widescreen?

feedtheram · 22 May 2007 at 22:50

Are widescreen monitors better for gaming? :confused:

squiffy · 22 May 2007 at 22:52

Yup. More natural field of vision (see sig)

Minstadave · 22 May 2007 at 23:02

Got my first widescreen today, its great for gaming, really chuffed.

Shicky · 22 May 2007 at 23:21

what monitor did u get mistadave?

Minstadave · 22 May 2007 at 23:30

Shicky said:
what monitor did u get mistadave?

Samsung SM206BW and its lurvely

Ozzie Dave · 23 May 2007 at 00:43

Being a CRT stalwart and also being late to the TFT party I still had misgivings about widescreen right up until the night before my NEC turned up on my doorstep....But once I got it hooked up, I thought it was the best thing since sliced bread

...well slight exageration maybe, but you get the picture

It really does feel more natural for gaming, and even though I don't play games as much these days as I used to, it is a great experience compared to my old 4:3 screen.

fish99 · 23 May 2007 at 12:11

Much prefer widescreen for gaming here too (Dell 2007WFP).

YorkshirePadd26 · 23 May 2007 at 12:26

Ozzie Dave said:
Being a CRT stalwart and also being late to the TFT party I still had misgivings about widescreen right up until the night before my NEC turned up on my doorstep....But once I got it hooked up, I thought it was the best thing since sliced bread ...well slight exageration maybe, but you get the picture

It really does feel more natural for gaming, and even though I don't play games as much these days as I used to, it is a great experience compared to my old 4:3 screen.

I was the same, borrowed a mates Dell 17" TFT to see if I like them. It was totally pants TBH ! Ghosting and all sorts of issues.

When my NEC 20.1 Wgx2 turned up I had the biggest grin on my face. Apart from it initially suffered from the backlight bleed issue. Got it replaced and this new one is perfect.

Worried now its not big enough ! I was going to go the DELL 30inch but it didn't really get great reviews and is pants at scaling and I don't think it hap 1:1 pixel mapping so smaller inages look stretched all over the place.

I'm happy with my Widescreen NEC, customer support is really good too.

Shicky · 23 May 2007 at 15:05

im putting off buying a TFT, its been months now but i still cant make a decision. I dont want to spend tonnes but from reading all the posts it feels like im gonna get nowhere near the quality i want/expect unless i buy the NEC 20.1 or Dell2407 but they're both pretty dam expensive monitors!

Tempted to actually just get a nice big Compaq CRT

vespr · 23 May 2007 at 17:02

I'm stuck between the NEC and Dell 24... What's better, image quality or bigger scree/res?

snarloas1982 · 25 May 2007 at 00:33

have the 24 inch dell, 100% happy with pc games although would ghost in 360 games i.e fight night r3. no pc games have ghosted yet

fish99 · 25 May 2007 at 09:21

Shicky said:
im putting off buying a TFT, its been months now but i still cant make a decision. I dont want to spend tonnes but from reading all the posts it feels like im gonna get nowhere near the quality i want/expect unless i buy the NEC 20.1 or Dell2407 but they're both pretty dam expensive monitors!

Get the Dell 2007WFP. According to mrk who has used both the Dell is very nearly as good as the NEC (I think mrk said he actually preferred the Dell thanks to no shiny coating on the screen). £70 cheaper than the NEC at £270. Or save even more and get something like the LG L226WTQ at £211 if you can live with the TN viewing angles.

vespr · 25 May 2007 at 10:13

snarloas1982 said:
have the 24 inch dell, 100% happy with pc games although would ghost in 360 games i.e fight night r3. no pc games have ghosted yet

I'd love the extra space with the dell, and it would suit my needs running apps on the desktop. But my main gripe about the gaming, is if I'm sitting a foot from the screen, surely everything I'm looking at is just massive? Would I constantly be tilting my head to sides to take everything in? With the 20 I don't think I'd experience that.

I solely play FPS games, so being able to see ppl in the corner of the screen for that quick frag would quite vital. Anyone have any input what's it like with CS 1.6?

squiffy · 25 May 2007 at 10:41

I'm fairly close to my 20", probably 1.5" during gaming. Don't need to tilt your head.

Widescreen gaming is superb, there was a few screenshots comparing the two, and in use widescreen is far superior.

Vimes · 25 May 2007 at 10:46

vespr said:
I'd love the extra space with the dell, and it would suit my needs running apps on the desktop. But my main gripe about the gaming, is if I'm sitting a foot from the screen, surely everything I'm looking at is just massive? Would I constantly be tilting my head to sides to take everything in? With the 20 I don't think I'd experience that.

I solely play FPS games, so being able to see ppl in the corner of the screen for that quick frag would quite vital. Anyone have any input what's it like with CS 1.6?

I love my 19" Samsung 913n - I don't care if it is a TN panel or not as I only ever sit directly in front of it, as I would any monitor.

Even though the above monitor is great, for me, I started to wonder what I was missing out when all the posts that I have seen raved about the widescreen format being particular good.

Seeing a Dell 24" Widescreen I must admit I was, initially, blown away at its sheer size and quality of picture. However when I play a game viewing on my 19" 4:3 Samsung I find that all the action is there in front of me and yet when playing the same game on the Dell I found that some of the action I missed as it was more in my peripheral vision, if that makes sense.
Even browsing webpages with the Dell I had the same issue as everything is just bigger and more spread out left to right.

I am not suggesting that the Dell, in the above case, is not a superb monitor I am just suggesting that I don't quite get all the affection adorned on the widescreen format, then again maybe it is just something that grows on you...?

EDIT: If the Mitsibushi 22" CRT hadn't have almost collapsed my workstation with its weight, and wasn't as bulky, I wouldn't have got a LCD in the first place.

squiffy · 25 May 2007 at 10:48

I am not suggesting that the Dell, in the above case, is not a superb monitor I am just suggesting that I don't quite get all the affection adorned on the widescreen format, then again maybe it is just something that grows on you..

Exactly the same reason for films, and widescreen has been around for decades. I always choose widescreen version over 4:3. For same for gaming, if a game supports it, and my monitor is widescreen I enable it.

fish99 · 25 May 2007 at 11:09

Vimes said:
I love my 19" Samsung 913n - I don't care if it is a TN panel or not as I only ever sit directly in front of it, as I would any monitor.

Even though the above monitor is great, for me, I started to wonder what I was missing out when all the posts that I have seen raved about the widescreen format being particular good.

Seeing a Dell 24" Widescreen I must admit I was, initially, blown away at its sheer size and quality of picture. However when I play a game viewing on my 19" 4:3 Samsung I find that all the action is there in front of me and yet when playing the same game on the Dell I found that some of the action I missed as it was more in my peripheral vision, if that makes sense.
Even browsing webpages with the Dell I had the same issue as everything is just bigger and more spread out left to right.

I am not suggesting that the Dell, in the above case, is not a superb monitor I am just suggesting that I don't quite get all the affection adorned on the widescreen format, then again maybe it is just something that grows on you...?

Sounds like you are basing your opinion of widescreens on a limited experience. It does take a few weeks to adjust to widescreen gaming, but once you do I doubt you would buy a 5:4 or 4:3 again. Also the 2407 is very big and if you sit fairly close then it's going to be hard to take everything in. A 20" widescreen though doesn't have that problem - you can take it all in, and the extra perihperal vision gives you an advantage if anything.

Playing any sort of first person game on 5:4/4:3 is too restrictive for me now. It's really obvious to me now how much wider human vision is than the 70 or so degree you get represented on a non-widescreen in most first person games. It's positively claustrophobic.

Sparky__H · 25 May 2007 at 11:26

The image quality on my NEC far surpasses any Dell I’ve used or seen.

I just tried using a 2407 and it’s was quite a shock trying to take it all in (About 18” distance) where my 20.1” seems to be the idle size for my perception ability (I’m short-sighted in one eye so any further away and it’s pointless).

I use mine for gaming, playback of H.264 (In containers) and programming, having the 16:10 format is just perfect for all these.

Using the work 17” and 19” is now very frustrating as you become accustomed to the extra space.

Fr0dders · 25 May 2007 at 11:40

Sparky__H said:
The image quality on my NEC far surpasses any Dell I’ve used or seen.

I just tried using a 2407 and it’s was quite a shock trying to take it all in (About 18” distance) where my 20.1” seems to be the idle size for my perception ability (I’m short-sighted in one eye so any further away and it’s pointless).

I use mine for gaming, playback of H.264 (In containers) and programming, having the 16:10 format is just perfect for all these.

Using the work 17” and 19” is now very frustrating as you become accustomed to the extra space.

my mate agrees. Ive got a NEC 20WGX2 and he (and i

) both think the picture quality is just the dogs on it. Not seen anything look quite as good anywhere else. He only had a 19" 4:3 at the time. Saw mine, but wanted to go better than me, so get a Dell 2407 A03 to try to outdo me. Its nice, but even he admits, the picture just isnt as bright or good looking as on my NEC.

having said that though, his has HDCP, has 4 inches more screen, and will take inputs from consoles etc.. so it depends what you want in a monitor ...

Vimes · 25 May 2007 at 11:43

fish99 said:
Sounds like you are basing your opinion of widescreens on a limited experience. It does take a few weeks to adjust to widescreen gaming, but once you do I doubt you would buy a 5:4 or 4:3 again. Also the 2407 is very big and if you sit fairly close then it's going to be hard to take everything in. A 20" widescreen though doesn't have that problem - you can take it all in, and the extra perihperal vision gives you an advantage if anything.

Playing any sort of first person game on 5:4/4:3 is too restrictive for me now. It's really obvious to me now how much wider human vision is than the 70 or so degree you get represented on a non-widescreen in most first person games. It's positively claustrophobic.

Yes I am basing my opinion on very limited usage. I can imagine it would take a little while to get used to the different aspect ratio. I do remember when I got rid of my 22" CRT, my workstation is no longer dipping in the middle, but I was amazed in every respect of the quality (with limitations of a fixed native resolution) of the picture on my Samsung 913n.

I just didn't get that first impression from the humongous Dell 24".

If I ever get around to replacing my Samsung I'm not sure if I would opt for a 22" W/S instead, after all could I really regret not having that extra 2"