PES 2012 x FIFA 12 (Demos) - Widescreen and Multi-Monitor Support Comparative
1) Widescreen Support
PES 2012 seems to have been developed with two Aspect Ratios in mind - 4:3 and 16:9(1), and this becomes clear as soon as you run the settings launcher, since there are options to enable a compatibility mode with only these two ARs in fullscreen. The game of course supports 15:9(2) and 16:10(3) resolutions, but you'll have black bars on top and bottom of the screen. You can get rid of the bars by unchecking a "LB" option in the settings launcher, but this in fact will only slightly stretch vertically the image, so it "fits" your monitor.
Screen change behavior consequently is anamorphic. HUD doesnt stretch at widescreen resolutions, plus all the menus are 100% usable.
FIFA 12 offers desirable Hor+ screen change behavior (horizontal component of the Field Of View expands when running at widescreen resolutions, while the vertical component of the FOV keeps roughtly or exactly the same) for all widescreen resolutions. HUD and menus also look all fine on widescreen.
Please check the screenshots below for better comparison.
PES 2012 16:10 + "LB" unchecked (Vertically stretched)
FIFA 12 16:10 (Hor+)
2) Multi-Monitor Support
PES 2012 has native pillarboxed support for multi-monitor(4) resolutions, what means the game will actually run on your center screen only, with black bars fitting the side monitors. Alternatively, you can uncheck the "LB" option in the settings launcher to stretch the game across all screens (that is not a good idea, obviously). The settings launcher does not list all multi-mon resolutions your setup can run, i.e. the max resolution i could choose during the tests was 4098x768 , instead of 5040x1050, that should be my limit. Anyway it doesnt matter much considering the pillarboxed / stretched behavior.
FIFA 12, on the other hand, keeps the Hor+ support thats available for widescreen resolutions. Some HUD elements stretch at multi-monitor resolutions, also some menu backgrounds are Vert- (zoomed in), but all HUD and menu elements are 100% readable and usable. All resolutions supported by my setup were available for selection during the tests, including bezel compensation.
PES 2012 Multi-Monitor + "LB" checked (Pillarboxed)
PES 2012 Multi-Monitor + "LB" unchecked (Stretched)
FIFA 12 Multi-Monitor (Hor+)
3) Conclusion
If you play on a 16:9 resolution, PES 2012 and FIFA 12 offer similar widescreen support. For the other widescreen Aspect Ratios, 15:9 and 16:10, FIFA 12 offers better support.
Screen change behavior is Hor+ in this game at these ARs, and anamorphic (black bars on top and bottom) or vertically stretched in PES 2012.
Running at multi-monitor resolutions, FIFA 12 also presents a better support, keeping the Hor+ behavior from all widescreen resolutions, while PES 2012 is pillarboxed / stretched at all multi-monitor resolutions.
Please check the games's Detailed Reports (PES 2012 and FIFA 12) for additional information and more screenshots.
(1) 16:9= 1280x720, 1360x768, 1366x768, 1600x900, 1920x1080, 2560x1440
(2) 15:9= 1280x768
(3) 16:10= 1024x640, 1280x800, 1440x900, 1680x1050, 1920x1200, 2560x1600
(4) Multi-Monitor= 3072x768, 3840x1024, 4800x900, 5040x1050, 5760x1080, 5760x1200