Images distorted at high definition [SOLVED]

Probably your screen has a physical dimension of 4x3 (e.g. 12x9 inches). Using a resolution that does not coincide with the screen size, (1280x768 = 5x3), the images will not naturally fit, and therefore look squashed.

Newbie or not Newbie, there's always a question

Alex, many of the older screens of any type had their resolutions based on a proportion of 4x3. Measurements such as 1024x768, 2048x1536. However, many of the newer "wide screen" displays that have an 8x5 proportion such as 1280x800. Any time you "tweak" one dimension without the other the image is going to get stretched.

Jon

No computer is magic, no operating system is magic, no website is magic. They all require human interaction, thought, and responsibility to work.

Thank you Carlops and Jon. It probably is high time I also replaced my CRT monitor, except that it works well and it is flat if I don't look round the back.

Alex

My God man, don't look around the back of your monitor! That's where all the bits gather before bombarding the screen. If you look back there they might get angry and do something nasty to your family or pets! They like it when we think the monitor is magic

Jon

No computer is magic, no operating system is magic, no website is magic. They all require human interaction, thought, and responsibility to work.

Mr Doo Cain, you've been watching too many SciFi movies.....

Newbie or not Newbie, there's always a question

Actually carlops, I was watching a perfectly dreadful SciFi movie a couple nights ago: Plan 9 from Outer Space

It will definitely induce nightmares.

"Oh, the acting. The acting. The horror. The horror"

Jon

No computer is magic, no operating system is magic, no website is magic. They all require human interaction, thought, and responsibility to work.

Sounds like a real heart of darkness

Newbie or not Newbie, there's always a question

I forgot to ask, is there a way to "save" the chosen resolution? When I change to 1027x768, it still defaults to the highest it can do next time I log on.

Thanks,
Alex

I guess, now that we've hijacked your thread long enough, it's time for us to help you huh?

Yes, you will need to make the changes in the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file. But before giving you the manual method of changing things, how did you make the changes originally (that were not saved)? Did you do use the System -> System Configuration -> Peripherals -> Display -> Size and Orientation tab? You can set a particular screen size there and then Apply it. You may have to check the "Apply settings on KDE startup" option.

Jon

No computer is magic, no operating system is magic, no website is magic. They all require human interaction, thought, and responsibility to work.

Did you do use the System -> System Configuration -> Peripherals -> Display -> Size and Orientation tab? You can set a particular screen size there and then Apply it. You may have to check the "Apply settings on KDE startup" option.

Jon

No, I right clicked on the screen; selected Conf. Desktop> Display> Screen Size and selected 1024x768 and finally clicked on Accept Configuration on the menu that followed.

Alex

Maybe you have KDE setup to remember manually saved sessions. I'm not sure, but if so, you may need to save the session before you logout. If you have no clue what I am talking about, just forget what I said and focus on xorg.conf. You will probably need to remove unwanted resolutions from there to get 1024x768

Newbie or not Newbie, there's always a question

I may have created this problem during installation, because I pressed F3 and added higher resolutions. I missed the "Apply settings on Startup" button, expecting the settings to be saved automatically.

Everything sorted out now.

Thanks again,

Alex

Hey Alex, glad to hear that you got everything working again. Glad I could help.

Jon

No computer is magic, no operating system is magic, no website is magic. They all require human interaction, thought, and responsibility to work.