Widescreen Gaming Forum

Sorry I'm somewhat new to widescreen so I have a few questions, First of all what is native wide screen? and how does it differ to normal widescreen.

Also the games in the compatable out of the box list does that refer to (full screen) - wide screen or just (windowed) wide screen.

Last of all I have ordered an ATI X800 XT PE card and the new apple 23" cinema monitor for my pc, just was curious to what screen res I can expect to run widescreen games in, hope I made the right choice...

Many thanks for the help in advance and great forum it's just what I have been looking for :D

Wideboy

First, welcome to the WSGF! :D

Next, answers to various questions...

Native widescreen is just when a game will work in a widescreen resolution without needed to be hacked/edited. Native and Normal widescreen are the same thing... widescreen on PC's currently comes in two forms: 16:9 (anamorphic widescreen, like in films) and 16:10 ratio.

The list of game in 'Out of the Box' are games that run in widescreen. Given that few people will play games in a window willingly, all of them likely refer to fullscreen. Besides, if you can play fullscreen, who wants to play in a window? :lol:

As for you purchasing decisions... wow. Pricey! But that will be a really nice setup. An ATi X800XT PE should be able to run any modern game at max detail (or around there) at the 23" displays native 1920x1200 resolution. Some yet to be released things may struggle a bit, but there shouldn't be any problems, even with something as card hungry as Far Cry.

Hope some of this helps. Any more questions, feel free to ask. :D

...and if future games chug a bit, you should be able to use a lower res, such as 1650x1080, 1440x900 or 1280x800. The pixel pitch on that screen should all the stretched image to still look sweet.

My panel is 1440x900, and I've played GTA3 at 1280x800 and it looks just fine.

Thanks for your help guys very useful info, well my x800 xtpe card has now been delivered, pretty impressed to say the least, Farcry well... no slow down with everything set to high including the res but then again this is on a 19" (Square CRT) :oops: I'm looking forward for the new monitor to be delivered even though the thought of going from 8MS to 16MS is slightly worrying, though at the end of the day the benifits should pay off having the pleasure of widescreen viewing.. and it's the future in gaming.

One thing I'm not quite sure about though is that Farcry gives me the highest res option of 1600 x 1200, I'm presuming when I eventually get my wide screen monitor I'll see further options pop up i.e 1920x1200, or will I need to setup my screen res first in the ATI control panel before the game reconises that I have a widesceen monitor.

Thanks again, keep up the good work :)

When the drivers for you screen are installed, all it's supported resolutions should become available.

Do you turn on Anti-Aliasing and Anisotropic Filtering? I'd like to know what Far Cry runs like from someone that isn't a review site...

And for the drop from 8ms to 16ms, I don't honestly think you'll notice it that much. If it was 8 to 25, then you'd notice, but 16ms is one of the faster response times available (only 12 is faster on TFT's, remember)

And don't be worried about a square CRT. :D I still use one. OK, so I much prefer my laptop's WSXGA+ screen, but I still use a 4:3 CRT. With the prices of widescreen displays, I don't have a lot of choice in the matter. :lol:

Do you turn on Anti-Aliasing and Anisotropic Filtering? I'd like to know what Far Cry runs like from someone that isn't a review site...

Yep set everything to very high and A/F at all 4 levels runs without any slow down and very playable, As soon as my widescreen monitor is shipped (although heard up to 6 weeks for the UK) I'll give you my verdict on the card and screen together, but happy to report that ATi have produced one cracking card.

Nice. Thank you. :)

Well after a few months of lurking I've registered and will join in with the widescreen fun!

Hopefully you should have your 23" Apple by now. Mine arrived in London, U.K. from the Apple Store U.K. this morning. Unfortunately the power adapter is in it's own shipment which is lagging one day behind so I won't get that until next Monday. :( You have no idea how frustrating it is to have that new Apple sitting in a box on my living room floor with no power adapter.

Also my X800XT is in pre-order hell, much like everyone elses so no telling on when that will arrive. I'm sure a 9800pro will give me an idea of how things look at 1900x1200, even if it may be a bit choppy until I get my new card.

is the apple screen 16ms? all the large (23" 1920x1200) widescreens i have seen are 25ms minimum. in fact all widscreen TFT monitors period are greater than 23ms response. :(

when oh when will widescreen catch up with the box?

No, the Apple screen is 25ms, according to all the stuff I've seen. :(

oh well, cheers.

The NEW Apple 20, 23 and 30 inch LCDs are all 16ms response times. These are the new panels with the brushed aluminium bezel. Check out the tech docs at http://www.apple.com

The 23" panel uses the same panel as the HP L2335 which is cheaper in some countries and has a few more connectors and picture in picture HDTV malarkey. The Apple is just beautifully designed and pretty much the same price in the U.K. as the HP. It's also DVI input now and they are marketing it at PC users.

Check out this thread at Hard|OCP if you're interested in the new 23" panel. Large thread with tons of pics and user feedback.

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=757963

They've updated them? Niiice. I was kinda hopin' they would. Hm... I wonder how long it'll take for the new ones to filter down into UK retail? :)

Well I bought mine direct from the Apple Store UK but I think the retail stores that sell Apple gear will have them in at the "end of the month, beginning of next month". I know Micro Anvika on Tottenham Court Road in London hasn't gotten them in yet to display and were saying early next month.

Should also add that the highstreet stores seem to price the 23" display about 50 quid higher than the Apple Store price, which also had free shipping via TNT. Shipping 9:37pm Wednesday night and arrived 10am Friday morning. That's great service considering the factory is actually based in the Netherlands :D

Very nice. Congratulations.

Can we hope for screenshots? And pics of the screen itself? :D

DrAnubis, me and you need to keep in good contact since we have pretty much the same gaming machine and I suppose from time to time we may need each others help, I've not got my apple monitor yet however did'nt buy it from Apple direct and your quite correct that the big PC retail stores were 50 quid more however I know a fair few have just modified their price a few days ago to become comparable to Apple, I've been informed that I should receive it by next week, but from what apple UK have said there are no more coming in to the UK for at leastl 4-6 weeks, personally found that hard to beleive but suppose they know best.

And not having having the power adapter in the same package..how annoying :(

As you have mentioned the MS is 16MS, The old apple monitor was somewhere between 20-25 MS although they never announced it officially for some reason.

here's additional info on the new apple 23" monitor, cheers WB




Extended Specifications

Manufacturer's Part Number M9178B/A
Weight 7 kg
Dimensions (WxDxH) 53.6 cm x 18.7 cm x 45 cm
Device Type Flat panel display / TFT active matrix
Compliant Standards TCO '03, MPR II, VCCI Class B ITE, BSMI CNS 13438 Class B, EN 60950, EPA Energy Star, ISO 13406-2, VESA DDC/CI, IEC 60950, EN55024, VESA FDMI, UL 60950, CSA 22.2 No. 60950, EN55022 Class B, ICES-003 Class B, AS/NZ 3548 Class B, FCC Part 15 B
Power AC 110/230 V ( 50/60 Hz )
Product Description Apple Cinema HD Display - flat panel display - TFT - 23"
Built-in Devices USB Hub
Power Consumption Operational 90 Watt
Dot Pitch 0.258mm
Colour support 24-bit (16.7 million colours)
Viewable Size 23"
Max Resolution 1920 x 1200
Diagonal Size 23"
Dot Pitch / Pixel Pitch 0.258 mm
Digital Video Standard Digital Visual Interface (DVI)



General


Weight 7 kg
Height 45 cm
Width 53.6 cm
Depth 18.7 cm
Compatibility Mac
Built-in Devices USB Hub
Display Type Flat panel display / TFT active matrix


Display


Max Resolution 1920 x 1200
Colour support 24-bit (16.7 million colours)
Diagonal Size 23"
Controls / Adjustments Brightness, tilt
Display Screen Coating Anti-glare, hard coating
Viewable Size 23"
Dot Pitch / Pixel Pitch 0.258 mm
Response Time 16 ms


Image


Image Max V-View Angle 170
Image Contrast Ratio 400:1
Image Max H-View Angle 170
Image Brightness 270 cd/m2


Video Input


Digital Video Standard Digital Visual Interface (DVI)


Expansion / Connectivity

Interfaces 1 x DVI-I - 29 pin combined DVI
2 x Hi-Speed USB - 4 PIN USB Type A
2 x IEEE 1394 (FireWire) - 6 PIN FireWire


Miscellaneous


Compliant Standards TCO '03, MPR II, VCCI Class B ITE, BSMI CNS 13438 Class B, EN 60950, EPA Energy Star, ISO 13406-2, VESA DDC/CI, IEC 60950, EN55024, VESA FDMI, UL 60950, CSA 22.2 No. 60950, EN55022 Class B, ICES-003 Class B, AS/NZ 3548 Class B, FCC Part 15 B
Features Locking device keyhole (cable lock)


Power


Voltage Required AC 110/230 V ( 50/60 Hz )
Power Consumption Operational 90 Watt
Power Consumption Stand by / Sleep 3 Watt


Software / System Requirements


OS Required Apple MacOS X 10.2.8 or later


Environmental Parameters

Max Operating Temperature 35 °C
Min Operating Temperature 10 °C
Humidity Range Operating 20 - 80%
Max Altitude Operating 3.1 km

Well the power adapter didn't come today (Monday) but Apple assured me it would be arriving tomorrow at the latest. Seems it wasn't just my screen, it was their entire shipment and the adapters arrived late, which was the factories fault, no the warehouse... or something... whatever. It's looking fabulous when I get it out of the bag now and then to cooo at it. Very slick design, very minimalist, very Apple. Matches my Apple Pro keyboard (so stylish and an excellent keyboard. 45 quid down Tottenham Court Road). I'll get some pics up tomorrow when it's plugged in and powered up.

nice one buddy looking forward to seeing the pics, hopefully will get mine by Friday but not counting my chickens just yet...