• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 15:37
CEST 21:37
KST 04:37
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
Team Liquid Map Contest #22: Results and Winners7Code S Season 2 (2026): RO4 and Finals Preview12TL.net Map Contest #22 - Voting & Ladder Map Selection7Code S Season 2 (2026) - RO8 Preview8[ASL21] Finals Preview: Two Legacies21
Community News
ZeroSpace at Steam NextFest - Last free demo21Weekly Cups (June 8-14): Clem and Solar double, PTR tested0RSL: S6 Finals played at BlizzCon 202611Douyu Cup 2026: $20,000 Legends Event (June 26-28)12[BSL22] Non-Korean Championship from 13 to 28 June4
StarCraft 2
General
HomeStory Cup In Early July StarCraft II 5.0.16 PTR Patch Notes may 26th Daily SC2 Player Grid - feedback wanted Is the larve respawn broken? Yamato Cup Series
Tourneys
Douyu Cup 2026: $20,000 Legends Event (June 26-28) GSL CK #4 20-21th June Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament Master Swan Open (Global Bronze-Master 2) Crank Gathers Season 4: BW vs SC2 Team League
Strategy
[G] Having the right mentality to improve
Custom Maps
Work In Progress Melee Maps [D]RTS in all its shapes and glory <3
External Content
The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 531 Experimental Artillery Mutation # 530 One For All Mutation # 529 Opportunities Unleashed
Brood War
General
Fact based Zerg Upgrade Tier List BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ STARCRAFT MOVIE - Last Night at the Command center BW General Discussion Battle cruiser feet vs Carrier fleet
Tourneys
CSLAN 4 is Coming! [Megathread] Daily Proleagues Small VOD Thread 2.0 The Casual Games of the Week Thread
Strategy
Why doesn't anyone use restoration? Simple Questions, Simple Answers Relatively freeroll strategies Creating a full chart of Zerg builds
Other Games
General Games
Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread ZeroSpace at Steam NextFest - Last free demo Beyond All Reason Nintendo Switch Thread Path of Exile
Dota 2
Looking for a Dota Mentor Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug
TL Mafia
Vanilla Mini Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread [H]Internet/Gaming Cafe Tips and Tricks The Games Industry And ATVI UK Politics Mega-thread
Fan Clubs
The HerO Fan Club! The herO Fan Club!
Media & Entertainment
Movie Discussion! [Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books [TV/BOOK] *SPOILERS* Game of Thrones Discussion
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread McBoner: A hockey love story TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 Formula 1 Discussion Cricket [SPORT]
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread Facing Challenges in Mobile App Development
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
ICO Development for AI, G…
Joshlittle
How To Predict Tilt in Espor…
TrAiDoS
An Exploration of th…
waywardstrategy
I'm an arrogant trash talke…
FlaShFTW
Gauntlet SC2: A Retrospectiv…
Ctone23
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 7030 users

[G] Nvidia Fixed-Aspect Ratio Fix for 16:10

Forum Index > BW General
Post a Reply
Normal
Kentor *
Profile Blog Joined December 2007
United States5784 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-05-21 20:54:55
May 14 2009 01:08 GMT
#1
So I was reading this thread http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=93192 and I noticed people are still having problems with the nvidia fixed-aspect ratio option, especially with the 8800 GT which is the card I have.

My Specs:
Windows 7 32-bit
8800 GT (I'm using DVI to connect this to my computer)
1680x1050 Dell 2007WFP

Problems people have:
- Unable to keep the option "Use NVIDIA scaling with aspect-ratio" selected.
- Able to select the option, but it doesn't work for 640x480 (what we really care about!)

I found a fix for this buried somewhere on google so I'd like to post it here.

To fix the first problem, that is unable to keep the scaling with aspect-ratio selected, you'd want to get older drivers. The 185.85 or 181.xx drivers don't work. I am using 175.19 for windows vista although I'm on windows 7 and it works. You can get the drivers here:
http://downloads.guru3d.com/GeForce-ForceWare-175.19-Vista-(32-bit)-download-1963.html (32-bit)
http://downloads.guru3d.com/GeForce-ForceWare-175.19-Vista-(64-bit)-download-1962.html (64-bit)

So uninstall your drivers if you have the latest one and use older ones!

Now that you've done that, you'd want to select "Use NVIDIA scaing with fixed-aspect ratio" in your Nvidia Control Panel under Change flat panel scaling:
+ Show Spoiler +
[image loading]


After you did that and made sure the option stays, click
"Manage custom resolutions" on the left side and then
"Create..."

Then enter 640 for horizontal desktop pixels and 480 for vertical desktop lines.

Click "Advanced >>"

After that, select "Manual..." under "timing standard" and change "Active horizontal pixels" to 768. It should look like this:
+ Show Spoiler +
[image loading]


Then click Test and hope that it works!

The reason why it's 768 is because 768:480 gives you 16:10 which is what 1680x1050 is. If you have some 16: 9 monitor, then, well I'm not sure because 853.333333:480 gives you 16: 9. Maybe you can round this number .

Hope this help a few of you
Grobyc
Profile Blog Joined June 2008
Canada18410 Posts
May 14 2009 01:19 GMT
#2
I can't personally make use of this guide but nice contribution!
If you watch Godzilla backwards it's about a benevolent lizard who helps rebuild a city and then moonwalks into the ocean.
CholeraSC
Profile Joined March 2008
United States114 Posts
May 21 2009 13:39 GMT
#3
Hey - this is a really great post at just the right time for me, since I just bought a new desktop with a 9800GT and 21.5" widescreen monitor (native 1920 x 1080, 16 ratio). I have the same problem of "Use Nvidia scaling" not working - when I select it and press apply, it gives me a countdown, and no matter what I do it reverts to "Use my display's built-in scaling". Anyway, I Googled the above terms and found this post near the top.

I'm at work right now so I can't test out your method, but do you think the link above for Vista 64 would work for a 9800 also? Also, this will center the game and fill the sides with black bars that the cursor cannot move to, right? That's what I have on my laptop and that's what I would like now. Thanks!
http://www.youtube.com/user/CholeraSC
konadora *
Profile Blog Joined February 2009
Singapore66363 Posts
May 21 2009 13:42 GMT
#4
lol @
POGGERS
MasterReY
Profile Blog Joined August 2007
Germany2708 Posts
May 21 2009 14:57 GMT
#5
8800GTS
Vista
Downloaded drivers from ur link

fixed aspect ratio doesn't stay selected, custom resolution "test" gives me a black screen for 15 secs

https://www.twitch.tv/MasterReY/ ~ Biggest Reach fan on TL.net (Don't even dare to mention LR now) ~ R.I.P Violet ~ Developer of SCRChart
TL+ Member
sudo.era
Profile Blog Joined April 2009
United States300 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-05-21 16:15:51
May 21 2009 16:12 GMT
#6
I have a 9800GT, and I've already said it in another thread. The latest Nvidia drivers seem to only go through with the 'fixed-aspect ratio' in special circumstances. Pretty much everybody using XP has no problem with it, but about half the people on Vista do - don't know exactly why. It definitely has something to do with the graphics driver, though. I believe the last driver that had a 100% functional fixed-aspect ratio was 92.XX-ish. You could revert to the incredibly old driver if you want to, though that would mean crippling your ability to play newer games (ie since 2006)

I have gone through this myself, so I understand your pain. I literally tried everything. Everything. Messing with the drivers (and of course having to reinstall), third party software, contacting Nvidia (they always dodge the question by playing the 'have you tried this? maybe it's this,' game); I even went so far as to attempt changing my monitor's firmware (not easy). None of it worked.

My solution was to buy a 15" 1024x768 monitor and go dual-screen. Whenever I want to play SC, I just set the 15" as my main monitor and voila, correct aspect ratio. The cheapest (decent) one I could find on the internet was the HP L1506. If you search google products and ebay, you should be able to find it for $70-75.
omninmo
Profile Blog Joined April 2008
2349 Posts
May 21 2009 16:55 GMT
#7
for all wide-screen users. get this to work for you. i didnt use the info therein but i have had the vertical letterboxes for a few months and it makes the game look so much better on a rectangle screen. i use XP.

here's how the settings should look in chinese
+ Show Spoiler +
[image loading]
St0rmRush
Profile Joined February 2003
Brazil448 Posts
May 21 2009 17:14 GMT
#8
thank god my monitor has built-in function for 4:3 or 19:10
Heggie
Profile Blog Joined March 2006
United Kingdom167 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-05-21 17:18:14
May 21 2009 17:15 GMT
#9
The "NVIDIA scaling with aspect-ratio" is greyed out and "Use my display's built in scaling" is selected. As I understand it "NVIDIA scaling with aspect-ratio" does not work with VGA cables. Could this be because I am using an hdmi cable to connect to my monitor? The graphics card output is DVI however.

Thanks for the guide anyway btw
Kentor *
Profile Blog Joined December 2007
United States5784 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-05-21 20:59:22
May 21 2009 20:50 GMT
#10
On May 22 2009 02:15 Heggie wrote:
The "NVIDIA scaling with aspect-ratio" is greyed out and "Use my display's built in scaling" is selected. As I understand it "NVIDIA scaling with aspect-ratio" does not work with VGA cables. Could this be because I am using an hdmi cable to connect to my monitor? The graphics card output is DVI however.

Thanks for the guide anyway btw

I don't know, but I use DVI cables for my card. Maybe you can try to just DVI? Or does your monitor input not have a DVI slot?

On May 21 2009 23:57 MasterReY wrote:
8800GTS
Vista
Downloaded drivers from ur link

fixed aspect ratio doesn't stay selected, custom resolution "test" gives me a black screen for 15 secs



Here's a list of archived drivers

http://downloads.guru3d.com/Videocards---NVIDIA-GeForce-Vista-32|64_c32.html

Maybe you can try really old ones like 90 something and see if it works?

Also, this guide might not work on different monitors
cgrinker
Profile Blog Joined December 2007
United States3824 Posts
May 21 2009 20:52 GMT
#11
Cool stuff, though I got the 8600 because the 88 was too expensive for my small wallet
CholeraSC
Profile Joined March 2008
United States114 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-06-06 03:14:21
June 06 2009 03:14 GMT
#12
So, I never figured out a way to make an nVidia driver work with Vista 64 on my 16 : 9 monitor, but I figured out a ghetto-tastic workaround for widescreen users:

1. Set resolution to 1280 x 1024. Your monitor should have large black boxes around the usable screen area (try switching aspect ration on your monitor if not).

2. Run SC with Chaoslauncher in windowed mode. Enable the double screen size and lock cursor modes on the upper right corner (first two from the left).

3. Drag windowed SC so it fills the entire screen.

4. Ctrl-alt-delete and shut off windows explorer. Enjoy your new proper-aspect, "full screen" Starcraft!

http://www.youtube.com/user/CholeraSC
Kentor *
Profile Blog Joined December 2007
United States5784 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-06-06 03:20:40
June 06 2009 03:19 GMT
#13
lol ghetto but doesn't the mouse not feel the same that way?
Kinky
Profile Blog Joined September 2008
United States4126 Posts
June 07 2009 07:06 GMT
#14
On May 22 2009 01:12 sudo.era wrote:
Pretty much everybody using XP has no problem with it, but about half the people on Vista do - don't know exactly why.

I'm one of those people too and I'm using 182.06 on XP.
It's a weird problem.
lazymej
Profile Joined February 2006
Canada269 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-06-07 07:09:40
June 07 2009 07:09 GMT
#15
Yeah I'm pretty sure you need to be using DVI for this. If you're using VGA the nVidia control panel will not give you the option to fix the aspect ratio.

edit - I'm not sure about HDMI.
^_~
GinNtoniC
Profile Blog Joined October 2007
Sweden2945 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-06-07 07:52:16
June 07 2009 07:51 GMT
#16
Pardon my lack of reading comprehension, but does this also mean problems like ovescanning (With DVI-->HDMI) are on solved the 8800-series?

(As in, graphics card plugged to Widescreen TV = overscanning)
Huge fan of JulyZerg, HonestTea and that guy Kim Taek Yong.
CholeraSC
Profile Joined March 2008
United States114 Posts
June 07 2009 14:32 GMT
#17
I had to wikipedia "overscanning" to figure out what it is - do you mean, your desktop extends outside the viewable area of the monitor? If that's what you mean, I think that's relatively easy to take care of. In Nvidia's control panel, you can go to "resize HDTV desktop" and use it to resize the borders of your desktop so it fits inside the monitor. On ATI cards there is a similar option under the TV settings after you plug it in.

As for the original problem - I'm using Vista 64 (w/ DVI connection) running the latest nVidia Forceware driver , 185.85, because I play Fallout 3 also and want every damn FPS I can get ^^ The support for F3 and a lot of other games made in this millennium is a lot better with the newest drivers, so I think my set up is a good compromise. Finally, the mouse settings are actually not that bad with my ghetto fix" - you can always change sensitivity inside SC to make it work out for you.

If anyone else has Vista 64 issue with these drivers, ask away, since I spent a long time debugging issues...
http://www.youtube.com/user/CholeraSC
GinNtoniC
Profile Blog Joined October 2007
Sweden2945 Posts
June 08 2009 09:49 GMT
#18
On June 07 2009 23:32 CholeraSC wrote:
I had to wikipedia "overscanning" to figure out what it is - do you mean, your desktop extends outside the viewable area of the monitor? If that's what you mean, I think that's relatively easy to take care of. In Nvidia's control panel, you can go to "resize HDTV desktop" and use it to resize the borders of your desktop so it fits inside the monitor. On ATI cards there is a similar option under the TV settings after you plug it in.

Yeah that's what I mean and no, you can't do that on the 8800 series, that's the whole thing
It's been admitted by nivida that they fucked that part up. The question is if they've finally fixed it
Huge fan of JulyZerg, HonestTea and that guy Kim Taek Yong.
CholeraSC
Profile Joined March 2008
United States114 Posts
June 13 2009 16:57 GMT
#19
On June 08 2009 18:49 GinNtoniC wrote:
Show nested quote +
On June 07 2009 23:32 CholeraSC wrote:
I had to wikipedia "overscanning" to figure out what it is - do you mean, your desktop extends outside the viewable area of the monitor? If that's what you mean, I think that's relatively easy to take care of. In Nvidia's control panel, you can go to "resize HDTV desktop" and use it to resize the borders of your desktop so it fits inside the monitor. On ATI cards there is a similar option under the TV settings after you plug it in.

Yeah that's what I mean and no, you can't do that on the 8800 series, that's the whole thing
It's been admitted by nivida that they fucked that part up. The question is if they've finally fixed it



Hmm - I thought 9800 and 8800 were substantially the same thing. Do you have the latest drivers (they should be the same 185 one as my 9800)? If so, go to Nvidia Control Panel, then to "video and television" on the left, and then "resize HDTV desktop". I am using " do not resize my desktop" which has fit my visible screen exactly onto my monitor. HTH.
http://www.youtube.com/user/CholeraSC
-visnu-
Profile Joined April 2009
Australia149 Posts
January 12 2010 11:57 GMT
#20
MasterRe

same problem.
Highways
Profile Joined July 2005
Australia6119 Posts
January 12 2010 12:53 GMT
#21
Its definitely a Vista problem.

Scaling works with the latest nVidia driver on Windows 7 and XP.
#1 Terran hater
haduken
Profile Blog Joined April 2003
Australia8267 Posts
March 04 2010 11:22 GMT
#22
Well, it doesn't work for me.

So weird. After windows 7 install, I get the black bars but the aspect ratio was correct then a few reboots later starcraft reverts to stretched screen.
Rillanon.au
haduken
Profile Blog Joined April 2003
Australia8267 Posts
March 04 2010 12:13 GMT
#23
I just found a work around by disabling full scaling on my monitor. Benq G2411HD, aspect mode do not work if you have a 16 resolution, so change your resolution to something like 1680x1050 then select aspect mode.
Rillanon.au
synapse
Profile Blog Joined January 2009
China13814 Posts
April 04 2010 21:42 GMT
#24
I don't even have the option of "display panel scaling" in my nvidia control panel... anything I can do to fix this?

I'm stuck with SC and GunZ in widescreen; it was originally aspect-ratio locked, but after one of the windows 7 updates the aspect ratio suddenly became scaled to fit my widescreen monitor T.T
:)
Normal
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Monday Night Weeklies
16:00
#57
RotterdaM1139
TaKeTV 500
TKL 442
IndyStarCraft 265
SteadfastSC225
BRAT_OK 134
ZombieGrub130
HolyHit26
LiquipediaDiscussion
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
RotterdaM 1139
TKL 442
IndyStarCraft 265
SteadfastSC 225
BRAT_OK 134
ZombieGrub130
JuggernautJason82
ProTech20
StarCraft: Brood War
Calm 3312
Leta 115
Dewaltoss 56
scan(afreeca) 33
Rock 22
Sacsri 8
Dota 2
XaKoH 413
420jenkins328
canceldota73
capcasts66
Counter-Strike
fl0m2386
pashabiceps2145
Heroes of the Storm
Liquid`Hasu296
MindelVK13
Other Games
Grubby2903
FrodaN1360
Beastyqt672
ceh9590
PiGStarcraft438
C9.Mang0173
Trikslyr67
Organizations
Dota 2
PGL Dota 2 - Main Stream7753
StarCraft 2
angryscii 28
Other Games
Algost 2
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
[ Show 18 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• kabyraGe 170
• EnkiAlexander 40
• mYiSmile123
• Kozan
• Migwel
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• sooper7s
• intothetv
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
StarCraft: Brood War
• 80smullet 16
• FirePhoenix4
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
• BSLYoutube
League of Legends
• Nemesis2057
Other Games
• imaqtpie631
• Shiphtur318
Upcoming Events
Sparkling Tuna Cup
14h 23m
The PondCast
1d 14h
Douyu Cup 2020
2 days
Oliveira vs Trap
Jieshi vs XY
soO vs FanTaSy
TY vs Coffee
Douyu Cup 2020
3 days
Neeb vs Impact
MacSed vs Cyan
Scarlett vs Kelazhur
INnoVation vs Dear
Douyu Cup 2020
4 days
Maestros of the Game
4 days
herO vs Classic
Maru vs Serral
BSL22 NKC (BSL vs China)
4 days
Douyu Cup 2020
5 days
BSL22 NKC (BSL vs China)
5 days
Online Event
5 days
[ Show More ]
RSL Revival
6 days
RSL Revival
6 days
WardiTV Weekly
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2026-06-19
WardiTV Spring 2026
Heroes Pulsing #2

Ongoing

IPSL Spring 2026
Acropolis #4
CSCL: Masked Kings S4
YSL S3
BSL 22 Non-Korean Championship
CSL Season 21: Qualifier 1
SCTL 2026 Spring
Maestros of the Game 2
Murky Cup 2026
IEM Cologne Major 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 2
CS Asia Championships 2026
Asian Champions League 2026
IEM Atlanta 2026
PGL Astana 2026
BLAST Rivals Spring 2026
IEM Rio 2026
PGL Bucharest 2026

Upcoming

CSL Season 21: Qualifier 2
CSL 2026 Summer (S21)
CSLAN 4
Blizzard Classic Cup 2026
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
RSL Revival: Season 6
CranK Gathers Season 4: BW vs SC2 Team League
HSC XXIX
Douyu Cup 2026
BCC 2026
Light Tournament 2026
Eternal Conflict S2 Finale
Eternal Conflict S2 E1
Heroes Pulsing #3
BLAST Open Fall 2026
Esports World Cup 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer Qual
Stake Ranked Episode 3
XSE Pro League 2026
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.