PC Gaming and Widescreen monitors

I was thinking of getting a widescreen monitor mainly for some of my 360 games which seem to be setup for widescreens or have the "letterbox" appearance ( I think that is the right word).

I was wondering whether all my PC games will end up being skewed because of the resolutions normally associated with standard monitor. I heard somewhere that some games support widescreen, is there a way to determine which ones do? Is it actually possible to change the resolution on a widescreen to a standard one so if effect there will be black spaces on the sides.

Nah, the games don't get skewed on widescreen, all games have resolution settings and some have a widescreen option, so there's no problem. Even on default, games will automatically adjust to your widescreen monitor. And widescreen monitors rule! :P

You'll appreciate the extra room widescren gives you just for your everyday computer usage, not to mention with games. I would not even think about getting fullscreen when upgrading a monitor.

No, new games, and semi-new games are patched to handle widescreen. I have a 23 inch widescreen I use for my PC and my 360. It works great, you get a whole lot of bang for your buck.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9183224&type=product&id=1218049006792

You'll be fine. I just bought a 1080p monitor and all the games I've tried except Diablo 1&2 and Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 detected the new resolution and run fine with it. I was actually surpised at how good some ran since I still only have an 8800GT!

Most games now support widescreen.

Is it actually possible to change the resolution on a widescreen to a standard one so if effect there will be black spaces on the sides.KwasiAsiedu

I would think most cheapy LCDs would not have the feature, but I wouldn't know...

[QUOTE="KwasiAsiedu"] Is it actually possible to change the resolution on a widescreen to a standard one so if effect there will be black spaces on the sides.jedinat

I would think most cheapy LCDs would not have the feature, but I wouldn't know...

Thanks guys. You have reassured me that widescreen is the way to go. There are some fantastic deals out there at the moments that why I was considering making the upgrade. Thanks again.

Am I the only one that hates widescreen? For games it's ok, but for other stuff like browsing, reading pdfs or pretty much doing anything, I wish I had more vertical screen space. There's always 9999 horizontal toolbars squishing your real vertical space you actually have left to use. I actually dock my vista/xp start bar to the left so it doesnt take up ther vertical space.

Am I the only one that hates widescreen? For games it's ok, but for other stuff like browsing, reading pdfs or pretty much doing anything, I wish I had more vertical screen space. There's always 9999 horizontal toolbars squishing your real vertical space you actually have left to use. I actually dock my vista/xp start bar to the left so it doesnt take up ther vertical space.

dave17

Am I the only one that hates widescreen? For games it's ok, but for other stuff like browsing, reading pdfs or pretty much doing anything, I wish I had more vertical screen space. There's always 9999 horizontal toolbars squishing your real vertical space you actually have left to use. I actually dock my vista/xp start bar to the left so it doesnt take up ther vertical space.

dave17

And... right click on your taskbar and check the "Auto-hide the taskbar" box. An always-visible taskbar is a sure sign of PC newbishness... or is it the other way around...? lol. Anyways, if you're having vertical space issues you have no business keeping your taskbar visible. (and there are themes for firefox and such that really cut down on the toolbar space)

[QUOTE="dave17"]

Am I the only one that hates widescreen? For games it's ok, but for other stuff like browsing, reading pdfs or pretty much doing anything, I wish I had more vertical screen space. There's always 9999 horizontal toolbars squishing your real vertical space you actually have left to use. I actually dock my vista/xp start bar to the left so it doesnt take up ther vertical space.

jedinat

And... right click on your taskbar and check the "Auto-hide the taskbar" box. An always-visible taskbar is a sure sign of PC newbishness... or is it the other way around...? lol. Anyways, if you're having vertical space issues you have no business keeping your taskbar visible. (and there are themes for firefox and such that really cut down on the toolbar space)

Well my 22" widescreen (16:9 since that is how they all come now) has less vertical resolution than my old 19" crt (1080 vs 1200). I'm not sure if you understood me about the task bar, but its docked on the left side instead of the bottom, so that way it doesnt eat up vertical space. I dont like a hidden task bar, I like always be able to see it. :) It only takes up 6%ish of the left side of the screen anyways. Oh, and I use chrome for my browser, I find it takes up the least space with the toolbars.

And to the above poster: not every monitor can be switched to vertical, but I can see it definitely being a help for some applications.

[QUOTE="jedinat"]

[QUOTE="dave17"]

Am I the only one that hates widescreen? For games it's ok, but for other stuff like browsing, reading pdfs or pretty much doing anything, I wish I had more vertical screen space. There's always 9999 horizontal toolbars squishing your real vertical space you actually have left to use. I actually dock my vista/xp start bar to the left so it doesnt take up ther vertical space.

dave17

And... right click on your taskbar and check the "Auto-hide the taskbar" box. An always-visible taskbar is a sure sign of PC newbishness... or is it the other way around...? lol. Anyways, if you're having vertical space issues you have no business keeping your taskbar visible. (and there are themes for firefox and such that really cut down on the toolbar space)

Well my 22" widescreen (16:9 since that is how they all come now) has less vertical resolution than my old 19" crt (1080 vs 1200). I'm not sure if you understood me about the task bar, but its docked on the left side instead of the bottom, so that way it doesnt eat up vertical space. I dont like a hidden task bar, I like always be able to see it. :) It only takes up 6%ish of the left side of the screen anyways. Oh, and I use chrome for my browser, I find it takes up the least space with the toolbars.

I found something interesting... http://www.displaywars.com/22-inch-16x9-vs-24-inch-16x10

You can perhaps see why I'm not complaining.

Am I the only one that hates widescreen? For games it's ok, but for other stuff like browsing, reading pdfs or pretty much doing anything, I wish I had more vertical screen space. There's always 9999 horizontal toolbars squishing your real vertical space you actually have left to use. I actually dock my vista/xp start bar to the left so it doesnt take up ther vertical space.

dave17

It's all about your own personal preference.I prefer widescreen at 1920x1080 as opposed to 16:10 at 1920x1200 for gaming,movies and general things.And 9/10 if a game doesnt officialy support widescreen there is usually a way to get it to work.

Am I the only one that hates widescreen? For games it's ok, but for other stuff like browsing, reading pdfs or pretty much doing anything, I wish I had more vertical screen space. There's always 9999 horizontal toolbars squishing your real vertical space you actually have left to use. I actually dock my vista/xp start bar to the left so it doesnt take up ther vertical space.

dave17