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

Forum Index > BW General
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1 2 Next All
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
Singapore66358 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.
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