I am looking for a new TFT Display for my PC. I have read some reviews and looked around a lot, but I always find that one question is not answered:
I play a lot of old games like Baldurs Gate and other titles that do not allow to change the display resolution to a widescreen format.
I hate it if the picture is stretched, but I do not have any problems with black bars on each side.
So I am looking for a TFT that allows me to set the aspect ratio manually. Independent of the OS and used software. So even if I run a old Dos game I do not have any problems.
Also, I watch a lot of DVD's. Until now, I have a very good, very big CRT display. The colors are perfect for watching DVDs. The black is really black and the colors are not oversaturated as they are with many TFT displays.
So I am also looking for a display that is not only good for old games (aspect ratio) and new games (fast - shooters and so on) but also has a very balanced and good color palette.
Can someone recommend a screen for me? Or does someone know, what 16:9 TFT screens support 5:4 resolution with black bars independent of drivers? Or maybe this is a regular feature and every TFT has it (thats why I never read about it - it is takes as granted?)?
Not all have it, essentially you want to support non-native resolutions without scaling to native resolutions. I know that the Del 24" widescreen would not do it (2407?), I think it forced scaling regardless of drivers, this is a rarity however.
I'm using a HP2207 which also appears not to, although I'm sure an earlier set of drivers let me.
This HP is very nice however, good blacks, and even though it is shiny, there's not too much glare.
Have you looked at the reviews on certain other sites? there have been a slew of them recently and they may enlighten you.
I'm off to try and find out if I can run non-native.
You are looking for a monitor that supports 1:1 bit mapping. It can actually be called many thing in the monitor's OSD menu, assuming it is supported. What this does is it only uses the actual number of pixel for that particular resolution. So say you are playing a game at 1024 x 768 on a 22" LCD with 1680 x 1050 resolution, you will get black borders around a 1024 x 768 viewing area.
It might be called:
a) 1:1
b) Aspect
c) Off (expansion)
On my monitor (NEC LCD2690WUXi) it is called off under the expansion menu. On the Gateway FPD2485W 24" LCD monitor, I believe it is called Aspect.
Another option is to have a full screen with black border on the left and right to get the 4:3 aspect ratio. Again, there could be different names. On my monitor it's called Aspect. For the Gateway FPD2485W it's called zoom.
Thanks to your advice I found a screen that offers what I need. Unfortunately, it is from Dell. I didn't hear good things about their service, but the TFT gets tons of good reviews.
It's the 2007WFP. I just ordered it.
