Widescreen LCD Computer Monitor

[Tekrad]

I just purchased a 20" Acer widescreen monitor for my 2001 Dell computer. It only displays Internet Explorer in a square picture and doesn't fill the entire screen unless you stretch the image to fill the rectangular screen. It's too distorted, so I display the square image w/the black bars on the side.
Is there any way to fill the entire screen w/o distortion?
Why do they make rectangular LCD monitors if the web pages are still square?
Is this widescreen monitor just for HD games today and for future applications?.. BC I don't see much use for this aspect ratio yet.
Tekrad

[WriteSimply]

Have you changed your desktop resolution to match precisely the monitor's resolution?

Websites are designed mostly for backwards compatibility ie 800x600 4:4 screens. The photos and design themselves should not be distorted when viewed using widescreen monitors.


fuad

[solarrdadd]

that issue is all about your graphics card. I have a 24" Gateway Monitor FPD2485W that does HDTV right now it's set at 1920 x 1200 and it fills the screen and everything looks fine. I also have a blu-ray player connected to it HDMI/DVI and a HDTV Cable DVR HDMI/DVI with a total of 2 pc's connected as well via a 5 port HDMI HDCP switch from monoprice and everything works perfectly!

Check your video card settings on your pc and set it to the monitors highest supproted resolution) also, make sure the monitor scaling is set to 1:1 (one to one) also check on the pc to see if there is an option for monitor type it may show a 16:9 and a 4:3 monitor select yours also, if your monitor came with a cd or a floppy with an inf file then install that on the computer and change monitor types and refer to that file on the cd or floppy. and you should be set.

keep us posted and let us know how your doing.

[BLindsay]

if the video card is old enough it may just not support widescreen format resolutions

[dadkins]

Many webpages are set to "Fit to width" if you maximize the browser with the video card set to the display's native resolution.

1920x1200 laptop and My Yahoo webpage:



Looks ok here

[jlynn33]

I use a 47" screen and I would say the resolution setting is you problem as well. When was the last time you upgraded your video driver?

[Tekrad]

The Best Buy "Geek Squad" believes that my computer won't fill the entire Widescreen monitor from left to right because of an old video card.
It is the original video card that came with this Dell Dimension 4500 computer in 2001. It is called "32MB ATI Rage 128 Ultra". He says that if I upgrade to a new card for $70, it should support widescreen. He says they charge another $50 the install the new video card. I guess I should save my money and put it towards a whole new computer in the future-instead of upgrading to a new video card in an old computer like my Dell dimension 4500 w/only a 20gb hard drive. My Dell doesn't even have a DVI output for my current ACER ws monitor.
BTW...the maximum resolution I have is only 1152X864.
Thanks for everybody's help...
Tekrad

[Rojas]

Originally Posted by solarrdadd

that issue is all about your graphics card. I have a 24" Gateway Monitor FPD2485W that does HDTV right now it's set at 1920 x 1200 and it fills the screen and everything looks fine. I also have a blu-ray player connected to it HDMI/DVI and a HDTV Cable DVR HDMI/DVI with a total of 2 pc's connected as well via a 5 port HDMI HDCP switch from monoprice and everything works perfectly!

Question, you have a Blu ray player plugged into a 16:10 monitor does it stretch
the picture all the way to the top and bottom of the screen.
or does this monitor have 16:9 setting that would place black bands at the
top and bottom of the screen for proper viewing.

In other words if you watch a 16:9 movie does it fill the screen or do you see
black bands at the top and bottom of the screen.
Thanks.

[greyrocket]

yeah i run a 37" samsung lcd at 1920x1080 even my on board video card was able to run at that resolution but i just got a 9400gt card there simple to install

[BLindsay]

Originally Posted by Tekrad

The Best Buy "Geek Squad" believes that my computer won't fill the entire Widescreen monitor from left to right because of an old video card.
It is the original video card that came with this Dell Dimension 4500 computer in 2001. It is called "32MB ATI Rage 128 Ultra". He says that if I upgrade to a new card for $70, it should support widescreen. He says they charge another $50 the install the new video card. I guess I should save my money and put it towards a whole new computer in the future-instead of upgrading to a new video card in an old computer like my Dell dimension 4500 w/only a 20gb hard drive. My Dell doesn't even have a DVI output for my current ACER ws monitor.
BTW...the maximum resolution I have is only 1152X864.
Thanks for everybody's help...
Tekrad

if your video card is indeed a Rage 128 then it does not support widescreen 16:9 so bestbuy is correct

"Resolution 640x480
Resolution 800x600
Resolution 1024x768
Resolution 1152x864
Resolution 1280x1024
Resolution 1600x1200
Resolution 1920x1200" (probably would need latest video drivers too)

Thats a copy of the specs for the resolutions that that video card supports, as you can see non of those are 16:9 resolutions

[bdsoft]

1024*768 is the most popular screen

[Rob J in WNY]

Don't forget to keep in mind that once you get a video card which processes widescreen formats, an LCD monitor is still best run at its native resolution. This basically means that your LCD monitor, being a fixed pixel display, will run optimally when your video resolution is set to the monitor's actual pixel dimensions.

For example, my 20" LCD widescreen monitor's native resolution is 1680 x 1050, so that's what I set my video resolution at. Sure, I can change that setting, but the display quality deteriorates noticeably if I do. All LCD monitors will suffer the same effect. Native resolution is the key for optimal visual quality.

BTW, I also run a DVI connection instead of analog to my monitor, but it still doesn't matter. Native resolution is always your best visual choice.

[arizonalipo]

Hi,

Samsung SyncMaster 2493HM 24-inch Widescreen LCD Monitor

The Samsung SyncMaster 2493HM is multimedia LCD monitor from Samsung With the HDMI Input Terminal, Built-in 4W Stereo Speakers speakers, and full 1080p HD .It is a great Value LCD Monitor with High Brightness ,fast Response Time(5 ms) and 4-way Adjustable Stand with USB Hub.It has 10000:1 dynamic contrast ratio and 1000:1 static contrast ratio and resolution of 1920 x 1200.

thanks!

[Deciazulado]

Originally Posted by solarrdadd

that issue is all about your graphics card. I have a 24" Gateway Monitor FPD2485W that does HDTV right now it's set at 1920 x 1200 and it fills the screen and everything looks fine. I also have a blu-ray player connected to it HDMI/DVI and a HDTV Cable DVR HDMI/DVI with a total of 2 pc's connected as well via a 5 port HDMI HDCP switch from monoprice and everything works perfectly!

Originally Posted by Rojas

Question, you have a Blu ray player plugged into a 16:10 monitor does it stretch
the picture all the way to the top and bottom of the screen.
or does this monitor have 16:9 setting that would place black bands at the
top and bottom of the screen for proper viewing.

In other words if you watch a 16:9 movie does it fill the screen or do you see
black bands at the top and bottom of the screen.
Thanks.

You can watch both ways, 1:1 shows the 1080 x 1920 picture as 1080 x 1920 inside the 1200 x 1920 screen, while one of the other modes upscales the 1080 x 1920 image to 1200 x 1920.