Question about playing games on a monitor at 1920x1080

[jibberishballr]

I was reading in an article that buying a 1080p tv smaller than 40 inches or so is pointless because 720p would look just as good, and be noticeable once the tv got bigger. Assuming this is true, why does everyone buy video cards to play at 1920x1080 when they could just buy something less expensive and play it at 720p. Wouldn't running in 720p use less power and get more frames per second? If not could someone explain to my why it doesn't work that way?

Edit: I put this in the video card section because it applied to buying a video card and whether or not i should run games in 1920x1080 or not.

 

[toyota]

normal size computer monitors such as 21.5-27 inches are 1920x1080 or 1920x1200. about the smallest monitor I know of is an 18.5 and that is 1366x768. not only is that physically small but that resolution would be aggravating for doing any work or even trying to surf the web. even if they made a larger monitor such as a 24 inch that was just 1366x768, nobody would want to game on it. a monitor that large with a resolution that low would not look all that good sitting right in front of it. games would have horrible jaggies and need lots of AA thus defeating the some of the point of trying to use a slower card for a lower res.

 

[sandorski]

A TV and a PC Monitor are used for entirely different purposes. Without knowing what the Article you were reading actually was saying and/or the age of the article and/or what its' justification for stating what it stated was, I'd say the article is likely not to be used in the manner you are using it. If you are wanting a PC Monitor, the minimum you should be trying to get is 1080p IMO. Anything less will likely lead to regret in time.

That said, if, for some reason, you can't afford 1080p, you'll just have to come to terms with it. In that situation you'll find that you will lack certain things, but that overall the situation isn't horrible or that your life hasn't been ultimately affected by it.

 

[amenx]

Viewing distance. If you have a 1920x1080 monitor, switch it to 1366x768 and see how shitty and ill defined it looks. Step back 4' and it doesnt look as bad.

 

[toyota]

Viewing distance. If you have a 1920x1080 monitor, switch it to 1366x768 and see how shitty and ill defined it looks. Step back 4' and it doesnt look as bad.

that is not a fair comparison at all. any screen will look much worse below its native resolution.

 

[Denithor]

For gaming, the break point is around 32" not 40". At 32" and below 720p is typically adequate to fill the screen without looking jagged and/or stretched. From that point up though you really want 1080p to fill the screen properly.

Note that this refers to games & video, not text. For text you want the highest resolution you can get, period. I have my HTPC hooked up to a 50" 1080p plasma and frequently wish it was higher resolution so text would look crisper.

 

[pw38]

Well it all obviously depends on your eye sight, the type of monitor used, and the distance you sit from it. Sit further away and unless you have superman eyes a lower resolution monitor won't look that bad. I've seen plenty of 1366x768 plasmas that from a typical living room distance look perfectly acceptable with games and general web surfing. It's the reason most of us who do some sort of gaming pc/htpc opt for plasmas or large lcds.