| (e-mail address removed) wrote:
|> When using a DVI connection from the video card to the LCD monitor, does
|> it ensure exact 1:1 pixel displays, or does it expand the image, if the
|> video card's current geometry is less than what the monitor's native
|> resolution is? For example, if I have a 1680x1050 LCD monitor and the
|> video card is set up for 1280x1024, will it display the 1280x1024 as a
|> smaller box or will it stretch to fill out the whole screen.
|>
|> I know with analog, stretching seems to be the default. But I am seeking
|> the "perfect pixel" display and currently can only output 1280x1024. There
|> are some monitors that do 1280x1024, but I'd rather have a larger monitor
|> if it will for now do the 1280x1024 as a smaller box and keep perfect pixel
|> displaying.
|>
|> Maybe this is an option on some monitors. But I have looked at hundreds
|> online and none specify any aspect of this at all. And I am sure stores
|> would not have anyone working there with enough clue to hook up a computer
|> outputting 1280x1024 digitally to a wide minitor like 1680x1050.
|>
|
| AFAIK, the design intent of an LCD computer monitor, is to emulate the
| behavior of a CRT computer monitor. It'll stretch to fill.
CRTs don't stretch to fill. You can adjust it as desired. Just how
much depends on the quality of the display. The one I own is a higher
quality Sony model that has plenty of range to it.
LCDs _should_ offer the ability to display video that has geometry lower
than the display's native geometry by boxing the video in with perfect
1:1 pixel alignment. That shouldn't be the only way to do it. It should
_also_ offer expanding it to fill at least one dimension while retaing
correct aspect ratio, as well as expanding to fully fill both dimensions.
If the source video geometry is the same as the diplay, then all three of
these are the same thing.
Note, this would be for "high end" LCDs for which price is not the only
competing factor. The "low end" LCDs would be striped to barely working
so they can be offered under $150.
| You can get 17" and 19" LCD monitors at 1280x1024. There are some 20" and
| 21" non-wide-screens at 1600x1200, but the price climbs rapidly. I'm not
| sure a widescreen would make very good use of your 1280 limit, if that
| is the limit.
True, a widescreen monitor would not make good use of 1280x1024. But a
larger screen (with larger pixels) would at least let me set the display
further back from my eyes. The up close display is bad for eyes.
| You can get video cards with a PCI connector, for a desktop. This one is
| a low profile, dual slot, PCI card, with two DVI-I connectors. I have no
| idea if you can get a regular sized PCI faceplate for it. While you
| can game on it, this would not be my first choice for Oblivion
|
|
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16814161074
|
http://www.hisdigital.com/html/product_sp.php?id=285 (nearest similar product)
|
http://ati.amd.com/products/radeonx1550/specs.html
Matrox does make a video card with a dual DVI in a single slot. They also
make some low provide PCI cards with a special "double DVI" connection that
requires a special cable that breaks out to 2 DVI connectors on the other
end.
| This is an example of a laptop solution, but this would not be for gaming.
|
|
http://www.villagetronic.com/vtbook/techspecs.html
|
http://sewelldirect.com/vtbookpcmciacard.asp $230
|
| Also, there are some video products (may not be shipping yet), which use
| Expresscard. That is the PCI Express equivalent of a PCMCIA card. The idea
| is, an Expresscard plugs into the laptop and buffers and sends the PCI
| Express digital connection, to a separate "box" that holds a real desktop video card.
| That, in turn, drives the external monitor. It means a desktop PCI Express card,
| can be run on a modern laptop, but with the limited (250MB/sec) bandwidth of a
| PCI Express x1 laneway.
But that's better than plain old PCI bandwidth.