Xbox 360 and PC monitor help please, expert needed

[rakester]

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[Whiternoise]

1. Black bars you'll probably get, since it's a different aspect ratio to the ones you list. Easier to just get a TV if it's a problem. Basically, the aspect ratio is key here. If the screen doesn't support the same as the 360 ratios, then it'll have bars. Simple as that.

2. You're not going to get 1080 out of it i imagine since the monitor just doesn't have enough pixels - you could try to make a pseudo 1080 picture, but you'll lose quality. Obviously a problem you're going to have is that if you get a bigger monitor, it's likely to have a larger vertical pixel count so you'll have black bars.

3. I haven't tried it, but there'll be youtube videos of people who've done it. Will it look good depends really. Bear in mind that a lot of TV's don't really have huge resolutions. It doesn't work the other way round very well - you can't get a 50" screen to display your computer at that high a resolution because it'll just be bigger - rather than more detail.

4. Get a VGA splitter? I don't think you can get it to display split-screen, unless you use a TV card of some sort. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Euronetwork-.../dp/B000BB0C9C has a review of someone in your position.

It might be worth having a quick google for a tutorial on it!

[rakester]

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[rakester]

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[rakester]

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[Whiternoise]

Looks like you can definitely run option number 13, so you can play it, but it'll probably work at a higher res anyway, so just fire it up and go for it

[rakester]

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[Steve B]

afaik, there's settings to maintain aspect ratio for 16:10 panels. My dell 2405 is hooked up to a 360 atm, and it looked skanky when running halo 3 as everything was a bit vertically stretched. quick footer with the settings and i get black bars top and bottom, but it's better than a stretched master chef!

[rakester]

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[Whiternoise]

Is there any reason why letterboxing is an issue?

You have to suffer it for films after all

And yes, 16 will work!

[rakester]

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[Whiternoise]

You should be able to work it out in absolute pixels. With the resolutions that are the same, there shouldn't be any letterboxing present. If you want other resolutions then work out the leftover pixels and that's how big it should be.

[rakester]

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[Whiternoise]

well i mean, you can say i have "X pixels left over" divide it by 2 and that's how many pixels high the lines will be.

I would have thought it the resolutions match then it shouldn't letterbox - though as i mentioned earlier, that's only the case if the aspect ratios match up. Some games will run in different ratios though - i'd have thought so anyway.

Depends really. If you need the monitor for your pc then go for it. Bear in mind that you won't be able to use your TV for your PC - at least not very well.

[bigblue]

afaik, there's settings to maintain aspect ratio for 16:10 panels. My dell 2405 is hooked up to a 360 atm, and it looked skanky when running halo 3 as everything was a bit vertically stretched. quick footer with the settings and i get black bars top and bottom, but it's better than a stretched master chef!

Not all panels have an aspect ratio mode unfortunately. Some just stretch whatever you feed, it's bloody annoying!

To the OP, almost any PC monitor will give you issues. As has been said, they're usually 16:10 ratio, and stuff that's meant to be displayed on a TV is usually 16:9. You'll always get either letterbox black bars or a stretched image. Far better with the black bars, as they only make up a tiny bit of the screen, which you won't notice after a while. The other option is the whole picture being ruined by vertical stretching, which to me is far less appealing.

Also, PC monitors will usually be much higher resolution than the equivalent TV. Good for PC use, not so good for tv-intended lower res stuff. The PC monitor will have to upscale, meaning poorer picture quality than a 20" lower res TV would give you. There's no point having more pixels unless you need them!

Don't worry too much about 1080p if it's mainly for gaming, as very few games actually run in native 1080p. And even if they did you're not going to notice much difference over 720p on a 20" screen.

If you're looking for something dual purpose, PC and console, you need a monitor. If it's just for consoles, buy a TV.