Question about ATI cards and 4:3 display on a widescreen monitor

[Riothamus]

So since no one can answer my "childhood games" question in the "Request/Discuss Game Solutions" section, can you at least tell me this:

I've read on-line that ATI cards have terrible support for displaying games which have a 4:3 aspect ratio on a widescreen monitor. But on other pages, I've read there's such a thing called the ATI Catalyst Control Center that lets you configure it to display in a 4:3 ratio. From what I've read, I think this means it will display in a square box on your screen, with black bars on the side.

So I'm just confused. What is the problem exactly? Is it that the Catalyst Control Center doesn't work well for some software, or is it that people don't like those black bars, and they want to hack the games to use the entire wide screen? For my purposes, I'll be happy if I can get my old games to display in a 4:3 aspect ratio with black bars on the sides of the screen. I don't really mind them.

[Abram]

Catalyst Control Centre is like Nvidia Control Panel. It's just software that lets you adjust your video driver behaviour - such as adjusting color, aspect ratio, custom resolutions, game profiles, 3D settings, etc. To display games in 4:3 on a display of a different ratio, you need either a connection that's not VGA (DVI, HDMI, or DP/Mini-DP). Open up CCC, and at the left hand side, expand "My Digital Flat Panels" by clicking on it. then click "Properties (Digital Flat-Panel)" There, you shodul see the option s for Scaling. Check the "enable GPU scaling" box, and select "Maintain Aspect Ratio"

Now, when you run a game that uses any aspect ratio other than your monitors' default, it'll scale properly, and use pillarboxing or letterboxing to fill in the rest.

What is your specific problem? Trying to run 4:3 game on a widescreen display, by the sounds of it. I do believe running 4:3 games in a window will leave their aspect ratio intact.

[Riothamus]

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I'm trying to play some very old games that use a 4:3 ratio on a widescreen monitor. Unfortunately, some of them don't allow you to play them in a window, and insist on running full screen. Most of the monitors I've been looking at have VGA connections, unfortunately. But thanks for the info. I will look for one that's DVI, HDMI, or DP.

Do you know if there's any support for CCC on other OSes besides Windows 7? For example, to get some of these old games to work on a modern system, I was thinking of running them on Linux, or on VirtualPC with Windows 98 installed.

[Abram]

Most all modern displays have a DVI connection, so it shouldn't be too hard to find one.

I suggest you try a program like DOSBox - a program made for just what you want to do. I haven't; used in a while, but it does work well. I'm pretty sure ATI (AMD) still supports Windows XP and Vista.

[Riothamus]

Thanks. Yeah, I plan to use DOSBox for some games. The issue is that not all of them are for the PC, so I'll need to use an emulator for them, which I was planning to run on Linux, although I can get it to run on Windows. The main concern is for the games that require Windows 98, so they won't run on DOSBox. I guess what I'm doing is trying to build an ultimate gaming computer, except one that's just for the old games.

But thanks for all the info. I'm sure I'll figure it out with what you've told me.

[Abram]

Good luck.

[Tamlin]

I think you can hit alt+enter to use dosbox windowed.

[Riothamus]

Oh, it isn't the DOS programs that insist on using the full screen. It's basically just Quest For Glory 5 and Nox (Diablo might too, I'm not sure), all of which require Windows 98 or later. For various compatibility reasons, I've been planning on running these on VirtualPC with Windows 98 installed, rather than trying to apply various patches to get them to work on Windows 7 or XP. I think all the other games should work, according to what Abram's been telling me.