ATI and LCDs

[Willi]

I'm building a new rig and along with it a new LCD monitor. From
reading, I understand that it's advantageous to have a vidcard that has
a driver based fixed aspect ratio image for playing games. I had decided
on an ATI All in Wonder card but have read that their drivers either
don't provide this or don't do a good job of it. Comments?
Recommendations for an alternative?

Willi
(e-mail address removed)

 

[Spencer]

Using Sharp LCD and x800pro with no problems here.

Spence

 

[Dodgy]

I'm building a new rig and along with it a new LCD monitor. From
reading, I understand that it's advantageous to have a vidcard that has
a driver based fixed aspect ratio image for playing games. I had decided
on an ATI All in Wonder card but have read that their drivers either
don't provide this or don't do a good job of it. Comments?
Recommendations for an alternative?

Willi
(e-mail address removed)

Not 100% sure what you mean. I think you mean you should have your
video card set to the native resolution of the TFT. Which is correct,
it matches the pixel mapped 1 to 1 with the actual pixels on the
monitor.

Anyway I'm using a 17" Hitachi CML174 at it's native 1280x1024 with a
pipeline unlocked AIW 9800SE via DVI here. No probs.

D0d6y.

 

[Willi]

Not 100% sure what you mean. I think you mean you should have your
video card set to the native resolution of the TFT. Which is correct,
it matches the pixel mapped 1 to 1 with the actual pixels on the
monitor.

Anyway I'm using a 17" Hitachi CML174 at it's native 1280x1024 with a
pipeline unlocked AIW 9800SE via DVI here. No probs.

What I mean is if a game is made to run at a lower resolution (or you
have to play it at a lower resolution to get decent frame rates) than
the native - 1280x1024, the resulting picture loses quality. Say the
resolution of the game is 800x600 or 640X480, the picture is going to be
poor quality for two reasons:

1. The native resolution of the LCD - 1080X1024 is a ratio of 5 to 4
while the ratio for 800x600 or 640X480 is 4 to 3

2. LCD's, unlike CRT's, don't do a good job of interpolating resolutions
other than their native ones.

Geforce cards have have a driver based fixed ratio aspect which allows
you to display these resolutions without distortion. They do have black
borders around them but they look good. GeForce cards have these drivers
for both analog and DVI outputs. From what I understand either ATI
doesn't have this option in their drivers or the drivers do a poor job.
I'm not sure if this is true which is the reason for my post. Does
anybody know if ATI cards/drivers can do this?

Willi
(e-mail address removed)

 

[Dodgy]

What I mean is if a game is made to run at a lower resolution (or you
have to play it at a lower resolution to get decent frame rates) than
the native - 1280x1024, the resulting picture loses quality. Say the
resolution of the game is 800x600 or 640X480, the picture is going to be
poor quality for two reasons:

1. The native resolution of the LCD - 1080X1024 is a ratio of 5 to 4
while the ratio for 800x600 or 640X480 is 4 to 3

2. LCD's, unlike CRT's, don't do a good job of interpolating resolutions
other than their native ones.

Geforce cards have have a driver based fixed ratio aspect which allows
you to display these resolutions without distortion. They do have black
borders around them but they look good. GeForce cards have these drivers
for both analog and DVI outputs. From what I understand either ATI
doesn't have this option in their drivers or the drivers do a poor job.
I'm not sure if this is true which is the reason for my post. Does
anybody know if ATI cards/drivers can do this?

Willi
(e-mail address removed)

I knew all that except the part about the GeForce driver...

I've never seen anything like that, although sticking the digital
equiv of masking tape round the edge of my 17" TFT to produce a 15"
does kinda strike me as a waste!
I play BF1942 at 1024x768, so that's non native, and I don't actually
notice it. I dare say a game with far more straight edges and less
gentle textures would look iffy.

D0d6y.