[tow the tardis]

I know that screens are measured from corner to corner but I was wondering if anyone knows the straight horizontal and vertical dimensions of the 20" imac lcd. Just the display and not the casing.

[PeteWK]

Hello. I just measured my Gen. 2 20 inch and got 17 inches across and 10 & 5/8th inches high. The measurements in Metric is 43.3 X 27.1. I hope this helps.

Pete

[Will C]

A bit of pythagoras and some algebra,,,,,

BIG assumpton - the pixels are square - horizontal and vertical dpi is the same (anyone know otherwise?)
Width of display in pixels = 1680
Height of display in pxiels = 1050

Diagonal of display in pixels = SQRT (Width^2+Height^2)
<plug in the numbers...> = 1981 (this is not the same as counting the dots diagonally on the actual display)

Therefore, if the diagonal is 20 inches, the dpi for the display must be = 1981/20 (99) which must also equal the horizontal + vertical dpi

Put another way, diagonal dpi = 1680/(width in inches) = 1050/(height in inches)

Therefore Width in inches = (1680/1981)*20 = 16.9 inches
and height = (1050/1981)*20 = 10.6 inches

Can anyone confirm this by measuring?

{Practical PeteWK beat me to it...but it does match!]

[mduell]

Although the appoximation using pixels comes close, you can figure out the geometry with just the diagonal measurement and the aspect ratio.

Width: (20^2/(16^2+10^2))^0.5*16 = 16.96 inches = 43.07 centimeters
Height: (20^2/(16^2+10^2))^0.5*10 = 10.60 inches = 26.92 centimeters

[Gelfling]

For a more subjective comparison. My 20" Cinema Display (screen part only, not including the enclosure) is about the same height as my Samsung 17" 4:5 LCD (also excluding the enclosure).

Due to the aspect ratio, the 20" display really does feel more like a traditional 17" LCD that has been stretched sideways. Size of text, etc is also very similar on both.