trying to learn something new...monitor resolutions?

[Magnum50]

Just trying to learn something here...

For as long as I could remember, (after the default old 680x460 resolution), I have set my desktop and all my games to 1024x768.

But I was thinking about my HiDef DLP Samsung and it's resolutions.

480 is regular TV, 720p is the first step of HD, and of course the better HD is 1080i.

So that means 1280x720 is HD, so I changed my computer screen (Dell LCD) to 1280x720 and everything is stretched out.

So what is the newest HD standard for PC screens that most newer games support, is it 1280x1024?

I guess what I'm asking is, what PC screen resolution is considered HD?

I got the above info from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Display_resolution

What is the most popular, today standard resolution for PC games?

Oh Man... ya I know I'm just talking with myself, maybe some one will give me some input soon, lol...

I now have it set at 1280x1024, everything is very small, and almost unreadable... games actually run in this mode? guess i got to go test one.

I test a number of games, all support many many resolutions so I went with he highest one available... 1600x1200

I tested AA, SWAT4, Lock On, OFP, VBS1, and SB Pro PE... all of them performed great at the higher setting and looks so clean and crisp... even thou in Lock On the diamond HUD target was a little to small, but livable.

All the games looked and played great, but I just can't get use to web sites and stuff at such a large screens, and small text...

Does the higher resolution make the game image more HD, or does it just not matter? just trying to learn something new, lol.

and is it true.... someone told me if you use high resolutions, you don't need AA activated?

[Lorian]

PC monitors don't go HD, they just have resolutions which are generally a lot bigger than TVs anyway. For games you want the biggest res possible to get a better picture. But it can really hurt your fps if your computer isn't up to it. AA is less of an issue at higher resolutions because the pixels are smaller so the aliasing is less noticable. But if your computer can handle it, turn it on, still looks nicer.

[icky]

Originally Posted by Lorian

For games you want the biggest res possible to get a better picture. But it can really hurt your fps if your computer isn't up to it.

This isn't entirely true. It depends on what kind of game it is, how the game supports higher resolutions, and how well the game designers designed for lower resolutions. In some cases, the game is just perfect at 800x600, and raising up the resolution buys you very little, if anything.

As for "HD" resolutions, you'll have to go widescreen if that's what you really want. Then 1280x720 won't look stretched.

[P8riot]

Icky's got it on this. The designers have try and make everything to the LCD (that would be lowest common denomonator), and resolutions are going to have different effects, results and impacts on performance as well as competition.

Texture sizes are also at issue, if the material isn't mapped for high-density textures - they'll be the same, regardless of your resolution. Only recently have games been making different texture sizes/densities available.. although Flight Simulator CoF has had variable texture resolutions available for years.

Anyway.. just a comment..

[xTYBALTx]

I'd say 1280x1024 is probably the most popular resolution right now, as it's the "native" resolution of most PC LCD screens. With an LCD screen, running any resolution other than native degrades the image significantly. For CRT users, 1600x1200 is the standard for which most strive, but the lower resolutions are more common. Valve actually has hard numbers on all of this information compiled and available, but I do not have the link.

1080i and 1080p are 1920x1080, which is a much higher resolution than most people run and is available for PC users generally only on 24" wide-screen LCDs. It is, however, becoming more popular.

I personally run a 1680x1050 22" widescreen LCD - if I wanted to use a larger screen than that, it'd require a Crossfire or SLi system, which is not the direction I want to go at the moment.

[icky]

When I played Continuum (aka Subspace) alot, I played at 2048x1536. I was careful to buy a 19" monitor which could support that much. Seeing more of the playing field was very helpful in that game.

[RandomGuy]

Originally Posted by xTYBALTx

Valve actually has hard numbers on all of this information compiled and available, but I do not have the link.

Bada bing: link

Primary Display Resolution (711288 Users)
800 x 600	24,212	3.40 %	###
1024 x 768	338,203	47.55 %	################################################
1152 x 864	55,772	7.84 %	########
1280 x 1024	256,850	36.11 %	####################################
1440 x 900	5,924	0.83 %	#
1600 x 1200	14,552	2.05 %	##
1680 x 1050	5,585	0.79 %	#
Other	        10,190	1.43 %	#

[Lorian]

NVIDIA SLI (2 GPUs)	5,395	98.20 %	##################################################################################################
ATI Crossfire (2 GPUs)	99	1.80 %	##

Hehe, owned.

[Magnum50]

good info, learned some news things... nice link also RG.