19" flat screen ok for games?

[rpgs rock dvds]

I'd like to get a 19" flat screen, but not a widescreen one because I
mainly play older games. Reading the specs on some of these monitors,
they say the aspect ratio is 5:4 and that the native resolution is
1280x1024. Will these monitors give good results for older XP/98
games?

Thanks a lot, regards, Robert.

 

[Phil Rhodes]

We heard lots of compaining about 'flat screen' monitors, but I got a wide
screen LCD and it works great for Americas Army, Medal of Honor Pacific
Assault, and CFS3. IL-2 Pacific Fighters doesn't open as wide screen, you
have to play it in a window. Apparently the response time of the monitor is
the important item, and my 22' Flatron Wide has a 2 ms response time -
accept nothing less.

 

[Ed Light]

If the game is pre 5x4 era then it may stretch itself vertically,
expecting a 4x3 ratio.
---
Ed Light

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Thanks, robots.

 

[Mike Ruskai]

I'd like to get a 19" flat screen, but not a widescreen one because I
mainly play older games. Reading the specs on some of these monitors,
they say the aspect ratio is 5:4 and that the native resolution is
1280x1024. Will these monitors give good results for older XP/98
games?

Thanks a lot, regards, Robert.

Most games are designed to run at 4:3 resolutions (640x480, 800x600,
1024x768, or 1280x960).

That said, both the monitor and graphics driver in Windows should
allow you to scale the display with a fixed aspect ratio. In your
case, that means very small black bars on the top and bottom of the
display when using a 4:3 resolution. With a 16:10 widescreen display,
that means black bars on the side.

Regarding other comments about response time, it's overrated. My
display has a 16ms response time, which matches perfectly with its
actual update rate of 60Hz. Most displays offering extremely low
response times actually use image processing techniques which delay
output by 20-60ms (search for "input lag", the unfortunate term that
has been attached to this problem).

For 3D games, I'd recommend enabling vertical sync. Tearing is more
noticeable on LCD's in my experience. And if it's an older game, odds
are you won't be in that tiny performance zone where enabling vsync
actually reduces frame rate (which is when it's so low already that
you're better off getting better hardware).

 

[rpgs rock dvds]

Most games are designed to run at 4:3 resolutions (640x480, 800x600,
1024x768, or 1280x960).

That said, both the monitor and graphics driver in Windows should
allow you to scale the display with a fixed aspect ratio.  In your
case, that means very small black bars on the top and bottom of the
display when using a 4:3 resolution.  With a 16:10 widescreen display,
that means black bars on the side.

Regarding other comments about response time, it's overrated.  My
display has a 16ms response time, which matches perfectly with its
actual update rate of 60Hz.  Most displays offering extremely low
response times actually use image processing techniques which delay
output by 20-60ms (search for "input lag", the unfortunate term that
has been attached to this problem).

For 3D games, I'd recommend enabling vertical sync.  Tearing is more
noticeable on LCD's in my experience.  And if it's an older game, odds
are you won't be in that tiny performance zone where enabling vsync
actually reduces frame rate (which is when it's so low already that
you're better off getting better hardware).

Thanks for the info Mike.

 

[rpgs rock dvds]

I'd like to get a 19" flat screen, but not a widescreen one because I
mainly play older games.  Reading the specs on some of these monitors,
they say the aspect ratio is 5:4 and that the native resolution is
1280x1024.  Will these monitors give good results for older XP/98
games?

Thanks a lot, regards, Robert.

Thanks for all replies.