Add "forced" to the scaler setting, so something like "scaler=hq2x forced". It's mentioned in the comment for the scaler setting in the conf file.

Thank you, now I understand why it didn't work without 'force'.

Aren't there rational scalings to make, say, 640x400 original resolution fit my 1024x768 display, preserving the aspect ratio of course, so that the image touches the left and right sides and there're black bark in the top and bottom?

Anton

If you want crisp text, you can use scaler=none, output=openglnb, and fullresolution=1024x768. You won't get aspect ratio correction though, so you'll have black bars at the top and bottom.

Ripa, with the settings you suggested the text is very far from crisp, because the magnification is not integer and there's no antialiasing or interpolation.

And the black bars are flickering (from black to completely transparent, revealing what's below the DOSBox window.

A one-to-one screenshot is attached.

I wonder why the native text-mode that I see in full-screen text-mode applications, and when my computer boots, looks very good.

Thank you for your reply,
Anton

EDIT: ddraw output mode resulted in antialiased text in full-screen, which is worse than the native text mode, but the best DOSBox settings I have so far found. Are these behavioral differences between output modes documented somewhere?

A screenshot of this mode is also attached.

And the black bars are flickering (from black to completely transparent, revealing what's below the DOSBox window.

Hmm, I've got the same problem.

I wonder why the native text-mode that I see in full-screen text-mode applications, and when my computer boots, looks very good.

Another idea. Try fullresolution=720x400 since that's what your graphics card is transmitting to your monitor in real text mode. You probably have to add that mode to Windows using some 3rd party tool (NVidia's driver control panel has/had the ability to add custom video modes - you need another solution for ATI). Also, make sure it runs at 70Hz. That way your display should treat it the same way it treats real text mode and it should look identical.

Thanks for the suggestion. So far I am stick with 640x400 in ddraw mode. It is just correct for 80x25 text mode with a 8x16 font. So good this trick works!

Maybe it would have sense to include this in a FAQ?

Anton

machine=vgaonly has 720x400 resolution with a 9x16 font for mode 3 text, which may be more like what you're used to.