2007 FP and 2007 FPW

The FPW is a widescreen monitor, whereas the FP is not. The FP is your typical 4:3 aspect ratio, while the FPW is a 16:10 aspect ratio. Therefore, their resolutions are different. I believe the FP is 1600x1200, while the FPW is 1680x1050.

Well, I wouldn't say one is "better" than the other. If you are planning on watching a lot of DVDs with this monitor, I'd say go with the widescreen. Widescreen DVDs will look very nice on a widescreen monitor. On the 2007FP, a widescreen DVD will have thick black bars on the top and bottom to correct for the difference in aspect ratios.

If you plan to do a lot of gaming, it is a toss up. Games traditionally work at 4:3 aspect ratios, but there are some games that work on widescreen aspect ratios. Half Life 2, for example. Also, you can force the FPW to display a game in the traditional 4:3 mode, it will just put black bars on the left and right side.

Technically, you are losing pixels when choosing the widescreen monitor.

1600x1200 = 1920000 pixels
1680x1050 = 1764000 pixels

It comes down to personal preference, I guess. I, personally, am looking at the widescreen version, as I watch a lot of movies, and would like to get into widescreen gaming.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for the reply.
For flat panel monitors, are widescreen ones usually preferred?
Though the resolution seems different between the FP and FPW, is the difference significant?
I have currently selected the FP. I am not that well versed with flat panels and hence the questions. Also, how do the aspect ratios differ, is 16:10 better than 4:3?

Thanks

I believe the FP & WFP have different panels also. Do some research around the forums about which is better. I believe the S-IPS panel in the WFP has the advantage in image quality...

Widescreen is more futuristic. As the world switches to HDTV, which is widescreen, widescreen computer displays will also become much more popular. Widescreen also makes more sense since it is closer to the ratio that humans see in (your vision is closer to a 16:10 ratio than a 4:3).

Also, the 2007FP does not have HDCP, while the 2007WFP does. The only major disadvantage that I see is that widescreen has only come around recently, and some applications (mostly games) were not designed for widescreen displays yet.

17", 19", 20" 4:3 & 20" widescreen monitor size comparison (choose your source aspect ratio):

http://tvcalculator.com/index.html?b9ceb2773482c7c34d1ae4e950294aa3

Even with a widescreen you still get black bars along the top and bottom when watching DVDs... The FP is quite a lot larger in surface area. The widescreen is like a 17" with extra width.

In reply to #8, the black bars when viewing a DVD on a widescreen monitor are nowhere near as big as the black bars when viewing a DVD on a conventional monitor. Watching the DVD on a screen that is close to the movie's original aspect ratio makes for a much more pleasant viewing experience. Also, the vertical resolution of the 2007WFP is 1050, which is a slightly greater number of pixels than that of a conventional 19" monitor's native resolution at 1024 pixels.

... but he is comparing two 20" screens and not a 19" one!