I am going to be purchasing a flat panel for my new Dell system, most likely from NEC (I've heard good things about them). Is there such a thing as buying a flat panel with a native resolution of 1024x768, which I prefer, but one that *can* go to 1280x1024 if desired? Also, do I need to worry about any compatibility issues with buying an NEC monitor to use with my new Dell XPS system? I don't believe so, but figured I would ask the experts. Jason

I believe that with LCD/TFT type screens they have a "native" resolution and your images will be degraded if you try to use anything other than that resolution. eg my 15inch operates at 1024x768. Safemode at 600x480 looks like crap I used to have a signature but it disappeared and I just couldn't be bothered writing another so please feel free to ingore this.

Native resolution in LCDs is determined by the physical size of the monitor because pixel size in an LCD is fixed, unlike a CRT monitor where pixel size varies with resolution. Because of is unlikely that you will be able to run an LCD at a resolution higher than the native resolution as there just wont be enough pixels to go round. Running at a lower resolution with lead to degradation of quality. Stuart

There are two specs re: flat panels that I need some help with. If I am looking at a monitor that has a pitch of .297MM and a refresh rate of 75 Hz, are those good numbers? Is it true that the lower those numbers are, the better?

The lower the pitch and the higher the refresh rate is better. Stuart

I had a second hand LCD monitor for about a year and it eventually died. My new replacement is a small NEC and it is far superior. The grey scale is accurate in both highlights and lowlights and the colors are (therefore?) great. The monitor itself will not allow me to go beyond its native resolution (1024x768) which I think is the usual case. I know it was the monitor because I tried cooking the books in the registry. In fact it is quite fair on 800x600 (which I mostly use) but you do see the difference if you set it to native. In summary I think you are out of luck (first para), although I do understand why you might wish to do this. I don't think there would be any compatibility issues. DerekW

I hava an Acer AL1916ASD 19" flat panel which has a native resolution of 1280x1024. However, I always run it at 1024x768 as I'm most comfortable with that. The dot pitch is 0.29 which is comparable with CRT monitors. If you get the 17" version, the dot pitch is even better at 0.26. The secret is to use the DVI interface instead of VGA as there's a direct digital transfer without conversion to and from analog. You'll need a video card that supports DVI though. I use an ATI 9800 Pro. Bryan