Forcing a resolution?

So I have a m50vm that has a native res of 1440x900.

So I want to add 1280x800 as a resolution because I find that games play much smoother on this resolution and 1280x720 results in a stretched image, which is bad.

So is this a good idea? I've tried some games already at this resolution and it seems to work but just wondering if there will longterm damage to the monitor or something?

 

No it's fine. You can't damage the monitor without physical damage.

 

thanks for the quick response

 

wait, so native resolution varies? I didn't know that as far as monitors are concerned. So, can someone explain? For example, If I were to play i dunno... call of duty and my native resolution on my monitor is 1980 x 1080p but the game (this is just a guess) native res is 1600 x 1080, would it be better to play at 1600 x 1080 instead of 1980?

 

different LCD monitors have different native resolutions. Playing a native resolution or half, quarter, etc will prevent blurriness.

CRTs don't have native resolutions, just a maximum.

 

I can't recall seeing a game with a "native resolution" since the days when the only choice was 640x480

LED/LCD monitors have a native resolution. This is determined by the number of actual physical pixels horizontally and vertically.

I personally prefer, if available, to run games using the native resolution of the monitor.

If that resolution isn't available then next I look for a setting that has a resolution with an aspect ratio (width divided by height) the same as the monitor's native aspect ratio. That way generally there's no stretching or black bars.

If all those options are unavailable in the game then I guess the only option is the next resolution below the monitor's native resolution.

That's just my preference...