MovieChat Forums > Displays and Projectors > Aspect ratios on widescreen LCD monitors

Aspect ratios on widescreen LCD monitors

posted 17 years ago by glasdalen
3 replies | jump to latest

Hello all. I'm confused about using an LCD monitor (I'm considering getting the Samsung 244T) with a DVD player. Since most movies are in 1.37:1, 1.85:1 or 2.35:1, and the 16x10 monitor is 1.60:1, it seems there are 3 possibilities - the picture is stretched, cropped, or letterboxed/pillarboxed, the last option being what I want. The DVD player has a 4:3 letterbox option which outputs fine with all aspect ratios, generating black bars of whatever size is needed. It can also output 16:9 (which at 1.78:1 doesn't fit any of the movie ratios), and I don't know if that setting generates the bars or lets the monitor do whatever it chooses with the signal. So my question is: will the 244T display the movies in their proper aspect ratio, including whatever black bars are necessary to preserve the format, no matter which of the 3 it is, or will it make its own decision on how to mangle the picture to make it fill the whole screen?

[–] mikejonas 17 years ago

The setting to set is within your DVD player. Set it to output to a 16:9 screen, make sure your TV doesn't employ any of its own stretching-to-fit features, and the DVD you'll watch will be properly letterboxed or pillarboxed accordingly. The monitor will likely further letterbox the image, and an image squarer than 16:9 will appear "windowboxed". At least this is what happens when I pipe a 16:9 signal into my Mac widescreen (1920x1200) LCD monitor.

[–] glasdalen 17 years ago

Thanks. I guess the only thing I'm still unsure about is whether the particular monitor I'm considering can be set to not stretch-to-fit - the manual for the 244T (and for that matter 245T as well) indicate size can be set to either "Widescreen" or "4:3", but there's no "1:1" pixel mapping setting as there is with, for example, the Dell 2407WFP. So I'm wondering specifically if the 244T can be set this way. I recall a review of a Beng about a year ago that indicated it couldn't until a firmware upgrade was made, which is what started my concern about the Samsung. I've e-mailed Samsung support, where they say they'll find the answer to a question, but after 3 days I haven't heard back, so I'm wondering if anyone has experience with a 244T...

[–] J-Fro 17 years ago

I think you will find that most LCD PC Monitors will stretch the image vertically to fit the screen, making everybody appear thin (not to mention blurry). Not sure about that particular model, but I have a 22" Wide Samsung and it does exactly that. The only way to keep the correct aspect ratio would be to use a HTPC and set it to the Monitors native res.

They also have other shortcomings. Scalers are generally poor in these monitors as they are expecting their native resolution every time. LCD TV's on the other hand, have superior scalers/deinterlaces because they're prepared for any kind of signal (SD, HD, Progressive, Interlaced etc.). The viewing angle is also extremely poor.

Are you planning on getting it because it will double as your PC monitor? or because of the price? If it's the latter, then I'd suggest puting in a little extra coin and going for a similarly sized LCD tv.