help change Ati monitor to 720x480 for Fullscreen DVD view

[markkin]

Hi guys.
I recently brought a new ATi video card for my computer. Is there a way to change the resolution to 720x480 or lower, so I can view my DVDs in fullscreen? On my old Nvidia video card, I can change the resolution to 720x480 & 400x240 for DVD and VCD viewing using the Nvida display Properties. The lowest resolution that Windows XP in the display properties that it will allow is 800x600.

[thor300]

Whats wrong with pressing ALT Enter or doubleclicking to get fullscreen?

[markkin]

Playing VCD or DVD at fullscreen on at 1600x1200 resolution does not look as good as if you lower the resolution down. Playing the DVD fullscreen at 1600x1200 looks burr.

[thor300]

Then i think you are pushing your screen or/and screencard too far. I cant see any difference at average resolutions like 800x600 and 1280x1024. 1600x1200 maybe, i havent tried as i never had a screen that could do well at that resolution. Maybe its the same with you?

[markkin]

Yes, there is not a lot of difference fullscreen at 1280x1024, but to me it looks clearer at 720x480 destop resolution with a DVD. Tried playing a divx(352x240) or VCD(352x240) file. The picture looks better at fullscreen at a lower resolution than at a higher resolution. Test it yourself which looks better VCD at 640x480 fullscreen desktop resolution or VCD at 1280x1024 desktop resolution?

[johns0]

On boot up hit f8 and choose vga display from the boot menu,you will get 640x480 but you will lose that when you switch to a higher resolution.If i remember from a few years ago there are some programs that can switch the monitor resolution for you that windows doesnt show.Google might help.

[lordsmurf]

Yes, there is not a lot of difference fullscreen at 1280x1024, but to me it looks clearer at 720x480 destop resolution with a DVD. Tried playing a divx(352x240) or VCD(352x240) file. The picture looks better at fullscreen at a lower resolution than at a higher resolution. Test it yourself which looks better VCD at 640x480 fullscreen desktop resolution or VCD at 1280x1024 desktop resolution?

It's all psychological. The DVD software has more control than screen resolution. Consider using PowerDVD or WinDVD.

[edDV]

Closest normal computer resolution is 800x600. If you play in native 720x480 on a square pixel display, you will see non-standard aspect ratios because DVD pixels aren't square.

4:3 will appear H stretched and 16:9 will appear H compressed.

[junkmalle]

Yes, there is not a lot of difference fullscreen at 1280x1024, but to me it looks clearer at 720x480 destop resolution with a DVD. Tried playing a divx(352x240) or VCD(352x240) file. The picture looks better at fullscreen at a lower resolution than at a higher resolution. Test it yourself which looks better VCD at 640x480 fullscreen desktop resolution or VCD at 1280x1024 desktop resolution?

It's all psychological...

Not at all.

If you run your graphics card at low resolution you are essentially using a nearest neighbor algorithm to output big square (or rectangular) pixels to the screen. When you rely on the graphics card scaling of a small image to a full high resolution screen it usually performs a bilinear (maybe bicubic?) enlargement -- resulting in a blurry picture. The former has sharp borders between pixels and the latter has smooth borders between pixels. Of course the former doesn't really have any more information and they both have the same resolution (in the classical sense -- lines per inch). If you get far enough away you won't see any difference.

It's like the difference between this:



and this: