Widescreen or No Widescreen for PC Gaming LCD?

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MonkeyManX

Member
Nov 10, 2001
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Any personal experiences? I was looking at the 19" LCDs. Between the 2MS samsung, the 2MS BenQ, and the 4MS Rosewill(which is pretty cheap after the rebate). All those are standard 5:4 or whatever it works out as.

I noticed that there are some widescreen ones, but with what looks to be lower response times. My HDTV LCD has a 8MS response and there is no ghosting though when I game on it with the Xbox 360...

It seems like anything under 8MS or at 8MS would be pretty good. I also read through the buying guide and the BenQ and Samsung seem like the best choices.

But do PC games actually support widescreen? Is it a waste?
 
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SynthDude2001

Lifer
Mar 19, 2003
18,289
2
71
It's really a personal preference thing, there's no "right" answer. I personally love widescreen though, I've used a Dell 2005FPW (20", 1680x1050) for over a year and a half now, and I'm very happy with it for games. You get a wider field of view if the game properly supports widescreen, and often you can modify the game to support it if it doesn't natively. (widescreengamingforum.com is great for looking up stuff on this) For what it's worth I can't think of any games I've played recently that either didn't support widescreen or couldn't be modified to do so.

I can't really help you with specific LCD choices though...mine's getting a little old (though I still love it) and I'll probably replace it within the next two years, but for now I'm not really familiar with what's on the market.
 
PingSpike

PingSpike

Lifer
Feb 25, 2004
21,749
584
126
I gotta pretty much echo what SynthDude2001 said. I like the wider field of view. Just feels more like I'm there. There are some hassels with some older games though, but since the 'standard' LCD aspect ratio of 5:4 isn't standard either its not going to really be anything more then what you'd get with the other option.
 
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Just4Ever

Member
May 10, 2006
132
0
0
I just got the Viewsonic VX2025 up from a crappy 19" CRT and I can't believe the difference. Gaming is a dream come true. You will definitely appreciate the extra horizontal real estate that the wide screen has to offer.

When I was asking about whether to get a widescreen or not something told me something that seems to make a lot of sense.
He said that our natural field of vision is a standard square like a normal 4:3 monitor. Instead our eyes tend to see much wider than they see higher and so a 16:9 or 16:10 monitor will fit that better and seem much more natural. That's just his opinion but I believe it.
 
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darkrisen2003

Senior member
Sep 13, 2004
382
0
76
I am also really insterested in this topic. I have been comparing the different sizes and brands etc and im almost positive that the 20.1 inch widescreens seem to be the best choice. I am a gamer and this will be my first venture into lcd screens so im a bit worried about the confusing stats that everyone gives different opinions on but here is what I understand. I want the highest max resolution I can get for the price, the lowest responce time, and the highest contrast ratio offered for the price if I understand everyone right. My problem will be in which brands have the best lifespan and quality. I went to a few local computer stores in town the other night just to check out the LCD HD TV's to get a better opinion on the brands out there and I have to say that out of all of the brands I saw the LG had the best looking screen/picture, but from what I hear Viewsonic is the best overal brand to go with.

What do you guys recommend for a gamer to use?
Don't want to spend too much over 350 and im shopping on newegg.
 
WaTaGuMp

WaTaGuMp

Lifer
May 10, 2001
21,207
2,506
126
There is only ONE answer.


Once you go wide you'll never go back, have a nice day.
 
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TheRyuu

Diamond Member
Dec 3, 2005
5,479
14
81
I switched to WS and never looked back.

For a monitor I like the Viewsonic VX2025wm.
You can get it on Newegg for $329 with free shipping the last time I looked.
 
cmdrdredd

cmdrdredd

Lifer
Dec 12, 2001
27,052
357
126
I would NEVER buy an LCD monitor from newegg. Their return policy on dead pixels is stupid. If there is less than 7 dead pixels they won't accept an RMA. That's just assanine. Even one is unacceptable IMO.

There are other retailers that will offer replacement for dead pixels (even if there's less than 7).
 
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jeebz

Junior Member
Aug 12, 2006
12
0
0
i like widescreen for gaming. had a 15.4" widescreen on my emachine laptop before it died. just got a gateway 19" widescreen from bestbuy for $229. a couple of my friends have the dell 20" widescreen. i just think that widescreen is better for gaming cause (depending on the game) gives you a wider field of view. just my thoughts.
 
cmdrdredd

cmdrdredd

Lifer
Dec 12, 2001
27,052
357
126
The one problem with widescreen is having to run a higher resolution if you want to use the monitor's native rez. This sometimes can require a better video card depending on what you have.
 
PingSpike

PingSpike

Lifer
Feb 25, 2004
21,749
584
126
Originally posted by: cmdrdredd
The one problem with widescreen is having to run a higher resolution if you want to use the monitor's native rez. This sometimes can require a better video card depending on what you have.
Click to expand...

Same problem with all LCDs really though.
 
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darkrisen2003

Senior member
Sep 13, 2004
382
0
76
ok so everyone is saying that widescreen is the way to go. why is everyone saying that LG is a bad brand to use though?
 
cmdrdredd

cmdrdredd

Lifer
Dec 12, 2001
27,052
357
126
Originally posted by: PingSpike
Originally posted by: cmdrdredd
The one problem with widescreen is having to run a higher resolution if you want to use the monitor's native rez. This sometimes can require a better video card depending on what you have.
Click to expand...

Same problem with all LCDs really though.
Click to expand...


Not really... 1280x1024 is quite a LOW resolution these days.
 
PingSpike

PingSpike

Lifer
Feb 25, 2004
21,749
584
126
Originally posted by: cmdrdredd
Originally posted by: PingSpike
Originally posted by: cmdrdredd
The one problem with widescreen is having to run a higher resolution if you want to use the monitor's native rez. This sometimes can require a better video card depending on what you have.
Click to expand...

Same problem with all LCDs really though.
Click to expand...


Not really... 1280x1024 is quite a LOW resolution these days.
Click to expand...

I disagree. But then, I was playing 1024x768 on all my games until recently and I prefered to turn down the res as low as 8x6 instead of turning options off.
 
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Austain310

Member
Jul 27, 2006
44
0
0
Just got my monitor today...vx2025wm, i love it...alot bigger than i expected. widescreen is nice. i play at 1680x1050 and i dont see any performance diferance on a 6800gs. used to play at 1280x1024 on 17 inch lcd. Movies are teh_ownage since they are made for widescreen. the future of gaming is going to support widescreen, but now some games that are older dont but its easy to mod it to. so yea go for widescreen, its got up to 20% more pixels :)
 
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hennethannun

Senior member
Jun 25, 2005
269
0
0
widescreen is definitely the way to go. almost every new game supports widescreen, and if you get a Dell LCD or some other brand that supports forced 1:1 scalling, you can always play older games at un-stretch 1280*1024 (or 1600*1200 if you get a big screen). so it is really a no-lose scenario...
 
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450R

Senior member
Feb 22, 2005
319
0
0
Originally posted by: cmdrdredd
1280x1024 is quite a LOW resolution these days.
Click to expand...

I think the vast majority of people playing at 1280x1024 and 1024x768 would argue that point. Most people can't afford/justify the cost of gaming at higher resolutions.
 
O

OvErHeAtInG

Senior member
Jun 25, 2002
770
0
0
Originally posted by: cmdrdredd
Originally posted by: PingSpike
Originally posted by: cmdrdredd
The one problem with widescreen is having to run a higher resolution if you want to use the monitor's native rez. This sometimes can require a better video card depending on what you have.
Click to expand...

Same problem with all LCDs really though.
Click to expand...


Not really... 1280x1024 is quite a LOW resolution these days.
Click to expand...

1680*1050 isn't that much higher. It's a lot fewer pixels than 1600*1200.

1280*1024 = 1,310,720 pixels
1680*1050 = 1,764,000
1600*1200 = 1,920,000
1920*1200 = 2,304,000

That means a 20" WS is < 35% more pixels than a 19" 5*4.

In other words, if your videocard can handle 19", I wouldn't worry too much about 20" WS
 
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AngryRedneck

Junior Member
Aug 17, 2006
3
0
0
It's a toss up for me personally. I own both a VX2025WM(20.1" 16:10) and Sammy 204b(20" 4:3) and use both in a dual monitor setup. I do agree that when games support it, widescreen rocks. But when the screen has to be stretched or have black bars on either side, it's annoying. I don't watch movies on my computer so I can't really comment about that. If i had to choose 1 I'd keep the 204b, just because it's got almost as much width, with a lot more height. Try and see if you can use WS in person to see if you like it, that's about all i can recommend. And if you do go WS, get the VX2025WM.
 
cmdrdredd

cmdrdredd

Lifer
Dec 12, 2001
27,052
357
126
Originally posted by: 450R
Originally posted by: cmdrdredd
1280x1024 is quite a LOW resolution these days.
Click to expand...

I think the vast majority of people playing at 1280x1024 and 1024x768 would argue that point. Most people can't afford/justify the cost of gaming at higher resolutions.
Click to expand...


I was playing at 1280x1024 with a 9800Pro and didn't have any problems
 
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