GeForce 8 Series and Flat Panel Scaling!

[lament]

created my own thread since it's not too relevant to this one..

 

[darkling183]

Well, since Equinox said that the problem had been fixed since 160.03, I figured that subsequent NVIDIA drivers would also work correctly (which may not be a safe assumption, admittedly). And yes, I'm using a DVI connection. I'm running XP.

When I get home from work, I'll try installing 162.18 and see what happens, but I'm not hopeful.

 

[Redox]

Originally posted by: darkling183

Originally posted by: shredder687
I've been having serious problems with my nvidia drivers, yes i have the latest one and i can't get flat panel scaling to work correctly, i'm trying to get a 4:3 aspect ratio with a 800 x 600 resolution (with black bars on left and right) on my widescreen monitor so i can play my games in a 4:3 resolution with no stretching. when i select "use nvidia scaling with fixed-aspect ratio" then select 800 x 600 or any 4:3 resolution it get's black bars on TOP AND BOTTOM, resulting in an even MORE WIDER screen, which makes it look worse, i'm just trying to get a 4:3 aspect ratio with black bars on the left and right. any solutions?

I'm sad to say that I have the same problem. I bought a Samsung 940BW monitor, and a computer with an 8600GT card. I'm using the 162.50 drivers.

The desktop looks fine as long as I have 'Use my display's built-in scaling' selected. Trying to run a 4:3 game in this mode makes it distort to fill the entire screen.

'Use NVIDIA scaling' makes the display all blurry, though it still fills the screen and isn't stretched.

'Use NVIDIA scaling with fixed-aspect ratio' squashes my desktop vertically, though I can still see the entire width of the desktop.

'Do not scale' squashes my desktop vertically (though slightly less than the previous option) and stretches it horizontally so I can't see either edge of the desktop. My guess would be that it's keeping the desktop at the same (stretched) aspect ratio as the previous option, only bigger.

---
Things behave slightly better if I set up a custom resolution. I can then select any of the flat panel scaling options and the desktop doesn't distort.

It doesn't help with running 4:3 games, though.

Under 'Use NVIDIA scaling', 'Use NVIDIA scaling with fixed-aspect ratio' and 'Use my display's built-in scaling', the 4:3 game stretches to fill the whole screen.

Under 'Do not scale', the game actually appears in the middle of the screen with black bars around it, but it's still stretched to a 16:10 resolution.

---
I've tried the overscan compensation fix, and it made no difference.

I'm thinking that I have to play with either the back-end or front-end parameters under 'custom resolutions', but which ones? I have no idea what half of the settings there mean. Does anyone have any ideas?

Did you reboot after enabling overscan compensation? I belive this is a necessary step.

Since using this fix, it has stuck for me for the most part - only once did I have to re-enable it and reboot, otherwise it seems to be working.

BTW, I had the same problem with the 162.18 drivers (scaling did not work).

 

[darkling183]

Hmm, thanks for the input, Redox. Did you have exactly the same problem as me with the 162.18 drivers (ie 4:3 games squashed down to 16:10, even in 'do not scale' mode)? Or was it a case of the scaling not working in some other way?

I did restart the computer after enabling the overscan compensation fix, but I wasn't using the 162.18 drivers. So I guess I could try both (the 162.18 drivers and the overscan compensation fix) and cross my fingers...

 

[Redox]

no, the problem I was having is that the "do not scale" option would not stick in the control panel. For the 162.18 drivers, it would allow me to select the do not scale option but when I would run a game it would revert back to full screen (and after returning to the desktop the option had reverted to nvidia scaling).

Originally with the 158.22 drivers, it would not allow me to even select the do not scale option but after the overscan compensation fix it started to work.

I don't recall if I'd tried the overscan fix with the latest 162.18 drivers (I don't use them due to GRAW 2 no shadows issue). It definitely works for the 158.22 (though I had to rerun it once - not sure why it stopped working).

The maintain aspect ratio scaling seems to work as well but is not the option I normally use.

Hope this helps ...

 

[darkling183]

Thanks, Redox. So you're using the 158.22 drivers with the overscan compensation fix, and scaling works the way it should? What sort of card do you have?

I don't have a problem with the scaling options not sticking. They stick just fine - they just don't work. =)

 

[darkling183]

I've worked out part of my problem. The scaling seems to be working - however, the graphics card always changes to a 1280x1024 signal resolution when scaling, which is why everything looks vertically squashed to me.

So the next question is how to make the graphics card realise I have a 1440x900 monitor and do the scaling for that resolution instead. Why does it assume I have a 1280x1024 monitor?

Add: Well, from what I've been able to determine, apparently the Geforce 8-series cards don't natively support 1440x900, so the card can't do its special NVIDIA scaling magic in 1440x900 resolution. Whee.

 

[lament]

Originally posted by: darkling183
I've worked out part of my problem. The scaling seems to be working - however, the graphics card always changes to a 1280x1024 signal resolution when scaling, which is why everything looks vertically squashed to me.

So the next question is how to make the graphics card realise I have a 1440x900 monitor and do the scaling for that resolution instead. Why does it assume I have a 1280x1024 monitor?

it doesnt - it sounds like the game you're trying to play is set at 1280x1024. what game are you trying?

Try setting the game to 1280x800.

 

[darkling183]

The game is set to 1024x768 resolution. (The game supports 1440x900 resolution, by the way; I'm just setting it to a lower resolution to test the NVIDIA scaling options.)

I've set the NVIDIA scaling options to 'do not scale'. Theoretically, the monitor should display my 1024x768 pixels in the middle of the screen, with black bars around it.

And it does, but the 1024x768 pixel area is vertically squashed. Here's what's happening:

The graphics card is adding bars around the 1024x768 pixel area assuming that I have a 1280x1024 monitor, not a 1440x900 monitor. (My monitor tells me it's receiving a 1280x1024 signal.) This would look fine if I had a 1280x1024 monitor.

Unfortunately, since it's outputting a 5:4 signal to a 16:10 monitor, the picture gets squashed.

I've come across other posts suggesting that NVIDIA cards just can't output the scaling functions to 1440x900 resolution. It's simply not supported.

So, in short - the scaling function works as it should, but my monitor's resolution isn't supported by either the card or the drivers. And so the card can't perform scaling properly for my monitor.

 

[lament]

Originally posted by: darkling183The graphics card is adding bars around the 1024x768 pixel area assuming that I have a 1280x768 monitor, not a 1440x900 monitor. (My monitor tells me it's receiving a 1280x1024 signal.) This would look fine if I had a 1280x1024 monitor.

Unfortunately, since it's outputting a 5:4 signal to a 16:10 monitor, the picture gets squashed.

That's weird. And you have Native Resolution (in the settings right below the scaling options) set to the native res of your monitor (1440x900), right?

 

[darkling183]

Yes, that's right, which is why it frustrates me that the card keeps switching to 1280x1024. *rolls eyes*

If the card doesn't support scaling in 1440x900, then it makes sense. The drivers are telling the card to do something it can't do, so it ums and ahhs a bit, then defaults to the nearest resolution it knows how to do.


Add: Reading the release notes for 162.18 now, and three widescreen resolutions aren't on the list of supported resolutions - 1440x900, 1680x1050 and 2560x1600. The only officially supported widescreen resolution is 1920x1200. There goes my idea of taking back my 1440x900 monitor and moving up to a 1680x1050 monitor instead.


1 day later: Perhaps fortunately, my 1440x900 monitor had a dead pixel and a 7-day zero-pixel-defect warranty. I took it back to the store and traded it for a 19" 1280x1024 monitor instead. And I'm happy to report that all the scaling functions work exactly as they should now, with the following setup - GeForce 8600GT, Samsung 940B and the 162.50 drivers.

 

[lament]

so I just got an 8800GTS 320MB and I can't get it to scale. I'm using the 163.71 beta drivers. When I choose "Do not scale" and click apply, the selection goes right back to "Use my display's built-in scaler."

 

[lament]

ah I found a workaround.

Overscan utility fix

just tried it.. works great!

 

[AzN]

Originally posted by: lament
ah I found a workaround.

Overscan utility fix

just tried it.. works great!

This works but it also disables HDCP function of the video card.

 

[neothe0ne]

I don't know about anyone else, but I got "Do not scale" to work with 162.22, I think, on my 8600GT. Afterwards I couldn't figure out how to make it stick with 163.44 and above, but then I figured out "NVIDIA scaling with fixed aspect ratio" was better for my needs (Makes StarCraft run with a nice height of 900 instead of 480) and managed to make it work in 163.44, 67, and 69 (I haven't bothered with 71 because I don't see a current need).

 

[Golgatha]

I have an 8800GTX and I can't get the 1:1 scaling to work. I'd love to retro game on my new 22in widescreen monitor, so if anyone has a real resolution for this issue, please post it. I'm pulling my hair out trying to Google and search the nVidia forums for any resolutions.

 

[PingSpike]

So, if darklings finding are correct...then there is a bug in the nvidia drivers and that is why it isn't working.

I have a question:

Has ANYONE here with a monitor that has a native resolution of 1400x900 or 1680x1050 gotten the scaling options to work with their 8800 series card and the latest drivers.

I have EXACTLY the same problem darkling had with his monitor, only mine is a vx2235wm.

 

[Lithan]

Yes, scaling works completely fine with both 174's and 169s on 8800gts and 2005fpw.

 

[Jax Omen]

Must you necro threads?



Anyway, it seems to be very hit-or-miss as to whether scaling does, in fact, work. It works great for me in XP, won't even let me choose it in Vista, and doesn't work for my girlfriend in XP.

 

[Gum]

I'm on the 169.21 drivers for my MSI 8600GT. 1680 x 1050 works perfectly on my LG 22" L227WTG.

 

[AlucardX]

doesn't work for me in Vista. I select the option, hit ok, open the control panel back up and it reverts back to let display handle it.

 

[zagood]

Worked for me in Vista Business x64 with WHQL, doesn't work in Vista Ultimate x64 EXCEPT for 800x600 for some reason. Such a bummer.

yeah I necro'd. this problem just won't get fixed though.

-z

 

[zagood]

Back from the dead again!

So I just finished Mass Effect, and re-installed Crysis to see what post-patch differences there might be. I have a 4:3 monitor and I originally played it at 12x7 letterboxed so I could up the textures etc. Since I installed Ultimate I haven't been able to do that, but figured I'd give it a shot.

1. Set monitor resolution to 1280x768 in nV control panel
2. Use Nvidia scaling with fixed-aspect ratio - doesn't work
3. Go back to 12x10
4. Fire up Crysis
5. Select 12x7 as resolution, turn on full screen
6. Exit Crysis
7. Back to nV control panel, set res to 12x7
8. Use Nvidia scaling with fixed-aspect ratio - it works!

NO idea why. Scaling now works in normal desktop, clone mode on my HDTV, and fullscreen gaming.

So, if you don't own Crysis, here's a reason to buy it lol...

-z

 

[BassBomb]

Works in XP on BF2

 

[PingSpike]

I just bought an ATI...I'm done with nvidia's clusterfuck. Took ATI forever to implement, (also retarded) but at least it actually works.