NationStates Jolt Archive

Does anyone here happen to know if I can get black bars down the sides of my games instead of stretching them or playing them windowed? It's really annoying and when I fiddled with it before I managed to replace the image with a grey box. I tried fiddling with the settings in "NVIDIA Control Panel" so that the card would keep the aspect ratio normal instead of letting the monitor doing the scaling (and therefore stretching it), but the monitor doesn't like that. I could put up with changing the horizontal size of the image but the monitor won't let me. I'm not a techie, not even close (I reckon programming is harder than teaching Quantum Physics to a five year old without either party's head exploding) so if answers/explanations are to be given, dumbing them down a bit is probably a good idea. I hope that someone can help before I get really annoyed, throw the damn thing out the window and go back to using my huge, clunky but reliable CRT.

If the nVidia control panel isn't helping (I've heard it's pretty good, but have an ATi card so can't help with that) then your only hope is that the monitor has an option something like "maintain aspect ratio", "1:1 pixels" or something in its On-Screen Display (you'll have to read the manual/have a play for that).

What monitor is it? Someone might be familiar with it and be able to tell you what to do/if you can do it.

Or you could set the resolution of the software to something in 16:10 aspect ratio... What're you doing, anyway?

Let's see how much of that I can answer.

1) No the monitor controls are basic at best and the manual would be more relevant if it were a Chinese newspaper

2) All I know about the monitor is that it's 19 inches, wide, LCD and has 5ms and PrOview written on it.

3) I can't, the games I own are about three+ years old and don't have wide-screen options.

Hmm. Never heard of the monitor, sorry.

Best I can do is point you at:
http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/

Some older games have hacks and workarounds to make them work 16:10, maybe they have something that can help.

:( I tried that, but I didn't understand it/couldn't get it working.

:( When did user-friendliness get the chop in favour of daily manhood measuring competitions?

Have you got the MONITOR connected by digital video (where it plugs into the card there's 24 square holes, 4 different little holes)
Or analogue (fifteen round holes)?

No need to unplug, there will be a socket on the graphics card which isn't used. Whichever one it isn't is the one you are using.

I must add that I don't have a LCD monitor. I just think it might be relevant which you are using.

Ah :(

Have you got the MONITOR connected by digital video (where it plugs into the card there's 24 square holes, 4 different little holes)
Or analogue (fifteen round holes)?

No need to unplug, there will be a socket on the graphics card which isn't used. Whichever one it isn't is the one you are using.

I must add that I don't have a LCD monitor. I just think it might be relevant which you are using.

Digital, we don't have analog cables.

Digital, we don't have analog cables.

Excellent! The next step is to ask someone who has an LCD monitor. I don't.

Does anyone here happen to know if I can get black bars down the sides of my games instead of stretching them or playing them windowed? It's really annoying and when I fiddled with it before I managed to replace the image with a grey box. I tried fiddling with the settings in "NVIDIA Control Panel" so that the card would keep the aspect ratio normal instead of letting the monitor doing the scaling (and therefore stretching it), but the monitor doesn't like that. I could put up with changing the horizontal size of the image but the monitor won't let me. I'm not a techie, not even close (I reckon programming is harder than teaching Quantum Physics to a five year old without either party's head exploding) so if answers/explanations are to be given, dumbing them down a bit is probably a good idea. I hope that someone can help before I get really annoyed, throw the damn thing out the window and go back to using my huge, clunky but reliable CRT.

The video card resizes video data, not the monitor. And the video always gets sized to the monitor - the monitor's supported dimensions are what is scaled to and LCDs have a native resolution. Unless the monitor supports it, I don't think there is anyway to get letterboxes, much less vertical letterboxes, and you would only get those by trying to resize to a resolution that doesn't work with the type of monitor. Why don't you resize the game resolution in game options?

Why don't you resize the game resolution in game options?

Because that doesn't fix the problem that I have with it. Ideally the second option (first picture) should work.

http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/4351/computeroptionsxk0.png

But when I try it the screen becomes a grey mess. I really really hope that there is a way around this. Because I only own one wide-screen game and I suck at it.

Because that doesn't fix the problem that I have with it. Ideally the second option (first picture) should work.

http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/4351/computeroptionsxk0.png

But when I try it the screen becomes a grey mess. I really really hope that there is a way around this. Because I only own one wide-screen game and I suck at it.

I have a laptop with an ATI X1700 (an ATI X1600 which uses less power) and I have no issues with running Doom 3 at 1024x768 on my 1440x900 LCD screen. LOTR:BFME runs fine too.

I think it's driver issue - see if the latest nVidia drivers fix the issue.

I have no issues with running Doom 3 at 1024x768 on my 1440x900 LCD screen.

So yours works in a logical and undistorted fashion?... lucky you

Yeah, latest drivers are a good idea. Maybe older drivers, in case it's recently been broken.

Failing that the "do not scale" option (running games at, say, 1024x768 or 1152x864), if the "maintain aspect ratio" option is broken.

So yours works in a logical and undistorted fashion?... lucky you

What video card and what nVidia driver version are you using?

Failing that the "do not scale" option (running games at, say, 1024x768 or 1152x864), if the "maintain aspect ratio" option is broken.

That works better, but not by much. The screen becomes covered in lines, wherever the mouse is moving is a little clear but not really.

What video card and what nVidia driver version are you using?

How do I check that? Also, I went to the driver page... but there are so many... which one is likely to fix the problem?

According to DirectX Diagnostic.

Name: NVIDIA GeForce 6600
Driver: nv4_disp.dll
Version: 6.14.0010.9371

Go to www.nvidia.com -> Download Drivers -> select "graphics driver", your card and then your OS, click "go" and you should be taken to a page with the latest driver for your machine.
For a Geforce 7-series on Win2k/XP it's ForceWare 94.24, which was released on the 31st of May.

I don't know how to check your current driver version, it's often a pain in the arse. Is for ATi cards, anyway.

How do I check that? Also, I went to the driver page... but there are so many... which one is likely to fix the problem?

According to DirectX Diagnostic.

Name: NVIDIA GeForce 6600
Driver: nv4_disp.dll
Version: 6.14.0010.9371

Ah, you have a Geforce 6600 which is an older one (my desktop has a nVidia 7600GT). I use nVidia 84.21 drivers with my nVidia 7600GT
http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_2k_84.21.html

Because that doesn't fix the problem that I have with it. Ideally the second option (first picture) should work.

http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/4351/computeroptionsxk0.png

But when I try it the screen becomes a grey mess. I really really hope that there is a way around this. Because I only own one wide-screen game and I suck at it.

Try nVidia scaling without the FAR, or probably no scaling at all preferably. And that is a really fucking weird native res, even for a wide screen.

Try nVidia scaling without the FAR, or probably no scaling at all preferably. And that is a really fucking weird native res, even for a wide screen.

Standard for 19" widescreen panels. (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=17&catid=276)

Try nVidia scaling without the FAR, or probably no scaling at all preferably. And that is a really fucking weird native res, even for a wide screen.

Any option other than the one it's on cause the screen to display fuzz, greyness or in some other way not work/spas out. It does however make NS look pretty damn good.

Standard for 19" widescreen panels. (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=17&catid=276)
That's why I don't like wide screens. Games are not really being designed for wide screen resolutions, but that is what about 90% of the LCD monitor market is.

That's why I don't like wide screens. Games are not really being designed for wide screen resolutions, but that is what about 90% of the LCD monitor market is.

Evidentially I don't really like them either. But it came with the computer so I didn't really have a choice.

That's why I don't like wide screens. Games are not really being designed for wide screen resolutions, but that is what about 90% of the LCD monitor market is.

Most people don't play games, they watch DVDs - which are widescreen.

Most people don't play games, they watch DVDs - which are widescreen.

What kind of person buys a widescreen monitor to watch DVDs instead of a TV?

Go to www.nvidia.com -> Download Drivers -> select "graphics driver", your card and then your OS, click "go" and you should be taken to a page with the latest driver for your machine.
For a Geforce 7-series on Win2k/XP it's ForceWare 94.24, which was released on the 31st of May.

I don't know how to check your current driver version, it's often a pain in the arse. Is for ATi cards, anyway.
The information page of the CCC?

What kind of person buys a widescreen monitor to watch DVDs instead of a TV?

Idiots.

The information page of the CCC?

/me loads the CCC.

[Some months pass]

/me clicks the Information Centre icon.

[a week or two passes]

By jove, you're right. When did they put that in there? I swear it wasn't there before...

Edit:
What kind of person buys a widescreen monitor to watch DVDs instead of a TV?

Somebody with a PC capable of playing DVDs, no standalone DVD player, no room for a telly and no desire to pay for a TV licence, who wants a big monitor anyway?

*Actually has a 4:3 monitor regardless*

Besides, widescreen is becoming more popular for gaming (don't ask me why) too.

Idiots.

Not really, watch the DVD on your PC is more flexible than watching on your TV + DVD Player. You don't have to compete with other people who want to watch something else on the TV and DVD software can do stuff you can't do with commercial DVD player. And DVD players are sometimes region-hard coded but at least the ones on the PC allow 5 changes.

/me loads the CCC.

[Some months pass]

/me clicks the Information Centre icon.

[a week or two passes]

By jove, you're right. When did they put that in there? I swear it wasn't there before...
It only takes six seconds to load, and page changes are damn near instant!

And it's been their since version 0.1

It only takes six seconds to load, and page changes are damn near instant!

And it's been their since version 0.1

Not here it doesn't... Might be an interaction between CCC and BOINC running Seti@Home.

Never noticed it before... And I've looked, too :/

Not here it doesn't... Might be an interaction between CCC and BOINC running Seti@Home.

Never noticed it before... And I've looked, too :/

Well, on 0.1 it was quite noticable as there were only four tabs, including the welcome tab.

Well. I've managed to get it to display letterboxed on all four sides in a lower res... but it still insists that it should be in widescreen :(