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First post, by rmay635703

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If I’m going to waste actual money on something it may as well work for the things I do and fit the space I have.

In any event my work laptop is used in multiple spaces usually where a smallish portable lcd fits best. Sadly theses seem to come in a million random types with very little in way of reviews.

My antique 13.3 portable lcd has a tv tuner and several inputs (including analog ones) but its resolution is really showing its age and several of my apps get cut off by the limited real estate.

I was looking to replace it with a larger portable 18-22” in size preferably 4k res so I can scale non-native resolutions better. (If it has the necessary inputs I can use it both with new and legacy devices)

These appear to exist but 4K seems to only be available in the tiny sizes <16” the tiny size screens seem to come in MANY aspect ratios which is if nothing else interesting.
And the larger “portable “ LCDs seem to have much more limited capabilities, specs, inputs, resolutions.

Many of these 4K portable screens are very very cheap, for reasons unknown $69-$99 and then boom $400 with nothing in between
I would pay a little more than $100 if the thing comes with more input options and can handle/scale legacy resolutions without the need for tons of external crap but $400-$1200 for a meh screen seems silly.

Let me know if anyone has bit the bullet on one of these oddities and whether it actually properly handles 4:3 and scaling properly.

If I’m going to buy one I rather have it be capable of hooking up to any of my devices so I can use it as a multipurpose screen, (my equipment has HDMI, display port, vga and even composite) even for OTA TV, since I still like to do that occasionally

Reply 1 of 2, by weedeewee

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I think mickeysoft said it best,

640x480 should be enough for everyone.

that aside. i'd be doubtful about those cheap screen being actually '4k'. there might be a total of 4k R, G, B pixels on there, as in 3840x2160, but you'd have to divide it by three to get a real idea.
So likely 1280x720
though I'm just guessing here.

Goodnight.

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Reply 2 of 2, by rmay635703

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weedeewee wrote on 2024-05-08, 21:58:
I think mickeysoft said it best, […]
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I think mickeysoft said it best,

640x480 should be enough for everyone.

that aside. i'd be doubtful about those cheap screen being actually '4k'. there might be a total of 4k R, G, B pixels on there, as in 3840x2160, but you'd have to divide it by three to get a real idea.
So likely 1280x720
though I'm just guessing here.

Goodnight.

My ancient $89 portable 13.3” LCD is 1366x768, my guess is that 14 years later these newer screens are at least “slightly “ better.

The real cheap ones just appear to be the same surplus commodity panel found in my aging laptop with a chinsey off brand case, driver and hdmi connector lobbed on looking like somebody glued it together.

So I have no doubt some of them are the same dim 4k screens found in certain obsolete laptop models . And no doubt some are just plain lying as well since most of these things are made from excess inventory or even ewaste.

Knowing what is really in there is difficult at best and even the very expensive versions based on the limited reviews I’ve found aren’t the brightest panels.

I loath buying and trying to return things but that might be what’s needed since there are more portable screen models than standard monitors these days.

Rinse and repeat.