Gaming at non-native resolution on LCD. Is it too bad?

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baccilus

Galvanizer
I am planning to buy 2233sw instead of 2033sw for my HD4670. Since my card is not powerful enough for 1080p, I wish to know how games will looks at 1600X900 and 1360X768 resolutions (both 16:9). I know it won't look as pretty as native resolution but will it be too bad? Will the quality be bad enough to effect the gameplay? I shall be playing Street fighter 4, PES 2009/10, newer FPS games and multiplayers (TF2, COD etc.) on it.
I am also ready to play at medium/low settings if it allows me to game at native resolution. Will that help?
Specs:
C2D E4600, 3GB 667MHz RAM, ASRock ConRoe945G-DVI Motherboard, Sapphire HD4670 DDRIII 1GB.
I have asked it question earlier too but I need more reassurance before I spend so much money.
Thanks you in advance.
 
I have tried playing Devil May Cry 4 @1280x1024 on the Samsung 2233SW & it looks pathetic. The display is absolutely fuzzy & unacceptable. The lower the resolution, the worse the quality. I'd reckon you try it for yourself somewhere before actually taking the plunge.
 
I got 22" LCD (@ 1680x1050 res), and I have played POP4, Gears of War at 1440x900 and Half-Life2 at both 1440x900 and native 1680x1050 resolution. I DID NOT find the image quality unacceptable at all under either of these game. I usually play at 2X or 4X FSAA, depending on the game.

The only game I found image quality to be noticeably "different" was NFS:MW, as the game doesn't suppose wide-screen resolution out-of-the-box. So 1280x960 looks bit stretched horizontally, but that's about it. Except the horizontal stretchy-ness, the image quality was otherwise very much acceptable.
 
as many as i palyed, they dont look bad at all. i've tried a samsung 710N and a 740N and a dell 2209WFP

all games look good, no matter what resolution
 
Ethan_Hunt said:
I have tried playing Devil May Cry 4 @1280x1024 on the Samsung 2233SW & it looks pathetic. The display is absolutely fuzzy & unacceptable. The lower the resolution, the worse the quality. I'd reckon you try it for yourself somewhere before actually taking the plunge.
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I have played NFS: MW, COD4, COD5, EA Cricket 2007, etc. at 800X600 on a Viewsonic 17" LCD with native resolution of 1440X900. Honestly, it didn't look bad. But will the same apply to 2233sw too? Being a 22" 1080p monitor, aren't the pixels pretty densely packed already. Will this factor play a role in non-native gaming? I mean, won't 1600X900 look better on a 22" 1080p monitor than on a 24"1080p monitor?

BTW, isn't 1280X1024 a 5:4 resolution? Won't a similar aspect ratio give a better idea? How about trying at 1360X768 or 1600X900. If you have this monitor, can you please do that for me. You may have to use a bit of AA at lower resolution.
 
The term "acceptable" is pretty subjective. What's acceptable to you, need not necessarily be acceptable to me or someone else. ;)

The major issue with gaming at non-native resolution is the amount of image distortion a game suffers from. I'd suggest asking this question to an existing Samsung 2233SW owner, which I'm pretty sure there would be plenty in number. I could clearly make out the difference once I switched to a non-native resolution on that monitor. The text appears fuzzy, somewhat similar to what happens when you enable the blur filter in GTA IV. Once you shift to native resolution the image is crisp & sharp. So it totally depends on how much you're willing to sacrifice.
 
Ethan_Hunt said:
The term "acceptable" is pretty subjective. What's acceptable to you, need not necessarily be acceptable to me or someone else. ;)

The major issue with gaming at non-native resolution is the amount of image distortion a game suffers from. I'd suggest asking this question to an existing Samsung 2233SW owner, which I'm pretty sure there would be plenty in number. I could clearly make out the difference once I switched to a non-native resolution on that monitor. The text appears fuzzy, somewhat similar to what happens when you enable the blur filter in GTA IV. Once you shift to native resolution the image is crisp & sharp. So it totally depends on how much you're willing to sacrifice.
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Point noted. But I have still decided to go for 2233sw. I will sell my card(which I bought last week) and upgrade to another in a couple of months. I may have a job by then so it may be possible. In the mean time I will either run at non-native resolution or play the games which may run well like TF2, Insurgency and COD.
Thanks for the huge help.
 
Ethan_Hunt said:
The term "acceptable" is pretty subjective. What's acceptable to you, need not necessarily be acceptable to me or someone else. ;)
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exactly. personally, if there is no other option i dont really mind playing on non-native resolution. but however, you would find a big difference. on native resolution, the images are clear and sharp while on non-native resolutions, it becomes a bit blurred.
 
I had VX1940 1680*1050 resolution native. For some games which were not running smooth at that res ( 8800GTS 640 earlier) I tried to game at 1440*900 and it didnt look good
The crispness/sharpness or whatever u call it is GONE but the color were not good
I sold my higend monitor and got a Dell E1909W whose native res is 1440*900

As Ethan Hunt told, its subjective
If you mostly game on your PC, don't go for HD unless u have lot of cash to shell out on rest of your config
 
Gaming at non-native resolution on LCD. Is it too bad?

Well the there is no perfect answer to this question.For some it might look bad or some it might not look bad.It depends on the user's perception.

According to me its quite playable,but playing at full resolution is completely different thing.

Its like owning a BMW M3 but driving it at 50km/hr.
 
There's a "Image Size" option in 2233sw in which you can select if you want to see the original image in its original form("Auto") or on the full monitor widescreen("Wide"). Suppose you play COD5 in 1024x768, it will show only 1024x768 formatted picture with black bars on both the sides. You won't lose any clarity/sharpness while playing like this but you'll definitely miss the widescreen experience :)
 
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i have a 2233sw... only 2 games i've played below the native res. crysis (looks gorgeous obviously) and tf2, which is ok as such in game, but the text is kind of fuzzy.
 
Striker10 said:
There's a "Image Size" option in 2233sw in which you can select if you want to see the original image in its original form("Auto") or on the full monitor widescreen("Wide"). Suppose you play COD5 in 1024x768, it will show only 1024x768 formatted picture with black bars on both the sides. You won't lose any clarity/sharpness while playing like this but you'll definitely miss the widescreen experience :)
Click to expand...

You know that's the answer I was looking for :hap2:
Thanks you made my day :ohyeah:
 
spindoctor said:
i have a 2233sw... only 2 games i've played below the native res. crysis (looks gorgeous obviously) and tf2, which is ok as such in game, but the text is kind of fuzzy.
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Thanks Spindoc :)
 
on a 1680x1050 22" monitor,gamin at 720p with 2xaa looks decent enuf..but on a full hd 22" montitor almost all resolutions xcept native reso look crap!
 
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