LCD Monitor I Might Buy

[Lostroth]

now i saw this in the flyer and thought, what a good deal, but i'm no expert on LCD monitors, i need some opinions on this.

20.1" Widescreen

now is widescreen good for gaming?(what i will be mostly doing, watching movies second), 8ms i've heard is good for gaming, but how good?

[Dr.Jeckyl]

now is widescreen good for gaming?

only if the game supports it.

399 for a 20 inch widescreen aint too bad either way. plus viewsonic has a pretty good track record with monitors in my book.

[Lostroth]

only if the game supports it.

399 for a 20 inch widescreen aint too bad either way. plus viewsonic has a pretty good track record with monitors in my book.

hmmm well since i play World of Warcraft 90% of the time, and it does support widescreen, im leaning more towards getting this.

[MONOLITH]

only if the game supports it.

Doc, I asked this question before, recently, but I don't think I got an answer.

What happens when you have a game that only supports the 4:3 aspect ratio, and play it on a widescreen? Does the image stretch and distort horizontally, or can it be made to maintain the 4:3 and there's black edges at the ends of the widescreen?

[MONOLITH]

Second time I can't get an answer from anyone.

[Lazerblade]

Depends on the screen. Some have the ability to switch between the different aspect ratios, some do not. Some self-adjust according to incoming signal, some do not. All of this information should be available in the documentation. It's also a feature in the on-screen menu of the monitor, so while shopping go ahead and play with the menu.

[Lostroth]

well i decided in the end to get this monitor instead. and man it is beautiful.

19 Inch LCD

[MONOLITH]

I finally settled on this one. Going to pick it up at Circuit City in a few minutes.

Got killer reviews. 21" of badassness.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1910534,00.asp

[MONOLITH]

*next morning*

What an awesome monitor.

Quick question. In the past, with my 17" CRT monitor, increasing resolution always equalled a drop on frame rates.

With the new monitor, it's native resolution is 1680 x 1050.  I figured I would never be able to play at that resolution because in the past, going to anything near that high choked my machine.

But with this monitor, playing at 1680 x 1050 gives me the same frame rates as 1024 x 768 on my old CRT.

So is this telling me that frame rates are not just about the vid cards ability, but the monitors 'native' resolution?

[Aramis]

Uhm... that shouldn't happen. That's weird. Did you maybe turn down AA or AF since the image is sharper/clearer or change any settings?

Native resolution typically means it's what the monitor is going to best display text/pictures at without stretching or blurring, right?

...

Oh wait- something I just thought of- are you using vsync? I usually do, since I value image quality/no tearing vs fps. If your old CRT had a low refresh rate at 1024 x 768, then your new one might match it in fps.

Another thing to keep in mind is if you're using the DVI input it's locked at 60 and can't go any higher. However the trade-off is supposed to be unfilitered image quality.

Anyway, it's probably old refresh rate vs new using vsync.

As for widescreen gaming, I think it depends on the monitor. I can run with black bars on the side or I can stretch it out. However, most-all games have some kind of workaround for widescreen- you can usually edit the .ini.

[MONOLITH]

So far I actually found most of my games, even the slightly older ones, support a wide screen aspect.

The only one I really have any issues with is SH3, and what used to be a round periscope is now horizontally egg shaped. But it's not too bad, just that it's noticeable until you get into the heat of the game and forget about it. Ubisoft really screwed the SH3 graphics anyway. There's zero options. zero. You're stuck with 1024 x 768, and no settings options.

I'm not sure what to say about the FPS thing. Honestly I didn't really change anything settings wise (AA or Vsync). I am using DVI, so it's not the refresh rate.

I just know that with my old 17" CRT, with a game like C&C Generals, if jumped up from 1024x768 to 1024x1028 the game got noticeable stutter and I had to back the resolution down. With the new LCD, I crank up to it's native 1680 x 1050, and get fine framerates.

I don't understand it, but I like it.  A large widescreen LCD is definately a worthwhile investment for a serious gamer. Games look beautiful on it, and you don't realize how much smaller your old monitor was until you realize you're now actually turning your head to look left and right on the screen.

The price wasn't so bad either. I think I payed $500ish? It's probably posted above here already.

[Aramis]

I love my dell 2007fpw. I wasn't going to go LCD but I couldn't pass up the deal, and it really got me into the whole widescreen side of things. It's a 20.1" at a 1680 x1050 native resolution and it looks SO pretty. I've been playing a lot of Titan Quest on it and it just looks awesome. I can't wait to upgrade my computer and really play some games on it. I'm already looking at getting a 24" down the road since I love this thing so much.

Widescreen gaming is just awesome. I think we'll see a lot of folks going to it. To me, it's the next big jump in hardware that gives you immediate pleasure to use.

[Lostroth]

A large widescreen LCD is definately a worthwhile investment for a serious gamer. Games look beautiful on it, and you don't realize how much smaller your old monitor was until you realize you're now actually turning your head to look left and right on the screen. :cool

i played Half-Life 2 on my new monitor and was blown away all over again. i cranked up the settings and just sat there staring at its beauty. Call of Duty was awsome on it, all my games now look better than ever. best investment i've made in awhile.