Non-Native Resolutions on 19" WS LCD - Help!

[SitrukFlow]

Need some help trying to use non native resolutions on a LG 194WT 19" WS LCD.

I have an Nvidia 8600gt and I'm using the 158.22 drivers. I want to be able to play CS Source at a lower resolution 960x600 or 800x600. I've messed around in the Nvidia Panel, but can't seem to get things to work. I've tried under the Custom Resolutions tab, but either the test fails or it looks like crap because it stretches the image. I would like to be able to play the game at these settings with the black bars across the top and bottom instead of having the picture stretched. If anyone could give me a small walk through or let me know if there is anything I need to download to, I would greatly appreciate it. I've installed the driver cd for the LCD monitor, but have not downloaded the new drivers as I'm on a fresh O/S install.

Thanks,
Sitruk

 

[BernardP]

158.22 is the latest XP driver...

It was a know problem with XP and 8xxx series videocards, but I was under the impression it was fixed in this last driver revision.

Does this mean that videocard scaling is still not fixed in Win XP for the 86xx series cards? Can anyone confirm this?

I am actually waiting for confirmation of this fix before buying a 86xx card.

 

[BernardP]

Just to make sure SitrukFlow, you are using a DVI connection between the vidcard and monitor, is it not? It is necessary to enable videocard scaling. Using the analog VGA connection doesn't work.

 

[SitrukFlow]

Ah, we have a winner! No sir, I am currently not using a DVI cable to connect my monitor. I had always wondered what the advantages of using DVI over VGA were, and it looks like a found one that will force me into upgrading. Any other noticable differences that DVI brings over VGA?

 

[Modular]

I have heard that you will have a much clearer picture and much improved color reproduction. Enjoy!

 

[tigersty1e]

Why can't you use the ingame settings?

CS:S has an option for aspect ratio.

 

[BernardP]

Originally posted by: SitrukFlow
Ah, we have a winner! No sir, I am currently not using a DVI cable to connect my monitor. I had always wondered what the advantages of using DVI over VGA were, and it looks like a found one that will force me into upgrading. Any other noticable differences that DVI brings over VGA?

A friend bought a LG L226 WT about 2 months ago and didn't spring for the DVI cable. He was complaining of washed out colors and poor contrast, for example in cell outlines in Excel (it's not all play in the real world...). I went to his place with my own DVI cable, swapped it, and Voilà! Instant visible difference in colors and contrast. After that, he went out and spent the $20. It's worth it.

 

[BernardP]

SitrukFlow,

You would be kind to report how lower-resolution scaling works in you 8600GT after you get the DVI cable. I am still wondering if this has been fixed in the latest driver for 8xxx series card. I have only seen it work with 6150 integrated graphics and a 7800GT.

 

[SitrukFlow]

I'll post my findings as soon as I get the cable. I've got decide if I wanna buy a $30 cable locally or order one from the egg and wait the 3 days and save $15.

Tigerstyle, while CS:S does offer the different aspect ratios, it only allows you to do this by stretching the image. I don't want 960x600 stretched across my monitor as the picture is terrible. I'm hoping by buying this DVI cable and setting up custom resolutions via Nvidia drivers, that it will allow me to scale the 960x600 centered so the image quality is improved.

I'll report back once I get the cable.

- Sitruk

 

[gramboh]

With G80 cards (I'm not sure about 8600GT) there's a problem with scaling not working with WS LCD's. Here is a link to a hotfix (be sure to read the text as well, it requires 158.22 drivers for XP32).

http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=34832

One thing to be aware of, once you apply the hotfix and have scaling working, if you use anything with a video overlay (e.g. Windows Media Player to play any movie file) it will break scaling and you'll have to reboot.

What you want to is fixed aspect ratio scaling, this will stretch the picture to fill the screen vertically, but leave black bars on the side (assuming you mean 800x600).

If you want to play a widescreen (16:10 ratio) you should use your monitor's native 16:10 resolution which I think is 1440x900. This option should appear in CS:Source when you select widescreen in video options. If not you can force it at the command line with -width 1440 -height 900 or something like that. CS:Source properly supports widescreen (I play at 1920x1200 with no issues).

 

[BernardP]

Originally posted by: gramboh
With G80 cards (I'm not sure about 8600GT) there's a problem with scaling not working with WS LCD's. Here is a link to a hotfix (be sure to read the text as well, it requires 158.22 drivers for XP32).

http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=34832

One thing to be aware of, once you apply the hotfix and have scaling working, if you use anything with a video overlay (e.g. Windows Media Player to play any movie file) it will break scaling and you'll have to reboot.

Nice tip gramboh, but as a prospective 8600GT buyer, this is not what I want to do. I will be getting a 22 or 24 inch widescreen, but I want to run it all the time at lower than native resolution, but correct aspect ratio (I need everything to be bigger on-screen). I will be using Windows Media Player and gaming and surfing and writing a doc etc...

I have checked that I can do all this with my current lowly 6150 integrated graphics, because this videochip benefits from stable drivers that allow for in-chip scaling of lower resolutions.

I don't care about 1:1 pixel mapping in games. It doesn't bother me if the picture is stretched, as long as it keeps the correct 16:10 aspect ratio. I am still unsure if the available drivers for 8600 series allow this.

Can you further enlighten me?

 

[gramboh]

I'm not sure why you would want to run at a lower resolution (e.g. 1680x1050 on a 1920x1200 24inch? Am I understanding you?). Are you worried about the size of fonts? That can be somewhat addressed by changing the DPI setting in Windows.

If you truly do want to run a lower res (at the correct aspect ratio) and use video overlay, right now I would not recommend an 8x00 series card because this bug might cause problems. It's not fully clear under what configs the scaling breaks, but it is certainly a real problem right now. I'd wait until ATI gets its midrange cards out or wait and see if NV properly fixes this bug.

 

[BernardP]

Originally posted by: gramboh
I'm not sure why you would want to run at a lower resolution (e.g. 1680x1050 on a 1920x1200 24inch? Am I understanding you?). Are you worried about the size of fonts? That can be somewhat addressed by changing the DPI setting in Windows.

If you truly do want to run a lower res (at the correct aspect ratio) and use video overlay, right now I would not recommend an 8x00 series card because this bug might cause problems. It's not fully clear under what configs the scaling breaks, but it is certainly a real problem right now. I'd wait until ATI gets its midrange cards out or wait and see if NV properly fixes this bug.

You got it right. I want to run everyting at lower resolution. Playing with icons and DPI settings is only a partial solution, especially in XP. Thanks for the info. I will have to keep following this to be certain I buy a vidcard that scales as I want.

 

[gramboh]

Keep an eye on the official NVidia forums as well as the Guru3D.com forums, they are threads in the NV driver sections about this issue and it will be clear when they fix it (it's discussed whenever a new driver comes out that doesn't fix it).

 

[BernardP]

Thanks for the tip gramboh. I was aware of NVIdia forums but not of Guru3D. Will be following this issue closely. Because of this. I passed up today on a good deal at FutureShop (Canada) on EVGA 8600GT OC