer). If the TFT screen plugs into your VGA port, it's an analog signal and won't look nearly as sharp as a pure digital signal (DVI or a special PCI controller card).

If you have pure digital signal, then you can go with something as small as a 6" screen, provided it's somewhere close enough to see it. If you're going analog (VGA) connection, you're going to need at least an 8" I'd say. You might be able to get away with 5" and 7", but no smaller than that.

Happy hunting! Go on ebay and search for "datalux" and "earthlcd" (search in descriptions too) and you'll find a pile.

The Knot · 11-24-2001, 12:09 AM

Hi Telek,
I dont know how much thanks you get but I noticed that you are very active when it comes to helping people on this board. Sooo Thanks. I will probably be mounting it on a removable arm. Like Moahdib did. I am not too fussy on the quality, just want something I can read GPS on and watch some movies here and there. Thanks again.

lstrunk · 11-24-2001, 09:25 AM

telek: you do realize standard monitors are analog, and that they have like .24 dpi resolution. just for fun, I just took my 17" monitor and made the image as small as possible, and it went to about 5"s completly readable.

Telek · 11-24-2001, 04:40 PM

Quote:

I dont know how much thanks you get but I noticed that you are very active when it comes to helping people on this board. Sooo Thanks.

Not much, but I don't do it for the gratitude

but thanks for thanking me, if for nothing but the sheer change of pace!

Quote:

telek: you do realize standard monitors are analog, and that they have like .24 dpi resolution. just for fun, I just took my 17" monitor and made the image as small as possible, and it went to about 5"s completly readable.

Yes, standard monitors are analog, but they're also designed specifically to work off the VGA analog output. Monitors also tend to have small dpi resolution, like you said. The thing with monitors is that the grid that you display the image on is very fine and the beams don't need to be to horribly exact to get a sharp picture. When you're dealing with an LCD screen, it has to interpret it into digital mode first, and the interpretation isn't exact, so you'll get things like 1 logical pixel smeared over 2 actual pixels, it's not pretty.

There are 3 LCDs that are viable for use in a car that aren't hideously expensive. LCDs that take a simple RGB input and display like a TV would, LCDs that work off of the VGA signal, and then actual digital LCDs like the ones I mentioned from earthLCD. The prices increase in that order as well.

If you expect to be able to use a 5" TV LCD with a TV output from your computer at 640x480, for actually using the computer, good luck. Everything is going to be very blurry, and text won't show up very well at all. (the reason why this is worse than VGA is the way that it's interpreted, the actual physical number of pixels in the display, and you also need to use a VGA->TV circuit in your computer which also degrades the quality of the image)

If you have a 5" VGA input LCD then you're one step up, but it's still going to be blurry.

From what I can see, if you want to be able to use the computer through the LCD for just about anything, you're going to need at least a 6.4" digital or 8" analog input LCD screen at the prices and the qualities that we're talking about. If you can get a GOOD digital input LCD, 5" can do for 640x480. Don't forget as well that you're not going to be 3" away from the screen. This screen needs to be *easily* readable from a foot or so away so that you don't hit a tree while trying to read what's on your screen.

The Datalux screen is 0.47dp diagonal, and most LCDs in this price range are going to be something like that. With dp's like that you'll need a fairly big screen to be able to easily use your computer.

Alives · 11-24-2001, 10:40 PM

What about a recommendation for just cobra and gps software? would a 4" be ok here?

DodgeCummins · 11-25-2001, 10:42 AM

IMHO 4" lcd is just too small. for reading txt that is. just imagine reading something that small 3-4' away from your face.

For pictures and things it is ok.

I think 6" is the minimum size for txt if you can swing it.

All the in car map displays available commercially have at least a 5.6 inch screen.

Telek · 11-25-2001, 03:29 PM

Yeah, if you want to use GPS you're definitely going to need a bigger screen, 6" at the minimum. basically go to mappy.com or some mapping site and print out a map that's roughly 75% of the proposed screen size, and see how far away from your face you can read it. keep doing that until you can find a size that you can still read fine at the distance that you want to see it at.