BENQ/Gateway/Viewsonic 24" BATTLE!

[[Dr. V]]

ANOTHER monitor post!

Viewsonic VX2435WM > http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/prodde...gon=&langid=EN

Gateway FPD2485W > http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/prodde...gon=&langid=EN

BENQ FP241W > http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/prodde...93&catid=22559

BENQ FP241VW > http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/prodde...59&catid=22559

pretend theyre all the same price.

i realize the 2 BENQs are the exact same monitor pretty much.

also, one key thing, do ANY of them support hardware scaling or letterboxing? if im gonna have 1080p on it for example, will it scale to 1920x1080 with tiny black bars, or will it be 1080p stretched across 1200 pixels? im pretty sure when something is hooked up with VGA (i mean a different comonent) then letterboxing is impossible, but if you DL a 1080p HD movie thats obviously a different story. im talking about DVI/Composite/HDMI as i know they support letterboxing (all of them do) im just curious about the monitors.

if im getting one of these next weekend, if any one of them supports this letterboxing feature and none of the other ones do, i will get the one that does for sure, so thats important.

i realize other models may support it, but if none of these do, i still need to make a choice from that list or any 24" from BesyBuy.ca or Staples.ca.

thanks!

[gvblake22]

The BenQ FP241W Z is supposed to support resolution scaling much more reliably than the plain FP241W. If you are considering spending that much money, I would definately get the WZ over the original W model. As for the rest, I do not know much about the BENQ FP241VW or Viewsonic VX2435WM, but the Gateway (as I already mentioned) will be sitting in front of me soon and is supposed to support HD 16:9 resolutions without stretching.

[[Dr. V]]

alright then i guess its the gateway

what i could do, though, and i probably will do it right now, is give Gateway a call and ask one of the reps who may know something about their hardware (if such a rep exists, i know they're rare) and post back.

i like the look of the Gateway, and its pretty comparable against the 2407WFP apparently it comes un-noticeably close (according to some). but others also recognize banding (but settings in the OSD get almost completely rid of it) and shadowing (which apparently can be reduced but not taken away).

im not sure really...i know that any BENQ in the list and the one you mentioned (blake) is better than the Gateway, and although 16:9 with no stretching isnt 100% necessary, it would be wonderful to have for XBOX 360 (in the future), and other components...

im gonna call Gateway AND BENQ...and Viewsonic :D

i'll report back for you guyss.

cheers.

[[Dr. V]]

both Gateway and BENQ tell me that all of their monitors will stretch the image, but at the same time i cant be 100% sure that they even understood my question...

as of now i guess it doesnt matter which one i get?

ive seen a review that states the FP241W does NOT support hardware scaling..

as for the others i cant be 100% sure.

[Computer-Ed]

I think every monitor supports the feature of not stretching the image if you tell it not to. In effect putting a balck border around an image that is not on scale with the monitors native support, is that what you mean?

[polobunny]

Originally Posted by Computer-Ed

I think every monitor supports the feature of not stretching the image if you tell it not to.

Not really, tons of monitors don't. Actually, i'd even say most don't.

[[Dr. V]]

its definitely true that most dont. im assuming the newer they get the more readily supported this feature will be...any thoughts?

[gvblake22]

Ok man, I just discovered the ATI Catalyst Control Center has 1920x1080 as a resolution, so I set the monitor to 1:1 and then set the resolution in CCC to 1080 and it stretched the image vertically!
I think I'm gonna talk to Circuit City (where I got the monitor) and see if there is a firmware fix for this or something. BTW, I have a March 2007 version monitor, so it is very recent.

Well, after a 45 minute chat session with a Gateway tech support dude, he basically told me that the monitor will stretch a 1080 source and that's just the way it is...