I use a Wacom tablet with a wide screen monitor so I can answer some of your questions.

1. Does images on widescreen monitors only appear 'stretched' when u set it to fill screen?

2. At normal times, the images are mapped by pixel basis, so a widescreen monitor will not affect the correct ratio of photos?

The answer to 1 and 2 is really the same. Using fullscreen mode doesn't make a difference as to stretching. Your display resolution determines whether you have stretching. You need to set your screen display size to match the resolution of your monitor. If you do that, you will not get stretching and the aspect ratio of your photos will be unchanged. And remember, for LCD monitors you want to use the native resolution for best results.

3. im thinking whether to buy the WACOM intuos3 6x11(wide) or 9x12. If 9x12 isn't made for widescreens and i use it with a wide screen monitor.
3.1 what are the consequences?

3.2 will it cause my strokes to appear more horizontal as VS a normal monitor? since the tablet work area would be mapped to the monitor's resolution

3.3 can i restrict the tablet's work area to say only a portion of the screen(i will navigate the remaining portion with my mouse)

3.1 and 3.2 are basically the same thing. And 3.3 is a subset so I'll answer them together.

Yes, you can use any size tablet with any size monitor regardless of aspect ratio. I'm currently using a 1.25:1 aspect ratio tablet with a 1.6:1 monitor, for example (I originally bought the tablet when I had a standard monitor).

The tablet driver controls the screen to tablet mapping. The default is to map the height and width of the screen to the height and width of the tablet. If the aspect ratios of the two are different, you will get distortion. On mine, with default mapping, a circle traced on the tablet will become an ellipse on the screen. You can easily change this through the tablet driver controls.

The driver lets you define the portion of the screen to be mapped and the portion of the tablet to be mapped. So, yes, you can restrict the tablets work area to a portion of the screen. If you set the driver so you map areas that have the same aspect ratio for both screen and tablet, you will retain your relationships and there will be no distortion on your strokes.

4. Are there any advantages of using a 6 x 11 (wide) for wide screen monitors as compared to 9 x 12? im mostly doing character illustations, digital painting & photo-editing.

It depends on your personal preferences and work habits. The size you need is very dependent on what you will be doing with it and how you are used to working when you draw. I prefer a small tablet because I can cover the entire screen with minimal hand motions. I don't like to make large sweeping movements and I don't need to trace documents. If you are used to drawing on a larger surface, a bigger tablet will feel more natural. How big depends on what you feel comfortable with (or, if tracing documents, how big the document is).

You should get a table that has an aspect ratio that comes close to that of the screen area you will be mapping. If you don't, you can still use the tablet but you will need to restrict a portion of the screen or tablet if linearity is important to you.

The 6x11 tablet has an aspect ratio of 1.83:1 which is wider than many widescreen monitors. The 9x12 has an aspect ratio of 1.25:1 which is narrower than the typical wide screen. If you use default mapping, you will get distortion with each -- the 6x11 will squeeze while the 9x12 will stretch. You will need to adjust the mapping for either to maintain linearity.

5. what are the cons of buying a widescreen monitor(apart from price)?

Other than price, the biggest disadvantage is that you will need to get a bigger screen than you would ordinarily think you would need in order to preserve the height of the display. Like television sets, the size of a monitor refers to the diagonal measurement. You will need to step up to a larger size in order to maintain the height. Height makes a bigger differance on how the monitor is perceived than you might think. I know a number of people you returned their wide screen monitors and went back to a standard monitor because the height was smaller than they were used to and didn't want to spend the extra money to get a larger widescreen.

You also will need to make sure your video card supports the required resolution.

Cara_Newman

Replied in the following topics

Questions about WideScreen monitors &amp; WACOM tablets

Questions about WideScreen monitors & WACOM tablets