Maybe a year or more ago I was discussing the new Hi Definition 16.9 monitors and how they might affect our panoramas.  Took me a while before I could do some testing (early Christmas).  While browsing through many electronic shops I did notice the increased number of notebook and desktop monitors that are displaying the 16:9 ratio imaging.

The question is.. how  best to adjust our panorama viewer dimensions to minimize barrel distortion or will we need an updated panorama applet to adjust to the new viewing area.

Please excuse my SOCK DRAWER.  I was using it to hold my older notebook 4:3 ratio screen .

The Sony LCD HDTV as shown here has a display resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels when used as a monitor.  The Sony laptop is displaying at 1024 x 768 pixels.

In image #1 you can see above the 4:3 image on the 16:9 ratio screen.  Notice how much screen area is NOT being used.

Image #2 you can see the 4:3 image stretched to fill the 16:9 ratio screen.  When this happens the barrel destortion is increased.

Any thoughts?  Comments?

Dave

Image #1

Image #2

I agree... All HDTV sets 26" and larger must have built in HDTV NTSC (PAL-SECAM) and HDTV tuners inside my March 2006.  Local TV broadcast click switch to only Digital from analog in 2009.  Yes that was announced in today's local newspaper.  After 2009.. you need a set top box to convert digital broadcasts to analog if you have an older TV.

My concern is that with new large 20"+ 16:9 monitors beginning to become common...  VR folks will be able to show their panoramas on them.  For example, many large business and universities are placing flat screens in hotel lobbies, rooms and we should properly fix the dimensions of our viewer applets to maximize the screens display.

Thanks for your input on the recommended applet dimensions and screen size.

Dave

I have had an issue with this myself. My client used my tours for their presentation at the auction. I think this is a 56 inch plasma screen. The tour looked ok but the aspect ratio is huge. Would this be a 16:9 ?

I think I need to design images specifically for this the next time. This time they just used the web pages from the tour.

General Lee

Yes, I agree.  I noticed the large "green void" on the right side of the screen plus 2 or 3 inches of blank unused area below your current applet size.   I would trial test on that screen until I got the applet full height.. then expand to the right until.. the image started looking too barrel distorted...

The image on my HD LCD expanded to full screen was a QTVR with code that says 99% Wide  91% height. (notice the gray qtvr tool bar on bottom)

Others similar that are near full screen are 900 w x 540 high.  The width allows for a small left and right border.  The height allows for the tool bar above the image.   These dimensions are close to Johns 960 x 540.

I wonder if you can mix and match code parameters like 99% width x 540 high ?

If I am using a notebook with a 1024 x 768 screen resolution,  the LCD monitor will try to emulate that resolution because I am using the notebooks 15 pin external monitor cable output signal to the the HD LCD. (Yes it has a 15pin input port on the backside)

Dave