Dark1x and computer people, I need your helps

[Bebpo]

I upgraded my old 17" 1280x1024 LCD monitor to the 23.6" Asus VH236H 1080p monitor they use at Evo tournaments cause it has no lag.

Now everything that is 720p (AKA, 95% OF NON-BLURAY HD MATERIAL) looks bad.  In the little 720p window movies/anime look tack sharp but then at fullscreen scaled they look not-sharp almost like viewing SD material on an HD set.  When I tried L4D2 at 720p it looked absolutely awful even with 16x AA.  It seriously looked like an SD game.  At 1080p it looks good.  But my 3d card while able to handle 90% of PC games at 1080p w/4x AA (games still are looking jaggy on this at 2x AA 1080p), some of the more intensive ones ones like L4D2/Crysis are not gonna be able to do 60fps 4x AA maxed 1080p so I'd rather just scale down the res to 720p than scale down on graphic effects or AA.  But since 720p looks terrible I don't really have a choice.  I tried playing Sands of Time in 4:3 mode 1280x1024 and it looked kinda bad too (yeah I know there's a widescreen high res patch, I haven't grabbed it yet).

So uh, is there anyway to make 720p videos and games look sharp and good on my new 1080p monitor or do I need to upgrade my vid card and yell at Japan for airing their anime in 720p?

[Great Rumbler]

Native resolution is a blessing and a curse, my friend.

[bork]

I have a similar model (25.5" ASUS VK266H) and haven't had a single issue playing PS3, 360, and using my computer with it.

But when I've tried older systems and PS2 games (on the PS3), they look fucking awful.  Stuff that's made for HD looks amazing though.

I ended up buying a small 19" 720P Toshiba LCD HDTV for PS2, Wii, PSP, and some other stuff, and I still have an older 480P SDTV that I use for the older systems.  Unfortunately, there is no single solution for making everything look good.  Maybe you can go the dual-monitor route and use your old monitor for the games that aren't looking too hot.

[Vizzys]

greatrumbler is correct

try playing games in windowed mode

[MCD]

I play games (RE5 and SF4) with no aa, that way I can set resolution to 1920x1200 with everything high as well (ATI 4850).

so set aa to 0, might help.

[Bebpo]

Yeah after much testing I have come to these conclusions:

-Flash games and other low-gfx/res games that won't go to 1080p should be played in a window.  Sorta negates the point of a large screen but oh well.
-For 720p anime or live action movies/tv it's still way better to watch using tv-out to my 720p CRT.  The IQ destroys my monitor a thousand times over
-For 1080p movies it's a tossup.  The IQ is way better on my tv, but the extra resolution on my monitor is noticeably more sharp and detailed
-For games...it seems better to play them on my monitor @1080p than my tv @720p.  The extra resolution is very noticable (it's like 3-4x the pixels), much moreso than movies.  Also because the various conversions that take place in getting to my TV res, games on my tv-out don't look sharp even if the black level is awesome (In L4D2 on my monitor I can't get pitch black in pitch black rooms >_<) and colors are quality.  Plus there's way more shimmering that no degree of AA can fix because of weird conversion stuff.  The only thing is that @720p on my tv games all run 60fps maxed out with tons of AA.  On my monitor at 1080p the high end stuff struggles to maintain 60fps even with no AA. 

So yeah, PC gaming on PC monitor; PC movies on tv-out to HDTV it seems for me.  A new gfx card next year should alleviate some of the downsides to 1080p gaming.

[bork]

Videos look great on my monitor.  I got no complaints on that...downloaded stuff and DVDs via the Mac, and blu-rays via the PS3. 

What video input is your PC using?  I've never used VGA on it, just DVI and HDMI.  Maybe that's it?

[dark1x]

Most PC monitors do a wretched job upscaling lower resolutions.  I have a newer Samsung and it's just terrible for gaming at resolutions below 1080p (and even then, it's not great).

You still have your CRT?  I know the resolution isn't on par with the LCD, but I still think most games would look much better on that CRT.  While there is less visible detail, you can see how much smoother the games look.

The LCD I use was actually something I had to settle for.  I was looking for a large monitor for the back room that could double as a display for 360 and PS3 (for friends to use when networking).  I initially went searching for a large CRT and I found some for dirt cheap, but I could not locate any of the 16:10 CRTs and the ones I DID find all have issues at this point due to their age.  If you could find one of those 24" Sony widescreen CRT monitors, that would be optimal (they are beastly, though).

I believe you are in a unique position in that you still remember how damn good CRTs look.  Most people seem to have forgotten and have simply become accustomed to LCDs for PC gaming.  A good CRT still wipes the floor with every LCD in most areas when it comes to PC gaming.

try playing games in windowed mode

That's not a great solution, though.  I mean, who really wants to play a game in windowed mode?  That just kills the experience, if you ask me.

[maxy]

There is no help,you just discovered that fixed pixel displays are,in the lack of the better word,crap when displaying non native content...CRT

My advice would be,run games at 1920x1080 and adjust other settings until you get acceptable framerate.
In extreme cases,downgrade resolution a little bit,but don't go to deep.
Just play with settings,to see what mostly affects framerate.

[Bebpo]

Videos look great on my monitor.  I got no complaints on that...downloaded stuff and DVDs via the Mac, and blu-rays via the PS3. 

What video input is your PC using?  I've never used VGA on it, just DVI and HDMI.  Maybe that's it?

Using DVI.  It's not terrible, I mean videos are perfectly watchable.  But like dark1x said, if you're accustomed to CRT it's disapointing image quality.  I tried doing a calibration for the monitor and there was no way I could make all the blacks visible or all the whites visible on a black level test and on the color gradient bars there was no way to get the last bunch to separate. 

I'm spoiled because I do all my console gaming & watch most of my 720 movies on my XBR CRT and my parents have Kuro Plasma so sometimes I watch 1080p blu-rays on that.  Compared to the picture quality of those two, there's no way a cheap <$200 monitor is going to hold up. 

But the extra resolution in PC games is pretty nice.  Mirrors Edge in 1080p on my monitor looks MUCH better than at slightly below 720p on my CRT.  L4D2 looks a bit better in 1080p as well.  So for PC gaming it seems worth a hit in the PQ for the extra res and convenience (I don't have any comfortable setup for using KB+M on my CRT; prefer a wired X360 controller if I'm going tv-out). 

[bork]

I'd like to see what you think about the monitor with your PS3 hooked up through HDMI.  But I don't know if your monitor's guts are exactly the same as mine or not.  Do you have different color modes as well?

If you could find one of those 24" Sony widescreen CRT monitors, that would be optimal (they are beastly, though).

I looked at these, but they sell for way too much used.  Even Wii games being played on them look amazing.

[Bebpo]

I don't know about that.  Wii games still look like shit on my CRT.  Jaggy, blurry and most games have a weak color pallete.  Galaxy & Crystal Bearers are the only two games that look pretty good for 480.  NSMB almost but the characters are jaggy around the edges >_<

Lyte, the monitor internals should be the same.  There are the various modes (theater, game, night, scenery) but I just made my own using calibration screens to the best I could.  I'm pretty happy with the picture quality.  It's just not CRT or Plasma quality.

[bork]

I don't know about that.  Wii games still look like shit on my CRT.  Jaggy, blurry and most games have a weak color pallete.  Galaxy & Crystal Bearers are the only two games that look pretty good for 480.  NSMB almost but the characters are jaggy around the edges >_<

For the longest time, I had these fond memories of CRT.  When I was in Japan, I loved the Bravia I had, but I kept wanting to pick up an old SDTV for the Wii/PS2.  Never did, but when I came back to the States, I got my old SDTV back, and everything looked....eeeeeeeeh.  I was playing through component at 480P, and it still looked pretty bad.  That's when I ended up getting a cheap, small LCD HDTV.  The Wii looks great on there.  Most PS2 games do too. 

Lyte, the monitor internals should be the same.  There are the various modes (theater, game, night, scenery) but I just made my own using calibration screens to the best I could.  I'm pretty happy with the picture quality.  It's just not CRT or Plasma quality.

I think Dark's right; you're "spoiled."

The best monitor I had was an I-O Data 19" 720P type with a glossy screen.  Everything looked so fucking good on it; better than stuff does on the 1080P monitor I am using now.  I wish I had shipped it over.   :'(

[Bebpo]

I used to have a Sony KD34XBR970 CRT. :'(

Oh my gooooood that was the absolute best TV you could get for lower resolution stuff like the last generation and prior. Superior picture quality to a high-range plasma and handled everything like a dream! Too bad it was 1080i/720p, 34" widescreen, and weighed a little over 200 pounds.

Yeah I love mine.  Have no idea what I'm doing with it in the long run though.  I'm planning on moving in 2 years when I finish school and get a salary job.  It just doesn't seem worth the hassle of moving it.  Especially since I want to get a big plasma when I actually have job $$$.