OT: TFT Monitor advice?

Hi - we're looking to upgrade the old faithful CRT for something that takes up a bit less room on the desktop following a PC relocation. I'd like to buy a decent TFT monitor and have been reading lots of stuff about various manufacturers and specs. However, there is one question bothering me that's not been answered elsewhere and I'm sure people in here will be able to answer it for me. 'Widescreen' versus 4:3. What do I really want if I'm running desktop app's and plenty of GTL, GPL, rFactor etc, and can my system handle the 1440 x 900 required to run a w/screen unit? (P4 3.0 with 2gb RAM & GeForce 6800XT.) Virtually every site I've seen says that it's pretty much essential to run these monitors at their native resolution...are these resolutions supported in the titles above (and others generally) or can the card/monitor reach a compromise? Finally, any recommendations for kit in the UK? Viewsonic seem to be well-respected, and Dell - budget of between �200-�300. Thanks in advance for any advice, and apologies if it seems a bit simple - I just like to get it right when I'm spending! Regards Rick.

I was worried about making the switch from CRT, I was using a Sony 21" Trintion and went to the Dell 24' Widescreen and could not be happer, This monitor is awesome, It has to run at 1900x1200 but, so far have not found anything that did not run and look great. "Rick Catton" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...

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> Hi - we're looking to upgrade the old faithful CRT for something that > takes up a bit less room on the desktop following a PC relocation. I'd > like to buy a decent TFT monitor and have been reading lots of stuff about > various manufacturers and specs. However, there is one question bothering > me that's not been answered elsewhere and I'm sure people in here will be > able to answer it for me. > > 'Widescreen' versus 4:3. What do I really want if I'm running desktop > app's and plenty of GTL, GPL, rFactor etc, and can my system handle the > 1440 x 900 required to run a w/screen unit? (P4 3.0 with 2gb RAM & GeForce > 6800XT.) > > Virtually every site I've seen says that it's pretty much essential to run > these monitors at their native resolution...are these resolutions > supported in the titles above (and others generally) or can the > card/monitor reach a compromise? > > Finally, any recommendations for kit in the UK? Viewsonic seem to be > well-respected, and Dell - budget of between �200-�300. > > Thanks in advance for any advice, and apologies if it seems a bit simple - > I just like to get it right when I'm spending! > > Regards > > Rick. > >

I have a 15.4 on my laptop that runs a 1920 x 1200 native res. and it has a ati 9200 gc that will automatically adjust the screen to fit. I don't race on it, but everything else works fine. That 24" dell is going to be my next monitor, unless something else better and cheaper comes along. Go for the widescreen..

Widescreen under �300 in the UK may be pushing things a bit. I have a Viewsonic VX924 - the worlds fastest TFT (or so they claim). I'm waiting for a 'fast' widescreen to be made available and by that I mean a pixel response time of around 4ms. http://www.viewsoniceurope.com/UK/Products/LCDX/VX2025wm.htm is pretty close but response times look like they could be 16ms. Or this http://www.savastore.com/productinfo/product.aspx?catalog_name=Savastore&product_id=10285234&pid=184&rstrat=5945 I've seen good reports of the Dell monitor already mentioned but it's only 16ms and �700 in the UK. Dells 20" wide screen is �500. Andi. "John Smith" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:oIPKf.22740$[email hidden]... >I have a 15.4 on my laptop that runs a 1920 x 1200 native res. and it has a >ati 9200 gc that will automatically adjust the screen to fit. I don't race >on it, but everything else works fine. That 24" dell is going to be my next >monitor, unless something else better and cheaper comes along. Go for the >widescreen.. >

I use both an Hyundai L90D+ (4:3) and now a Gateway 21" Widescreen (16:10) and both have been fine for gaming. NR2003 works perfectly for me at 1680X1050 (on an nVidia 7800GTX). Only the menu's remain in 4:3. Once in-car, it's widescreen. -Larry "Rick Catton" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...

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> Hi - we're looking to upgrade the old faithful CRT for something that > takes up a bit less room on the desktop following a PC relocation. I'd > like to buy a decent TFT monitor and have been reading lots of stuff about > various manufacturers and specs. However, there is one question bothering > me that's not been answered elsewhere and I'm sure people in here will be > able to answer it for me. > > 'Widescreen' versus 4:3. What do I really want if I'm running desktop > app's and plenty of GTL, GPL, rFactor etc, and can my system handle the > 1440 x 900 required to run a w/screen unit? (P4 3.0 with 2gb RAM & GeForce > 6800XT.) > > Virtually every site I've seen says that it's pretty much essential to run > these monitors at their native resolution...are these resolutions > supported in the titles above (and others generally) or can the > card/monitor reach a compromise? > > Finally, any recommendations for kit in the UK? Viewsonic seem to be > well-respected, and Dell - budget of between �200-�300. > > Thanks in advance for any advice, and apologies if it seems a bit simple - > I just like to get it right when I'm spending! > > Regards > > Rick. > >

Man, dat there is some dense pixels :) -Larry "John Smith" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:oIPKf.22740$[email hidden]... >I have a 15.4 on my laptop that runs a 1920 x 1200 native res. and it has a >ati 9200 gc that will automatically adjust the screen to fit. I don't race >on it, but everything else works fine. That 24" dell is going to be my next >monitor, unless something else better and cheaper comes along. Go for the >widescreen.. >

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> http://www.viewsoniceurope.com/UK/Products/LCDX/VX2025wm.htm is pretty > close > but response times look like they could be 16ms. > > Or this > http://www.savastore.com/productinfo/product.aspx?catalog_name=Savastore&product_id=10285234&pid=184&rstrat=5945 >

Interesting! The second Viewsonic, the VA1912W, is one that's already on my list. I've heard good things about the brand, and it seems to tick all the right boxes for me at the moment -price included. Couple of questions, of course! Is 8ms sufficiently fast for gaming? Has anyone had experience of this model or anything similar that could persuade/dissuade me? Thanks to all who have replied so far - v. helpful. Can anyone clarify what actually happens when a piece of software doesn't support a particular resolution...does the monitor attempt to replicate the resolution the game can handle (and therefore lose image quality) or does it ignore extra pixels and display the given resolution 'in the middle' of the screen, leaving vertical black bands on either side? Many thanks again, Regards, Rick.

>, of course! > > Is 8ms sufficiently fast for gaming? > Has anyone had experience of this model or anything similar that could > persuade/dissuade me? Hi I got a Vp191b during the summer, just before it got replaced by almost the same monitor called Vp930. I'm totally happy with this device, although it is not widescreen. I did not get a widescreen monitor just because 5:4 19" is bigger than a widescreen 20" monitor in terms of display area - and widescreen support is, in my opinion, still in developtment in gaming use. 8ms is enough for your typical racing sims and I couldn't see any dragging/lag even in HL2. -- Mika Takala

"Rick Catton" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]

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>> http://www.viewsoniceurope.com/UK/Products/LCDX/VX2025wm.htm is >> pretty close >> but response times look like they could be 16ms. >> >> Or this >> http://www.savastore.com/productinfo/product.aspx?catalog_name=Savastore&product_id=10285234&pid=184&rstrat=5945 >> > > Interesting! The second Viewsonic, the VA1912W, is one that's > already on my list. I've heard good things about the brand, and it > seems to tick all the right boxes for me at the moment -price > included. > Couple of questions, of course! > > Is 8ms sufficiently fast for gaming?

Should be fine, mine is 16ms and I don't notice any problems at all with racing sims. Beware though, that time is not always a good comparison figure, especially between different brands. Best to go and actually try it with a game if you can. Reason being is that time is only to switch from black to white and back to black again. In reality most switches are between different grey levels and these can be waaaay longer depending on the LC technology used. > Can anyone clarify what actually happens when a piece of software > doesn't support a particular resolution...does the monitor attempt > to replicate the resolution the game can handle (and therefore lose > image quality) or does it ignore extra pixels and display the given > resolution 'in the middle' of the screen, leaving vertical black > bands on either side? Most monitors and GFX cards will have options to determine what to do in these situations. And as with most things, the quality of the resolution resampling varies, some monitors do it quite well (using some sort of interpolation I guess) and it's fine for playing games. I often use my monitor at lower than native because my PC isn't powerful enough to get good frame-rates at native.

"Larry" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:2S1Lf.127283$0G.42932@dukeread10 > Man, dat there is some dense pixels :) Not when you compare it to PDAs and cellphones :-)

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> > -Larry > > "John Smith" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > news:oIPKf.22740$[email hidden]... >> I have a 15.4 on my laptop that runs a 1920 x 1200 native res. and >> it has a ati 9200 gc that will automatically adjust the screen to >> fit. I don't race on it, but everything else works fine. That 24" >> dell is going to be my next monitor, unless something else better >> and cheaper comes along. Go for the widescreen..

I don't let mine resample. I have it set to use the games resolution at the monitors proper resolution. If that sounds confusing, keep this in mind. It results in black borders, which I find far more acceptable than LCD interpolation. -Larry "scott" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:dtil39$tl1$00$[email hidden]...

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> "Rick Catton" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > news:[email hidden] >>> http://www.viewsoniceurope.com/UK/Products/LCDX/VX2025wm.htm is >>> pretty close >>> but response times look like they could be 16ms. >>> >>> Or this >>> http://www.savastore.com/productinfo/product.aspx?catalog_name=Savastore&product_id=10285234&pid=184&rstrat=5945 >>> >> >> Interesting! The second Viewsonic, the VA1912W, is one that's >> already on my list. I've heard good things about the brand, and it >> seems to tick all the right boxes for me at the moment -price >> included. >> Couple of questions, of course! >> >> Is 8ms sufficiently fast for gaming? > > Should be fine, mine is 16ms and I don't notice any problems at all with > racing sims. Beware though, that time is not always a good comparison > figure, especially between different brands. Best to go and actually try > it with a game if you can. Reason being is that time is only to switch > from black to white and back to black again. In reality most switches are > between different grey levels and these can be waaaay longer depending on > the LC technology used. > >> Can anyone clarify what actually happens when a piece of software >> doesn't support a particular resolution...does the monitor attempt >> to replicate the resolution the game can handle (and therefore lose >> image quality) or does it ignore extra pixels and display the given >> resolution 'in the middle' of the screen, leaving vertical black >> bands on either side? > > Most monitors and GFX cards will have options to determine what to do in > these situations. And as with most things, the quality of the resolution > resampling varies, some monitors do it quite well (using some sort of > interpolation I guess) and it's fine for playing games. I often use my > monitor at lower than native because my PC isn't powerful enough to get > good frame-rates at native. > >

"Larry" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:csmLf.130680$0G.112117@dukeread10 > I don't let mine resample. I have it set to use the games > resolution at the monitors proper resolution. > > If that sounds confusing, keep this in mind. It results in black > borders, which I find far more acceptable than LCD interpolation. Yes I know what you mean :-) Of course it varies from monitor to monitor how good the resampling will be (my work LCD has 4 different settings for different resampling methods, the best ones makes even the windows desktop look ok), and how far you sit from the screen, and how big the pixels are.

scott wrote: > Yes I know what you mean :-) Of course it varies from monitor to monitor > how good the resampling will be (my work LCD has 4 different settings for > different resampling methods, the best ones makes even the windows desktop > look ok), and how far you sit from the screen, and how big the pixels are. > > What LCD unit that has those settings? The reason I refuse to use LCD for my main gaming computer is because many games don't support the LCD's native res. I don't want black borders around my games either. I have an LCD but it is hooked to a non-gaming computer, although; I do have a few games installed on it but they all support 1280x1024.

You have to choose one or the other. Nature of the beast. -Larry "Peasant" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:dC4Mf.71442$H%4.67080@pd7tw2no... > scott wrote: > What LCD unit that has those settings? The reason I refuse to use LCD for > my main gaming computer is because many games don't support the LCD's > native res. I don't want black borders around my games either. > I have an LCD but it is hooked to a non-gaming computer, although; I do > have a few games installed on it but they all support 1280x1024.