3:2 displays

[dmgursky]

So, despite the industry's obsession with 16:9 (1920 x 1080 and variations thereof), the holy grail for rendering digital imagery is 3:2. This is the aspect ratio of sensors in digital cameras and dates back to 35mm photography. For those of us of a certain age, this was also the aspect ratio on 126 and 110 film (if you don't know what I am talking about, don't worry; if you do know what I am talking about, I will see you at Bingo night...).

Two years ago, Josh Block wrote an article for The Digital Picture Frame web site (link) detailing how he converted a ViewSonic VX3276-MHD 32" 1080p monitor into a 3:2 DPF with a mat to block off the excess pixels. Now that is great if you want an über sized DPF, but my needs were much smaller, and (frankly) I really did not want to see a 2' high image of SWMBO's head (SWMBO -- She Who Must Be Obeyed). Fortunately, there are two options for 3:2 screens that I would like to give a shout out to:

• The Keeptime 14" Portable Monitor (2160 x 1440), $85.49 at Amazon. The larger of the two monitors, my digital pictures fit beautifully. My only issues with this is the stand does not lend itself to using the monitor in portrait mode and I had to buy a third party one to hold it. Furthermore, you need to take care in purchasing such a stand as the frame is thicker at one end then the other to hold the control board. I selected the Lamicall stand (one of several vendors of this type of stand) if for no other reason than Amazon had it on sale for $9.99.

• The Topmonitor 10½" Portable Monitor (1920 x 1280), $59.99 at Amazon. FWIW, I will be using this for my portrait oriented images moving forward -- in portrait orientation it is almost the same height as the Keeptime in landscape FTW.

• For the sake of completeness, there is a third option I discovered, the BenQ RD28UQ. At 28¼", it is larger than other the Keeptime or Topmonitor, but it is substantially pricier at $570.