Getting a New Monitor

[Quark]

So my trusty Samsung SyncMaster 955DF isn't so trusty anymore. The focus for green colors is totally dead, meaning pure green is headache inducing and anything else that includes green is getting too fuzzy to read. The problem has been there for awhile, but it was only minor before and it appears worse since I've also been staring at my sister's brand new LCD alot recently too.

I know I want an LCD. The technology has come far enough, the benefits of LCD far outweigh the negatives for me at this point. However, I don't know how big I want to go. I see that most bigger LCDs are 16:9 instead of 4:3 aspect ratio, and I was wondering how people handle that. I know new games generally support 16:9, but what about games that don't? Do you stretch the image, or do you leave black bars on the side? Is either terribly annoying?

From a non-game perspective I would love widescreen, but considering how often I go back to the old games that I know won't support it natively, I would like to hear other people's experiences with it.

[Munkay]

So my trusty Samsung SyncMaster 955DF isn't so trusty anymore.  The focus for green colors is totally dead, meaning pure green is headache inducing and anything else that includes green is getting too fuzzy to read.  The problem has been there for awhile, but it was only minor before and it appears worse since I've also been staring at my sister's brand new LCD alot recently too.

I know I want an LCD.  The technology has come far enough, the benefits of LCD far outweigh the negatives for me at this point.  However, I don't know how big I want to go.  I see that most bigger LCDs are 16:9 instead of 4:3 aspect ratio, and I was wondering how people handle that.  I know new games generally support 16:9, but what about games that don't?  Do you stretch the image, or do you leave black bars on the side?  Is either terribly annoying?

From a non-game perspective I would love widescreen, but considering how often I go back to the old games that I know won't support it natively, I would like to hear other people's experiences with it.
[right][snapback]86025[/snapback][/right]

Since I'm still a CRT man I don't have too much to add to this discussion. I do think an LCD would be a good choice, and I by no means am trying to sway you back to the old dinosaurs that are CRT's.

But I do want to point out as an owner of a 21 inch monitor a slight problem that occurs in relation to gaming. In short, the monitor is too big! I thought I'd never say that, but in certain situations its true. For games like Diablo II (and I'm guessing for WoW) the main focus is on one character, and the big screen is a blessing. But for games like Starcraft or Warcraft III it can become tiring after a while. Because of the size I have to move my eyes back and forth across the screen to focus on multiple things. After a solid hour of gaming I feel like I just finished an 8 hour photo editing/html fixing spree. Though I must admit for tasks other than gaming I love the desktop space and high resolutions, and will probably be a big monitor buyer for a long while.

All in all its not a huge issue, but it is something I figured would be good to bring up. Especially if you are thinking of a larger inch LCD with a 16:9 aspect ratio.

Cheers,

Munk

Edit: Added a bit.

[Concillian]

I know new games generally support 16:9, but what about games that don't?  Do you stretch the image, or do you leave black bars on the side?  [right][snapback]86025[/snapback][/right]

For a game that offers no option for a 16:9 resolution you can usually choose in the drivers whether you want a stretch or black bars. I think nVidia's drivers are better about this than ATi's are. Supposedly ATi people have a more difficult time with getting black bars, and they are sometimes forced to stretch.

Some games don't support it, but there are ways of forcing it. BF2 comes to mind. All native res are 4:3. If you want 16:9 you can get it by using command line switches, but when you get in game, 2D overlays are stretched. FOV (Field of Vision) is no wider than 4:3 and to keep aspects the same the top and bottom are snipped. Obviously this was a choice by developers of how to support non-standard resolutions, but there are still some frustrations with widescreen owners.

I am not a widescreen owner, this information is from reading the rants of people who are.

[ima_nerd]

I have a 17" Samsung SyncMaster 710N. It was cheap (around $210 on newegg during a special; $240ish normally) and the only messed up pixel is a permanently blue one all the way on the left side. 12ms response as well. I have no idea about the ratios ... I'm assuming it's standard size(?).

Actually, here's a link. Samsung 710N

[Metrocube]

edit: yay! quote tags working again. thanks quark.

However, I don't know how big I want to go.

A factor to consider here is how many pixels your video card can drive in 3D mode. If it's already struggling to throw up 1024x768 pixels 60 times a second, you might want to delay purchasing a 1920x1200 widescreen monitor until you have a video card that can drive it. Of course, you can always play at a lower resolution, but it's not as much fun.

Do you stretch the image, or do you leave black bars on the side?  Is either terribly annoying?

You can do either. Stretching is the most annoying thing you can ever do to a game. Just leave the black bars on the side. You honestly won't notice them.

From a non-game perspective I would love widescreen

For getting actual work done, there is nothing better than a high-resolution widescreen monitor. Being able to throw up two or three full length documents on the same screen is very, very handy.

Dell has three top-end LCD monitors that are excellent for gaming because of their fast LCD response times. I use all three, and can answer any specific questions you might have about any one of them.

At the office, I use a Dell 2005FPW (20.1" 1680x1050) as my main viewscreen, with two other CRT monitors as auxilaries. At home, I have a Dell 2405FPW (24" 1920x1200) as my main, and a Dell 2001FP (20.1" 1600x1200) as my auxilary.

I got the 2005FPW for about $350 during one exceptional Dell sale, and that's the one I recommend to all the guys at work to buy. It's actually the exact same monitor as Apple's 20.1" widescreen LCD, except it costs $1000 less because it doesnt have an apple badge on it.

Every couple of months Dell will have these on sale from $380-$420. You just have to know where to get the coupon codes at places like www.techbargains.com or www.slickdeals.net.

[Quark]

edit: i have no idea why quote tags arent working for me. :(

Because your first / is backwards :P

As for the rest, thanks for the advice :)