going wide

[betrayer_]

I'm plannin to buy a flat panel and want to go for a wide screen. but since im new to flat panels there r a coupla things i have to clear up. can someof u help me out.

first of all i wanna now if my games and non dvd movies will stretch out and lose proportion in a wide screen. and also im hearin about low color fidelity or some such (wat the heck is that?)

i'll be usin my pc all sorts of stuff, gaming, movies, internet, 3dsmax etc.

right now i've got my eyes set on the Dell 2405FPW 24"

and can u guys recommend some good monitors without a gigantic price tag

 

[Hose]

That's a perfect choice, except it's the previous model... current one is 2407WFP. Shouldn't be any significant color issures.

You might want to check out the BenQ FP241W. This quote from a reviewer at Overclockers.UK., where he rated it as 10/10 for all categories.... "I’ve looked at a few BenQ monitors over the years, but the FP241W completely rewrites the script. Not only does it have the widest array of inputs that I’ve ever seen in a desktop monitor, but the image quality is equally impressive, while the price is truly incredible. Even the design and build quality of this screen are both first rate. When you throw the HDCP compliant HDMI port into the equation, BenQ really does have every single base covered with this screen. Put simply, if you’re after a 24in widescreen monitor, this is the one to buy...."
However, it does not have 1:1 pixel mapping.

As for stretching... that partly depends on the game, partly on the video card driver, partly on the monitor itself... can't say for sure in advance.

 

[betrayer_]

sorry dude but wat do u mean by 1:1 mapping. am a complete newbie.

and i am also gonna buy nvidia 8800gtx

 

[Hose]

1:1 pixel mapping means the monitor has an option to display the same as the input, without stretching. For certain input, there will be black bars above/below/sides as necessary depending on the resolution of the input.

ALL monitors *should* have this feature so that the user can choose whether he wants the bars with "normal proportions", or to have everything which is not in the resolution of the monitor to be "stretched".

 

[Guest]

And if not, the new nVidia control panel offers an option how to handle Scaling and you can turn the scaling off completely so it's always 1:1.

 

[Hose]

Scaling can be controlled by the monitor or the video card driver. Whenever scaling is a potential issue, you can only presume somthing will work until you try... no assurances.

 

[Guest]

Well in the driver you got:
1. let the monitor own mechanism do the scaling
2. Use the driver to do the scaling
3. Turn scaling off..

By turning it off, the video card output the exact resolution to the screen, so the image is centered if it's smaller than native, black surrounds the image.

When I tried it worked, so I would presume the drivers are coded properly and anyone can replicate it! Also that is independent of the screen since the card is outputting this resolution, I expect every card from nVidia to perform the same.