Widescreen gaming...useful links and information.

[attack]

So, with wide screen LCD's and the prevelence of other LCD's coming into the gaming realm I felt there needed to be a nice thread made.

In this thread I am also going to try to convince you want to buy a widescreen LCD, and to avoid all 17" and 19" "normal" LCD's (this is addressed later)


First off, for links I would like to include:
http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/forum/

This forum is dedicated to finding ways to get games working in widescreen mode, and answer specific questions which I won't adress.

A list of games which do and don't support widescreen gaming:
http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/masterlist.php

Now, if your favorite game you play can't be played in widescreen do not fear.
The 2 widescreens I've used, (the dell 2005FPW, and 2405FPW) will let you set the screen to display 1:1 for pixels, aspect stretch, and stretch.
with the 1:1 setting the display will center the image at the native resoltion of the monitor and black out the surrounding...so it looks good and isn't jacked up...for example, if you run it at 1600x1200 on a 2405FPW you will have 2 black bars on the left and right which take up 160 pixels wide each (because the native res is 1920x1200).
the aspect stretch will keep everything in it's aspect ratio and stretch the image to it's limit...for example, running 1280x960 will cause the image to stretch to it's max but retain the 4:3 resolution...and again leave black bars on the left and right.
stretch will take any resoltion image and stretch it so it fills the whole screen...this will distort the way the image is supposed to look.

I leave mine at 1:1...if your video card cannot drive a high powered game and you need to run say 1024x768 and want to utilize most of your big screen then you should run aspect stretch...I personaly would never run full stretch.


Ok...so that's nice you can play your games like normal and stuff...and a lot of games support widescreen...but what does this widescreen do for me?
Well it honestly depends on the game. HL2 is my favorite example for why you should goto widescreen gaming.

Here is a link comparing 16:9, 16:10, 4:3 and 5:4 resolutions (56k warning):
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=375461

As you can see you actualy have an advantage over other players with the widescreen! And...(this is why I say stay away from 17 and 19" LCD's) you see a heck of a lot less running the 5:4...or 1280x1024 resolution that LCD's have!
On my monitor I actualy run 16:9 with the 1:1 setting so I get 2 very slim black bars on the top and bottom...but I see more in HL2 (I run 1920x1080 instead of 1920x1200)

I can't give testimonials for other games so I'm gonna open the floor for other widescreen gamers out there....screenies comparing 16:10 would be nice

oh and if you use your computer for DVD watching..well widescreen is what DVD's are meant for.


*EDIT* SSS posted this, some good stuff!
For widescreen wallpaper, this is the place to get them.

They have hundreds, all for free in all screen sizes and all widescreen sizes.

http://interfacelift.com/wallpaper/index.php?w=1680&h=1050&sort=date&id=&page=1

 

[donny_paycheck]

This is going to make a good sticky.

Also, having a native res of 1600x1200 is always a fine excuse to upgrade your video card.

 

[UnLoadeD]

Nice thread. I have my computer hoked up to 50" DLP. Gaming on it is awesome. Native resolution on it is 1280x720 (720p). I've played FarCry and HL2, just started Doom3. Hopefully I won't have a heart attack playing it. It's pretty scary with lights out and the surround sound going. AVS Forums has a section for Home Theater Gaming (PC & Console). There is a Sticky/FAQ on Widescreen Gming.

peace.
unloaded

 

[joethemole]

until i become a multi millionaire, i think i'll stick with a regular lcd

 

[drunkn.bear]

This stuff is pretty high end, it'll set you back quite a bit. Might as well connect it to a TV you already have

 

[aznkc730]

i played half-life 2 on my dad's 62 inch dlp. i **** my pants everytime i see how beautiful everything is. now im back at school with my 17 inch gaming lcd. big effing difference =(

 

[Lord Lunacy]

Just picked up an Acer AL2416Wd LCD. The thing was expensive at $935, but it makes work and play a much better experience. 24" LCD 6ms pixel response, native res of 1920x1200...it's just sick.

 

[perithimus]

I bought my Dell 2005FPW about a month ago. It is so awesome in games. I used to have a 17 inch lcd, and there is a world of difference. The widescreen is just better.

 

[donv]

I own an Acer AL1916W, a 19" Widescreen monitor, native res of 1440x900.

It is absolutely stunning, playing games in widescreen. In widescreen mode, i have played through Quake4, Fear and Half Life 2, and they were all beautiful. DVD's are far better than on my old 19" CRT, as now the image fills virtually the whole screen.

No dead pixels as of yet...i would totally recommend someone looking for widescreen on the cheap to look into one of these. No ghosting whatsoever.

 

[Richie P]

Widescreen gaming is awesome...if it works properly. Plus, with more and more widescreen tft's being sold it's becoming more suported by the game dev's.

I have a 15.4", 1280x800 laptop panel that works perfectly with Far Cry, Counter Strike:Condition Zero and Call of Duty 2 for me so far. Other games work perfectly at their standard 1024x768 resolution with the black bar's down the side of the screen.

Having had a widescreen monitor, i wouldn't go back to standard aspect ratio, despite the few compatibility problems. My next buy will be a conroe desktop system with a dell 2007wfp if they can sort the banding out once and for all.

 

[Silversinksam]

For widescreen wallpaper, this is the place to get them.

They have hundreds, all for free in all screen sizes and all widescreen sizes.

http://interfacelift.com/wallpaper/index.php?w=1680&h=1050&sort=date&id=&page=1

 

[Krome]

For widescreen wallpaper, this is the place to get them.

They have hundreds, all for free in all screen sizes and all widescreen sizes.

http://interfacelift.com/wallpaper/index.php?w=1680&h=1050&sort=date&id=&page=1

I totally found this site on Google images by searching for "1680x1050." Tons of great wallpapers there.

*on yeah, playing HL2 DM on widescreen is so much better, I will NEVER go back to a standard LCD now.......

 

[csu]

Now, if your favorite game you play can't be played in widescreen do not fear.
The 2 widescreens I've used, (the dell 2005FPW, and 2405FPW) will let you set the screen to display 1:1 for pixels, aspect stretch, and stretch.
with the 1:1 setting the display will center the image at the native resoltion of the monitor and black out the surrounding...so it looks good and isn't jacked up...for example, if you run it at 1600x1200 on a 2405FPW you will have 2 black bars on the left and right which take up 160 pixels wide each (because the native res is 1920x1200).
the aspect stretch will keep everything in it's aspect ratio and stretch the image to it's limit...for example, running 1280x960 will cause the image to stretch to it's max but retain the 4:3 resolution...and again leave black bars on the left and right.
stretch will take any resoltion image and stretch it so it fills the whole screen...this will distort the way the image is supposed to look.

When you run an older game on 800x600 with 4:3 aspect stretch enabled there shouldn't be any image distortion should there? If Dell 2407 is stretching it properly every pixel in the game will take up four pixels on the LCD, occupying 1600x1200 pixels in total.

So I guess this is something Dell 2005 cannot do?

 

[attack]

Yup, that would be correct, the 2405/07 can stay in native scale and run 800x600 with aspect stretch on, the 2005/2007fpw can't

 

[Ecca]

I own an Acer AL1916W, a 19" Widescreen monitor, native res of 1440x900.

It is absolutely stunning, playing games in widescreen. In widescreen mode, i have played through Quake4, Fear and Half Life 2, and they were all beautiful. DVD's are far better than on my old 19" CRT, as now the image fills virtually the whole screen.

No dead pixels as of yet...i would totally recommend someone looking for widescreen on the cheap to look into one of these. No ghosting whatsoever.

Agreed 100 percent, I have it also.

 

[Denbob99]

After reading this, my next monitor will definately be a 19" widescreen

 

[NewbieOneKenobi]

LG Fantasy Ring 19'' gets quite good reviews and is well-liked for the design, although I must say when I looked at it in the shop, I thought it looked cheap (I mean the "fancy" stand).

My experience so far is HP w2007v. Be careful with it, though, if you don't like the fact it has only a VGA plug and no DVI, skip it for, say, that LG Fantasy series. And if you have cash to burn, get an EIZO. Nothing beats EIZO geometry and other factors also stand out. But above all the geometry. So if you have cash to burn...

In fact, I think if I get a raise in this job, I'll go for EIZO even though I have a new HP.

 

[Shiggity]

Right now, the standard seems to be 22" widescreen for LCDs and 24" widescreen if you have the extra cash.

LCD's are dropping so fast in price though, 24" will probably be around 300$ flat around Christmas '08.

In a year or two I want to upgrade to 2 24" widescreens.

I'm running a 20" LCD and a 17" LCD atm.

 

[baqai]

i don't know if this counts or not but my "monitor"
happens to be a 32" Bravia which i exclusively use for console and computer

 

[tom10167]

In a year or two I want to upgrade to 2 24" widescreens.

Keep one regular.

I run a 30" and a 24". The 24" can't do portrait but I really wish it could, it'd be the perfect setup, as it is it just takes up too much space and the edges of the screens are too far off from my sight line.

Don't get me wrong I like it quite a bit but I'd LOVE it if I could roll the 24" 90 degrees.