I am thinking of buying a wide screen monitor. I had a friend tell me that wide screen monitors are not compatible with some pc games. Any truth to that statement?

I have a wide screen monitor and have not had problems with any games refusing to display on it.

That said, occasionally I have had to enable auto-adjust on the monitor if the game doesn't center properly. (That's happened twice, and everything worked fine after the auto-adjust.)

There is also a subtle distortion on the wide screen monitor for certain games. 3D games and games with 360 degree panning look significantly better on the wide screen monitor than on my older monitor. However, for 2D and 2.5D games, like Martin Mystere and the Nancy Drew games, on my wide screen monitor, backgrounds look a bit more blurry, and characters all look like they've gained 30 pounds and have the jaggies.

You might want to check out an earlier discussion about this here.

Thanks Becky.

Interesting topic - I'm trying to decide whether of not to go for a wide-screen when I get my new computer. I wouldn't mind black bars at the side to keep the image in proportion; the stretched out image doesn't sound as appealing.

I've noticed the same problems with my sister's wide-screen HD TV. The stretched out pictures look weird, but the shows that are designed for wide-screen look fantastic.

When I purchased a wide screen last year, I was quite concerned that things would get distorted. I have had almost zero problems. The monitor is a Viewsonic, and the ratio is 1440x900, which I believe is slightly larger than a widescreen DVD image (I just can't keep up with all of the jargon that comes with these monitors).

When I load games, they have all had a 1440x900 screen resolution option. But I am not certain how this is being determined. For instance, I am not certain if the DirectX or maybe the NVidea driver are "informing" the game of screen resolution options; or if the game itself has to come loaded with the particular resolution. The only game that will not let me play at 1440x900 without distortion (it will let me play though) is URU Live. But setting at a lower resolution still fills up the entire screen area (without black bars for instance).

The only thing I know for sure, be certain that you want the optimal or native resolution of the monitor that you buy. The flat screens are basically "pre-set" with the best screen size, and if you change it from that value (and it will let you), the resolution will suffer dramatically (e.g. trying to use Word or Excel, the letters and numbers will all be almost illegible).

Your sister should learn to adjust her television. The picture is not supposed to look "stretched out" on wide-screen HD TVs whether the program is designed for wide-screen or not. It seems that a lot of people don't realize this. I think it's ridiculous that someone would invest in a nice HD set in order to be able to view the best possible television picture and then sit there and watch a distorted image.

I love my wide screen....

Wide screen monitor? What is that? I think it is usually called an LCD monitor or have I missed something?

Wide screen is an LCD monitor but it is long (wide) and not as high as a regular. I have one and I love it. It just took me a little getting used to at first.

Ana

Thanks Ana, I haven't been near a computer store for a while, will have to check the wide screen monitor out.

I bought my wide screen monitor (22") from CompUSA during their "going out of business" sale and I love it. I see no distortion and have not had any games fail to play properly.

Mine came included when I bought my XP about 3 years ago. It is 21" and HD capable so I can hook it up to my satelite outlet and watch TV in my den if I wish. It works great for me with games (both old and new ones.). I used my 98 computer for about 9 years (in fact i still have it hooked up for old games) and intend to use XP till the warranty runs out (09) maybe longer.
Marion