Widescreen monitors & FPS

[snuggans]

after my previous LCD died, i chose to upgrade to a new monitor. i did not realize it would horribly pixelate the more common resolutions of 1024x768.. etc, being widescreen; i was forced to run games at its native ratio resolution of 1680x1050, and this of course worsens framerates. i plan to buy a newer video card to support this new resolution, but other than this.. am i screwed?

[spartan_phalanx]

For the most part yes, have you tried 1280x800. That might help some, same aspect ratio but overall smaller resolution.

[snuggans]

For the most part yes, have you tried 1280x800. That might help some, same aspect ratio but overall smaller resolution.

tried a quick test using the desktop, 1/4 of the screen is not viewable and the pixels are very distorted.

[spartan_phalanx]

It should have shrunk your desktop to ~ 3/4 it's native size (1680x1050) while zooming in, but not distorted it any. Maybe someone else has a suggestion.

[Ummagumma]

CRT's. Still the finest.

spartan_ was correct about the actual pixel dimensions of the image, they are both 16:10, and 'should' have almost halved the pixels processed on screen, saving you a fair performance hit on games (1.76million to 1.02million pixels). As to how to stretch the image to fill the screen, or how bad the distortion will be on your TFT for displaying non-native resolutions is beyond me. Is there any options on the OSD for the monitor itself? I don't really deal with them much, and have never owned one.

[snuggans]

spartan_ was correct about the actual pixel dimensions of the image, they are both 16:10, and 'should' have almost halved the pixels processed on screen, saving you a fair performance hit on games (1.76million to 1.02million pixels).

argh!! maybe my monitor is teh broke?

[SonOfCrusader76]

CRT's. Still the finest.

.

Maybe so, but they take up your entire bloody desk! Also, imagine how heavy a 19 inch CRT widescreen would be, if such a monstrosity even existed? And if you go from CRT to TFT, you will see such an increase in the picture quality as well.

[Ummagumma]

Maybe so, but they take up your entire bloody desk! Also, imagine how heavy a 19 inch CRT widescreen would be, if such a monstrosity even existed? And if you go from CRT to TFT, you will see such an increase in the picture quality as well.

I have 2 19" CRT's sat here in front of me now. As long as there is room for a keyboard, Wacom tablet and a coffee mug, what do you need?

[SonOfCrusader76]

I have 2 19" CRT's sat here in front of me now. As long as there is room for a keyboard, Wacom tablet and a coffee mug, what do you need?

Printer?

[Ummagumma]

Printer?

Printer/Scanner/Transparency scanner/Server set up in the spare room.. Sorry.

[Ummagumma]

teh? (sorry...)

I cannot say. The pixel dimensions are fine, as to what your monitor can displat I do not know. Some TFT's are quite selective - some only work at 'native' resolutions. I *think* there is an application you can get to force them to rescale images.. I'll have a look for you. There was a similar thread here a few months ago about a similar problem.

[snuggans]

i am already looking for refund possibilities /cry

edit: blah.. only 21 days after purchase. im royally screwed. lesson learned the hard way. oh boy.

[Incinerate_IV]

Thats the problems with buying those big 22" widescreens, most people don't have the graphics card to handle it.

[snuggans]

Thats the problems with buying those big 22" widescreens, most people don't have the graphics card to handle it.

at this resolution, who does? looking at the benchmarks for crysis, playing it on a resolution like 1680x1050 is suicide, even with supposedly the best card out there. even if i were to play at an acceptable FPS, i wouldn't want to be at such a high resolution knowing that i could play in a lower one with nearly the same visual quality but with more FPS. i wasn't aware of any of this when buying the monitor. some games do not even support this resolution, so im forced to play with stretched out interfaces and such.. or go to sites to look for FOV hacks... sigh

[Arakorn]

at this resolution, who does? looking at the benchmarks for crysis, playing it on a resolution like 1680x1050 is suicide, even with supposedly the best card out there (8800 GTX, Arakorn.

Well, I haven't killed myself yet... (Suicide) I get a good framerate at 1680x1050 with 2xAA, and all on high, some on very high.

[snuggans]

Well, I haven't killed myself yet... (Suicide) I get a good framerate at 1680x1050 with 2xAA, and all on high, some on very high.

thats good to hear, tom's hardware benchmark must've had extra eye candy on. what would be 'good framerates' in your opinion?

[Arakorn]

thats good to hear, tom's hardware benchmark must've had extra eye candy on. what would be 'good framerates' in your opinion?

Well I haven't excactly tested it with the game, but it's enough for me... Occasional lag, had to go from almost all at very high to almost all at high. Almost no lag now. Estimation of 20 FPS. Maybe 25-30.

[SonOfCrusader76]

at this resolution, who does? looking at the benchmarks for crysis, playing it on a resolution like 1680x1050 is suicide, even with supposedly the best card out there. even if i were to play at an acceptable FPS, i wouldn't want to be at such a high resolution knowing that i could play in a lower one with nearly the same visual quality but with more FPS. i wasn't aware of any of this when buying the monitor. some games do not even support this resolution, so im forced to play with stretched out interfaces and such.. or go to sites to look for FOV hacks... sigh

I'm going with a 19/20 inch Samsung, 1440 x 900 maximum (native) res. How do you reckon my specs will stand up to that (see my sig)? 22 inch is far too big in my opinion, unless you're using wireless and therefore able to sit a long way from the screen. If you're docked right next to it at your desk, I reckon 20 inch is the absolute maximum, possibly 19 or 17 inch. Right now, I'm at 1280 x 1024 and my games are singing like a bird released! Will there be much of a performance hit on the new monitor and if so, can someone suggest a lower res to play at that will still look good?

[SonOfCrusader76]

This is my intended target:

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/sto...ory_oid=-27763

What's a 'wide colour gamut'?

Edit: I've just found this one, it's quite a bit cheaper:

http://www.comet.co.uk/cometbrowse/p...lt-_-position2

Which one would you go for? I mean, do I really need a 1600:1 Contrast ratio? Surely anything 1000:1 or more is all you need. How would you say the two manufactures HP and Samsung compare?

Here's another Samsung, slightly lower resolution:

http://www.comet.co.uk/cometbrowse/p....do?sku=381098

[snuggans]

I'm going with a 19/20 inch Samsung, 1440 x 900 maximum (native) res. How do you reckon my specs will stand up to that (see my sig)? 22 inch is far too big in my opinion, unless you're using wireless and therefore able to sit a long way from the screen. If you're docked right next to it at your desk, I reckon 20 inch is the absolute maximum, possibly 19 or 17 inch. Right now, I'm at 1280 x 1024 and my games are singing like a bird released! Will there be much of a performance hit on the new monitor and if so, can someone suggest a lower res to play at that will still look good?

This is my intended target:

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/sto...ory_oid=-27763

What's a 'wide colour gamut'?

Edit: I've just found this one, it's quite a bit cheaper:

http://www.comet.co.uk/cometbrowse/p...lt-_-position2

Which one would you go for? I mean, do I really need a 1600:1 Contrast ratio? Surely anything 1000:1 or more is all you need. How would you say the two manufactures HP and Samsung compare?

Here's another Samsung, slightly lower resolution:

http://www.comet.co.uk/cometbrowse/p....do?sku=381098

why do you want a widescreen? do not take me too seriously since im a little bitter after finding out that i'm stuck with this absolutely beautiful but WIDESCREEN monitor. it should display other 16:10 resolutions fine but apparently the reason why it doesn't is because after researching a bit, there are some rumors that the actual resolution is 1600x900 upscaled to 1680x1050 or something like that. alot of dodgy and unsure things... ON TOP of the fact that samsung has been outsourcing its manufacturing to other companies so with some models you will get S, A, and C models; with the A and C models having some nasty defections.

my suggestion after experiencing this letdown: stick with monitors that love 4:3 ratios. (a.k.a no widescreens) you will be able to play games normally, instead of being like me and playing a couple of games that barely support widescreen resolutions with interfaces/graphics that are sometimes stretched out (cough RTW cough)

i would also stay away from samsung monitors for the time being. the S, A, C model fiasco caused a lot of discontent in forums this year, and i truly believe you will be happy with a 4:3 good quality monitor of a size of your preference.

right now im waiting for my new hardware to arrive, im also going to install vista (oh god) then i'll see how the FPS is like. if worse comes to worse im going to "upgrade" from a 22" widescreen beautiful monitor to a 19" regular LCD.. (my brother's)