Screen Resolution

[hotstuffjsn]

Hi everyone! I've been playing this game since Christmas and I love it. I had a question onto what resolution everyone recommends. I play on my laptop, and I use a desktop resolution of 1920x1200 normally. I've played an entire game at that same resolution, but have tried to go down to 1280x800 or whatever it is exactly, and find the graphics very muddy...Does anyone else find everything a bit harder to read on this type of resolution 1920x1200?? Using this on my desktp and for web browseing is just fine but on the game it's a bit tiny. My only gripe is my laptop runs the clarity and colors best at the maximum resolution for some reason. My specs are as follows

Dell Inspiron 9300
1.6 Ghz Pentium M Centrino
512 Mb RAM
256 Mb GEForce Go 6800
17 inch UltraSharp Wide Screen UXGA Display with TrueLife

 

[KRGJD]

I'm running it on 1920x1200 on my desktop right now, but I've got a new Dell 2405FPW, so it looks great . I agree, though, that the text is incredibly tiny at that resolution, and if I were using a 17" monitor it might be pretty hard to read.

 

[RoboRay]

It's a a laptop, so I'm assuming an LCD monitor. They always look much better at their maximum resolution, because it's the only resolution they PHYSICALLY support. If you select a lower rez, the displayed pixels get smeared across multiple physical pixels, resulting in the blurry, muddy display you're seeing.

 

[Smidlee]

It's a a laptop, so I'm assuming an LCD monitor. They always look much better at their maximum resolution, because it's the only resolution they PHYSICALLY support. If you select a lower rez, the displayed pixels get smeared across multiple physical pixels, resulting in the blurry, muddy display you're seeing.

So true.When I got a 1280X1024 LCD and the first thing I notice was games that ran 1024X768 (like civ3) doesn't look as good on my LCD as it did on my CRT monitor. I kept my CRT around for that reason. I could imagine how bad games like civ3 looks on a 1920X1200 LCD.

 

[hotstuffjsn]

What do you mean laptops only physically support the maximum? It is a TFT LCD by the way.

 

[sansi]

if the font ingame is too tiny, try civscale 1.52 from this german civforum. It has options to change the font size.

 

[Smidlee]

What do you mean laptops only physically support the maximum? It is a TFT LCD by the way.

here a clip from an article which is what he is refering to

Non-native Resolution
If the computer does not have enough horsepower to run at the native resolution, another option available is to change the resolution of the display to something less than the native resolution. This may seem to be a simple answer but this usually uncovers another weakness of TFT LCD’s...most do not display acceptable images at anything other than their native resolution. Two things can happen when a screen is not in its native resolution; either the screen size may be reduced and black bars are added or the image is stretched to fill the screen. If you have a screen with a native resolution of 1024x768 and you play a game at 800x600 then there may be nice black bars round the edge of your screen of 306432 pixels that are simply not being used. Much like watching a letterbox format movie (really really widescreen) on a standard size TV. Alternatively, the screen may use pixel doubling or ‘zooming’. This is where the non-native screen resolution is mapped onto the native resolution. You will not have any black bars round the edge of the screen, but each pixel being output by the video card may be mapped onto several pixels on the actual screen. This gives rise to fuzzy edges on objects, even when the picture is completely static. This situation should be avoided as much as possible. Make sure you look for an TFT LCD monitor that is the right size for your uses and for your computer.

 

[Velvet-Glove]

So what resolution does CivIV run best at, does anyone know?

The reason I ask is that I am considering upgrading my present 15" LCD (1024x768) to a 19" LCD, which would be 1280x1024. I get the feeling I'm not seeing the 'whole picture' at the moment because some game screens are truncated a little (e.g. the domestic advisor, where I can't see all the text about what's being built in each city, in the far right hand column).

I have read about the small text issue, which is of some concern, but I do admit to generally being a little confused about screen resolutions, and about how it will affect this game's appearance in particular... or shouldn't I worry because it will adjust to whatever I've got? Or I can simply instruct it to use the 'correct' size for my monitor via an .ini file or something? Or would 'windowed mode' be better?

Any advice/tips for this befuddled user would be most welcome! Thanks.

 

[Underseer]

If you run an LCD at any resolution other than its "native" resolution, the screen looks like utter crap, which is why I always run at 1280x1024.

Speaking of which, what kind of ******** aspect ratio is that, anyway? Every other non-widescreen resolution I can think of is 4:3, but for some ******** reason when you get to 1280 width, most LCDs are 5:4 instead of the more obvious 1280x960. Was some engineer smoking crack or something?

 

[gimhalos]

How can anyone ever go above 1280x1024 on a 17 inch? have a microscope on the screen? that's insane..... I play civ on 1280x1024 and I'm fine with it... the graphics are a little muddy but I don't play civ4 for graphix... I'd play quake4 if I wanted something that looked pretty

 

[Smidlee]

@ Velvet-glove
here that article that deals with LCD when it comes to gaming.
http://www.d-silence.com/feature.php?id=249 Notice though this article is a little dated (last year) since the response time of LCD has improved to have little or no ghost image. My monitor is 8ms response time and so far I haven't seen any ghosting. Atleast make sure LCD is no slower response time than 16ms when you go looking. (smaller number is better)

If you decide get a 19" LCD and you run 1024X768 in the "letterboxed format" mode (black frame around image) you basicly have a 15" LCD image. ( P.S.I just measured it to make sure; it just shy of 15 inches) So this mean you can run the exactly (well almost ;14 3/4") same 15" 1024X768 resolution on a 19" 1280X1024 LCD with a black box leaving the extra 4" unused. You still have the opinion to blow up 1024X768 to 1280X1024 {this may depend on your graphic card} but it doesn't look as good.

If you can run 1280X1024 well or not depends a lot on your graphic card and the game. To take full advantage of the 19", when it comes to gaming, you need a atleast a good med-range card since higher resolution costs framerate in any game.

 

[Saint_Saturn]

Hi everyone! I've been playing this game since Christmas and I love it. I had a question onto what resolution everyone recommends. I play on my laptop, and I use a desktop resolution of 1920x1200 normally. I've played an entire game at that same resolution, but have tried to go down to 1280x800 or whatever it is exactly, and find the graphics very muddy...Does anyone else find everything a bit harder to read on this type of resolution 1920x1200?? Using this on my desktp and for web browseing is just fine but on the game it's a bit tiny. My only gripe is my laptop runs the clarity and colors best at the maximum resolution for some reason. My specs are as follows

Dell Inspiron 9300
1.6 Ghz Pentium M Centrino
512 Mb RAM
256 Mb GEForce Go 6800
17 inch UltraSharp Wide Screen UXGA Display with TrueLife

On my system, I run it at 1280x1024 and it runs perfectly smooth. I could have it at a higher resolution, but my eyes are already bad enough, and on a 19" CRT screen, I don't need to strain my eyes if I don't have too.

My personal specs are:
AMD Athlon64 3000+
2Gb RAM
256 GeForce 6800GT OC
19" CRT Viewsonic

 

[Captain Pugwash]

Interesting thread.

I don't understand the comment about small text though. If you are playing at the native screen resolution, doesn't it depend on the zooming ? Zooming in should give readable text.

Not playing at the native resolution sort of makes sense as to what would happen. Although it must come as a surprise to those who hadn't thought of it.

Some 17" WXGA laptop displays say the native resolution is 1440x900. Anyone tried that ? I was thinking of buying a 17" laptop. Now I'm not so sure.

 

[Velvet-Glove]

Thanks, Smidlee. I have been doing some homework and am aware of some of the issues, like the respose time. I have read that manufacturer's claims for this can be somewhat optimistic/exagerated but, in principle, I am looking to get a 8ms or 12ms panel.

Reading your response, I think I would prefer to run it at the full native resolution rather than letterbox otherwise there is no point in having the larger screen, is there, hehe.

My mid-range graphics card will probably be OK but I accept there may be a performance hit as it is by no means cutting edge any more. If performance is unacceptable then I will upgrade my graphics card too - I have a 3yr-old self-built system that is reaching the point where I am thinking about some serious upgrades anyway. Getting Civ4 has already tipped the balance for me regarding RAM (I doubled it to 1GB) but it could just as well have been some other program forcing my hand like this. I run a range of applications and most upgrades would benefit all of them so I have nothing to lose really.

Thanks for your help. I will do some more research before finally deciding what to do!

Captain Pugwash: Zooming does not change the size of onscreen text, just the size of the terrain and unit graphics, in my experience.

 

[Captain Pugwash]

Hmm, of course the text on the interface wouldn't change size with zooming. I guess I was thinking of city names.

I still think some people are going to be very disappointed when they buy a bigger screen and find the text is smaller than on their old screen. Food for thought.

 

[HeXeD_3010]

My 22" NEC Multisync CRT runs Civ4 nicely at 1298x1024x32 perfectly at around 85Hz. I'm running it on digital, so in digital mode if I go up to 1600x1200, then the maximum refresh rate I can get is 60Hz which is not acceptable.

If I decided to use the monitor in analog mode, I can go up to 2048x1536x32 with more respectable refresh rates, but digital just looks so much better on this monitor.

PS - real gamers use CRTs

 

[Smidlee]

There's nothing wrong with gaming on CRT's especially since you can actually change the resolution on these monitors.
It's just the fact a 22" CRT (even a 17") monitors takes up a lot of desk space plus the fact I'm not sure that sitting that close to a big CRT screen is good for your eyes. In the last year as LCD are getting better , I've seen CRT (even TV's) slowing fading away. At BestBuy there's only a couple CRT monitors on display. So the big CRT will eventually become extinct along with the dinosaurs.

 

[Velvet-Glove]

I believe LCD technology is becoming just about acceptable now, for both TV and PC monitors, though in both cases there's no denying that the traditional CRT still gives a better and more responsive picture, in my opinion. I don't see CRT's lasting more than a few more years, though, as their sheer bulk, weight and power consumption are big factors that go against them now, with the advent of the new slim & sexy LCD panels.

I switched to an LCD PC screen about five years ago; I paid an arm and a leg for this 15" screen at the time (three times what I am expecting to pay for a 19" these days) but it was worth it. I used to get headaches and migraine-like visual disturbances with the CRT I had before - all that disappeared overnight with the LCD.

We upgraded our cranky 12yr-old TV to a large LCD panel & 'Home Theatre' a few months ago and have gone all high tech and digital now... it's lovely. I just love new toys like these!

 

[HeXeD_3010]

LCD will never be acceptable for TVs. It works well for monitors, but for TVs LCD is not the way to go

You'll have to fight me to make me part with my Sony Trinitron 36" High Scan CRT TV

 

[Sir Janus]

I also run Dell 9300 at native 1920x1200 17" widescreen and find it clear enough even though my eyesight isn't too good these days. Let's face it there isn't really very much text to read and I prefer to be able to see more of what is happening on screen without having to look at the tops of peoples heads. The major problem in my opinion is that lots of controls are placed in the corners of the screen so that there is a lot of mouse movement involved.

Picture demonstrates how much more can be seen [I made it quarter size so it can fit on lower res screens]