Scaling on Nvidia Driver With 1080p LCD

[Slaimus]

I just changed from a 1680x1050 monitor to a 1920x1080 one, and now the Nvidia control panel thinks I have a HDTV connected. I wouldn't mind except that it has removed the "Flat Panel Scaling" option and added a "Run television setup wizard". I need the flat panel scaling for playing games that do not work properly in widescreen.

Is there a way for me to make it recognize that it is not a TV?
I even force installed the driver for the LCD, which did not help. I am using a 8800GT with the latest 195 WHQL XP32 driver, and connected through DVI.

 

[mindless1]

Which setting were you wanting, the stretch, window box, or stretch but preserve aspect ratio (might be worded differently)? I presume it stretches by default and you want to preserve aspect ratio?

My 1920x1080 monitor's OSD menu has an "auto" versus the default "wide" setting that will scale to screen height or width - height in this case since older games were 4:3 or 5:4 typically, the stretch but preserve aspect ratio.

 

[Slaimus]

I want the dynamic fixed aspect ratio scaling. If I run something like starcraft at 640x480, under my old monitor it would scale it with black bars on left and right. while preserving 4:3.

I got close by using the "resize my desktop" option to add a 1440x1080 option, but it only works when the game is exactly that resolution.

 

[mindless1]

So you are suggesting you did check your monitor's on screen menu and it has no setting that applies?

On mine, if I set it's menu to "auto", any 4:3 resolution game I'd play on my nVidia card will scale it to 4:3 with black bars on the left and right.

 

[Slaimus]

There is a setting but it does not work. Even when running 640x480, the OSD shows input of 1920x1080, which means the video card must be scaling it already.

The monitor is the eMachines/Acer E211H from the Staples black friday deal.

 

[mindless1]

Slaimus, I took another look at my nVidia settings. I'm running driver version 178.13.

In the nVidia Control Panel, in the left hand column there is a "Display" category. In that category if I click on "Change Flat Panel Scaling" I have the following options:

- Use nVidia scaling (distorts image aspect ratio to fill whole monitor)
- Use nVidia scaling with fixed aspect ratio (probably what you want, but when I just picked that and clicked apply the monitor stopped receiving an image _until_ I first changed to a different resolution and then applied it.

- Use my display's built-in scaling (the default)
- Do not scale (black boarders all around any resolution with lower horizontal and vertical res. than the monitor supports)

If you set the driver to do fixed ratio scaling, so that you have a black border only on the left and right side, the video card is supposed to be sending the monitor the higher 1920x1080 resolution, what it does is upsamples the original resolution, for example 1024x786 would be upsampled to 1080/786= 1.374, 1.374*1024= 1407. So the driver upsamples the original 1024x768 resolution to 1407 x 1080, and then it adds black as part of the image on the left and right sides of that 1407, so the black is actual pixels being sent to the monitor.

This means that with fixed aspect scaling the monitor could report input of 1920x1080, that by itself is not a sign of a problem.

Here's a picture of the Control Panel area I referred to above:
http://nvidia.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/...aqid=2182&p_created=1208272583&p_sp=undefined

 

[Slaimus]

I tried to do that, but that entire section (Flat Panel Scaling) no longer existed once I switched to the 1920x1080 LCD. It was there using the 1680x1050 LCD and it worked fine.

 

[mindless1]

Where there is an "Advanced Settings" button towards the top, can you get the Change Flat Panel Scaling menu back by Defining a Custom View?

If not, I would try a different driver version.

 

[Slaimus]

It is already in advanced mode. I tried a 186 series driver, and the newest 195 series driver, and both seem to do the same thing. It appears that the old "Treat as HDTV" option is gone, and that is autodetected now.

I guess I will have to settle for now. Thanks for your help though.

 

[mindless1]

Not advanced mode, defining a Custom View. Maybe I don't know what I'm talking about though, since I already have the setting visible I can't see if that would add it.

You might try the same driver I'm using in case they broke something later. 178.13.

 

[Slaimus]

Everything I could select is there:

 

[Slaimus]

If anyone cares, the monitor is back for $99.9:

http://www.staples.com/e/product_824688