4:3 or 16:9

[Thelo]

Either aspect ratio is fine to me, with the caveat that if you go with a 4:3 aspect ratio, please, please make sure that it looks reasonable when you toggle to fullscreen on a widescreen monitor. This means that when you fullscreen on widescreen, instead of stretching the image in a headache-inducing way, the game adds black bars to the left and right.

It's a simple feature that really makes the experience better for those of us with widescreen monitors.

[Junker-Kun]

Either aspect ratio is fine to me, with the caveat that if you go with a 4:3 aspect ratio, please, please make sure that it looks reasonable when you toggle to fullscreen on a widescreen monitor. This means that when you fullscreen on widescreen, instead of stretching the image in a headache-inducing way, the game adds black bars to the left and right.

It's a simple feature that really makes the experience better for those of us with widescreen monitors.

But video cards can do that themselves nowadays! You just need to set "Save proportions" in preferences and there it is - every 4:3 game will have black bars on the left and right.

[Dollywitch]

The problem with 4:3, keep in mind, is that a lot of monitors don't support fullscreen scaling.

I'm a bit stuck myself. I'll probably build it for 16:9 but then have a version that's just 4:3. I'll keep the sides mostly clear, and just resize the text box and background.

[AxemRed]

The problem with 4:3, keep in mind, is that a lot of monitors don't support fullscreen scaling.

Graphics cards do the scaling, not the monitor. And even if you disable the graphics card's scaling, I've never heard of a monitor that didn't support fullscreen scaling...

[Dollywitch]

No, graphics cards don't always scale properly. Mine didn't do it with my old monitor. You need a digital connection too, and even then it doesn't always work. Scaling in general is a bit of a night mare. My ASUS monitor I just got has proper 4:3 aspect ratio scaling, which is handy.

[AxemRed]

No, graphics cards don't always scale properly. Mine didn't do it with my old monitor. You need a digital connection too, and even then it doesn't always work. Scaling in general is a bit of a night mare. My ASUS monitor I just got has proper 4:3 aspect ratio scaling, which is handy.

Are you using a Matrox card or something? Nvidia, AMD and Intel all have a scaling setting. Having a digital/analog connection changes nothing.

[Dollywitch]

No, graphics cards don't always scale properly. Mine didn't do it with my old monitor. You need a digital connection too, and even then it doesn't always work. Scaling in general is a bit of a night mare. My ASUS monitor I just got has proper 4:3 aspect ratio scaling, which is handy.

Are you using a Matrox card or something? Nvidia, AMD and Intel all have a scaling setting. Having a digital/analog connection changes nothing.

No, the ATI one only works on a digital connection. The nVidia one on my laptop also works badly, you have to constantly set it to an "Incorrect resolution for it to work.

[Pancake]

I get scaling problem with my nvidia...

1080p!

[LeandroP]

I get scaling problem with my nvidia...

1080p!

Forget about trying it... Common nvidia cards don't even support 720p scaling, you need something beyond expensive to support that kind of scaling.

I learned that the hard way, my new monitor was useless for old games that required scaling... :/

[LateWhiteRabbit]

I get scaling problem with my nvidia...

1080p!

Forget about trying it... Common nvidia cards don't even support 720p scaling, you need something beyond expensive to support that kind of scaling.

I learned that the hard way, my new monitor was useless for old games that required scaling... :/

It isn't the cards, it's the monitors. LCD monitors can only display their native resolution clearly. Anything else becomes blurry - though the degree of blurriness depends on how much scaling is occurring. If you were using a CRT monitor you would find your card is scaling graphics perfectly.

Since most monitors are LCD now, that's a problem. It is also why most professional games let you pick your own resolution, so you can match the native resolution your monitor is supposed to display at.

[LeandroP]

I get scaling problem with my nvidia...

1080p!

Forget about trying it... Common nvidia cards don't even support 720p scaling, you need something beyond expensive to support that kind of scaling.

I learned that the hard way, my new monitor was useless for old games that required scaling... :/

It isn't the cards, it's the monitors. LCD monitors can only display their native resolution clearly. Anything else becomes blurry - though the degree of blurriness depends on how much scaling is occurring. If you were using a CRT monitor you would find your card is scaling graphics perfectly.

Since most monitors are LCD now, that's a problem. It is also why most professional games let you pick your own resolution, so you can match the native resolution your monitor is supposed to display at.

Actually, in my notebook (ATI Raedon) works perfectly. Maybe a conflict or incompatibility? I don't know *shrug*

[nyaatrap]

hmm.. Noone prefer 16:10? It looks more natural than 16:9 for me. and I heard the human's view aspect is close to 16:10 more than 16:9.

[DaFool]

hmm.. Noone prefer 16:10? It looks more natural than 16:9 for me. and I heard the human's view aspect is close to 16:10 more than 16:9.

16:10 is a dying resolution. Notice all the iMacs and notebooks are now 16:9

[Dollywitch]

hmm.. Noone prefer 16:10? It looks more natural than 16:9 for me. and I heard the human's view aspect is close to 16:10 more than 16:9.

I like it better too, but I couldn't find a 16:10 monitor that fit my needs for a decent price sadly(none had HDMI).

[mapletaffy]

Even though I have a standard, square monitor, I like 16:9 visual novels. The two black lines at the top and bottom of the screen give cinematic effect~ (in my opinion only)~