Getting a new monitor, confused about ratios/res/etc

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Sir Prince

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I currently have a nice LG LCD (1280x1024 native, but that looks too small on the desktop) 1024x768 17" 1400:1 monitor, which I have had for about 3 years. I like it and it works just fine, however it is my 20th birthday in 7 days and I have some extra money from my grandma and I got my tax return ^_^

What I'd like;
- A game of any age* to be playable on it without stretching (preferable if the comp can add bars on the sides).
- I do not mind bars on the sides, but I HATE top and bottom bars, so I would like to keep those to a minimum or none at all.
- Watch the occasional DVD movie/TV show without stupidly large (over an inch, and even then that's pressing my buttons) topnbot bars.
- Under $500 Canadian. Preferably less. On sale is nice too. Anyway to make it cheaper is appreciated.
- Will work with having my 17" as the 2ndary monitor.**

* I know more games now have widescreen support, but that does NOT help if the game is NOT recent!

** I have an 8800GT which can support 2 monitors. I don't really know how to set up two monitors though beyond just plugging them in. Although this is a secondary concern to getting a new monitor.

Suggestions of exact models are appreciated, but I especially want to know what to look for in a good monitor.

EDIT: Okay well I'll probably still end up with topnbot bars for movies, but I rarely watch those anyways so as long as they are small it's okay.

EDIT: Primaraly I order stuff off of www.ncix.com but as long as the shipping isn't much (or none at all, we have a Futureshop, Walmart, Londondrugs and several smaller stores locally), I don't care.
 
A Moniter?

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Well, I've always preferred Gecko's

 
I've got a Dell 24" LCD whose native resolution is 1920x1200. 16:10 ratio, I believe. Beautiful quality and all that jazz. I recommend it. Not sure if it's within your price range, though. When I bought it a year or two ago it set me back about $600 US.
 
Tuckles said:
If you want to be able to play older games, you're better off with an aspect ratio of 4:3, admittedly rare nowadays. Good luck finding one (that's larger than 17").  :lol:
He wants best of both worlds. A widescreen with resolution detection that would crop the screen to fit the resolution is what he's asking. I dunno if such things exist though.
 
Well, according to research, it can be in the driver.

I was reading some forums, and apparently there's an nvidia option where you can

nVidia Help said:
Use NVIDIA scaling with fixed aspect ratio: The desktop is stretched as much as possible to fit your display screen while still maintaining the aspect ratio of the image. For example, if your flat panel has a maximum resolution of 1680 x 1050, an image with a resolution of 1024 x 768 will be scaled to appear on the screen at a 1400 x 1050 resolution with black borders. You may want to use this setting if your desktop looks distorted.

I'll test it out with Warcraft III (native 4:3, no widescreen support) and come back to you.

edit: And it works. My Warcraft III now has the black bars on the sides that you (and I) love.

edit2: Here's how it's done.

Go to Control Panel (Classic View if you're running Vista)
Then head to the NVidia Control Panel, you'll see a bunch of option on the side.
What you're looking for is nested within the display option, it's called "flat-panel scaling".
After that, you just click Use NVidia Scaling with fixed aspect-ratio.

Save your changes and exit. YOur desktop will still be in 16:9/16:10, and any game that runs on 4:3 will run that way.

edit3: and now, the monitors. (This is all newegg, so it's cheap and the prices are in USD)

SAMSUNG 2333SW 23" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor 279.99 USD, 214.99 USD with rebate.
LG M237WD-PM Black 23" 5ms(GTG) HDMI Widescreen 349.99 USD, 329.99 USD with rebate.

I'm kinda lazy to look at anything else, and I really don't know the conversion of USD to CAD, so that's all I've got for ya. Sorry.
 
Ilex said:
Tuckles said:
If you want to be able to play older games, you're better off with an aspect ratio of 4:3, admittedly rare nowadays. Good luck finding one (that's larger than 17").  :lol:
He wants best of both worlds. A widescreen with resolution detection that would crop the screen to fit the resolution is what he's asking. I dunno if such things exist though.
Cookie to Ilex.

And Tuckles thanks for testing it, I couldn't really trst it on my 17" when i tried (it just made my desktop look fuzzy).
 
Tuckles said:
No cookie for me?  :cry:

Also, try scrounging up around 700 USD and try NVidia 3DVision, then tell me what you think.  :wink:

Here's a cookie.

And no. I'd also need Vista, or Windows 7, which I don't want yet.
 
Sir Prince said:
Ilex said:
Tuckles said:
If you want to be able to play older games, you're better off with an aspect ratio of 4:3, admittedly rare nowadays. Good luck finding one (that's larger than 17").  :lol:
He wants best of both worlds. A widescreen with resolution detection that would crop the screen to fit the resolution is what he's asking. I dunno if such things exist though.
Cookie to Ilex.

And Tuckles thanks for testing it, I couldn't really trst it on my 17" when i tried (it just made my desktop look fuzzy).

Plenty allow cropping, what sort of monitor wouldn't?

Sir Prince, getting a dual setup is as easy as plugging them in, right-clicking on the desktop and going to the settings tab. The second monitor should be detected if it is plugged in.

You should be able to get a good 22-23 incher (1680x1050 to 1920x1080) for about $200 or so.
 
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