Widescreen LCDs good for gaming?

[kaisellgren]

Hello,

I am going to buy a new LCD monitor. I was thinking about buying an LCD which would be a widescreen type. Is this suggested for gaming persons?

Most WS has resolution of 1680x1050, which is 1.6 aspect ratio. While 1280x1024 equals to 1.25 aspect ratio. Is there something bad about this? Can I play games with WS? Is the picture on the monitor stretched? Or does it have black bars?

I have a 8800 GTX card if this matters.

 

[jaoreill]

If you asked which was better, that choice is up to you. I believe all modern games have built in widescreen support, older games can be tricked into it though. I recently got a 22" wide and love gaming at 1680x1050. Since the resolution is higher, you won't have black bars or strecthing on a widescreen monitor as long as you maintain that 16:10 ratio, which IMO is the better experience.

p.s. jealous of you gpu

 

[cptdread]

That is all dependent on which Games you play. If mostly newer games, then yes, you can't go wrong. If you still play from stable of older games, it can be problematic.

With that GPU, if you are good at saving a few extra dollars, save up to get a 24" screen. The newer games will support that resolution just as easy, and you can fit a lot more stuff on your destop.


System: Abit IP35Pro, C2D 6550 O/C to 2.8, 2gig RAM, 8800GTS 640mb, ACER 22" WS.

 

[niz]

In my experience even older games that don't support widescreen aren't problematic. You just get the same picture that you would on a 4:3 monitor, it just doesn't fill the screen at the sides. Hardly problematic.

 

[mannwhite]

Hello,

I am going to buy a new LCD monitor. I was thinking about buying an LCD which would be a widescreen type. Is this suggested for gaming persons?

Most WS has resolution of 1680x1050, which is 1.6 aspect ratio. While 1280x1024 equals to 1.25 aspect ratio. Is there something bad about this? Can I play games with WS? Is the picture on the monitor stretched? Or does it have black bars?

I have a 8800 GTX card if this matters.

Once you go widescreen you never go back my friend. The monitor fills more of your field of vision so your gaming experience will become that little bit more immersive. I went from 19" MAG crt to 19" viewsonic lcd to 22" lg viewsonic widescreen and it was a huge improvement all the way. So much so that today I see standard monitors as cramped at the sides.

You might also want to check out this site, www.widescreengamingforum.com, it's very good. It helps a lot when trying to get an older game to work at widescreen resolution (or sometimes a newer game like Need for speed carbon, but hey, what can you expect from EA?).