Widescreen gaming, worth it? I got a doubt. :/

JockeII · Post by **JockeII** » 25 Aug 2006, 11:38

Yeah I have been looking like mad the past week to decide what 20" widescreen monitor I will buy.

But now that I've pretty much made up my mind (Samsung Syncmaster 205BW), I got a doubt. :/

Checked around the forums a bit and I just realised that so many games work like crap with widescreen.

For example, one of my previous favorite games is World of Warcraft. I don't play it anymore but I will start seriously again when Burning Crusade is released. But apparently you lose alot of view, and that just sucks. Saw that there is a mod that zooms out your viewing angle ALOT, but who wants to play like that, I want to watch my character just from the back.

And when giving the Master Games list a closer look you almost always have to mess with a .cfg or .ini file to get something to work right. And many games just support stretching, which is plain ugly. And not many games give better FOV either.

I just dont know if widescreen gaming is for me. :/
But on the other hand, then the graphics card I just bought(7950GX2) is pretty much wasted since it is made for high resolutions and shows its true power at 1600x1200/1680x1050 and higher.

If I am not buying a 20" widescreen I guess a 19" 5:4 is my only choice.

What do you think? Do you regret buying a WS screen? :/

Post by **Paradigm Shifter** » 25 Aug 2006, 12:20

So many games work like crap in widescreen? Perhaps. But so many work fine. So you have to use an .ini tweak - that takes, what, a minute? ;)

But if you're dead set against getting a widescreen, why do you have to go 5:4? Why not get a 20" 4:3 1600x1200 panel?

...

Also, I swear this is like the fourth thread asking this sort of thing this week. Not sniping at you, just puzzled. :)

Post by **skipclarke** » 25 Aug 2006, 12:31

WS ratio mimicks real life. It creates a very increased sense of immersion. No regrets for me in the least.
& that's only gaming - using apps & other real life programs make things easier & more productive. WS DVD movie watching is also "the tops".

Post by **Paradigm Shifter** » 25 Aug 2006, 12:37

Oops. I forgot to answer the last bit. :lol:

No, I don't regret buying a widescreen. My only regret is they take such powerful computers to run to the best of their abilities... :D

JockeII · Post by **JockeII** » 25 Aug 2006, 12:42

I use TV-out from my computer to my widescreen TV for downloaded movies/anime so that isnt a factor. ;)

And well I dont think THAT many games support widescreen, most of the new games still need .ini files tweaked. Sure, that isnt a problem but it isnt always working very good when it isnt native.

And well I would very much rather like a 20" with 1600x1200 but for unknown reasons they are alot more expensive. Samsung Syncmaster 204B sure isnt cheap, and that is the only good screen with a "low" price I can find. LG L2013P got 16ms. :/

Post by **skipclarke** » 25 Aug 2006, 12:46

Seems like you already have all the answers you need to support your decision :wink:

Microtia · Post by **Microtia** » 25 Aug 2006, 12:47

I don't regret buying my widescreen at all. Even if I didn't game it'd have been a much better purchase than a standard ratio monitor. The extra horizontal space is just that great. As for gaming, all the games I play have working widescreen so I guess it's not a problem for me (hacks and tweaks really don't bother me either).

Also, just because a monitor says its 16ms response time, doesn't mean a heck of a lot. There's no standard as to how they have to report a response time so it would depend if they're reporting G2G or B2W etc.

JockeII · Post by **JockeII** » 25 Aug 2006, 13:03

Seems like you already have all the answers you need to support your decision :wink:

Haha I know, it is just that I always have a hard time deciding, I switch between opinions all the time. :roll:

I just mailed the store I bought my computer from and gave them a offer with some bargaining in, and hopefully I then can afford to buy the Samsung Syncmaster 204B. Otherwise it will probably be a 205BW instead(widescreen yes).

There are too few 1600x1200 20" nowadays. :<

And well regarding the 16ms comment, that LG screen looked very budget so I dont think anyone would recomend it for gaming. ;)

Post by **ctrlsteef** » 25 Aug 2006, 13:04

Just get both. 8)

Widescreen rulez the world btw, i'm never going back.
And is sure don't play games that don't support it.

JockeII · Post by **JockeII** » 25 Aug 2006, 13:17

Give me the money to buy both so. 8)

Just saw that Samsung Syncmaster dont support HDCP though. That just sucks when I got a GPU that supports it. :(

Meh, give me some advice on 19" screen! :D

Or maybe I'll just take off the Raptor harddrive from the order and buy a screen for even more money! :/

Microtia · Post by **Microtia** » 25 Aug 2006, 13:45

The odds are, you don't need to worry about HDCP for now. By the time it will be required you'll probably be buying a new screen anyway.

JockeII · Post by **JockeII** » 25 Aug 2006, 15:29

IÃ‚Â´ll do like this, I buy the Samsung Syncmaster 205BW at my local store(a bit more expensive but easier) and then I try it out at home. If I aint happy with it, IÃ‚Â´ll just return it! :]

Microtia · Post by **Microtia** » 25 Aug 2006, 15:32

That always works :P.

Tucson · Post by **Tucson** » 25 Aug 2006, 17:28

My widescreen requirements were easy. I just needed CSS and DoDS to work. With that in place it came to decide on a fast acting monitor. Then the TH2G was announced. That seemed the way to go bc besides having incredible FoV, I could implement very quick LCDs rather than getting something less than ideal for gaming. So it really feels like the best of both worlds, except for the price ofcourse :(

But for widescreen computing, even at 16:10, it's the only way to work. You're just ahead of the curve right now. Just wait for the games to come to you. This year should see all widescreen support for all major games. If not the developer porbably isn't very good and their games not worth playing.

JockeII · Post by **JockeII** » 25 Aug 2006, 17:35

Well said. :)

And now send me your TH2G! :twisted:

JockeII · Post by **JockeII** » 26 Aug 2006, 16:31

I just bought a Samsung Syncmaster 205BW and I am sooooo happy with it! :D Dont regret buying it one bit, it is just so perfect for me. Good looking, ergonomical and the height adjusting is so great! I've just tried it fast on my parents computer without any advanced settings and the picture is so sharp and great! :)

Also I got a perfect sample without any dead pixels (I did some tests) and no backbleeding whatsoever. :]

Post by **Paradigm Shifter** » 26 Aug 2006, 17:46

So, do you no longer doubt? ;)

JockeII · Post by **JockeII** » 26 Aug 2006, 18:45

I do not. ;)

Post by **Paradigm Shifter** » 26 Aug 2006, 20:14

Excellent. :D

JockeII · Post by **JockeII** » 26 Aug 2006, 23:10

Just noticed the quote from Ed in your sign!
Fullmetal Alchemist sure is a great anime, one of my favorites! :D

Widescreen Gaming Forum