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Using an LCD monitor for your HD gaming.
Drez
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So, here's the deal:
I have a 21" Gateway monitor that supports up to 1080i via DVI and Component (no HDMI). It also supports VGA, but the Xbox 360 VGA cable is retarded and the PS3 doesn't even have one. (And it supports Composite and S-Video as well, but that is neither here nor there.)
This monitor is discontinued, replaced with almost identical 22" and 24" models of the same thing (we have a 24" in the home as well, and that one supports 1080p).
Now, I also have a 19" Westinghouse. This Westinghouse, sadly, only has VGA inputs which is problematic for the reasons I indicated above. However, this monitor seems a fuckload brighter than the 21" Gateway, which is actually a pretty highly-rated HD monitor.
So what gives? Has anyone else hooked up their console to a monitor and found it excessively dark? I turned the brightness up to 100 (default is 50) and contrast up to 65 (default is 50) and I guess that helps but I can't help but feel that this is unnatural and I shouldn't have to do this. Movies tend to look dark as well.
Also, I cannot seem to get proper aspect ratios with my PS2-upscaled games on the PS3, but some web reading leads me to believe that this is a problem with the newer (post 2.00) firmwares and is likely not my monitor itself. It tends to push the image past the left and right edge of the monitor when using "fullscreen" upscaling.
Thanks, and feel free to use this as a discussion on this topic aside from my questions and complaints.
P.S. Monitors are really cheap (I mean with regard to an HDTV). You can buy a 1080p-capable 24" monitor for 500 bucks and if you put it on your desk a foot and a half away from you, it's more or less the same as having a 45"+ HDTV six or seven feet away from you. So it's a pretty good bargain for those with SOME disposable income, but not enough for a DLP HDTV.
I have a 21" Gateway monitor that supports up to 1080i via DVI and Component (no HDMI). It also supports VGA, but the Xbox 360 VGA cable is retarded and the PS3 doesn't even have one. (And it supports Composite and S-Video as well, but that is neither here nor there.)
This monitor is discontinued, replaced with almost identical 22" and 24" models of the same thing (we have a 24" in the home as well, and that one supports 1080p).
Now, I also have a 19" Westinghouse. This Westinghouse, sadly, only has VGA inputs which is problematic for the reasons I indicated above. However, this monitor seems a fuckload brighter than the 21" Gateway, which is actually a pretty highly-rated HD monitor.
So what gives? Has anyone else hooked up their console to a monitor and found it excessively dark? I turned the brightness up to 100 (default is 50) and contrast up to 65 (default is 50) and I guess that helps but I can't help but feel that this is unnatural and I shouldn't have to do this. Movies tend to look dark as well.
Also, I cannot seem to get proper aspect ratios with my PS2-upscaled games on the PS3, but some web reading leads me to believe that this is a problem with the newer (post 2.00) firmwares and is likely not my monitor itself. It tends to push the image past the left and right edge of the monitor when using "fullscreen" upscaling.
Thanks, and feel free to use this as a discussion on this topic aside from my questions and complaints.
P.S. Monitors are really cheap (I mean with regard to an HDTV). You can buy a 1080p-capable 24" monitor for 500 bucks and if you put it on your desk a foot and a half away from you, it's more or less the same as having a 45"+ HDTV six or seven feet away from you. So it's a pretty good bargain for those with SOME disposable income, but not enough for a DLP HDTV.
Switch: SW-7690-2320-9238Steam/PSN/Xbox: Drezdar
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If you don't know what that is you can find it in the tech specs on the manufacturers site. I just set my 360's resolution to the native res on my LCD, centered it and it's been golden for me ever since (With the added bonus of DVD upscaling over VGA on the 360).
There are no proper 16x10 resolutions when you plug in the VGA cable, so no matter what kind of aspect scaling your monitor has, there's always some improper stretch.
Oh ok. The 360 just doesn't support that at all though, right?
This is true, but if you use one of the other widescreen resolutions it's almost unnoticeable.
As to the brightness, yeah I had to turn it all the way up on my monitor, but I actually did that long before I got the 360.
Almost unnoticeable, but I guess I should preface all my posts with "I have OCD" to give my complaints their proper context. It's noticeable enough to bug the crap out of me.
Hmm, okay. What about your contrast...did you fiddle with that at all?
^this. I used 1360x768, played with the monitor settings a little bit, and never noticed it again. I think I may have lost a bit of the screen, but we're talking slivers here.
You know, I just went looking through my monitor's settings, and for some reason the contrast option is greyed out to me, so I guess... no. But it also sounds like I'm not nearly the video-phile you are, so my experiences aren't going to be remotely relatable.
Okay, well on my 19" monitor I used 1280x1024. It actually didn't matter which resolution I chose because the 19" Westinghouse has no native aspect scaling...it's at the whim of the output...whatever video goes in any of its inputs will stretch vertically and it looked identical on any selected resolution. As such, fullscreen DVDs looked ridiculous and widescreen games were stretched a full inch...half an inch on the bottom and half an inch on the top.
When I plugged my Xbox 360 into this 21", used 1360x768, and turned on 1:1 scaling, it improved; now it was only stretching one quarter of an inch on the top and bottom. (I'm rounding off/estimating, of course...it might have been a few millimeters different.)
Then when I plugged in my component cables, the difference was obvious.
I still can't get proper widescreen for PS2 games on my PS3 though which is irksome. My Xbox 360 games finally look correct, though. Honestly, I blame Ubisoft for my worries. Their fucking perfectly-round logo looked absurd when stretched out over a vertical inch. Crosshairs and circular maps (like in Saint's Row) bugged me too.
Truth is, I used the VGA cable for 2 years but I am now very glad to be rid of it.
I'm playing FFXII via PS3 and it seems so dark, even with brightness at 100, which is what I've been agonizing over. I guess it doesn't matter that greatly.
Do you watch DVDs via your Xbox 360?
When it was hooked up to my monitor, no. Even in standard definition, the size of my television screen was more condusive to watching movies. Now that I have an HDTV, I use it exclusively for the upscaling via VGA, and most movies look fantastic.
Drez, I use the VGA cable for my 360 on my Dell 24" WS monitor. There is no stretching at all. You just have to use the proper scaling options under Image Settings for the monitor. If I set my setting to 1:1 or Resolution (rather than Stretch) then it looks exactly like a 16:9 TV show is playing in a media player (slight horizontal bars on the top and bottom of the screen).
I'd like to see a digital photo of this. Any chance you could oblige? Either way, mine definitely stretches using 1:1 and a VGA cable.
Got it for Christmas. It only cost $100 (it was a floor model so it was way discounted) and after hooking it up to the VGA cable and after a couple minutes messing around with the 360 (1360x768) and monitor settings (getting the brightness and contrast just right), it's worked fantastically. Supposedly, since it's a 16:10 aspect ratio monitor, there's some stretching, but in all honesty, I haven't noticed it.
Personally, I don't think it's worth the extra money to buy a really fancy monitor. Good solid 19" monitors can be found for under $200 without much trouble and I don't think it's worth 2-3 times the price for a few more inches and 1080p. Just sit reasonably close to the monitor and you're fine.
I do highly recommend picking up a monitor for your 360 or PS3 if you can't afford an HDTV. 360 games look worlds better on my 19" monitor than they ever looked on any SDTV, regardless of size.
Steam ID : rwb36, Twitter : Werezompire,
I do agree with this. I rather like the way my 19" Westinghouse monitor looks despite the vertical stretching/lack of aspect scaling/lack of component, and it was $179.99 one-and-a-half to two years ago.
The only problem is, with lack of component, you can't use it with your PS3. You really need to get one with component anyway if you have a PS3 or plan on getting one.
You can buy a VGA box/converter but those are expensive and instead you might as well apply that 50-100 dollars toward a slightly more expensive monitor.
Steam ID : rwb36, Twitter : Werezompire,
You mean so no matter what kind of aspect scaling YOUR monitor has. Because many other monitors scale 16:9 content just fine.
And since consoles output in 4:3 or 16:9 ... if your monitor can't scale those resolutions properly, you''ll be out of luck.
I'm not sure why you're doubting this, some monitors have the option to selectively scale the input (1:1/Aspect/Fill) and some don't. The Dell 24" are pretty good at this, especially the A04 revision.
I would, but unfortunately I lack a digital camera. However, like other shave said, some monitors scale well and others don't.
I'm not really doubting it, I just wanted to see for myself. My monitor properly scales using component but not VGA.
Maybe I just don't understand enough about how aspect scaling functions, but my Xbox 360 display looks 100% correct using component in 720p or 1080i (or 480p/480i) but not at all using any of the resolutions if it is connected to the same monitor with a VGA cable.
I can't fathom why. I guess it's some difference in how the signal is sent?
Except mine can. Just not via VGA. Which is why I'm confused. And I'm not the only one with this issue; it's very common and has been complained about for well over a year now. I assumed that it was a universal issue. If I am wrong, I am wrong.
I agree that there is quirkyness when using consoles with monitors. It has been my experience that either it works or it doesn't. For example, with my monitor the xbox will always displayer correctly, no matter what cable I use (component or VGA) as long as I have the proper scaling option set.
The Wii, on the other hand, is not properly displayed via component or composite, regardless of what scaling option I use. The image on the screen has black bars, but they are vertical and on the left and right sides (so the image is flush with the screen vertically, but not horizontally).
Weird, eh?
Exception to what I said above: the 360 is scaled properly 99% of the time via VGA. For some games, such as rock band, however, the image is slightly shrunken (there are black bars on all 4 sides), but isn't stretched. Why? I have no idea.