First post, by Yasashii
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I'm stuck with using the Samsung SyncMaster 710n for my main computer. The display has a native resolution of 1280x1024 (at 75 MHz), which, sadly, is 5:4, not 4:3. It doesn't matter for many games as most will allow the resolution of 1280x960, which is 4:3. In those cases I simply end up having small black bars at the top and the bottom of the screen, while the correct aspect ratio is maintained.
Some of the older games, however, only allow the resolution up to 1024x768. At this resolution my display doesn't maintain the 4:3 aspect ratio, I don't get the black bars I get at 1280x960, instead, the image is stretched across the whole screen. Another person might not worry about such a small distortion but I'm very OCD when it comes to maintaining aspect ratios.
Up until today, I simply copied those games over to my other PC which utilizes an old Dell 1024x768 display. Today, though, that computer refused to run Big Scale Racing (the game runs fine on my main computer). It's not the first time it's had compatibility problems and I decided to rage quit on that machine. I have taken upon myself to make my main Windows 7 machine with a 5:4 display work well for old games. I shall simply emulate Windows XP in a virtual machine software for the games which don't run natively on Windows 7. The aspect ratio of low resolutions is what troubles me.
There is a workaround for my display's stretching. The Nvidia control panel has an option to prefer GPU scaling rather than display scaling. That option allows me to run the 1024x768 resolutions at the proper aspect ratio (with the black bars, image is not stretched). However, when I do that, the image is blurred. You are probably thinking: "well, of course it's gonna be blurred" but the thing is when scaling is set to display, the image is stretched but considerably less blurry. The GPU scaling, then, must use some kind of a filter. This was probably Nvidia's effort to make upscaled resolutions less aliased but it simply fails. Not only does it not make the image smoother, but also it impairs visibility.
The big question is: Is there a way to turn off that filter, whatever it might be, while GPU scaling is engaged? What I want, in essence, is scaling just like the one when display mode is selected, only I want it with the correct aspect ratio.
(My GFX card is GeForce 9800 GT)
btw. I've already tried setting up a separate profile for Big Scale Racing in which I turned off every single aliasing and filtering-related feature. In fact, I turned off every feature on the list. Didn't make a difference.
Also, before you suggest it, yes, I have also tried connecting the old Dell 1024x768 display to my main computer and using it as a secondary display. The thing is, because it is my secondary display in that situation, all the games run in the Samsung display anyway, because it's the primary display. I tried using various software to override that problem to no avail. The only options in that software that make the games run on the Dell display simply override the system settings and make the Dell display primary. That is not acceptable for various reasons.