Screen resolution?

Does SL look any better on resolutions higher than, say, 1280 x 800? I've switched back and forth and I'm not sure I see much difference, other than the size of the interface (which gets annoyingly large at lower resolutions). Typically I run at 1920 x 1200, but I get crashes every couple of hours, and I'm wondering whether there's any reason (other than a smaller UI) to run at 1920 versus a lower resolution. Any thoughts or advice?

The size of the UI is adjustable.

Preferences > General > UI Size

P2

If you're on a CRT, it won't be as obvious because of a natural smoothing effect that comes with the display type. But with an LCD you want to run right at the native resolution or there will be aliasing and artifact problems. Depending on your eyesight, it could just be a change of UI size. In most cases, increased resolution offers a more detailed and often smoother appearance. (^_^)

I run at 1600x1200 with Ultra settings, Avatar Impostors off, and 4x Antiailiasing turned on, and yes, the experience is VERY beautiful. But, on most systems, it would come with the cost of a poor frame rate, so your results may not be the same. (=_=)

All of my Snapzilla snapshots include a full screen resolution version when you click the (full image) link. I turned on 4xAA just before I visited Bay city. (o.o)

Even after the cruddy jpeg compression, you can see the improvement it makes. If you can't, then higher resolutions won't really be a benefit for you and you can get back some of your frame rate by dialing down the resolution. (^_^)y

That's sort of a confusing term.

The overall resolution of the SL "window" depends on your screen resolution.

The "UI Size" setting changes the size of text and other UI elements, like the chat window or the camera movement controls.

I'm still messing with this new monitor. For general use, I'm finding 1280x720 is the smallest I can go. I still can't settle on an SL dispaly setting, but I didn't even think about using the UI setting as well. Great advice. I'll knock off another 5 posts in gratitue.

Thanks for all the helpful replies!


I didn't know that! Thanks.



I have a Dell 3007, which has two native resolutions -- 1280 x 800, and 2560 x 1600. I'm using an nVidia 8800Ultra. 2560x1600 is too high for me to run SL with decent framerates, so I've been debating between 1280 and a resolution like 1900 x 1200, which I've been running of late. Do things really look much better at a higher resolution like 1900? I'm not sure I see much difference, but I do see my framerate drop from about 60 FPS at 1280 x 800 to about 25 FPS at 1920 -- worse in crowds. I'm going to try playing with the UI settings at 1280 x 800.


What does 'ultra' do? I tried it and saw a drop in frame rate, but again I wasn't sure I saw much increase in quality. Also, what are avi impostors? I know what anti-aliasing is; I'll play with that.