Have a 22" monitor... but resolution only up to 1680x1050

[guitarxe]

I bought a Syncmaster 226BW a few years ago to replace my broken CRT at the time, and I've been loving it since. But recently I've been reading some CPU reviews and the author of the article made a comment on how anyone buying the CPU that I was interested in wouldn't be gaming on a measly resolution of 1680x1050 with a 17" monitor.

This made me wonder why my own monitor, which is 22", doesn't have a resolution of higher than 1680x1050, such as 1900x1200.
I've got a GTX460 1gb, so I know it supports resolutions higher, and well, being a 22" my monitor should also support a higher resolution, but neither the desktop settings nor in-game is there ever any choice of bringing the resolution higher.

Does anyone know what's preventing me from setting a higher resolution?

Any advice would be appreciated!

 

[MauveCloud]

1680x1050 is the native resolution of that monitor, so higher resolutions would have to be downscaled to fit, and that would probably look horrible. To really get higher resolution, you'd need to buy a new monitor.

 

[guitarxe]

So it's just the monitor then, eh? I guess it's pretty old and 1680x1050 was high at the time?
Thanks for your quick reply!

 

[jaguarskx]

Back then all 22" monitors were 1680 x 1050. It was the standard. There is no way to go beyond the maximum resolution because you monitor literally only has 1680 columns of pixels and 1050 rows of pixels.

Nowadays you can find a 21.5" monitor with 1920 x 1080.

If games look fine to you with your current monitor, then just keep using it. Is there a huge difference between 1680 x 1050 and 1920 x 1080 or 1920 x 1200? I don't think so, but I went from 1280 x 1024 straight to 1920 x 1200.

 

[guitarxe]

Best answer selected by guitarxe.