Should I get a widescreen monitor?

[dman777]

I need to get a new monitor and I am thinking about getting a 19" widescreen. I don't watch movies on my computer...I use it mainly for surfing the internet, ocassional gameing, and mostly lestioning to music useing Winamp. Would a widescreen be good to have or would I be better off with a normal monitor?

 

[strangestranger]

depends. do you like having more than one window open and not having to task switch then yes it may benefit you. also if you youir games support widescreen then yes it will benefit you.

if you don't need them benefits then save the cash and get a normal one. IMO you should get a wdiescreen as i like them and cannot stand 4:3 aspect monitors now.

 

[IcY18]

right now i am looking at getting a BenQ 20.1 Widescreen or a Viewsonic VX922, this will be mostly for gaming and watching some DVDs, i understand your preference to the Widescreen but would with me leaning more toward gaming would it benefit me that much to get the VX922, would i lose and/or would it be a noticeable performance difference/loss with the BenQ in gaming cause it has a 8ms response time...

 

[strangestranger]

response times as advertised mean damn all. my monitor has about 16ms or something and it is fine for games. i dont know how sensitive you are to stuff like ghosting. i haven't noticed any on this monitor.

if you like watching movies then i think it is decided that you would get a widescreen. some games don't support widescreen but most newer titles come with it. i play alot of dod and CS:S which cvome with support for widescreen so it benefits me. it can sometimes hit your gfx card hard if the monitor supports 1680 x1050.

check toms reviews for a rough guide on latencies.

 

[IcY18]

thx for the quick reply, as you stated i understand the response times are Vague when guaging the performance, but with some people saying they have ghosting effects and others not i just dont want to lay down $300 then see the ghosting effect, and to be honest i have never seen it and dont know what it actually is, but im sure i'd notice if it actual happened...

 

[strangestranger]

supposedly in a fast action scene the pixels don't change colour fast enough so there is a slight blurring of an object. in games especially i am usually too busy trying to stay alive than looking closely to see if anything is blurry.

 

[IcY18]

since the BenQ is 8ms that isn't exactly bad, i mean its not like 4ms but that should be adequate for me i would think right,(just reply nodding your head saying yes just to reassure me =P , anyway just want to make sure i make the right buy as this will last me for long time

 

[dman777]

Alot of people are telling me that I should get a 20" instead of a 19" but there is a big price difference and it would place me way over my budget. Is there really that much of a physcial difference between the two?

 

[strangestranger]

usually it allows you a higher frequency like 1680 x 1050 or 1600 x 1200 depending on the aspect.

 

[ussra2]

I have and LG 17" LCD with an 8ms response time and I dont notice any ghosting/blurring at all. I play bf2,1942, half life 2 and so on. I have also noticed how much sharper, clearer the picture is than on a CRT. I just cant believe the difference between the two (CRT, LCD) that i dont want to go back to a CRT.

 

[Blastarr]

Hello! I also need to decide also if i will buy wide or conventional LCD screen, the LCD is to work and play. The problem is that the wide has a higher native resolution witch is 1680 x 1050 (Asus PW201). The question is, if i play at 1024x768 will the image quality decrease how it will behave?
Will it be better to me to buy the conventional type with lower native resolutions? I’m looking for someone that has experience in playing on these monitors so that I can know how they look wean we lower the resolutions to such lower levels comparing to their native.
Thanks!

 

[strangestranger]

i own a laptop with a 15" widescreen with a res of 1680 x 1050 and while it isn't always as sharp, as long as you keep game in a widescreen ratio then it looks fine. if you can mange anti-aliasing then you probably won't notice. it will probably be less noticible in larger desktops or that is the case with my own dell.

i think it also depends on the scaling abilities of each monitor so check the web for reviews of the monitor your going to buy.

 

[Yellow-Asterisk]

Also, make sure you are using a dvi cable for your connection. my SyncMaster did not come with one. i was using an adapter and got some minimal ghosting. the dvi cable cleared it right up.

 

[blazesofhell]

Don't get the BenQ 20.1" WS monitor...its gotten average reviews all across the internet!!

unless the price is right, avoid it.

People: do some research when you're looking for a WS monitor - since its such a large part of your computer experience, dont you think its a good idea to know everything you need to before throwing down hundreds of dollars?!

 

[Vinny]

I'm also considering a widescreen monitor and can't decide on the size, either 19" or 20". Someone told me that the 1440x900 (or whatever) resolution of 19" monitors aren't really their native resolution but what's the matter? I really don't know if the $100+ extra is worth a 1" size difference.

I'm just wondering how games work on a widescreen if they use standard 4:3 aspect ratio. Will the image be stretched out or will there just be black bars?

I'd appreciate any help.

 

[Rall]

I'm also considering a widescreen monitor and can't decide on the size, either 19" or 20". Someone told me that the 1440x900 (or whatever) resolution of 19" monitors aren't really their native resolution but what's the matter? I really don't know if the $100+ extra is worth a 1" size difference.

I'm just wondering how games work on a widescreen if they use standard 4:3 aspect ratio. Will the image be stretched out or will there just be black bars?

I'd appreciate any help.

In some points 1 inch does not make all the difference but in a case of 19 icnh vs a 20 inch there is a huge difference. " Resolution " a 20inch widscreen has 1680 x 1050 now that is sure alot more pixels! I just bough the Gateway 21 inch windscreen and god it rocks! I had a 19 inch SONY which was not wide screen but got the job done! But compared to my new one the old was sucks big time! For real dude, go with the 20 it is sure worth the extra 100.00 Trust me!

 

[The_One]

In some points 1 inch does not make all the difference but in a case of 19 icnh vs a 20 inch there is a huge difference. " Resolution " a 20inch widscreen has 1680 x 1050 now that is sure alot more pixels! I just bough the Gateway 21 inch windscreen and god it rocks! I had a 19 inch SONY which was not wide screen but got the job done! But compared to my new one the old was sucks big time! For real dude, go with the 20 it is sure worth the extra 100.00 Trust me!

Concerning your Gateway, I've been looking at 19" LCD's, not widescreen but if I jump to widescreen that everyone is talking about, I have a question. Right now I'm on a really old Dell XPS. It has an ancient video card. I'll be getting a new PC soon, but need a monitor sooner. Do you think I could use a widescreen with my current setup? New PC has an ATI 1600 Pro. Thanks!

 

[Rall]

In some points 1 inch does not make all the difference but in a case of 19 icnh vs a 20 inch there is a huge difference. " Resolution " a 20inch widscreen has 1680 x 1050 now that is sure alot more pixels! I just bough the Gateway 21 inch windscreen and god it rocks! I had a 19 inch SONY which was not wide screen but got the job done! But compared to my new one the old was sucks big time! For real dude, go with the 20 it is sure worth the extra 100.00 Trust me!

Concerning your Gateway, I've been looking at 19" LCD's, not widescreen but if I jump to widescreen that everyone is talking about, I have a question. Right now I'm on a really old Dell XPS. It has an ancient video card. I'll be getting a new PC soon, but need a monitor sooner. Do you think I could use a widescreen with my current setup? New PC has an ATI 1600 Pro. Thanks!

Yes you can the Gateway has a DVI port for the newer computers and a VGA port for the older computers! This monitor is the best upgrade I made since I bought the 7900 GTX

Also I with this widescreen, I played games like Call Of Duty and I can kick twice as much butt. I can see so much more, lik e people around corners. Everthing is so much clearer. I just need to upgrade to a DVI cable. Guys if you have any question on this monitor just e-mail me! I hate to see someone throw away 400.00 when they could have spent another 50.00 and got a LCD widescreen with more pixels in it.