1920x1080 vs. 1920x1200????

[codyjansen]

i am thinking about getting a new monitor and i was wondering what resolution would look best for gaming and movies

i know both are widescreen but 1920x1080 looks more rectangular which is what i like but i dont know how gaming and movies would look on both resolutions so if anyone can help it would be lots of help.

 

[mlee49]

For gaming I like 1200p it's truly HD. It will stress your hardware, so your 3870 will not be able to handle much eye candy.

If your going just for movies then 1080 is great. It looks great from a distance greater than 3 feet so you may want to keep that in mind.

Also, if your going HD or HD+ it's best to understand what your primary use will be. Gaming on a 1920 is pretty but stressful. Watching a 1080 movie on a 1920 screen does look a bit pixelated no matter the distance. So gaming on 1080 screen and movies on a 1080 screen is good, but again stressful on your 3870, definately going to need something more powerful.

 

[codyjansen]

For gaming I like 1200p it's truly HD. It will stress your hardware, so your 3870 will not be able to handle much eye candy.

If your going just for movies then 1080 is great. It looks great from a distance greater than 3 feet so you may want to keep that in mind.

Also, if your going HD or HD+ it's best to understand what your primary use will be. Gaming on a 1920 is pretty but stressful. Watching a 1080 movie on a 1920 screen does look a bit pixelated no matter the distance. So gaming on 1080 screen and movies on a 1080 screen is good, but again stressful on your 3870, definately going to need something more powerful.

i am also going to be getting an ati 5000 series card either before or after the monitor upgrade


i only watch movies occasionally so gaming will be the main thing i will do.

 

[Kursah]

I use a 1920x1080 screen for mostly gaming, with some movies and multimedia and really have enjoyed it thus far. I have an Asus VW246H, and it's been top notch for me. 1920x1200 is great too...but I got too good of a deal on this Asus, and 1080P is plenty for me! Games really do look great on either resolution, though I really do like the 16:9 ratio on the 1080...maybe I've just become accustomed to it.

 

[Deleted member 67555]

i like 1920x1080 but since I'm only 2 foot away from my monitor i use 1680x1050
for my HTPC I prefer 1920x1080

1920x1200 is not used enough IMO to be practical

 

[mlee49]

I use a 1920x1080 screen for mostly gaming, with some movies and multimedia and really have enjoyed it thus far. I have an Asus VW246H, and it's been top notch for me. 1920x1200 is great too...but I got too good of a deal on this Asus, and 1080P is plenty for me! Games really do look great on either resolution, though I really do like the 16:9 ratio on the 1080...maybe I've just become accustomed to it.

Double vote for the Asus VW series, I have the 25.5" version. This to be exact:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236047

 

[LAN_deRf_HA]

Have you tried the search? This topic has been beaten to death... 1080p tends to be best for movies, hd vids like tv, youtube stuff, 360/ps3 games if you're using it for a console as well, and pc games that are multi-platform as they often don't properly do the 16:10 aspect ratio, they stretch it from 16:9. The only draw back is less vertical space for browsing and other apps. Which is why I recommend anyone with a widescreen move the taskbar to the left or right side of the screen.

Of course it all changes if you don't mind black bars on the side of your screen, but that just drives me nuts, and it's not a an efficient use of screen size.

 

[n-ster]

People make it as if 1920x1080 ans 1920x1200 is a big difference... It is NOT!

I myself prefer 1080p because movies are more practical on it and it is easier with the PS3... And I prefer having a wider monitor vs a more square one

It is more practical to use 1920x1080 IMO. Where 1920x1200 has a SLIGHT advantage, is for a webpage or office work, but the difference is minimal (more vertical view that's it)

 

[FordGT90Concept]

1920x1080 is an ATSC/PAL standard (TV/film industry).
1920x1200 is a VESA standard (monitor/computer display industry).

Therefore...
HTPC (will be plugged into a HDTV w/ ATSC/PAL tuner), get 1920x1080.
Everything else, get 1920x1200.

1920x1200 has been around much longer than 1920x1080 so if you use older software, more likely the 8:5 (16:10) aspect ratio will be available compared to the 16:9 aspect ratio.

 

[n-ster]

games have adapted to 1080p now... actually, practically everything that was 8:5 has adapted to 16:9... 16:9 is the future

 

[FordGT90Concept]

If it has 16:9, it has 8:5. I've never encountered a game that didn't.

The most common problem is games only supporting 4:3. In which case, 1920x1200 is better because it fits the 1600x1200 resolution perfectly. The perfect monitor for gaming is one that is 1920x1200 and automatically adjusts according to aspect ratio: that is, it can seemlessly jump between 1920x1200, 1920x1080, and 1600x1200 (placing the black bars where necessary). The aspect ratio is extremely important because if it isn't correct, you'll likely encounter issues with moving the mouse left and right (it will be exagerated compared to up and down due to stretching).

720p is the here and now for console gaming. 1280x1024 (5:4, 19.10%) is the most popular PC gaming resolution followed by 1680x1050 (16:10, 18.23%), and 1440x900 (16:10, 10.53%).

 

[n-ster]

obviously, because the previous standard was 8:5

If you don't care much about the 120 vertical pixels, IMO, it is nicer to use 16:9... I doubt many games that support 16:10, do not support 16:9. The black bars are SO annoying to me... at first you are fine with them... then you start getting pissed off lol. And besides, I prefer a wider feel.

If you will watch movies occasionally and/or use a gaming console on your screen, the 16:9 seems like a must to me. Especially if you prefer the wider feel.

Others prefer to have the extra vertical space, find the feel wide enough, and sometimes even don't mind the black bars, for them the 16:10 is an obvious choice


All in all, IMO you have to experience it yourself, try it out. See which you prefer, if black bars are an issue/annoyance, if you miss the vertical space, if you don't care about the SLIGHTLY wider feel of the 1080p etc.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

I played Freelancer at 1600x1200 for tens of hours and never notice the black on either side unless I'm looking for it. It helps that my monitor has a black cabinet, the brightness is turned down a bit, dynamic contrast is enabled, and my room isn't very well lit. Because of all that, the black is black like it isn't even there. The same goes for my 42" Samsung TV.

As long as the 1920x1200 doesn't stretch on smaller resolutions, they can seamlessly emulate 1920x1080.


If you watch TV anymore, there's a good chance there's a lot more black bar buffering going on than you notice. 480i always has the black bars on 16:9 TVs and even widescreen movies often have black bars on top and bottom because the film is a wider resolution than 16:9. Hell, even most ads are still 480i even on 1080i channels. Buffering for different aspect ratios is a fact of life now.


...videos and cutscenes in games are often buffered as well--multiple times (original video was 16:9, buffered to 4:3, and buffered again to 16:9/8:5). I noticed that C&C4...

Fable main menu is 4:3. The game itself will do whatever resolution you tell it to (16:9 and 8:5 are available).

 

[n-ster]

I actually download my favorite TV shows lol xD or wait till they get to DVD

I understand your points about 16:10, but IMO there is no real winner. It all depends on you and your use... I prefer the 1080p res after I tried both resolutions, I advise whoever needs to choose to try both, while checking on the points that FordGT and I have pointed out. I know some people who despise 16:9 and vice-versa, both for acceptable reasons, and you will really know once you try... Just go to your local best buy or computer shop and test out a couple of models and see what suits you best.

I do think that 16:9 is the future though

 

[Super XP]

Stick with simplicity, 1920x1080p is awesome. Looks great for movies and games. And it won't kill your hardware, just jack up the eye candy to MAX and enjoy

 

[FordGT90Concept]

See... 1080p is an ATSC/PAL moniker. It has no relevance to monitors/VESA, only TVs due to the limitations of long-distance broadcasting of digital signals. And again, most decent 1920x1200 monitors can do 1920x1080 flawlessly (just change the resolution in the game)--not the other way around.

 

[kid41212003]

I'm using 1920x1200 for my PS3, there will be black bar, but that doesn't mean it looks smaller than 1080p screen. More spaces on my screen is always better.

I have 2 monitors one is 22" another is 24", and both of them are 16:10.

Highly recommended for a monitor. I would buy a TV instead if I want 1080p.

 

[Super XP]

Good point Ford
Though it all depends on how good of a deal you can get with a monitor.

 

[btarunr]

1920 x 1200. It gives you everything 1080p does, plus additional vertical pixels (useful with web-browsing and documents, especially since Windows 7 default taskbar eats more vertical pixels). 1920 x 1200 gives you a better field of view than 1920 x 1080 when gaming.

 

[Mussels]

i swear we need a sticky on this.

1920x1200 gives you slightly more vertical resolution. This results in more image sometimes (always in 2D), black bars with 16:9 movies/apps/equipment, or a stretched/cropped image (many, MANY games 'cut off' top and bottom to 'zoom' on 16:10 screens*).


There are ups and downs between the two standards, it comes down to personal preference. Myself, i watch tons of TV shows and movies - and i hate black bars, so the choice is obvious for me.



*Not many people are aware of this one. Just like in early widescreen games where they'd make a 4:3 game 16:9 by chopping the top and bottom off, 16:10 does the same thing. You still get a "full" image on the screen (no distortion, no black bars) - you just get a bit LESS of it - its more zoomed in. This is more common in console ports for some reason (GTA IV is the one i always remember)


Oh its also commonly stated that "1920x1200 monitors always support 1920x1080 resolution" - technically true, but remember - if your monitor (or video cards) doesnt support scaling, you end up with a stretched/distorted image. And even if they DO, you get black bars. its upto you if you're ok with that or not.

 

[kid41212003]

The actually screensize of 1080p is always smaller than 16:10 monitors (if both are same size). So, even if there's black bar, no images are loss. I've seen more cases of images being display with blackbar (no quality loss) than zoom-in to FILL the screen.

For a monitor, pick 16:10.

 

[Mussels]

The actually screensize of 1080p is always smaller than 16:10 monitors (if both are same size). So, even if there's black bar, no images are loss. I've seen more cases of images being display with blackbar (no quality loss) than zoom-in to FILL the screen.

For a monitor, pick 16:10.

you definitely dont understand all of it.

1. not everyone likes black bars.

2. in 2D apps (desktop) you never get black bars. With movies you get the black bars for sure - in GAMES however, they zoom to fit. its related to the aspect ratio, not the resolution.

3. 24" is 1920x1200. 23.6" is 1920x1080. i lose 0.4" for better image quality in 3D apps/1080p only equipment. - easy choice for me.

 

[btarunr]

No, you don't get black bars in desktop 2D apps, at all. Scaling 16:9 video to 16:10 doesn't make a noticeable difference to video quality. And it's certainly not that games' FoV "zooms in" with 16:10. Any game that supports 16:10 (every 3D game since 2006 does), it increases FoV vertically, not zooms into the FoV programmed for 16:9. The merits of 16:10 outweigh its demerits against 16:9 by a very long shot.

 

[Mussels]

No, you don't get black bars in desktop 2D apps, at all. Scaling 16:9 video to 16:10 doesn't make a noticeable difference to video quality. And it's certainly not that games' FoV "zooms in" with 16:10. Any game that supports 16:10 (every 3D game since 2006 does), it increases FoV vertically, not zooms into the FoV programmed for 16:9.

ack, i screwed up. i meant in MOVIES. half a sentence went AWOL - edit complete

since you're the 1920x1200 fan i'll assume you have a monitor that supports it. Please fire up GTAIV or dragon age origins, aim at a specific object and take screenies at 1920x1080 and 1920x1200 and post them here. Those are the two i was shown examples of previously.

 

[kid41212003]

Most of my bluray or dvd are so wide that not even 1080p screen can display without blackbar. (lol)

Even old games like SC1 and FF8 have mods that make the game display in any res you want, and there's ZERO loss in images quality. Only bad port like GTA IV would do such a thing as zoooooom-in to fit.

RE3 actually have res up to 1920x1200.

I got GTAIV on PS3, and Dragon Origin was just too boring for me. And I assume both are bad port.