I'm trying to play a 1024 x 768 res game on my widescreen computer and it looks horrible. Is there a way I can disable widescreen mode so that the game doesn't look stretched? I heard it can be done such that the game interface is in non-wide screen res and the sides have black bars.
My graphics card is S3 Graphics.

You have to find something called as "Stretch to Screen" or "Fit to Screen" option. Different manufactures put it in different places. Like in Sony(I use a T-Series), its under the right click and Graphic options. Just disable the option and you should see a square instead of a rectangle . I know its annoying, I've played AOE II in stretched mode.

I haven't used an S3 Graphics card. I've only used GeForce since FX5200. So I don't know where it would be, but it would most probably be under your graphic card's options. You'll have to look for it.

Interestingly, I quickly get used to it anyway. I don't see the difference with it being stretched or not. I choose a windscreen resolution if I can, but I've gotten used to it.

Still, being an S3 card, you've probably been using it for a long time? Why is it only an issue now?

Ah well I'm never good with hardware specifications and stuff so try as I might, I can't find it. Hopefully someone can tell me where it is.

As to why it's an issue now, most of my games are playable in widescreen mode, except for this old one that I decided to play again which doesn't have widescreen mode. And it's a taiwanese rpg so there isn't much support for it online.

Your card my not support very advanced features. I don't know the specifics of your card but all the S3 cards ive seen are integrated into system boards, which are always limited in performance and features.

From what I know about wide screen computers, since I have one all a wide screen is are extra resolutions that go beyond 1024x768 which is usually the standard resolution on all computers. I did some searching and as I thought nothing came up, so basically in order to play the game in 1024x768 is to change your computers resolutiion, right click on the desktop, select properties, click the settings tab and then your resolution from there with the slider. As for your game, usuaul in the options menu they will have some for audio and vidsual settings and so check around and see if the game has something to adjust the resolution that way.

Your Widescreen Monitor should come with its own feature for what you ask. It's called FLAT Panel Scaling.
I have an nvidia card and it shows me 3 choices.

1. Use monitor scaling (default)
2. Use Nvidia scaling (practically the same)
3. Use Nvidia scaling 2

now the third option does what you ask. If you change from WS resolution to.. lets say, 1024x768, you see two black bars at the left and right of the screen to keep aspect ratio. From what I read here it appears that you do not own a video card, but instead you have integrated S3 video card. That's bad news because you'd have to stick to your monitor's scaling, that means image stretching.

But try to look in advance properties anywhere, maybe you'll find the option to change to keep aspect ratio.

Good luck.

Try starting the game in a widescreen mode, if ur card supports that..

1. For the specification part . .. Go to this site http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/

download the software and run - > you should get something about the graphics card you are using . I hope u get something

I am attaching a screenshot , It works !

[Attachment: #1215]

Kindly post the screenshot , if it works on ur system . Thanks

2. Is it a laptop or a desktop ?

I have a widescreen laptop and I am 200 % sure that there is an option in it. It runs an intel graphic card, which i am 100% sure is much worse than what you are using and it has this option. I am pretty sure that your graphic's card must be having this as well. I am attaching the exact location of the option as well
Hope this helps
[Attachment: #1216]

I can understand ur problem .. I play AOE2 in 4:3 only I dont like widescreens anyways

How to disable widescreenHow To Disable Widescreen Mode?

Just right click on desktop , go to properties, then settings, at screen resolution slide it up to the max and it will show photos or images without stretching them.

It is RIDICULOUS that many wide screen flat-panel monitors when in resolutions lower than the native resolution stretch the image to fill the entire screen regardless of aspect ratio and do NOT allow you to change that.

Although there may be some idiots who like it that way, I think that anyone who cares a lot about visual quality would tell you that it looks horrible that way.  One of the really bad things about that is, it PREVENTS you from seeing the content in the way that it was meant to be seen.

Personally, I wonder why having it that way is even an option to begin with, let alone the default option, let alone the ONLY option.

The "black bars" are NOT ugly and aren't even really bars -- the screen image is centered and the unused parts of the screen are blank.  It's the OTHER way -- when the screen image is stretched to fill the entire screen even when the aspect ratio is not the same -- DISTORTED -- that it's ugly.

Recently, I bought a 22" Zalman Trimon monitor (the largest available).  That is a special LCD monitor -- the only monitor of it's type that is commercially available -- that is capable of stereoscopic 3D viewing with circular polarization, but is particularly good even as a non-stereoscopic monitor.  With that monitor, at resolutions lower than it's native resolution (1680x1050), it stretches the screen image to fill either 16:10 or 4:3, depending on which you select, and does NOT allow you to change that -- only if it's 16:10 or 4:3 -- which means that if you're using the monitor's built-in scaling, for the image to be non-distorted, EVERY SINGLE TIME you change to a resolution that's lower than the monitor's native resolution, if the aspect ratio is different, you have to take the trouble to go into the monitor's settings and change it.  That's RIDICULOUS.  Why doesn't the monitor set the aspect ratio automatically to be the same, whatever it is, and make it non-distorted?  Doing so would only require simple arithmetic.

And, of course, that monitor does NOT allow you to turn off it's built in scaling completely with resolutions lower than it's native resolution -- even though it's stereoscopic 3D feature -- which uses scan line interleaving -- requires the screen image to be completely non-scaled.

Please note that although this is idiotic, because most flat-panel monitors are designed this way, it is NOT a reason not to get a Zalman Trimon monitor.  In fact, you SHOULD get the Zalman Trimon monitor -- it is very good, costs only around 0, and, unlike any other commercially available LCD monitor, is fantastic for stereoscopic 3D viewing.  It is available from several major websites including Dell.

Although most video cards have the option of doing their own, completely configurable, scaling instead and outputing in the monitor's native resolution, that uses extra resources of the video card and requires extra video bandwidth.  It's ridiculous that it is made necessary to do that -- if monitors include built-in scaling, they should at least allow you to turn it off.

It astonishes me that major designers are smart enough to design such otherwise great monitors -- and yet stupid enough to make them this way.

-reply by Matthew Barich

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