Widescreen Gaming Forum

I have the Sim2 HT 300 XTRA and a 110" Firehawk screen. So far I am really happy with both. The projector does a great job and is so flexible with input types and aspect ratio choices. I did have a temporary over heating problem with the projector that is sitting in an open box mounted to the ceiling. I added a very quiet 120 mm computer case fan to the back of the box. That solved my overheating problem.

That Apple display sounds nice. Is the pixel response speed fast enough for fast gaming?

Yeah. It uses LG-Philips 16ms Super-IPS panel. It finally replaced my good'ol SONY GDM-FW900 CRT (this was considered to be one of the best production direct-view CRT). :)

Hi, has anyone tried running any of the Microsoft flight sims in wide screen? I'm assuming that as they are primarily in a cockpit you would have to run the game in a window on the desktop?

Cheers

Sorry, I haven't.

Awesome thread!

Can you guys post the equation and how to solve it step by step?? lol

It has been awhile since I was in school...heh

I would like to set my FOV correctly for a 5:4 aspect ratio (1280x1024).

4:3 aspect ratio in game seems to have a 90 degree FOV by default.

Thanks! :D

I have a question. I know that 1280 x 1024 is actually a 5:4 aspect ratio, BUT is your screen shape actually 5:4? 5:4 is actually less wide than a 4:3 aspect ratio. In other words, if a 1280 x 1024 resolution is displayed correctly on a standard 4:3 computer monitor, there will be narrow black bars on each side. I've never really understood this resolution option in video cards. I have one monitor, a 21" Sony that actually displays the black bars on each side so the image is actually shaped 1280 x 1024. But on my 19" NEC monitor, which states 1280 x 1024 is the optimal resolution, it fills the 4:3 aspect ratio screen. I really don't understand this, but would assume that the pixels are not true circles or squares, perhaps ovals or rectangles. But in any case, 1280 x 1024 gets "stretched" on many standard monitors to fill the screen horizontally.

Now why do I ask this? We can calculate the exact FOV for 5:4, but it will be less than the default 90. If your monitor is actually shaped 4:3, and 1280 x 1024 fills the screen, it might be better to just leave it at 90. In either case, you won't be experiencing wide screen gaming at 1280 x 1024.

On a 1280x1024 Sony TFT panel I sent back in September, the viewable area was in a 5:4 ratio.

On a 1600x1200 (max res) CRT, the 1280x1024 res is odd, but fills the screen. When you reset it back to a 4:3 ratio res, though, then the screen goes bananas... :lol:

Yea, I'd love for someone to explain how 1280 x 1024 is even an option (without side black bars) for a 4:3 shaped screen. I just measured my 19" NEC CRT to make sure that it wasn't actually shaped 5:4. It measured 14 3/8" wide by 10 3/4" tall. That is a ratio of 1.33, so I guess the pixels are just stretched side to side. It's interesting that my Sony doesn't stretch however, at least at the default settings. I'm pretty sure that I could stretch the image on the Sony if I adjusted the monitor settings manually.

I have no idea how they came up with the idea of 1280x1024. 1280x960, that I can believe... but a 5:4 ratio? Why? ;)

I use a Samsung 172X 12ms DVI LCD with native resolution of 1280x1024.

1280/1024 = 1.25 which is a 5:4 aspect ratio. I know in the Unreal engine you can set your aspect ratio to 1.25. Now I want to set the FOV correctly.

I am also interested in FOV for other games, therefore I want to know a good equation, how to solve it, etc.

Please help almighty gurus! :)


EDIT: This is good info to know to because my new PC will have a widescreen monitor...most likely a native 16:10 screen (1920x1200). Thanks again!

EDIT2: I also use the official monitor inf file so I only use supported resolutions. In addition, I use the "centered output" option for my nVIDIA graphics card. This will display the resolution without scaling, compression, etc. (ie if I use native 1280x1024 and play a game with a 1024x768 resolutions, the appropriate black borders will appear)