Tutorial: Nvidia Fixed Aspect Ratio Scaling Solution

Trx Stamp · Post by **Trx Stamp** » 25 Dec 2006, 10:42

I know there are some people with Nvidia video cards (namely the 7900 series) that the fixed aspect ratio scaling option doesn't work. I have read it is a problem with some driver versions, or with some monitors. You will see a garbled screen or no change or the wrong change.

I have been playing around with my 7900gt trying to get the fixed aspect ratio scaling to work, and I came up with this.

I am using TweaksRUs driver version 93.71, and the classic control panel. I am not sure if any of that matters though.

Select the resolution you want. Then go to advanced timing. First under the timing standard select CVT standard and apply it. Go to flat panel scaling and select fixed aspect ratio scaling. Select the back-end active. The difference between it and the front-end active has to be the same as the difference between the aspect ratio of the resolution and aspect ratio of your monitor.

Example: .625(16/10) / .75(4/3) = .83333
.625(16/10) / .8(5/4) = .78125

So, for 1024x768 it would be 1024 / .83333 = 1228

Put the 1228 in to the back-end active and hit apply. If all goes well it should have black bars on the sides. If the screen goes blank or you get some kind of error back it off a little bit to say 1225. If I went to high the monitor would say no signal in put, and I would have to restart the computer.

Screen shot:

1440x900:

1024x768 pillarboxed

This has worked in the few games I have tried, if you select the resolution you want in the desktop before you start the game.

This worked for me anyway. I would be interested to know if this works for anyone else.

Obes · Post by **Obes** » 18 Jan 2007, 02:21

I am at work so I haven't tested it yet.
Would I be right in saying.

For the standard resses its resolution you want * 48 / 40 ?

for 1024 * 768 .... 1024 * 48 / 40 = 1228.8
for 800 * 600 .... 800 * 48 / 40 = 960
for 640 * 480 .... 640 *48 / 40 = 768

And just to clarify it doesn't save the settings and won't switch automatically. So everytime you'll have to set the desktop res first and then possibly play with these settings ?

*fingers crossed it fixes it*

Trx Stamp · Post by **Trx Stamp** » 24 Jan 2007, 11:42

The numbers look good. You might want to go a little lower, though. I had trouble if I set them to high with the monitor saying no signal.

Mine are set at:

1280x1024 = 1600
1024x768 = 1225
800x600 = 950
640x480 = 765

I have heard of some people having the settings not save, but not me. They just stayed were I put them.

As far as switching resolutions. I have noticed some games you can change the resolution in game and it will work fine, others you have to select it in the desktop before hand. I guess it just depends on how the game does it, but I haven't tried with any games that don't work at all.

Xaroxantu Zero · Post by **Xaroxantu Zero** » 16 Feb 2007, 08:26

I tried this method out, but it doesn't seem to work properly. I have an Acer AL2223Wd, which is a 22" monitor, and when I tried to change it to 1024x768 via Advanced Timing, I get a letter-boxed image, but the desktop resolution is still 1680x1050 and it pans as I move my mouse to the edge of the image. I tried changing the desktop resolution to 1024x768, but it goes back to the stretched version. o_O

total · Post by **total** » 12 May 2007, 15:37

This doesn't work for me. Every time I set the timing standard to CVT and apply it everything just goes back to default. :?

I'm desperate to make this work so I can play PES6 properly (don't have a good enough hardware to play with a WS resolution).

ninja_dude · Post by **ninja_dude** » 13 May 2007, 10:09

hi, i have some problem that is as follows:
i have a 32" mag(proview) lcd tv , and a nvidia 8800gtx video card,
i connected the tv via a dvi/hdmi cable. and when i set the res to 1280X720 or 1920X1080, some of the picture gets eaten by the screen,
for example. i can only see half of the windows start menu etc'
but when i set the res to 1024 X768, the problem fixes, the only problem here is that the 1024 X768 res is not a widescreen res , anybody is fermilier with this fenomena ?
i saw you were only talking about non wide resolution on a wide screen forum , so i though that might be helpfull to my problem too.
10x

Post by **Tamlin** » 14 May 2007, 10:33

If the screen takes control of scaling, then this is common. Not all screens accepts all resolutions either. I guess your screen has a native resolution of 1366x768. Any resolution besides this involves scaling of some sort. 1024x768 is not so uncommon resolution among TV's. Its also correct with your yyyy x 768 lines.

If you have a 1:1 mode on the screen, you might want to use that one and leave scaling up to your GFX.

ninja_dude · Post by **ninja_dude** » 14 May 2007, 10:48

what do you mean by "If you have a 1:1 mode on the screen, you might want to use that one and leave scaling up to your GFX."

btw . is my tv compatible with 1920X1080 movies?
are there hd tv's with native 1920X1080 res ?

Post by **Tamlin** » 14 May 2007, 11:10

what do you mean by "If you have a 1:1 mode on the screen, you might want to use that one and leave scaling up to your GFX."

btw . is my tv compatible with 1920X1080 movies?
are there hd tv's with native 1920X1080 res ?

On widescreen tv's, there are usually options to change picture and scaling. Sometimes its called other things like "letterbox". I am not familiar with your model, but I assume it has a native resolution of 1366x768, which is standard for many 32" tv's.
Most such tv's are compatible with 1920x1080 movies, though some only accept interlaced signals (1080i) and not progressive (1080P). Computer signals are progressive by nature, though you can choose to send it interlaced on most GFX cards. They cannot however display a 1920x1080 image, so the image is downscaled, since the screen doesn't have enough pixels to display the full resolution.

There are HDTV's with native resolution of 1920x1080. Check the 37" in our user review section.

Native resolution means how many pixels an LCD have. They always have that amount of pixels. 1920x1080 means that there are 1920x1080 = 2073600 pixels. Any resolution besides the native resolution involves scaling of some sort.

1:1 means that 1 pixel read (gfx output) = 1 pixel on screen. If your screen have a 1:1 mode, it means that the display will match the signals you feed it with. You can then use your graphic card to determine the resolution instead of relying on the monitor.

kopaka649 · Post by **kopaka649** » 15 May 2007, 00:47

Does anyone know how to get this to work with the nVidia control panel?

These are the only options there are; there doesn't seem to be back end active or anything. I tried messing with horizantal total and vertical total, but those didn't seem to do anything, still stretched by monitor (trying to get a 1280x1024 pillarbox).

Using 160.03 drivers on XP.

Trx Stamp · Post by **Trx Stamp** » 15 May 2007, 10:15

This doesn't work for me. Every time I set the timing standard to CVT and apply it everything just goes back to default. :?

I'm desperate to make this work so I can play PES6 properly (don't have a good enough hardware to play with a WS resolution).

You need to set the CVT standard. Then change the back-end active and select the fixed aspect ratio scaling. If you change anything and then set the CVT standard it will revert to default.

Trx Stamp · Post by **Trx Stamp** » 15 May 2007, 10:30

Does anyone know how to get this to work with the nVidia control panel?

These are the only options there are; there doesn't seem to be back end active or anything. I tried messing with horizantal total and vertical total, but those didn't seem to do anything, still stretched by monitor (trying to get a 1280x1024 pillarbox).

Using 160.03 drivers on XP.

That control panel look different. Is that the new one? I always use the classic.

Anyway it looks like this would be the one.

That should be the horizontal back-end active.

Also I just got a new monitor, a 22" widescreen, and I noticed the setting that worked on the old 19" don't anymore. The only one that did was for 1280 x 1024. I will try to get it working on the new monitor and post the results. I have just been a little busy lately.

total · Post by **total** » 15 May 2007, 10:38

[quote]This doesn't work for me. Every time I set the timing standard to CVT and apply it everything just goes back to default. :?

I'm desperate to make this work so I can play PES6 properly (don't have a good enough hardware to play with a WS resolution).

You need to set the CVT standard. Then change the back-end active and select the fixed aspect ratio scaling. If you change anything and then set the CVT standard it will revert to default.
Maybe you didn't understand me. I select CVT standard first, hit apply and then it just says custom values again. I don't change anything before selecting CVT standard.

My monitor is Samsung SyncMaster 940BW if that's any help.

kopaka649 · Post by **kopaka649** » 15 May 2007, 23:36

That should be the horizontal back-end active.

Hmm, I tried changing that and it resets itself back to 1280 every time you try to test.

figo12 · Post by **figo12** » 16 May 2007, 00:52

Hi, I would like to know how to properly display a 1280x720 letterboxed image on a 1440x900 LCD. I already tried the Nvidia Fixed Aspect Ratio option, but it does not work correctlly.

I am using Nvidia 93.71 Drivers,DVI cable.

Thanks!

figo12 · Post by **figo12** » 16 May 2007, 01:30

Sorry about the double post. I forgot to explain that what I want is to have a 1280x720 resolution, letterboxed on my 16:10 screen, I tried the Nvidia Fixed Aspect Ratio solution, but the image is not properly letterboxed, it is letterboxed but I believe the image is not correct, it is too small (big black bars)

Trx Stamp · Post by **Trx Stamp** » 27 Aug 2007, 12:24

Sorry I haven't updated this in so long. :oops: I have been playing with the setting on the new monitor and I have gotten 1024x768 to work with the setting I posted earlier, but it only works at 75Hz not 60Hz. 1280x1024 is just the opposite it only works with 60Hz (If anyone has any theories on that I would love to hear it :roll: ) Also, to get 1024x768 to work you first have to go to 1280x1024 then go to 1024x768.

I have only been able to test this on what I have; two different monitors, one video card, and one set of drivers. So, I don't have a big test base. Your results may very, and you will probably have to do some experimenting.

One warning: You may mess settings up to the point that you can't see to put them back, so be prepared to dig out you analog cable and uninstall and reinstall your drivers. I had to a few times. :roll:

Zeef · Post by **Zeef** » 11 Sep 2007, 11:58

I have the garbled screen problem when trying to enable fixed aspect ratio scaling as well.

7900GS
Samsung 931BW (1440x900 native)

I've tried following the instructions in here and playing around with and tweaking countless settings, but have had no luck whatsoever.

Has anyone been able to get it working at all with newer drivers (I'm using 163.44), and if so, would it be too much to ask for a detailed step by step guide?

From what I understand, this whole problem is caused by incorrect EDID information programmed into the monitor - this is apparently a common occurance. Using something like Phoenix EDID Designer you can view this information, which I did, and it reports that my monitor supports a resolution of 1280x1024! (which obviously isn't correct, as 1024 > 900). This all starts to make sense after this little piece of information, because when I try and enable fixed-aspect scaling and get the garbled screen, my monitor's OSD reports that the monitor is indeed running (or trying to) at 1280x1024, which the Nvidia drivers think is the max supported resolution (for some reason the monitor drivers don't seem to come into the equation as much when enabling this option).

If some other people with the same problem, and also people who have no scaling issues but a similar setup, could download this little app and report their findings, it'd be much appreciated.

I tried disabling the faulty resolutions and reprogamming the EDID (stored in an EEPROM chip in the monitor) for the DVI port on my monitor (you can do this with a special app loaded onto a boot disk, or with the registered version of powerstrip), but unfortunately it seems mine is write-protected, so I'm out of luck. A lot of monitors don't have write-protected EDIDs however, so it's definitely worth a shot. However, DON'T ATTEMPT IT UNLESS YOU HAVE DONE YOUR RESEARCH AND KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING (you could render your monitor unusable, and make it difficult or even impossible to recover). Guides and information here.

ATI drivers ignore the EDID (at least to some extent), so that's why they seem to have less problems, and reportedly there is a way to ignore the EDID with the Linux Nvidia drivers as well, which allows scaling to work as it should.

rockon121 · Post by **rockon121** » 13 Nov 2009, 22:47

O thanks actually i was planning to buy nvidia card now this helps me alot to think about it and then purchase one.

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