Anime on 20"+ Widescreen?

[SkyDragon]

Hey guys, I still have one of those old CRT monitor and I'm looking at a 20+ inch wide screen monitor...but I don't know if that will affect how I watch anime on it. From what I know, most video sizes are around 640-800x480 for 4:3 aspect and for 16:3 aspect, it's usually 1024-1280x576 or around there...so will this cause a 20"+ monitor to stretch or pull the anime or can it be scale to fit or something that doesn't disturb the show?

I hope you know what I'm trying to say. Thanks.

[chikorita157]

Usually, the video will not scale to the screen if it's not the right aspect ratio. Most widescreen computer monitors are 16:10 ratio, which cause widescreen (16:9) ratio video to create black bars on top and bottom when in full screen and two bars on the left and right on a 4:3 ratio radio. Most video players won't scale your video unless you set it to do so.

[GHDpro]

Unless you mess with the settings, any player will scale the video up to fit your monitor, but will at all times maintain the correct aspect ratio.

For 4:3 aspect anime, this means you'll have fairly sizable black bars on the left and right of the screen. For 16:9 you might have small black bars on top and bottom of the screen, as afaik most widescreen PC monitors are 16:10, and not quite the same aspect ratio as widescreen TVs.

I would not recommend viewing anime in the wrong aspect ratio btw - that'll look ugly.

[C.A.]

I have a 21 inch and I almost never watch anime in fullscreen lol

It won't stretch the video, it will just scale to fit the top and bottom leaving the sides blank.

But because the screen is large you'll see pixels for most videos, plus if you're sitting right in front of the com to watch, it will be too large for good focus, you can't grasp entire scenes fully.

So instead of sitting further and watching pixelised full screen videos, I just watch them in windows for better resolution, which defeats the purpose of a large screen lol

[0utf0xZer0]

I have a 22 inch widescreen, 16:10 aspect ratio, and watching anime on it is way better than on the 17 inch CRT I had previously. I have Media Player Classic set to leave the aspect ratios alone, so 16:9 stuff has small black bars at the top and bottom and 4:3 stuff has fairly large black bars on the side. Since a lot of modern fansubs are 16:9, I prefer the 16:10 aspect ratio to 4:3.

As for the argument over whether or not to fullscreen, I personally think most standard def stuff looks okay when fullscreened on my 22. However, to get "good" image quality on a 22 inch you'll need high def fansubs - the difference is quite noticeable.

[SkyDragon]

Yeah I was worry about those problems too. I guess I won't be getting that 22" inch as it will serve me useless if I can't watch it in full screen.

Thanks.

Edit: black bars?...that doesn't sound very appealing.

[Miles Teg]

What the screen will look like with the black bar on a 20" 16/10 monitor (1680*1050).

4/3


16/9

[chikorita157]

The upside to widescreen monitor is that you have more width to place windows on compared to 4:3 and also uses less energy than a CRT.

Sure putting video in full screen will pixelise the video, but it won't be a problem with High Def discs, like Bluray.

[0utf0xZer0]

When it comes to watching anime, I would never trade my 22 inch LCD for my old CRT. It's been great ever since I got used to the larger screen size.

As for image quality, here's what a standard def episode of Spice and Wolf looks like resized for playback on my 22 (1680X1050):
http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/2773/hardware.jpg

This is using a pretty basic Media Player Classic/Combined Community Codec Pack configuration. Personally, I find it totally watchable, although I'd prefer high def.

[arenine]

No matter what size monitor you get, they will scale fine. The only reason why they won't scale correctly would be improper settings. So there is no reason to downgrade your monitor size.

Also, those letterbox (black bars) are fairly common and are evident when watching a DVD on a TV screen. Should be nothing to worry about.

[SkyDragon]

Originally Posted by Miles Teg

What the screen will look like with the black bar on a 20" 16/10 monitor (1680*1050).

4/3


16/9

Thanks for all the inputs everyone. I very appreciate it. The bar for the 16/9 doesn't look as bad as the 4/3 one.

[Omoi]

4/3 is terrible.

I had to get rid alot of my anime collection after switching to a 22 inch.

Though most fansbub groups now have alot of formats to choose from, so you wont bump into any unwanted stuff as long as you choose the correct format.

[AceD]

got a 26'' WS which is 1920x1200, when i need to use a 4:3, which is older stuff generally, i just change my res to 1600x1200

not sure how downsizing like that would work on a 20'' monitor though, but looks fine doing it on my monitor long as the files are dvd rips, between 250mb-350mb each ones (kaa, exiled-destiny, ahq), have alot of 4:3 files like that

[WanderingKnight]

got a 26'' WS which is 1920x1200, when i need to use a 4:3, which is older stuff generally, i just change my res to 1600x1200

what

You realize you're deforming absolutely everything you see on the screen, don't you? (Including 4:3 videos, which are stretched to the point of becoming nauseating).

[Tiberium Wolf]

I find WS ugly when I work with doc/pdf. OR when a wall paper is bigger in height. I wonder why no done the monitor in way were we can just rotate it 90º and work it like that...

[Miles Teg]

Originally Posted by Tiberium Wolf

I find WS ugly when I work with doc/pdf. OR when a wall paper is bigger in height. I wonder why no done the monitor in way were we can just rotate it 90º and work it like that...

A lot of monitor do that like the iiyama ProLite B2206WS-B1.

[Tiberium Wolf]

Originally Posted by Miles Teg

A lot of monitor do that like the iiyama ProLite B2206WS-B1.

Hum? I don't think u understood what I meant.

[Miles Teg]

Originally Posted by Tiberium Wolf

Hum? I don't think u understood what I meant.

What I have understood from your post is that you wanted a monitor able to do that :



If that wasn't that then sorry

[AceD]

Originally Posted by WanderingKnight

what

You realize you're deforming absolutely everything you see on the screen, don't you? (Including 4:3 videos, which are stretched to the point of becoming nauseating).

maybe its because am used to it...but in fullscreen mode i can hardly tell the difference :|, its slightly stretched ye...but far from nauseating, better then having them black borders down the side

[Tiberium Wolf]

Originally Posted by Miles Teg

What I have understood from your post is that you wanted a monitor able to do that :



If that wasn't that then sorry

Yes that's correct... Does that exist? Couldn't exactly find an english site of that monitor. Anyway kind off topic.



BTW, I think when watching videos we shouldn't concern with the format of the monitor. There are shows with 4:3 only or ws only. No matter which monitor u use you will get black borders.