Widescreen or not??

IceAlchemist · 21 Feb 2007 at 04:40

Hi all,

I've been looking to buy a 19 inch or maybe a 20 inch LCD monitor however I have some questions :confused:

.

What do widescreen monitors offer that is different from normal ones? Are they better? Do you get to see more of the picture than you normally would get on a normal one?

I use my pc mainly for gaming so what would the best choice for me be?

And finally which one do you suggest as being a very good one? I just want a very clear picture during my games

Thank you in advance!!

fobose · 21 Feb 2007 at 08:24

In general, a 19/20" 5:4/4:3 has more pixels than that of a 19/20" WS, however if your going to watch a movie on your PC you will have a larger picture on the WS, and large black bars on the top and bottom of a 5:4/4:3 screen with a smaller picture.

I find that gaming is much better on a WS as it gives you a better field of view, it is quite an advantage especially in RTS games but also in FPS games (aslong as they support a WS resolution). In my opinion it just looks a whole lot better for gaming and movies.

For me I think that the 19" WS models have to low a resolution for surfing the web due to their 900 pixel's in hight. A 20" WS on the other hand has 1050 pixels in hight. I have a Dell 2007WFP (20" WS) and I highly recommend them, especially now as they are very cheap.

Things change I've changed · 21 Feb 2007 at 08:28

Widescreen is much better, not only does it feel more natural and comfortable looking at a widescreen display but it also does (most of the time) enable you to see more of the game/movie you are playing either side of the screen,

on this link you can choose a game from a large list of old and new games and as you move your mouse pointer over the screen shot it will show you the difference widescreen makes on that particular game,

http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/screenshots/aassault.php

as for recommending you a screen what kind of budget are your working with ?, I agree with the above poster, I would really try and go for a 20" ws and above.

stormy · 21 Feb 2007 at 09:50

If you are going 20" or greater go widescreen, if you are going to 19" stick with a standard non-widescreen monitor is my advice.

My mates 19" widescreen looks like half the screen is missing compared to my 19" standard LCD.

I am hoping to change my 19" to a 24" at some stage in the coming months and with that the only choice is widescreen.

Mike

TheDean · 21 Feb 2007 at 10:33

Question: Widescreen or not?

Answer: Widescreen

james.miller · 21 Feb 2007 at 10:37

stormy said:
If you are going 20" or greater go widescreen, if you are going to 19" stick with a standard non-widescreen monitor is my advice.

My mates 19" widescreen looks like half the screen is missing compared to my 19" standard LCD.

right on the button. widescreen < 20" is just a joke.

Voo · 21 Feb 2007 at 13:50

lowrider007 said:
on this link you can choose a game from a large list of old and new games and as you move your mouse pointer over the screen shot it will show you the difference widescreen makes on that particular game,

http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/screenshots/aassault.php

Very helpful this link.

harris1986 · 21 Feb 2007 at 14:22

i think it will vary depending on the person, for me who is a high level cs 1.6 player widescreen really isn't worth it due to either having to run in window mode or have the image stretched will lose viewing area!

IceAlchemist · 21 Feb 2007 at 21:50

Thanks for all the replies!!

However I have a couple more questions.

One of them is that if the game is old for example and doesn't support wide screen resolutions what will happen? Will I have borders at the edge of the screen or maybe the image will be stretched? :confused:

Also what do the figures of contrast and brightness mean? For example is 500:1 Contrast Ratio and 300 cd/m2 Brightness any good? And what type of response time should I be looking at? Is 8 ms good enough? :confused:

And after your suggestions I am currently looking at the following monitors. What do you think of them? Are they any good? And which do you think would be the best buy?

Viewsonic VA2012W-2
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-051-VS&groupid=17&catid=510&subcat=

Samsung SM-205BW
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-047-SA&groupid=17&catid=510&subcat=

Belinea 1925S1W
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-005-BE&groupid=17&catid=276&subcat=

Samsung SM-920N
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-043-SA&groupid=17&catid=276&subcat=

Again thanks for all the help and sorry about all the question but I'm a total noob when it comes to monitors!!

DBT85 · 21 Feb 2007 at 23:31

i am sitting here perving over the viewsonic VX2025 at the moment, very tempted to make it my next monitor to replace one of my 17" 431s iiyamas.

getting good reviews pretty much everywhere, the NEC 20EGX is also getting pimped by a lot of palces.

IceAlchemist · 23 Feb 2007 at 07:20

I have heard good thing about the viewsonic VM2025 as well and since im currently using a 17 inch Viewsonic VA702 I trust it is a good product as Im satisfied with it, and only want to change it to get something bigger

Having said that I can't find it for sale on this site though

setter · 24 Feb 2007 at 03:33

got a 20.1 vx2025,ws definitely it is the way to go,before that was a 17;crt which was useless

setter · 24 Feb 2007 at 03:35

plus i forgot to say colours on the vx2025 are excellent

DBT85 · 25 Feb 2007 at 01:01

well my vx2025 arrived today and i plumbed it all in and all i got was no signal. i tried the new DVI lead in both DVI ports on my 7800 and i also tried my other dvi which i know works and still no signal. i had to go out so ill be trying again in the morning >< annoying.

::: CooliceT :: · 25 Feb 2007 at 10:02

did you plug it in... when your pc was still on?

i did that with my 2047 and got no signal. make sure you turn your pc off then turn it on with the new monitor inplace. should work then.

DBT85 · 25 Feb 2007 at 15:09

well i have tried everything and the DVI just refuses to work. I finally managed to get the Dsub working at the native resolution. i have searched the webfor others with the same problem and sadly it seems common. amazing it hasnt popped up in anything i have read about it before i get one.

i have tried the DVI recover tool and that didn nothing, i have tried the plugging in both and turning th epc off and removing the dsub and power and putting the power in and turning it on and that didnt work either.

Apparently its a common problem so i am going to call Viewsonic in the morning and hope that they sort it. it works on VGA but i dont care, i paid for the option of DVI or VGA so i want to be able to use both.

IceAlchemist · 26 Feb 2007 at 16:21

I'm sorry to hear about your problems Todge. Hope it gets sorted out soon

Btw is DVI better than VGA? Do you get better quality image or something?