Widescreen and Radeon X850 Pro

I have a Dell 24" Widescreen monitor and I'd like to utilize both of its
analogue and DVI inputs. The bottom lilne is that when using the DVI, the
monitor always fill the entire screen, which distorts the image of a
conventional 4:3 games. In contrast, when using the analogue input, I can
select how to scale the image. Here it goes...When I work, I want to use the
DVI input because it gives me crisp text, but when I play games, I want to
use the conventional analogue input because it allows me to adjust the
aspect ratio.

My problem is this (I have the ATI X850 Pro running on XP Service Pack 2).

I can switch between those two inputs. I see my regular desktop with all
desktop icons with the DVI, but when I switch to the Analogue input, I don't
see any icons. All I see is the wallpaper with no icon.

Can any kind soul help me?

"Jonathan Fidelis" <> wrote in message
news:9nLSf.219$...
>I have a Dell 24" Widescreen monitor and I'd like to utilize both of its
>analogue and DVI inputs. The bottom lilne is that when using the DVI, the
>monitor always fill the entire screen, which distorts the image of a
>conventional 4:3 games.

You*can* adjust the scaling in DVI mode if you change the monitor to a lower
resolution. You can do so via right clicking on the ATI tray icon. You must
go down to at least 1680x1050 or 1600x1200 for the scaling option to become
available in the monitor "Image" menu. Doing so enables you to maintain DVI
bandwidth and the ability to set scaling 1:1

> In contrast, when using the analogue input, I can select how to scale the
> image. Here it goes...When I work, I want to use the DVI input because it
> gives me crisp text, but when I play games, I want to use the conventional
> analogue input because it allows me to adjust the aspect ratio.
>
> My problem is this (I have the ATI X850 Pro running on XP Service Pack 2).
>
> I can switch between those two inputs. I see my regular desktop with all
> desktop icons with the DVI, but when I switch to the Analogue input, I
> don't see any icons. All I see is the wallpaper with no icon.
>
> Can any kind soul help me?


Have you tried right clicking on the desktop\arrange icons by\show desktop
icons?

mxh

"Jonathan Fidelis" <> wrote in
news:9nLSf.219$:

> I have a Dell 24" Widescreen monitor and I'd like to utilize both of
> its analogue and DVI inputs. The bottom lilne is that when using the
> DVI, the monitor always fill the entire screen, which distorts the
> image of a conventional 4:3 games. In contrast, when using the
> analogue input, I can select how to scale the image. Here it
> goes...When I work, I want to use the DVI input because it gives me
> crisp text, but when I play games, I want to use the conventional
> analogue input because it allows me to adjust the aspect ratio.
>
> My problem is this (I have the ATI X850 Pro running on XP Service Pack
> 2).
>
> I can switch between those two inputs. I see my regular desktop with
> all desktop icons with the DVI, but when I switch to the Analogue
> input, I don't see any icons. All I see is the wallpaper with no icon.
>
> Can any kind soul help me?
>
>

I would suggest using your DVI for everything and forget about VGA. Your
game images will not appear stretched if you run the games in a resolution
that is widescreen. Pretty much every game can be "hacked" to run this way
if it does not natively support it. The Widescreen Gaming Forum:
http://www.widescreengamingforum.com is the place to learn about all this.
Not only do the games look better running in widescreen, but you are using
the entire screen you paid for and usually you "see" a bit more in the
games with the wider field of view.

Cheers,

--
Craig