Widescreen Gaming Forum

Ok dumb WS noob question, but can you leave "Fixed aspect ratio" on all the time or will it affect normal WS games?

You can leave fixed aspect ratio on for all games. 4:3 games will have black bars to the left and right, 16:9 games (there are some that don't support 16:10 so well) will have black bars on the top and bottom, and 16:10 games will fill the screen.

Okay another dumb question, what's the difference between 16:9 and 16:10. I know they are ratios, but how do you know which is which?

You need to be more specific than that. 16:9 and 16:10 are just ratios; they can apply to more than just one thing. Your question is like asking "how do you tell the difference between 9 and 10?" You need to say 9 of what and 10 of what in order to get a real answer. Monitors can be 16:9 or 16:10, resolutions can be 16:9 or 16:10, and game modes can be 16:9 or 16:10. Which one are you asking about?

Wraith3,

Then you would want to read this

How-To: Choosing WS Resolutions, Aspect Ratios, Screen Sizes
http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2117

Thanks! I figured there was something like that one here as soon as I posted...

rather then start new thread about this game i'll just use this one.

Lots of noob questions

Ok clearly the VX2025WM doesn't have the ability to add black bars to adjust to aspect ratios. With that in mind i have decided to run a dual lcd setup. My question is that do all the modern WS lcd come with the ability to add black bars or only some of them.

If that is the issue then i figure i just go with a cheap acer 17in lcd. But would one lcd being dvi and the 17in being vga create any problems for me? and what about contrast ratio. My current monitor is 800:1 and 8ms. I will also use my 2nd monitor for digital painting as well. And is 1000:1 better then 800:1 contrast ratio.

Whether or not the lcd supports aspect scaling is irrelevant if you have the latest nvidia (not sure about ati) drivers. I found that on a new install of the drivers, the control panel automatically sets my monitor as "Use as an lcd tv", or some such thing. I have to turn this off before the aspect scaling option is even available. I don't remember where this setting is a the moment, but I'll look when I get home.

While this won't help the OP I was frustrated over the same problem. I couldn't find a way to use aspect scaling, it wouldn't allow me to save the settings in the nvidia control panel.
This only works for 8800 series of nvidia cards and on windows xp. It's intended for HDTVs but it's also a workaround to enable fixed aspect ratios.
http://nvidia.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/nvidia.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=2064

EDIT: Someone may want to try this on non 8800 cards to see if it works, as I've seen plenty of people not able to get it working.