[Daryl]

Hi All,

I have a question I hope someone can answer.

I would like to buy a widescreen TV and connect a computer via HDMI or DVI.

It is important to me that I am able to set my computers resolution to the exact resolution of my TV so that no interpolation takes place.

I have a laptop that came with the display resolution set to 1024x768 and it looked blurry when I first used it.

The specs say it's display has a native resolution of 1400x1050 so I set the display to 1400x1050 and viola it's razor sharp (and shows a lot more information).

The problem is there are so many different native resolutions a display might have.

Some are 16x9 and some 16x10....

1920x1200
1920x1080
1366x768
1280x720

and others.

What I don't know is what resolutions will I be able to set my next computer to?

So far as I know none of my current computers (even my wifes XP laptop) even has widescreen resolutions available.

Are there certain TV resolutions I should avoid because it will not be possible to set a computers resolution to the same value and avoid interpolation?

Thankyou in advance,

Daryl

[Brad]

Using native resolution is very important for computer LCD's.

Most computer LCD widescreens are at a 16:10 ratio
Most Hidef TV's are at 16:9

The available resolutions will depend on your video card and the resolutions supported by its driver.


I played with driving my HDTV from a PC using an ATI video card, but couldn't get the timings to sync just right - this was 3 yrs ago - I'm pretty sure things are a lot better now, especially with the 1080p HDTVs out now.

[bpape]

It's all about the video card that you buy.  A good video card with good driver support should be able to drive any of what you listed (except maybe 1920x1200 - never seen that one).  1920x1080, 1920x540, 1365x768, 1366x768, 1280x720, etc. are all somewhat standard in moderately high end video boards.

Here's an example

http://shop.ati.com/product.asp?sku=3084925

You can set up that board for ANY custom resolution to way above 1920x1080.  Add an ATSC tuner card and you're set. 

Bryan

[Daryl]

Thanks guys,

It's the videocard drivers that make the difference.

All my computers presently have built in video and I have only gone to display settings in windows and have only seen the settings that windows shows me.

When using custom resolutions from graphics cards will programs like Excel and Internet Explorer or even windows adapt to those custom resolutions as far as wrapping text and formatting charts in Excel?

Thanks again,

Daryl

[Grumpy_Git]

There are freeware apps available that allow you to set pretty much any resolution you require, irrespective of video card used.

do a search. 
Nick.