Screen Resolution revisited

Effigy · 08-01-08, 08:25 PM

Not sure what advice you've had so far, but I have been in this situation as well, and this is what I do:

Adjust the monitor settings. My monitor has buttons on the side in which I'm able to set Widescreen/Zoom/1:1. I'm able to run SHIII at its native resolution and have it fill the screen. With one of the options it just adds black borders to the sides to fill in the space, keeping the aspect ratio correct. With the other option it runs at exactly 1024x768 (my native is 1680x1050), and there are black borders on all sides. Putting it to widescreen gets the effect you see now, squished/mangled/distorted shapes. So this is one fix I've used. I use the zoom and just deal with the black borders left and right of the playing screen.

It's hackish and I guess cheesy (and probably won't help), but if your monitor doesn't have video scaling options (above), you could play windowed and ... maybe ... make a nice (related or relevant) background to flush out all that desktop space around the play window? Tuck away the task bar with auto hide, and make sure your desktop icons aren't around the edges. Could be a solution to playing windowed and lessening the immersion decay.

Just an idea, in case the first one is not an option for you.

Sorry for the frustration, I feel you there. I refuse to man the light AA guns on uboats in SHIII and IV because the aiming reticle looks skewed IMO. Maybe that's accurate and how they were for those AA guns, but it drives me crazy that they are oval shaped instead of round like on the american subs in IV and the heavy AA guns in IV/III, lol...

Lzs von swe · 08-02-08, 03:52 AM

I have an Samsung 22" wide screen and a GF 8800 GTS card running Vista 32.
I use the NVIDIA controllpanel to let NVIDIA set the scaling, keeping the original scaling. That gives me a screen that fills the hight of the screen and adds black borders on the sides.
I can live with those borders, no stretching.

Captain Courageous · 08-02-08, 10:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lzs von swe

I have an Samsung 22" wide screen and a GF 8800 GTS card running Vista 32.
I use the NVIDIA controllpanel to let NVIDIA set the scaling, keeping the original scaling. That gives me a screen that fills the hight of the screen and adds black borders on the sides.
I can live with those borders, no stretching.

Hi,

This sounds intriguing.

I've got an Nvidia GeForce 7600 GT. Do you think my card has the same options as yours with regards to settings ? I hate to impose on your time but could you please tell me what your settings are, or what you did specifically to create a screen as you describe. I've been to the settings panel and I have no idea what all of those options are. I've also seen a down load called Nhancer. Do I need that ? I would not mind black borders in a full screen mode.

Thanks !

rls669 · 08-02-08, 11:02 AM

The possibility of maintaining aspect ratio depends on the video card, drivers, and monitor. The nvidia 8800 series is infamous for not allowing fixed-aspect scaling with HDCP compliant monitors. My 8800GTS wouldn't scale properly on either my Samsung 24" or my Vizio 42".

Look at the LCD Scaling Options in your nvidia control panel and see if Fixed Aspect Ratio is available.

Captain Courageous · 08-02-08, 11:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rls669

The possibility of maintaining aspect ratio depends on the video card, drivers, and monitor. The nvidia 8800 series is infamous for not allowing fixed-aspect scaling with HDCP compliant monitors. My 8800GTS wouldn't scale properly on either my Samsung 24" or my Vizio 42".

Look at the LCD Scaling Options in your nvidia control panel and see if Fixed Aspect Ratio is available.

Hi,

I checked my settings and have no line item called Aspect Ratio. Nothing that even hints at having anything to do with sceen size. If there is, it's using terminolgy that I've never seen before. At least nothing so obvious as having something to do with a horizontal or a vertical control mechanism. I down loaded Nhancer and looked at that screen but it looks as mysterious as the line items in my Nvdia Advanced Control Panel. Might not be so bad if these designer's would describe in plain english what happens when you change things from yes to no. What I wanted to see was a miniature screen with some slider controls in my advanced menu. No such animal.

Lzs von swe · 08-03-08, 03:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Captain Courageous

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lzs von swe

I have an Samsung 22" wide screen and a GF 8800 GTS card running Vista 32.
I use the NVIDIA controllpanel to let NVIDIA set the scaling, keeping the original scaling. That gives me a screen that fills the hight of the screen and adds black borders on the sides.
I can live with those borders, no stretching.

Hi,

This sounds intriguing.

I've got an Nvidia GeForce 7600 GT. Do you think my card has the same options as yours with regards to settings ? I hate to impose on your time but could you please tell me what your settings are, or what you did specifically to create a screen as you describe. I've been to the settings panel and I have no idea what all of those options are. I've also seen a down load called Nhancer. Do I need that ? I would not mind black borders in a full screen mode.

Thanks !

I have a Swedish system so I made this screeny instead of trying to translate

I use driver version 175.19 for Vista. This page was not there until I hooked the new flat screen to the card:hmm:
As for NHancer I have no idea, never used it.

rls669 · 08-03-08, 10:02 AM

Here's a shot of the control panel in english. Note that all my lcd scaling options are greyed out

Captain Courageous · 08-03-08, 10:20 AM

Thanks for all the info. Unfortunately I do not have those options. It only gives me the option to move the screen up down or sideways to center it. Thanks for going to all the trouble. BTW I have an Acer 22" in case that has anything to do with the lack of controls that you have. I found all the instructions and details of what Nhancer does. Looks like a fun thing to experiment with regarding graphic quality.

rls669 · 08-03-08, 11:18 AM

Are your video drivers fully up to date? Older drivers won't have the same functions.

08-02-08, 03:52 AM	#2
Lzs von swe Ace of the Deep Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Norrkoping, Sweden Posts: 1,074 Downloads: 66 Uploads: 0	I have an Samsung 22" wide screen and a GF 8800 GTS card running Vista 32. I use the NVIDIA controllpanel to let NVIDIA set the scaling, keeping the original scaling. That gives me a screen that fills the hight of the screen and adds black borders on the sides. I can live with those borders, no stretching. __________________

08-01-08, 08:25 PM	#1
Effigy Gunner Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 100 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Not sure what advice you've had so far, but I have been in this situation as well, and this is what I do: Adjust the monitor settings. My monitor has buttons on the side in which I'm able to set Widescreen/Zoom/1:1. I'm able to run SHIII at its native resolution and have it fill the screen. With one of the options it just adds black borders to the sides to fill in the space, keeping the aspect ratio correct. With the other option it runs at exactly 1024x768 (my native is 1680x1050), and there are black borders on all sides. Putting it to widescreen gets the effect you see now, squished/mangled/distorted shapes. So this is one fix I've used. I use the zoom and just deal with the black borders left and right of the playing screen. It's hackish and I guess cheesy (and probably won't help), but if your monitor doesn't have video scaling options (above), you could play windowed and ... maybe ... make a nice (related or relevant) background to flush out all that desktop space around the play window? Tuck away the task bar with auto hide, and make sure your desktop icons aren't around the edges. Could be a solution to playing windowed and lessening the immersion decay. Just an idea, in case the first one is not an option for you. Sorry for the frustration, I feel you there. I refuse to man the light AA guns on uboats in SHIII and IV because the aiming reticle looks skewed IMO. Maybe that's accurate and how they were for those AA guns, but it drives me crazy that they are oval shaped instead of round like on the american subs in IV and the heavy AA guns in IV/III, lol...

08-02-08, 11:02 AM	#4
rls669 Torpedoman Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 117 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	The possibility of maintaining aspect ratio depends on the video card, drivers, and monitor. The nvidia 8800 series is infamous for not allowing fixed-aspect scaling with HDCP compliant monitors. My 8800GTS wouldn't scale properly on either my Samsung 24" or my Vizio 42". Look at the LCD Scaling Options in your nvidia control panel and see if Fixed Aspect Ratio is available.

08-03-08, 10:02 AM	#7
rls669 Torpedoman Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 117 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Here's a shot of the control panel in english. Note that all my lcd scaling options are greyed out

08-03-08, 10:20 AM	#8
Captain Courageous Watch Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 25 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Thanks for all the info. Unfortunately I do not have those options. It only gives me the option to move the screen up down or sideways to center it. Thanks for going to all the trouble. BTW I have an Acer 22" in case that has anything to do with the lack of controls that you have. I found all the instructions and details of what Nhancer does. Looks like a fun thing to experiment with regarding graphic quality.

08-03-08, 11:18 AM	#9
rls669 Torpedoman Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 117 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Are your video drivers fully up to date? Older drivers won't have the same functions.