GeForce 8 Series and Flat Panel Scaling!

[BroadbandGamer]

It's been months since the 8 Series was released and Flat Panel Scaling is still not working!

What the hell is NVIDIA's problem? Next gen cards will be out before this gets fixed. I'm beginning to think it's not fixable and NVIDIA is just going to ride it out until their next gen cards come out.

This is really pissing me off. NVIDIA is so lucky they have no competition right now because if they did I would be gone.

 

[vhx]

The latest beta said they were fixed. I don't have the 8 series so I wouldn't know.

 

[BroadbandGamer]

Originally posted by: vhx
The latest beta said they were fixed. I don't have the 8 series so I wouldn't know.

I'm running 158.22 and it's not fixed.

 

[PCTC2]

check the nVIDIA site. The latest beta drivers are 162.1X (XP) and 163.1X (Vista)

if it is fixed on the latest beta driver, then VHX was right.

 

[imported_Equinox]

It has been fixed since the 160.03. You have to take the check out of the box "treat as HDTV" and then flat panel scaling shows up. The damn box is checked by default, and it isn't in an intuitive place. Look under "manage custom resolutions" for the box.

 

[postmortemIA]

Works for me, but then my monitor does the work, it has options for aspect ratio, 1:1, and fill the screen.

 

[BroadbandGamer]

Originally posted by: postmortemIA
Works for me, but then my monitor does the work, it has options for aspect ratio, 1:1, and fill the screen.

My monitor has the same options but for some reason it's grayed out.

I'll try the above and see what happens.

 

[lavaheadache]

I got forceware 162.15 @ on Vista 64 and Flat panel scaling works fine with the 8800 GTX. Running @ 1920x1200, 3dmark scales down the rez like it should for the cpu and game tests

 

[lupi]

What does this do.

 

[imported_Equinox]

Originally posted by: lupi
What does this do.

It places black bars on either side of a widescreen monitor to keep the Aspect Ratio at 4:3 for games that only support that aspect ratio (like Diablo 2, Starcraft, Sacred, etc.). That way the whole screen isn't stretched out and made "fat". Like an HD television places the pillars so that when watching a standard broadcast all of the people don't look like they need diets.

 

[mushroomx]

Where do u find the 160.+ xp drivers on the site? I clicked the "try our beta drivers" thing and it only shows me 158.22

 

[imported_Equinox]

They are WHQL for Quadro cards, but they also work just fine for Geforce cards. I pulled them off of Guru3D. Link: http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?id=10

There are also later sets, but I use these because they seem to be quite stable and good for me.

 

[Brian48]

It seems to work fine under Vista. Can't imagine why it can't eventually be fixed for WinXP or Win2k.

 

[BernardP]

Speaking of flat panel scaling, as a prospective 8600GT and widescreen LCD buyer, I am still unclear about a few things:

--- When NVidia says flat panel scaling doesn't (or didn't) work on 8800 GTX/GTS w widescreen monitors, does it mean it works with the 8600 series?

--- When NVIdia refers to scaling, are they talking only about 1:1 pixel mapping and/or stretch-to-fill while maintaining correct aspect ratio?

--- What is the behavior of the 8600 and 8800 series with simple scaling, that is simply displaying a lower-than-native resolution, but having the interpolation done in the videocard and not by the monitor?

An example of this is displaying @ 1280x800, or any other correct 16:10 resolution, on a 22-inch widescreen. I know my puny 6150 integrated graphics can scale any resolution, and as long as I use the DVI output, it will be correctly displayed on the monitor, without artifacts. But if I use the VGA output, the videocard can't scale it internally. Then, depending on the monitor make and model, some resolutions will look acceptable (such as 1440x900 on the 22-inch LG models), but others will be horribly pixelated.

So my question is: I am not worried about 1:1 and stretch-to-fill while maintaining correct aspect ratio. I only want to know if the 8600 series can do the simple scaling I am looking for.

 

[lupi]

Originally posted by: Equinox

Originally posted by: lupi
What does this do.

It places black bars on either side of a widescreen monitor to keep the Aspect Ratio at 4:3 for games that only support that aspect ratio (like Diablo 2, Starcraft, Sacred, etc.). That way the whole screen isn't stretched out and made "fat". Like an HD television places the pillars so that when watching a standard broadcast all of the people don't look like they need diets.

Damn, I play a whole lot of games where the idiots didn't program sufficient # of rez's into it and need to try this out.

 

[PCTC2]

Linky to Beta Drivers

 

[imported_Equinox]

Originally posted by: BernardP
Speaking of flat panel scaling, as a prospective 8600GT and widescreen LCD buyer, I am still unclear about a few things:

--- When NVidia says flat panel scaling doesn't (or didn't) work on 8800 GTX/GTS w widescreen monitors, does it mean it works with the 8600 series?

--- When NVIdia refers to scaling, are they talking only about 1:1 pixel mapping and/or stretch-to-fill while maintaining correct aspect ratio?

--- What is the behavior of the 8600 and 8800 series with simple scaling, that is simply displaying a lower-than-native resolution, but having the interpolation done in the videocard and not by the monitor?

An example of this is displaying @ 1280x800, or any other correct 16:10 resolution, on a 22-inch widescreen. I know my puny 6150 integrated graphics can scale any resolution, and as long as I use the DVI output, it will be correctly displayed on the monitor, without artifacts. But if I use the VGA output, the videocard can't scale it internally. Then, depending on the monitor make and model, some resolutions will look acceptable (such as 1440x900 on the 22-inch LG models), but others will be horribly pixelated.

So my question is: I am not worried about 1:1 and stretch-to-fill while maintaining correct aspect ratio. I only want to know if the 8600 series can do the simple scaling I am looking for.

Yes, it works with the 8600 series (I have an 8600GTS in a different box, and a 7900GTX Go 512MB in my laptop 1920x1200 panel). This feature is an absolute must. It looks horrible at non 16:10 resolutions if the black bars are not present because it isn't maintaining the proper aspect ratio. That is why this is absolutely necessary for those that want more than just 16:10 or centered output with no stretching with a widescreen.

As far as I know, ATI cards don't do this at all - unless you have a very specific monitor, very specific drivers and the planets are all aligned. Some get it to work, but it is totally dependent on what monitor you have. All NVidia cards do it, it was just a driver bug for the 8X00 series for a while - I stayed at the 96.92's until it was fixed in the later drivers just because of this - i.e. there were early drivers that it worked with, and now there are drivers that correct the issue.

 

[postmortemIA]

Well there are multiple ways this gets done, and they are controlled by nvidia driver.
-Use nvidia scaling with fixed aspect ratio does what is says: fills up screen as much as posssible, while maintaining aspect ratio - which is IMO best option
-use my display's built in scaling lets monitor control it - some monitors have this.
-do not scale - it keeps 1:1, which means black bars on sides and or top and bottom.

 

[darkling183]

Being in exactly the same position as BernardP (ie looking to buy an 8600GT card and a widescreen LCD monitor), I'm also interested in this issue.

Equinox, which drivers support scaling with the 8600, in your experience?

Also, I'm correct in thinking that scaling only works through the DVI connection, right? So if the card I'm intending to buy has more than one DVI output, which one do I connect the monitor to?

 

[BernardP]

Originally posted by: Equinox
Yes, it works with the 8600 series (I have an 8600GTS in a different box, and a 7900GTX Go 512MB in my laptop 1920x1200 panel). This feature is an absolute must. It looks horrible at non 16:10 resolutions if the black bars are not present because it isn't maintaining the proper aspect ratio. That is why this is absolutely necessary for those that want more than just 16:10 or centered output with no stretching with a widescreen.

Thanks Equinox! Finally I am getting an answer to this question. Lots haa been written about scaling with the 8800 series, but not about the 8600 series.

 

[imported_Equinox]

Specifically, every driver I have every used with my laptops 7900GTX 512 go has worked this way. For the 8800GTS it only worked with the 97.92s (in XP), and then was broken until the 160.03s. Ever since the 160.03s I have had no problems. Some people were able to get it to work with a few drivers before those, but not reliably (they would have to unplug the DVI cable, let it boot, then plug it back in and it would work - weird). The 160.03s and on have worked reliably and every time for me in XP with both my 8800GTS and my 8600GTS. It also works in Vista. You have to take the check out of that box, though - the "treat as HDTV" box, because if that is there, it will try to upscale to fill the whole display. As long as you uncheck that box, you can then use flat panel scaling. Flat panel scaling will not show up if you have "treat as HDTV" checked. You can find it under "manage custom resolutions" in the control panel.

EDIT: I saw someone asking if it only does it with DVI - I don't know - both of mine are connected via DVI, so I know it works with DVI, but I can't swear it will work in VGA because I haven't personally tried it (and I don't have a VGA cable).

 

[imported_Equinox]

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words

8600 GTS settings - Vista Driver 158.45

It also works in XP. If needed, I'll take a screenshot of the box that you need to uncheck from the XP box, but once it is unchecked, it looks just like it does in Vista.

I hope that answers your questions!

 

[imported_Equinox]

8800GTS in XP, 160.03 drivers:

http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/8679/8800gtsxpjj1.jpg

The box to uncheck:

http://img62.imageshack.us/img...127/assinineboxma4.jpg

Now if someone with a VGA cable happens to wander into this thread, maybe they can confirm whether it works that way.

 

[darkling183]

Thanks for all the information, Equinox. You've certainly helped ease my mind about buying an 8600GT and a widescreen monitor. I was under the confused impression that all Geforce series 8 cards had the scaling problem with the latest drivers. And knowing which drivers are 'safe' to use with the 8600 is a relief too. Thanks again.

 

[BernardP]

Originally posted by: darkling183
Thanks for all the information, Equinox. You've certainly helped ease my mind about buying an 8600GT and a widescreen monitor. I was under the confused impression that all Geforce series 8 cards had the scaling problem with the latest drivers. And knowing which drivers are 'safe' to use with the 8600 is a relief too. Thanks again.

I couldn't have said it better. Thanks Equinox :thumbsup: