20" - 22" with Pixel Mapping?

[pcguru83]

Does a monitor in the 20" - 22" range exist that does 1:1 pixel mapping? I'd prefer a 20" because of the higher DPI. I'm fully aware that this will likely be a TN panel, and I'm OK with that. Anything in the 24" size is not an option, as I'm not willing to spend the extra $$$ for what I need this monitor for.

I know that neither the Samsung 2026BW/226BW, the LG L204WT, the LG L226WT, or the HP W2007/W2207 have pixel mapping. The HP has something closely resembling pixel mapping, but won't put horizontal bars at the top and bottom from what I understand.

Any suggestions? I'd also prefer for it to be available locally so that I can return it if I'm not satisfied. Thanks guys!

 

[joemama]

There are 2 that I know of and I own both..

Dell 2007WFP- very good S-IPS (if you win the lottery) great styling/stand and good user adjustability. A good choice if you don't mind the roulette and they regularly go on sale for around $350. Who knows what panel the replacement will use...probably PVA or TN exclusively.

NEC 20WMGX2- very good AS-IPS, glossy panel, decent styling, awesome user adjustability and useable tv tuner. Hurry, these are discontinued and too good to pass up @$399 AR from the Egg. The replacement will be a TN panel.

Honestly, I only used the 1:1 pixel mapping once on the Dell for NFS Carbon when it was released with no widescreen support and on the NEC I only use it with the tv tuner to fill the screen. For Xbox 360 I simply use 1360x768 and both monitors do a good job scaling without the 1:1. Even if you get a monitor without internal scaling you can still do it through the drivers if you have an Nvidia card.

 

[pcguru83]

There are 2 that I know of and I own both..

Dell 2007WFP- very good S-IPS (if you win the lottery) great styling/stand and good user adjustability. A good choice if you don't mind the roulette and they regularly go on sale for around $350. Who knows what panel the replacement will use...probably PVA or TN exclusively.

NEC 20WMGX2- very good AS-IPS, glossy panel, decent styling, awesome user adjustability and useable tv tuner. Hurry, these are discontinued and too good to pass up @$399 AR from the Egg. The replacement will be a TN panel.

Honestly, I only used the 1:1 pixel mapping once on the Dell for NFS Carbon when it was released with no widescreen support and on the NEC I only use it with the tv tuner to fill the screen. For Xbox 360 I simply use 1366x760 and both monitors do a good job scaling without the 1:1. Even if you get a monitor without internal scaling you can still do it through the drivers if you have an Nvidia card.

Thanks, that's great info. I've owned the Dell 2007FPW before, and always had weird issues with very slight flickering when it was connected via DVI to my Mac Mini. I went through at least 3 of them, and they all seemed to do it. Weird.

That NEC looks promising though. I really didn't plan on spending that kind of money, as it almost becomes worth my while to step up to a 24" at that point. That's a very impressive looking display though. I downloaded the manual, and the amount of features on that monitor are unbelievable.

Speaking of which, maybe you can answer a question for me about that NEC monitor. Can you still turn off the scaling (i.e. use pixel mapping) when connected over VGA? I got the impression from the manual that this was only available via the DVI connection. The whole point in all this is that I want an image that puts horizontal bars at the top and bottom of the screen when I play my 360 so I don't get any distortion. I suppose I could use DVI, but I'd have to invest in a DVI switch and find a way to get the audio from the HDMI-->DVI conversion.

Thanks again for the info though, very helpful stuff.

 

[ToastyX]

The NEC 20WMGX2 does not have proper 1:1 mapping or aspect scaling over DVI, and the other inputs are bad quality. It's a very good computer monitor though, and if you have an NVIDIA card, you can make your video card do the scaling.

I haven't tested VGA.

 

[pcguru83]

The NEC 20WMGX2 does not have proper 1:1 mapping or aspect scaling over DVI, and the other inputs are bad quality. It's a very good computer monitor though, and if you have an NVIDIA card, you can make your video card do the scaling.

I haven't tested VGA.

Can you elaborate? I'm buying this monitor with the sole purpose of gaming on my 360. It will also pull double duty as my computer monitor though. Will it not display the horizontal bars at top and bottom like what I'm wanting? And all the other inputs (including VGA) are poor quality, huh? Interesting.

 

[joemama]

Can you elaborate? I'm buying this monitor with the sole purpose of gaming on my 360. It will also pull double duty as my computer monitor though. Will it not display the horizontal bars at top and bottom like what I'm wanting? And all the other inputs (including VGA) are poor quality, huh? Interesting.

No, the 1:1 doesn't work with the VGA input (I haven't tried component) but like I said earlier I wouldn't use it even if it did. The Dell did have pixel mapping through VGA but using the highest widescreen res available on the 360 and letting the monitor do the rest still looks great to me. Other monitors I have tried give a "stretched" look when doing this but the Dell and NEC don't seem to do that. I think if you get the NEC you'll find that it's also a capable bedroom tv in addition to pc/Xbox 360 monitor.

 

[pcguru83]

No, the 1:1 doesn't work with the VGA input (I haven't tried component) but like I said earlier I wouldn't use it even if it did. The Dell did have pixel mapping through VGA but using the highest widescreen res available on the 360 and letting the monitor do the rest still looks great to me. Other monitors I have tried give a "stretched" look when doing this but the Dell and NEC don't seem to do that. I think if you get the NEC you'll find that it's also a capable bedroom tv in addition to pc/Xbox 360 monitor.

Interesting. I'm hesitant to go with the Dell because of the problems I had with it in the past. It really does sound like the best option though.

As for the 360 and the stretching, it's interesting you mention that. Everywhere I've looked has recommended using the 1280 x 768 resolution. I looked through the list again last night though, and saw the 1360 x 768 and realized that's virtually the same ratio as a 16:9 display. I gave that a try, and the stretching is virtually gone. You can even see just a bit of black on the sides, so it's like the 360 "knows" and is scaling it for me. Very nice.


I've got the Samsung 206BW now, so maybe I'll just keep it and be done with it since I've discovered the 1360 x 768 option.

 

[joemama]

Interesting. I'm hesitant to go with the Dell because of the problems I had with it in the past. It really does sound like the best option though.

As for the 360 and the stretching, it's interesting you mention that. Everywhere I've looked has recommended using the 1280 x 768 resolution. I looked through the list again last night though, and saw the 1360 x 768 and realized that's virtually the same ratio as a 16:9 display. I gave that a try, and the stretching is virtually gone. You can even see just a bit of black on the sides, so it's like the 360 "knows" and is scaling it for me. Very nice.


I've got the Samsung 206BW now, so maybe I'll just keep it and be done with it since I've discovered the 1360 x 768 option.

Yes, I don't know why so many people think they should use 1280x768 when there is a higher resolution available that minimizes stretching...I actually posted in a 360 thread about it and everyone thought I was crazy.

 

[pcguru83]

Yes, I don't know why so many people think they should use 1280x768 when there is a higher resolution available that minimizes stretching...I actually posted in a 360 thread about it and everyone thought I was crazy.

Yeah, seriously. I don't know why that 1280x768 gets so much traction.

If you work out the ratios:
1280x768 = 1.667
1360x768 = 1.771
16:9 = 1.778

It's acurate up to about 7 one-hundredths! Much better than the resolution everyone seems to recommend.

 

[Elios]

the Gateway 22" does 1:1 Zoom wide and panoramic

 

[ayu]

Yeah, seriously. I don't know why that 1280x768 gets so much traction.

If you work out the ratios:
1280x768 = 1.667
1360x768 = 1.771
16:9 = 1.778

It's acurate up to about 7 one-hundredths! Much better than the resolution everyone seems to recommend.

so the 2007wfp can scale instead of stretching? i was unsure about getting one because i didn't want to have my 16:9 stuff stretched to fill 16:10 (1.6)... or run 1360x768 (xbox 360) at 1:1

 

[joemama]

so the 2007wfp can scale instead of stretching? i was unsure about getting one because i didn't want to have my 16:9 stuff stretched to fill 16:10 (1.6)... or run 1360x768 (xbox 360) at 1:1

Just run 1360x768 on the 2007WFP (or NEC) without 1:1 pixel mapping...trust me, it looks fine.