I noticed a problem in the wallpaper and games of the my relative's widescreen computer monitor. A lot of games and pics are 4:3 so they default to showing on the screen at 4:3 with bars on either side. The games can be stretched, but look distorted and jump back to 4:3 after resetting back to regular screen during a reboot.
I think with the exception of movies we are still in the transition stage for games and pics. Console games have a widescreen option but most computer related programs, games and digital cameras have not fully adopted the wide screen format. What a pain, this reemphasizes why I'm sticking with 4:3 screens for all my systems.
Then there is Non Anamorphic DVDs and 3D cameras, but thats another rant.
Why would I want to make the family fatter when viewing pics?
I expanded on this at my CRT vs LCD signature link.
Last edited by CRTGAMER on Sat Mar 05, 2011 11:37 pm, edited 4 times in total.
It's simple, really. We set standards for the proportions of paper (books, magazines etc) based on the best readability. We set standards for the proportions of photographs based roughly on paper sizes. Of course, this was bogus, as the human eye always prefers wide aspect ratios because we're used to seeing reality in widescreen (what with the two eyes and everything).
I assume that the standards for display proportions were founded on paper and photographs out of sheer laziness. It was only later, when computers were able to display images and later even films, that people realized the error of their ways and started to switch to widescreen.
Now it's been a looong time since I've seen a contemporary game that wasn't widescreen, and all the video formats we have are widescreen as well, so I really don't see a reason to stick with 4:3. But that's just me.
Inazuma wrote:I wouldn't be surprised if there were some computer illiterate people out there running 4:3 aspect ratio resolutions on their 16:9 monitors. >_>
Its more of some games and digital cameras still at the 4:3 mode. Sure they can be stretched, but look bad at 16:9. Same applies for the consoles. Newer games and cameras are configured for wide screen, but for Retro Gaming the Street Fighter Sumo Wrestler is already wide enough, without the ugly stretch
Inazuma wrote:I wouldn't be surprised if there were some computer illiterate people out there running 4:3 aspect ratio resolutions on their 16:9 monitors. >_>
Its more of some games and digital cameras still at the 4:3 mode. Sure they can be stretched, but look bad at 16:9. Same applies for the consoles. Newer games and cameras are configured for wide screen, but for Retro Gaming the Street Fighter Sumo Wrestler is already wide enough, without the ugly stretch
Yeah, it's understandable if an old piece of software runs at 4:3. I was mainly referring to having the main monitor resolution actually set to 4:3, which makes everything stretched.
Dungeon Fighter Online, a modern PC game only supports 640 X 480 resolution, amazingly enough. I run it full screen stretched on my 24" 1920 X 1200 monitor. Since it's a 16:10 monitor, it actually looks pretty good imo.
Lol, support the economy by buying proportionally larger screens to keep the 4x3 at a comfortable size. I'll be switching to a 1080x1920 monitor soon as they're getting pretty cheap. Some of them have a convenient 4x3 button and rotation ability for the shmups. I'm disappointed that I can't find a laptop with a 1600x1200 screen that has decent specs.
Sometimes I crop the top and bottom of the older 4:3 videos if not too much detail is lost in the process. Afaict some movies were shot in 4:3 and then cropped to 16:9 for theatres.
As for games, I tend to play them unstretched but sometimes stretching them doesn't hurt. I believe Dreamcast and Naomi emulation is the only way to play console games in widescreen that wasn't supported before, by making visible the peripheral geometry. Only a handful of Saturn and PS1 games supported widescreen, and not that many PS2/XBox/GC supported it either.
Inazuma wrote:I wouldn't be surprised if there were some computer illiterate people out there running 4:3 aspect ratio resolutions on their 16:9 monitors. >_>
I'm in college now, and I've had to correct people who are doing this on NEW computers. It bothers me so much that I have to tell them to fix it, which is always welcomed when they see the proper resolution.
