7d vs 5dii lcd screen

PUREBRAD wrote in post #14914492
You may want to go and double-check your figures. 640x480 equals 307k dots. the 7D and 5DII's screen is 920k dots. "640x480" pixels cannot possibly be correct, as its appx. only 1/3 the screen's resolution specification. Same goes for 720x480 dots, as multiplied out is merely 345k.

I have a 50D, not a 7D or 5DII, however, I'm fairly certain that both of these cameras (which have a 3:2 sensor) do not send 4:3 images to the rear screen.

It's their funny math. Each pixel has three components, red, green, blue. 307 dots * 3 is the 920. THe resolution is indeed 640 by 480.

PUREBRAD wrote in post #14914492
You may want to go and double-check your figures. 640x480 equals 307k dots. the 7D and 5DII's screen is 920k dots. "640x480" pixels cannot possibly be correct, as its appx. only 1/3 the screen's resolution specification. Same goes for 720x480 dots, as multiplied out is merely 345k.

He is right. the 7D screen is 640x380, the number of dots includes each individual Red , green and blue dot not each group of 3 pixels which goes to make up the resolution.

Lowner wrote in post #14912463
True, but I've never had the opportunity to see as many monitors side by side, except maybe in PC World! Maybe it would be just as eye opening.

It is. Differences between computer monitors are huge. Calibration can even things out a bit, but it won't turn a crappy monitor into a good one.

PUREBRAD wrote in post #14914492
You may want to go and double-check your figures. 640x480 equals 307k dots. the 7D and 5DII's screen is 920k dots. "640x480" pixels cannot possibly be correct, as its appx. only 1/3 the screen's resolution specification. Same goes for 720x480 dots, as multiplied out is merely 345k.

As the others have already said, Canon is counting subpixels instead of full color pixels. In short: It's just marketing BS and apart from the megapixel-crazy camera industry, nobody counts like that.

PUREBRAD wrote in post #14914492
I have a 50D, not a 7D or 5DII, however, I'm fairly certain that both of these cameras (which have a 3:2 sensor) do not send 4:3 images to the rear screen.

Correct. They display a 3:2 image and use the remaining space for displaying additional information above the image, just like the 50D.

As a dslr videographer more than a stills photographer, I can say that differences in screen resolution are VERY noticeable when using an LCD loupe. I bought a 7D a year after using a 550 intensively for video, and was shocked at what a step backward I took in LCD image quality. And yes, it's important for video since nearly all focusing is done manually via the LCD.