Question about widescreen monitors

moultanomoultano Creator of ns_shiva. Join Date: 2002-12-14 Member: 10806Members, NS1 Playtester, Contributor, Constellation, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Gold, NS2 Community Developer, Pistachionauts
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<div class="IPBDescription">My monitor died and I'm shopping.</div>My monitor died this morning in a power outage. (Every row and column is a single color. It's kinda pretty.) I'm thinking about getting a widescreen monitor, but I have one concern about it for gaming. I absolutely cannot stand playing games in a squished aspect ratio, and I'm pretty sure I have some games that won't support widescreen. My question is, do any of you know of a monitor that allows you to put black bars on the sides for using it in a lower resolution?
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  • TychoCelchuuuTychoCelchuuu Anememone Join Date: 2002-03-23 Member: 345Members
    It won't be squished, it will be stretched. Some monitors support aspect scaling and some don't. Some video card drivers do and some don't. You have to do reasearch on the individual product to know.

    I've played tons of stuff stretched out, even text-heavy RPGs that run at a super low resolution like Planescape: Torment or games that run in a resolution that would just about fit on a DS like X-COM and it looked fine stretched out, but I guess it might be a personal thing.
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  • CoolCookieCooksCoolCookieCooks Pretty Girl Join Date: 2003-05-18 Member: 16446Members, NS1 Playtester, Contributor, Constellation
    The majority of new games out these days have widescreen support. Even if they dont there is no real bad thing about the problem if the sides are cut off or its squished/stretched.
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  • raz0rraz0r Join Date: 2003-07-24 Member: 18395Members
    If you're <b>really</b> worried about stretching a 4:3 signal to fit the screen, make sure to get a monitor that supports 1:1 Pixel Mapping (all of Dell's Widescreen monitors do, and they are some quality pieces of kit)
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  • moultanomoultano Creator of ns_shiva. Join Date: 2002-12-14 Member: 10806Members, NS1 Playtester, Contributor, Constellation, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Gold, NS2 Community Developer, Pistachionauts
    <!--quoteo(post=1653363:date=Oct 1 2007, 02:16 PM:name=raz0r)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(raz0r @ Oct 1 2007, 02:16 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1653363"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->If you're <b>really</b> worried about stretching a 4:3 signal to fit the screen, make sure to get a monitor that supports 1:1 Pixel Mapping (all of Dell's Widescreen monitors do, and they are some quality pieces of kit)<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    I'm sold. Dell widescreen it is.
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  • enf0rcerenf0rcer intrigued... Join Date: 2003-03-16 Member: 14584Members
    I just bought one of <a href="http://accessories.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=ca&l=en&s=dhs&cs=cadhs1&sku=320-5205" target="_blank">these.</a> I was lucky I just happened to be looking at monitors while this thing was 60 dollars off. I got it for $300 including tax and free shipping. It's supposed to arrive this Wednesday.

    I've always had the 19inch CRT I'm using right now, but it was an impulse buy and I decided it was time for an LCD. It's practically 60 pounds lighter and a fair bit larger.
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  • enf0rcerenf0rcer intrigued... Join Date: 2003-03-16 Member: 14584Members
    so rather than make a new thread. Maybe one of you LCD experts can tell me if I got a defunct monitor or if this is just an annoying quirk I'm going to have to live with.
    <img src="http://enforcer.onestop.net/monitor.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />

    The screen is darker on the top, and it doesn't matter what angle I tilt it at, it's always darker. Should I look into getting a replacement or is this normal?
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  • XythXyth Avatar Join Date: 2003-11-04 Member: 22312Members
    <!--quoteo(post=1653873:date=Oct 3 2007, 07:21 PM:name=enf0rcer)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(enf0rcer @ Oct 3 2007, 07:21 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1653873"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->so rather than make a new thread. Maybe one of you LCD experts can tell me if I got a defunct monitor or if this is just an annoying quirk I'm going to have to live with.
    <img src="http://enforcer.onestop.net/monitor.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />

    The screen is darker on the top, and it doesn't matter what angle I tilt it at, it's always darker. Should I look into getting a replacement or is this normal?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    I've seen that before, did you try fiddling with the contrast and brightness? Also, make sure all the plugs are secured.
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  • enf0rcerenf0rcer intrigued... Join Date: 2003-03-16 Member: 14584Members
    I'm using the DVI (I've also tried the VGA) connection, as far as I can tell everything is in securely. I've adjusted the graphics card brightness/contrast as well as the monitor settings. It's still the same <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":(" border="0" alt="sad-fix.gif" />
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  • XythXyth Avatar Join Date: 2003-11-04 Member: 22312Members
    Is it plugged into a power strip with the rest of your stuff? Try giving it a personal plug (power draw might be really high). Besides that, try leaving it on for awhile.
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  • schkorpioschkorpio I can mspaint Join Date: 2003-05-23 Member: 16635Members
    i'd say either the montior is broken, or the that model of monitor is stuffed :S at work we have a gazzillion dell monitors and 99% of them are fine, but occasionally we get one like that so we just send get dell to swap it for one that works.

    I don't really like dell monitors tbh, they aren't any better quality than say a benq, yet they cost double the price in a lot of cases.

    My personal favourite is a 19" widescreen - they resolution is 1400x900 native, which if you work it out, is less pixels than a 17" lcd 4:3 monitor @ 1280x1024. The perk being that you get a wide aspect ratio, crisp image because games run smoother at 1400x900 <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile-fix.gif" /> Its a win win situation.

    I've got a 20" benq, had it for ages, but playing games @1680x1050 is even for my 8800gts taxing at times - atleast a few games anyway. and when i mean taxing i mean its running at 40-50fps rather than 60 and above. so i'm thinking my next monitor will be 19"
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  • [WHO]Them[WHO]Them You can call me Dave Join Date: 2002-12-11 Member: 10593Members, Constellation
    Dell just oozes quality when it comes to monitors.

    Plus, they make the <a href="http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/monitor_3007wfp?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19" target="_blank">30" 2560x1600 display</a> that I can't live without.
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  • QuaunautQuaunaut The longest seven days in history... Join Date: 2003-03-21 Member: 14759Members, Constellation, Reinforced - Shadow
    I've got a ViewSonic 2025VXWM 20.1" monitor. Hella bright, with a 2ms update time. Only downside is its a power hugger- it won't even try to get a signal when its plugged into anything but a wall socket, as it just won't get enough juice. Beautiful though.
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