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January 11, 2009 1:00 PM PST
Westinghouse gets on the 'Full HD' train
Along with pretty much every other monitor vendor, Westinghouse is moving to a 16:9, "Full HD" format for its monitors. This means that these new displays will be able to display 720p or 1080p HD content without stretching the image.
Other than "Full HD," not much is new about the new lineup.
Here are the specifications on the three new unreleased models.
(Credit:
Westinghouse)
L2031NW (20-inch class LCD monitor)
Available: Second half 2009; Price: TBD
- 20-inch TFT LCD monitor, 20.0-inch diagonal viewable
- True HD 16:9 aspect ratio, 1,600x900-pixel resolution
- 0.277x0.277mm pixel pitch
- 1,000:1 contrast ratio
- 250 nits brightness
- Fast response time of 5ms
- 16.7 million true colors
- Wide viewing angle: 170 degree H, 160 degree V
- HDMI (HDCP), VGA, and stereo audio inputs
- Built-in stereo speakers: 1Wx2
- EPA Energy Star 4.1 Tier 2 compliant: Power consumption: less than 41 watts
- RoHS compliant
(Credit:
Westinghouse)
L2427HW (24-inch class LCD monitor)
Available: March 2009; Price: TBD
- 24-inch class TFT LCD monitor, 23.6-inch diagonal viewable
- True Full HD 16:9 aspect ratio, 1,920x1,080-pixel resolution
- 0.2715x0.2715mm pixel pitch
- 1,000:1 contrast ratio
- 300 nits high brightness
- Fast response time of 2ms (gray to gray)
- 16.7 million true colors
- Wide viewing angle: 170 degree H, 160 degree V
- 2 HDMI inputs with HDCP in addition to VGA and stereo audio
- Built-in stereo speakers: 1.5W x 2
- EPA Energy Star 4.1 Tier 2 compliant: Power consumption: less than 59W
- RoHS compliant
(Credit:
Westinghouse)
L2635HW (26-inch class LCD monitor)
Available: March 2009; Price: TBD
- 26-inch class TFT LCD monitor, 25.5-inch diagonal viewable
- 16:10 aspect ratio, 1,920x1,200-pixel resolution
- 0.287x0.287mm pixel pitch
- 1,000:1 contrast ratio
- 300 nits high brightness
- Fast response time of 2ms (gray to gray)
- 16.7 million true colors
- Wide viewing angle: 170 degree H, 160 degree V
- 1 HDMI (HDCP), 1 DVI-D(HDCP), 1 VGA
- Built-in stereo speakers: 1.5W x 2
- EPA Energy Star 4.1 Tier 2 compliant: Power consumption: <65W
- RoHS compliant
Eric Franklin refused to write a bio, saying, "Why are you bothering me about this bio business again? If I wanted people to know more about me, I'd send them to the Inside CNET Labs Podcast" (shameless plug). E-mail Eric. 
- by AgVulpine January 11, 2010 6:44 PM PST
- I should also elaborate on those "host of benefits" I promised earlier.<br /><br />1) 16:10 provides a "letter box" area when viewing or editing 16:9 HD movies, without any degradation to quality. This area can be used to display movie subtitles, the play/pause/volume sliders, video editing toolbars, or simply your Windows task bar. With a "Full HD" display you can fit the movie and nothing else on your screen--a real nightmare for video authoring.<br /><br />2) 16:10 displays are "golden". If you've watched The Da Vinci Code, you are probably familiar with the "Fibonacci sequence" which reveals "the golden ratio" mathematically known as "Phi". This ratio is 16.1803399:10 (or just 16:10) making it the most aesthetically pleasing because it's known as "the perfect rectangle", tuned to our bodies' biological likes and dislikes. In contrast, 16:9 is too wide--intentionally so--to give us the feeling of a panoramic view. The mind senses this unacceptable width and makes us feel like we're flying or spatially disoriented (the mind is trying to cope with an ugly rectangle). This might be fine when watching a 2 hour movie, but abhorrent to stare at for 8 hours in the office.<br /><br />3) You are already paying for a 1920p wide display. Why settle for 1080p tall when you can get 1200p tall for nearly the same price? The biggest complaint when wide-screen monitors first came out, was the fact that a 20" 16:10 was vertically shorter than a 20" 4:3 standard display. Now that we've reached 24" and 28" wide-screen displays, we're about even with the height monitors used to be 5 years previous. By switching from 16:10 to 16:9, Westinghouse is only making the monitors shorter again, NOT any wider. This saves Westinghouse some manufacturing costs, and robs you of precious screen realestate.
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