1024 gaming on a 1280 native LCD?

i've been eyeing some of those 1280x1024 LCD monitors lately, but am worried because i like my desktop/UT2k4 at 1152x864.

is it possible to play UT2k4 or doom3 at 1024x768 on a 1280x1024 native LCD monitor without the monitor stretching the signal to fill up the screen, i.e. with a band of "inactive" pixels around the border? sort of like playing teh game within a window, but without the border/min/max/close buttons and stuff.

It's definitely possible: I play Doom 3 at 800x600 and my monitor's native resolution is 1024x768. The picture will be sharper at the monitor's native resolution, but it will still be playable at a lower res. without a border.