Problem with 4:3 mode on 4:3 monitor

I am trying to create a set of functions to set a default resolution (using Blitz Max) based on my game's internal resolution and the user's desktop resolution. For this I collect all available resolutions that share the desktop's aspect ratio. I have a 4:3 CRT screen (Syncmaster 753s) running the desktop at 1024*768.

Among the collected modes is indeed 1024*768; if I force my function to select that one, everything is fine.

However, based on my game's internal resolution the mode 1280*960 is selected (this is OK). This mode also has aspect ratio 4:3, but somehow I now see vertical black bars left and right. If I try to set my desktop to this resolution I see the same bars, so I think it's not the game doing it.

So, 1024*768 (4:3) looks fine, but 1280*960 (4:3) has black bars left and right.

Does anyone know what would be going on here?

Is this related to square/non square pixels? (A very wild guess.)

i have a similar problem on my mac, i can't set the resolution to widescreen 1024*768 stretched (1400*900, i.e. a proper widescreen res is fine though)

Cheers
Charlie

Just a wild guess. But it's not going to 1280*1024, which is a very command resolution, but not 4:3. In that mode it should indeed have black bars on each side on a 4:3 screen.

CRT? You haven't simply failed to use that resolution previously, meaning that it hasn't been correctly positioned and stretched yet, have you?

No. It's related to scanrate. Just change your monitor so it looks right.

Thanks for the answers!

It happens in Windows too (when I set this resolution on the desktop).



Indeed I haven't used this resolution before. So this means that this behavior is more or less as expected then.

It does mean that for setting a resolution as a default I might have to do something else, for example select the desktop resolution (although we have seen that in some cases this leads to problems with too much video memory being used).

Or maybe I should avoid picking a resolution that is larger than the desktop resolution (this might solve the above incident but perhaps is not a general solution).

Edit: Or it's OK like this and it means the player would need to adjust their monitor, just like I should.

I have similar issues with my resolutions. Setting 640x480 and 1024x768 work fine but any other 4:3 resolution causes a black bar to appear on the right hand side of the monitor. How do I fix this?

You need to adjust your monitor position/stretch controls by the sound of it.

They are stored per resolution, so a screenmode you haven't used before will likely be distorted or not centred correctly on the display. This will even happen on some TFT monitors but almost always on CRTs.

yeah I just hit the Auto button on my LCDs and thats the last time I havce to touch it.

Aye - auto adjust worked - no idea why I didn't do that before now!!

On my CRT I used the buttons to adjust the screen. And yeah it stores that setting. Somehow I was thinking, now when I go back to 1024*768 I will have to change the settings again, but no.

I will continue on my set of functions and make a small game as a test case. :) Thanks guys.