VOGONS


First post, by slivercr

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I am using Windows 2000 and Catalyst version 5.8, and the only option regarding scaling is "scale to screen size".

With a 1080p LCD turning on this option scales everything to 1080p for display, which stretches 4:3 resolutions. If I turn it off, the Radeon displays at the intended resolutions, leaving the LCD to deal with scaling—this also stretches 4:3 resolutions.

Is there any Catalyst version with fixed aspect ratio scaling, like in nvidia drivers?

Outrigger: an ongoing adventure with the OR840
QuForce FX 5800: turn your Quadro into a GeForce

Reply 1 of 9, by Azarien

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There was a similar topic on this forum quite recently.
Most probably you would have to use DVI monitor. It seems that with most Radeon cards (or drivers versions) scaling options aren't available when using VGA (D-Sub) connection.

Reply 3 of 9, by swaaye

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I remember running into this with a 1280x800 notebook with a Radeon 9600. As far as I recall, I couldn't get it working. I think the 9600 wasn't capable of it. The Rage3D forum has old 2004-2005 threads about wanting aspect ratio scaling with Radeons. They just had centered (no scaling) and full-screen stretch (aka ratiometric expansion).

Reply 4 of 9, by slivercr

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Oh, I'm using a DVI-D to HDMI adapter, so I'm all digital. The only scaling option present is the one mentioned (at least with that version of the drivers)

swaaye wrote:

I remember running into this with a 1280x800 notebook with a Radeon 9600. As far as I recall, I couldn't get it working. I think the 9600 wasn't capable of it. The Rage3D forum has old 2004-2005 threads about wanting aspect ratio scaling with Radeons. They just had centered (no scaling) and full-screen stretch (aka ratiometric expansion).

That's bad news 😒

Outrigger: an ongoing adventure with the OR840
QuForce FX 5800: turn your Quadro into a GeForce

Reply 6 of 9, by slivercr

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hwh wrote:

The LCD doesn't offer a scaling control either? 😒

It does, but I am asking about Radeon cards and fixed aspect ratio scaling, not about how to scale an image with my display.

Outrigger: an ongoing adventure with the OR840
QuForce FX 5800: turn your Quadro into a GeForce

Reply 7 of 9, by hwh

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slivercr wrote:

It does, but I am asking about Radeon cards and fixed aspect ratio scaling, not about how to scale an image with my display.

I guess I don't understand. If it has a control you should be able to set it to 4:3.

Reply 8 of 9, by slivercr

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hwh wrote:

I guess I don't understand. If it has a control you should be able to set it to 4:3.

I want the Radeon to automatically scale everything for me: its more convenient if you are switching back and forth between 16:9 and 4:3 resolutions.

Example: my desktop resolution is 1080p, I fire up Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 at its max resolution of 1024x768. I want the GPU to scale everything keeping the aspect ratio intact, i.e, adding black bars to the sides so the image is not stretched and deformed. Nvidia cards are able to do this, avoiding the need to adjust the screen when firing up a game and when leaving a game.

I was wondering if Radeon cards can do it as well. The option for this does not appear in the driver version I am using, so I asked if it appeared in any driver at all.

Outrigger: an ongoing adventure with the OR840
QuForce FX 5800: turn your Quadro into a GeForce

Reply 9 of 9, by swaaye

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Something to consider is that in my experience monitors scale with a higher quality than the GPU. GPU scaling is pretty soft, maybe just bilinear interpolation. Though I have seen monitors that use nearest neighbor scaling and that isn't pretty.

I'm not sure when ATI added fixed aspect ratio scaling. It may have been around 2005 with the R5x0 cards. The X1950 definitely supports it.