# To widescreen or to not widescreen



## ADF (Jan 3, 2007)

I'm getting tired of all the videos/movies I watch on my monitor being wide-screen, always seeing those black boarders is annoying. But on the other hand I hear widescreen monitors have all sorts of problems when running games; very few games support wide-screen resolutions resulting in many of them having a stretched image, even a few that claim to support it just have a stretched image. I also came across a website dedicated to gaming with such monitors highlighting how much of a issue it is.

Does anyone have any experience with widescreen monitors and can comment on whether they are worth getting? Either way I am due for a new monitor in February.


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## yak (Jan 3, 2007)

From what i could gather, widescreen 20+ inch monitors have the future, and 19 inch 4:3 aspect ratio monitors are going to fade away due to some new matrix technologies being developed & used.

My friends say that they definitely are worth getting and more preferred then 'normal' 4:3 monitors. If it wasn't for my genetically embedded preference of 4:3 ratios, i wold have gotten one myself.

Gaming problems may arise with lower end budget LCD's that lack proper control due to them being.. budget.. But if you're getting a mid-range monitor then i see no reason why can't you just limit the viewport to regular 4:3 when playing, if the game does not support wide screen mode.

The choice is up to you, of course. If you can live with wide screen, i'd suggest you get a widescreen. As a bonus a lot of them can go portret mode, so if you digital art, that may be a benefit.


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## moebius_wazlib (Jan 3, 2007)

I love my widescreen monitor and the aspect ratio out of aesthetic reasons, as well as having more space to store menus and pads while I work on art. For games that don't support widescreen modes, I just turn on centered timings, so that they don't get stretched (they are displayed in the center of the screen in their native resolution with vertical black bars instead of horizontal ones). Just make sure you get one with good viewing angle and response times. I notice only the slightest change in picture quality when I'm all the way to the side of my Viewsonic LCD, and the fast response time is great for movies and games (no apparent ghosting). See Tom's Hardware for some reviews. As has already been said, do not go for budget LCD's. They're just a waste of time and will be horribly annoying due to low response times/low viewing angles/bad color reproduction.


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## WelcomeTheCollapse (Jan 3, 2007)

You getting a tablet? You'll need to pay more for a widescreen version. And my games are sometimes stretched.

But I'm a film person and an animator, so I wouldn't trade my widescreen for anything.


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## ADF (Jan 3, 2007)

Just so you all know I'm currently looking at this monitor.


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## yak (Jan 3, 2007)

AFAIK all widescreen 19 inch monitors are made using the TN matrices, which  means buh-bye 16.2M colors with it's 6 bit/pixel  and dithering. Pretty good responce times thou, but totally not worth it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_LCD_matrices

Get a 20 inch monitor, they're commonly using S-IPS.


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## ADF (Jan 4, 2007)

This is identical spec to the other model but 20", sadly also a butt load more expensive.

It is within my budget but I'm also planning on a new HDD with the order, I guess it depends on my funds at the time of purchase.


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## XNexusDragonX (Jan 4, 2007)

I was making the very same decision when choosing a new, bigger monitor. I ended up getting a Dell 2001FP 20", of which I'm very happy with! =)

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/119948/

And heres a comparison of the standard and widescreen version of the 2001FP

http://image.blog.livedoor.jp/thanks339/imgs/a/3/a319d14b.jpg


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## ADF (Jan 7, 2007)

Bah even the 20â€ version has that TN+Film display tech...

How about I make this easier and just list what I require from the monitor?

Budget: Â£250 â€œaround 482.63 USD according to Xe.comâ€ though it is possible to go a little over.

19â€-20â€ widescreen
At least 700:1 contrast ratio
At least 8ms response time, preferably lower for gaming
HDCP compatible

I do not care about speakers, USB ports, built in TV cards or any other add-ons that ramps up the price.

So now that you know what I am looking for what does everyone recommend? I prefer to shop at www.scan.co.uk or www.dabs.co.uk so any recommendation that can be purchased from either of these sites would be very welcome ^.=.^

In the meantime I'll continue to look around.


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## Rhainor (Jan 7, 2007)

Regardless of what you're looking for, I'm gonna suggest you look at www.DealTime.com.  Essentially, their system searches several retailers' web sites, and does your comparison shopping for you.  It's how I got a crazy deal on my new video card.


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## ADF (Jan 8, 2007)

yak said:
			
		

> AFAIK all widescreen 19 inch monitors are made using the TN matrices, which  means buh-bye 16.2M colors with it's 6 bit/pixel  and dithering. Pretty good responce times thou, but totally not worth it.
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_LCD_matrices
> 
> Get a 20 inch monitor, they're commonly using S-IPS.


After looking around for S-IPS monitors I have to ask, what is the general price range of these monitors?

I've looked all over the place and all the 20"+ monitors I have found in my price range are TN matrices, hell I saw a 22" one using TN matrices. The few I have found using S-IPS also have pretty bad response times. 

If S-IPS are premium only monitors and all have above 8ms response times I might as well stick with TN matrices ones, I was looking at entry level/budget monitors to begin with after all.

[edit]

I think I will stick with my initial choice of the 20â€ LG monitor, it may not be true 8bit per colour but the reviews are good and it has everything I need.


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