Wondering about widescreen gaming on a 22" monitor.

Hey everyone, I've just been wondering lately whether or not to make the transition to a larger LCD. I currently have a crappy HP 1702 17" LCD. The new rig I put together will be intended for heavy gaming. It is as followed:
e6750
p965 - DS3 3.3
OCZ Reaper DDR2 800 2gb
Antec 900
SilentXStream OCZ 600w power supply
2x SATA DVD writers
500gb Samsung Spinpoint T SATA HDD
8800 GTS 320mb

I know that there are games that support wide screen gaming. But for the ones that do not, how does it change the image quality? Does it get stretched out? And does it look like crap? Any help would be appreciated thank you.

And does anyone have good rec. for a 22" monitor for gaming? I was eying this Acer on Newegg
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6824009094
What do you guys think of it?

I game on a 22" ws; I love it.

If you hate the stretched out look you can always play it in a box. I haven't had any visual problems at all.

As Rahvyn mentioned, Widescreen Gaming Forum is the place you want to check out.

FAQ: http://www.widescreengamingforum.c [...] ex.php/FAQ
Game List: http://www.widescreengamingforum.c [...] s_List_-_A

Most new games support typical widescreen resolutions. There are many hacks to get widescreen support in older games. This can include registry hacks, changes to an INI config file, and even third-party apps that modify the game while it is running. Check out the game list to see what games have been tested and what method was used. Some games include screenshots and detailed reports of the differences.

BTW, you will get varied results with the hacks. Not all games will do widescreen flawlessly. For instance, some games will stretch the image horizontally, it's the only way to fill the screen.

I'm reading this thread on that monitor right now, also played a lot of games, surfed a lot of webs, and programmed a lot of codes on it. I love the thing, and I feel crippled going back to 4:3 or 5:4 resolution, LOL.

Be advised that the base is a little wobbly, so if your desk is wobbly then that may translate up to the screen. It also doesn't let you tilt it very much. My desk is like 1 ton and it's at the perfect height so those limits aren't a problem for me. There is a newer version called the al2232wbd which may address one or both of those issues -- you might want to check it out. But for me, the 2216 is perfect and it was a great buy at $330 (and mine doesn't even do HDCP, which the new 2216 does).