Do you hate widescreen? Are you male?

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ZenOps

2[H]4U
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I'm going to be releasing a paper on a study done about what aspect ratio people prefer (or are at least more proficient in), standard 4:3 all the way to the widest of widescreen aspect ratios.

Its interesting, but in early results just slightly past 4:3 seems to invoke more visual accuracy than the widescreen aspects in men (males) Might be something to do with men being the traditional hunter gatherers, and having a visual system much like a wolf (focused mainly upon one item, and usually right in front of them.) Or it could just be the years of us getting used to the traditional aspect ratios. Typically, a male will use head movements to see images, including *ducking* in shooter games.

Women tended to have better visual accuracy with wider screens, seeming to be able to pick out and describe objects in peripheral vision without directly looking at them. Women also tended to be able to keep their head and eyes still.
 
Male, 4:3, 1600 x 1200


but at the same time, I use a PC on my DLP tv for Male, 16:9, 1920 x 1080
 
Someone is actually funding that paper?

I just prefer more screen real estate. I prefer 20.1" 4:3 (1600x1200) to 20.1" 16:10 (1680x1050). Simply because it is bigger.

I prefer 1920x1200 to both of them. And I would prefer 1920x1440 to that....


I definetly prefer 4:3 for working, I find that sitting close, I read top to bottom more comfortably that stuff on the edges of even 4:3.

Gaming and Movies can go wider, because they just increase the periphery.
 
I believe the exact opposite... It's been my experience that girls/women prefer 4:3 because it's what they're used to, or most comfortable with; or they don't prefer or understand that 16:9 offers almost 30% more visual viewing space. More often than not... I'd think that women want comfort and regularity beyond anything else.

I came to this conclusion working for blockbuster for 5 years - in multiple locations: parts of Florida, and southern nj. It was my understanding that people renting dvds were mainly males - maybe it's some of their interest in technology etc that seems to normally be allocated to the testoric type of activity... But it's the same reason that more men like a nice car, or a good overclock on a computer.

I definitely recognized that children always like 4:3 content more so, saying that the blackbars were annoying, and I came to understand that most women thought the same way or didn't care either way. If you want to make a delineation between the men... I'd say that "family" men either didn't care, or just went along with whatever their children/wife wanted. Single men, or men with their girlfriends that weren't too tied down... seemed to strive to buy/rent widescreen more often than not - mostly because the guy was making the final decision on the dvd to watch. If there was just a single guy, he almost definitely was striving for a widescreen dvd - and probably looking for dts or some form of advanced audio track on the dvds as well.

There are many more examples, but it's just want I've come to understand between hundreds of thousands of transactions over the last few years. Having this knowledge always allowed me to better understand what movie types people wanted.

I've also seen that some women cannot tell the difference between 16:9 native and 4:3 stretched on a 16:9 screen. Plenty of times people have told me they simply "stretch" the widescreen movie to fullscreen; that their dvd player/or tv allowed them to do this as a convenience for them. That always made me cringe. I actually got into a few arguments about 4:3 vs 16:9 content with customers. Usually stressing that the director did not originally intend the content to be displayed in a 4:3 ratio; that you were losing the cinematic experience that you were originally designed to view...
 
Male, 1600 x 1200 desktop, 1280 x 800 laptop.

I like my home monitor a lot more, but that is just because the lappies resolution is pathetically low, not the fact it is widescreen. I don't care one way or the other for computer monitors, but I am a much bigger fan of widescreen for TVs.

Actually, I set mine to stretch all 4:3 content, you get used to it after a little bit and it just looks natural.
 
Well, physically, both men and women have stereoscopic vision with a much broader horizontal than vertical field of view. it;s hard to see how widescreen isn't more ergonomic for both men and women. Not sure what the research is really going to tell you...
 
Male.

I personally use a 4:3 CRT monitor at 1600x1200, but I much prefer the aspect ratio on my 1280x768 laptop.

I much, much prefer widescreen aspect ratios. I use a 1366x768 plasma monitor to do some gaming.
 
if your talking about technology, i think it just comes down to personal preference. i have seen studies in which people prefer to see things in 16:9 (and almost everything in nature is made that way). it is more appealing to people's eyes.

but to help you with your theory and research paper:

male
dell 2007wfp @ 1680x1050
i much prefer the ability to have more visual area.

im not sure how many women are on this site, but i would assume (and if im wrong, i'll make an "ass out of u and me"), most people here are men.

i have worked at 2 different video stores as well. i have talked to a lot of men and women who ask for 4:3 aspect ratio (but it does seem more women ask because they seem to do more of the renting for the familty). i convince them that the 16:9 is better because you see everything on the sides, everything the director wanted you to see so you do not miss out on anything in the movie. 99% of the time, they change their mind.
 
Male, widescreen 1920 x 1200.

If it ain't widescreen, then I don't want it. :)
 
1680x1050, 1280x720, 1920x1080 ours is a widescreen only house (except laptops)
 
Male
computer has 1280x1024.. because that is what it will go up to at 75Hz.. but I prefer widescreen.. when I finally get around to buying a LCD, I'm defenitly getting a 19-20" widescreen.

Same with watching movies.. I prefer widescreen.. My mom hates widescreen though because it doesn't take up the whole TV screen.
 
Male. I prefer widescreen for desktop computer. I am using 1920x1200 res before and now 2560x1600. However I use 4:3 14" 1400x1050 screen for laptop. It is not becasue widescreen is bad, but it makes the laptop either too big for transporting or too small for reading and operating.
 
pelayostyle said:
Male
widescreen 1680x1080
note: i also like girls with a big WIDE ass
Click to expand...

QFT :)

Male

I dont like 4:3 displays at all any more. Every display i buy for myself has been widescreen. My Dell laptop was a widescreen and i use a 2005fpw and now a 2007wfp and my HDTV is widescreen as well. HD content is in widescreen format so its just another reason to have widescreen displays. Widescreen provides a more productive work environment.
 
caboosemoose said:
Well, physically, both men and women have stereoscopic vision with a much broader horizontal than vertical field of view. it;s hard to see how widescreen isn't more ergonomic for both men and women. Not sure what the research is really going to tell you...
Click to expand...

I think your on to something here. Perhaps its a vailed attempt to find out who is female in the forum?
:D
 
ZenOps said:
I'm going to be releasing a paper on a study done about what aspect ratio people prefer (or are at least more proficient in), standard 4:3 all the way to the widest of widescreen aspect ratios.

Its interesting, but in early results just slightly past 4:3 seems to invoke more visual accuracy than the widescreen aspects in men (males) Might be something to do with men being the traditional hunter gatherers, and having a visual system much like a wolf (focused mainly upon one item, and usually right in front of them.) Or it could just be the years of us getting used to the traditional aspect ratios. Typically, a male will use head movements to see images, including *ducking* in shooter games.

Women tended to have better visual accuracy with wider screens, seeming to be able to pick out and describe objects in peripheral vision without directly looking at them. Women also tended to be able to keep their head and eyes still.
Click to expand...

I call BS. Humans generally see easier when it's horizontally aligned, so seeing as this is a 98% all geek male forum then yeah, I think you already know the answer.

Oh and *ducking* and focusing on one object at a time is more like behavioural DEGRADING from addiction, game immersion and too much porn. Don't confuse gender with behaviour.

Btw. 1280x800. I CRAM it ;) (that's not too say that I had too much exposure to WS, as this is a change from 1024x768, so compared to this the 12.1" laptop screen seems smaller but has more space estate than the 17" CRT)
 
male
4:3 1280x1024

looking to get a widescreen tho. I can only tolerate it when familiar objects that i know on 4:3 are properly scaled. When they are streched, i cant stand it.
 
This is a strange study. It's like asking a group of 100 men from downtown San Francisco if they would marry another man for tax benifits. There's some bias.

Asking hardforumers questions regarding marketable gimmicks, technology, and size is a terrible way to gather data for anything. Especially if it involves some kind of arbitrarily quantitative and barely comparable medium commonly juxtaposed in the form of a pissing contest. Unless you need to know "how damn gullible people are these days" or "what do the rich kids do with their immense allowance" you might want to come up with a better topic for a paper.
I
And to try to compare males and females regarding instinct and screen aspect ratio... no, just no. People want wide screen because it resembles the movie theatre. Everyone loves a wide, badass movie due to the encompassing, immersive experience... especially the predominately male community that stinks up hardforum.

... ... 4:3 all the way! ;P
 
And topping a 30 inch dell in resolution would be a 3840x2400 resolution ibm T221 22 inch.
Male, mutiple widescreen
 
Male; my primary monitor is 5:4, a 19 inch LCD.

I do prefer 16:9 or wider though, I plan on going three screens at some point. (3840x1024...I thik thats 15:4 *drool*).
 
Askanison said:
And topping a 30 inch dell in resolution would be a 3840x2400 resolution ibm T221 22 inch.
Click to expand...
Yeah that, AND, Iiyama AQU5611DTBK, Viewsonic VP2290b, and idtech MD22292. Same thing, all of them. That's a very appealing res and pixel pitch, but after using Dell 3007, I wouldn't want a screen that small. I also wouldn't want the slow refresh rate and response time.
 
Male
1920x1080 (16:9)
Westinghouse L37-W1

I HATE 4:3, I always get 16:9 whenever possible. I feel like I'm getting ripped off with 4:3 because I am not getting the whole experience.
 
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