Dell U3011 and non native resolution

[penske2298977]

For those who own this monitor how is it at displaying non native resolutions?

In particular I'm interested in 2048 x 1536 (yes I know it is a 4 x 3 resolution) -- but can it display @ 2048 x 1536?

Just curious as I have an old GDM FW 900 that can display at this resolution, but the only LCD monitors that can display 2048 x 1536 are absurdly expensive medical monitors so i was wondering how/if the Dell U3011 can handle 2048 x 1536?....thanks.

 

[Phishy714]

....

I think a monitor is pretty much set on how many pixels it has......

 

[palladium]

It can, but if you want the image to be full screen it's not gonna look as good as native. LCDs rely on scalers (either built in the LCD itself or the graphics card) to display non native resolutions at full screen, as long your monitor has the requisite pixels (2560*1600 > 2048*1536).

 

[Zorander]

I have run a few games at 1920x1200 on my U3011. There are still pixellation artifacts that indicate non-native resolution but they are minor IMHO. I could definitely enjoy the games and soon forget I was running a non-native resolution.

I think the U3011 scales down really well but, as always, it will also depend on how 'purist' you are. Also, I never tried running it outside 16:10 aspect ratio so I have no feedback in that aspect.

Cheers!

 

[rickon66]

I just tried the resolution and it displays black bars on each side of the display, to make it 4:3. It looks great if you don't mind the black bars, clear as a bell

 

[aaksheytalwar]

I have a u2711 and it scales really well even with lower res. practically no diff compared to viewing 1080p native on a 27"

 

[PrincessFrosty]

If you force the drivers to not scale the image then you'll get a perfect 1:1 pixel mapping and be left with black borders on sides and top/bottom.

If you force the drivers to stretch the image to fit it will look awful because it's a 4:3 image stretched to a 16:10 aspect ratio.

I think the 3011 has a built in scaler for doing this as well, but scaled images whether done in drivers or by a hardware scaler always look much worse than native resolution, the 1:1 mapping with black borders is the best route for image quality.

 

[jacktesterson]

When I had my U2711 and Catleap, I found 1920x1080 in gaming looked fine. (Native 2560x1440)

4:3, not so much.

 

[penske2298977]

Thanks to all who replied...I really appreciate the input.