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-   -   How to increase the resolution in DOSBox? (http://www.abandonia.com/vbullet/showthread.php?t=26509)

TheAnyKey 24-01-2011 12:13 AM

How to increase the resolution in DOSBox?
 
1 Attachment(s)
I currently play Daggerfall and looked for a way to increase the resolution.

I found this:

http://theelderscrolls.wiwiland.net/...erfallSetup_EN

I have a 1920x1200 screen resolution, so I changed fullresolution=original to fullresolution=1920x1200.

The resolution seems to have changed but in full screen the picture stays in windowed size, the rest of the screen remains black.

I put a screenshot in the attachment.

In addition, when I change to fullscreen now, DOSBox goes back to windowed mode after about a second, but only when the game runs.

Any idea how I can have the 1920x1200 resolution in fullscreen?

Thanks.

Japo 24-01-2011 12:57 AM

No idea why DOSBox should fall back to windowed mode... O_O

You did right with fullresolution, but you also need to change "scaler": anything but the default "surface" value will fix your problem, pick "overlay". Also change "aspect" to "true".

Quote:

Originally Posted by Japo (Post 330293)
One last tip. When playing in full screen we may see an empty black frame surrounding the game image, which in addition may not be centered. I recommend the following changes to the default configuration. Open it by going to the Windows start menu > DOSBox-x.xx > Options > DOSBox-x.xx Options. You will see a text file, look for "aspect=" and change the rest of the line to "true":


Look also for "output=" and set it to "overlay", and "fullresolution=" to the maximum, native resolution of your monitor (in my case for example, "1920x1080"). Make sure to save the changes and close the notepad.

(If you have a 4:3 monitor the image should fill the whole of it, but if you have a wide screen you'll get black stripes left and right. Don't worry, there's nothing wrong about it, otherwise the image would be distorted; if you wish to learn more, read about "fullresolution" in the configuration file tutorial. However you should never see black space at the top and bottom.)

(I think a FAQ sticky would be a good idea, in addition to the tutorials...)

TheAnyKey 24-01-2011 01:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Japo (Post 421363)
No idea why DOSBox should fall back to windowed mode... O_O

You did right with fullresolution, but you also need to change "scaler": anything but the default "surface" value will fix your problem, pick "overlay". Also change "aspect" to "true".



(I think a FAQ sticky would be a good idea, in addition to the tutorials...)

I've resetted the options and then tried this.

The image stays in the middle with the rest of the screen black, like in the screenshot I've attached to the original post in this thread.

Furthermore when I set output=overlay the screen goes back to windowed mode again after ~one second.

Japo 24-01-2011 01:52 AM

Changing output is a must, because surface is the only one that doesn't support scaling.

The problem about fullscreen going back to windowed is very strange, perhaps the drivers are responsible. Try every possible option for "output" in case one of them works for you.

Are you sure 1920x1200 is supported by your hardware? Check the desktop display properties.

Also, be aware that if and when this works, you don't really get higher resolution per se (but you do get better scaling). That is, you will see the image as pixelated as originally in an old monitor. This is unless you also change "scaler" to anything but normal2x or normal3x; but this only reduces the pixelation of the edges in exchange for blurring the image, and I can't really recommend it. Obviously, you can't make a high resolution image out of a low resolution one. Playing DOS games isn't about good graphics anyway.

Now I gotta go to sleep... :)

TheAnyKey 24-01-2011 02:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Japo (Post 421369)
Changing output is a must, because surface is the only one that doesn't support scaling.

The problem about fullscreen going back to windowed is very strange, perhaps the drivers are responsible. Try every possible option for "output" in case one of them works for you.

Are you sure 1920x1200 is supported by your hardware? Check the desktop display properties.

Also, be aware that if and when this works, you don't really get higher resolution per se (but you do get better scaling). That is, you will see the image as pixelated as originally in an old monitor. This is unless you also change "scaler" to anything but normal2x or normal3x; but this only reduces the pixelation of the edges in exchange for blurring the image, and I can't really recommend it. Obviously, you can't make a high resolution image out of a low resolution one. Playing DOS games isn't about good graphics anyway.

Now I gotta go to sleep... :)

I have a 28" 16:10 monitor, its resolution is 1920x1200.

Looks like the "going back to windowed mode" problem was caused by the xBox 360 controller I had plugged in an USB port.

Still, the picture remains small in the middle of the black full screen. What do I have to do to make the picture expand across the full screen?

The Fifth Horseman 24-01-2011 06:51 AM

Overlay output doesn't support scaling to anything else than multiples of the original resolution. Switch to ddraw.

Japo 24-01-2011 07:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Fifth Horseman (Post 421379)
Overlay output doesn't support scaling to anything else than multiples of the original resolution. Switch to ddraw.

Did you read that somewhere, or did you test it? It doesn't agree with my experience. Besides 1200 is anyway an integer multiple of both 200 (original vertical resolution of the game) and 240 (if aspect-corrected). But I have 1080 pixels of vertical resolution and with output=overlay every game fills the whole height.

But, AnyKey, do experiment with any possible option for output. Also try changing scaler, even to and fro the 2x and 3x--although as far as I know there's a difference between those only when resolution=original... Bear in mind this may be a driver issue, in that land there are lots of particularities and bugs beyond DOSBox's control.

There's a test can make: take a screenshot while fullscreen, but not with DOSBox, rather with Windows (PrnScr). Then paste the image somewhere (MS Paint) and measure the actual resolution of the image finally sent by the graphic card. In case this should not be what you expected (1920x1200), that would really explain this and may point to a cause.

I'm intrigued by this, because graphic scaling is a part of DOSBox at the same time complicated and grossly undocumented and hugely important.

The Fifth Horseman 24-01-2011 09:36 PM

That's how I remember it behaving on my machine. I might be wrong.

TheAnyKey 25-01-2011 04:15 AM

Thanks, I use ddraw atm and the picture is stretched almost across the whole screen, but only almost. It remains a broad black stripe on each side. What can I do that the whole screen is used, without any black bars?

Edit: Screenshot direct link: http://i55.tinypic.com/mv17c4.jpg

The Fifth Horseman 25-01-2011 06:27 AM

On widescreen monitors, this is as good as it gets. The game uses a 4:3 aspect ratio, like most DOS games, whereas your monitor's aspect ratio is 8:5.

Japo 25-01-2011 07:24 PM

Everybody wants not to have those black stripes. :( Y U NO like unused area of your monitor?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Japo (Post 330297)
The desired effect is to display the game, at its originally intended 4:3 aspect ratio, making the most of the area of the monitor. If yours is an old 4:3 monitor, the game image should fill it completely.

However if your monitor is a "wide screen" you SHOULD see black stripes left and right. This is is NOT BAD, this is GOOD--as long as there are no similar black stripes at the top and bottom. If the image of a DOS game--intended for 4:3 aspect ratio--were to fill a wider display (like a 16:9), it would be distorted, and you wouldn't be really getting more of the area of your display, contrary to what you might thing at first, and even though many people actually try to remove those stripes when they see them. Click here to see an example of distortion and why it's undesirable.

Mind you, you COULD stretch the image and remove the stripes if you really wanted. But you can see the gruesome result in the link above.

So does it work for you with "ddraw" and not with "overlay", or was it something else? It would be interesting to know.

(Dunno, it may make sense. All this is undocumented, but I think those DOSBox options are probably enum values simply forwarded to SDL calls. Judging from the name, overlay might mean writing directly to the video memory. So maybe the result could vary depending on the particular hardware. DirectX on the other hand is an industry standard API and any driver is responsible to produce the same result out of the same call.)

TheAnyKey 25-01-2011 09:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Japo (Post 421600)
Everybody wants not to have those black stripes. :( Y U NO like unused area of your monitor?



Mind you, you COULD stretch the image and remove the stripes if you really wanted. But you can see the gruesome result in the link above.

So does it work for you with "ddraw" and not with "overlay", or was it something else? It would be interesting to know.

(Dunno, it may make sense. All this is undocumented, but I think those DOSBox options are probably enum values simply forwarded to SDL calls. Judging from the name, overlay might mean writing directly to the video memory. So maybe the result could vary depending on the particular hardware. DirectX on the other hand is an industry standard API and any driver is responsible to produce the same result out of the same call.)

With overlay the picture is very small(I guess windowed mode size), as shown in the attachment on my first post in this thread. With ddraw the picture is as big as it gets(http://i55.tinypic.com/mv17c4.jpg) without the stretch effect, shown by the example with the smiley you linked to. If it's not too bad, I think I could get used to that stretched image though. That's the way I watch most movies.

I haven't tested anything besides overlay and ddraw yet. Maybe something else might produce an even better result.

Japo 25-01-2011 11:09 PM

I see, in my machine the results are the same with overlay and ddraw. I'll recommend ddraw from now on, thanks for reporting back.

Unregistered eumaeus 23-03-2011 03:26 PM

reply
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by The Fifth Horseman (Post 421514)
On widescreen monitors, this is as good as it gets. The game uses a 4:3 aspect ratio, like most DOS games, whereas your monitor's aspect ratio is 8:5.


hi this is a reply to all. ive recently installed an old DOS game called x-wing and had to then install DOSbox and make modifications to the options file as you have mentioned above.

ok this is what i have done to have it work perfectly on my widescreen laptop -


fullscreen=true (loads DOSbox in fullscreen aspect (alt+enter to revert))
fullresolution=0x0 (played with a number of settings inc 1024x768. however, opted for 0x0 to give best results)
output=ddraw
scaler=2xsai (this gives best smooth pixel results for xwing. google others)

hope it helps. im new to DOSbox (though im from the era its a while since ive used DOS).

Japo 23-03-2011 08:33 PM

The scaler is a matter of personal preference. I like to use normal so I get an image as close as possible to the original, even if it looks pixelated--of course these old games looked pixelated originally.

Using a smoothing scaler such as sai doesn't create an image with higher resolution, the image is what the game has and that's it. By using this scaler you fool the eye, reducing pixelation, in exchange of adding noise and "blurring" the image.

Whatever looks better to you is best for you, of course, i.e. this is a subjective matter of aesthetics. It can also depend on the kind of image: photograph-like images may look nicer by reducing pixelation, and less ugly because of the blur; whereas "pixel art" may resent a lot from blurring and gain nothing from smoothing the edges.

Here you can compare the alternative scalers:

http://www.dosbox.com/wiki/Scaler

Where did you hear about using "0x0" resolution? Thanks a lot, I didn't know about it, and it's not documented, but I've found this from the author of DOSBox:

http://www.sierrahelp.com/forums/vie...p=19985#p19985
Quote:

Originally Posted by Qbix
fullresolution=0x0 means use your current desktop resolution on windows. 1024x768 on non-windows systems.

Ideally, you should use the native (square pixeled) resolution of your monitor--no matter if it's that resolution that you're using for the Windows desktop. When you don't, your graphic card may also come into play scaling again on top of DOSBox

1024x768 can't be right for you, because it's 4:3 and you said your monitor is wide.

hudey 24-11-2011 07:45 PM

you know it
 
You gotta scale the windows in nvidia control panel then it works right. maeby you have been used some hdmi cabel to connect your computer to other screen. ant that's why it hasn't restore scaleing system.

Comfosa 17-02-2012 10:53 AM

Thanks!
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Japo (Post 421363)
No idea why DOSBox should fall back to windowed mode... O_O

You did right with fullresolution, but you also need to change "scaler": anything but the default "surface" value will fix your problem, pick "overlay". Also change "aspect" to "true".



(I think a FAQ sticky would be a good idea, in addition to the tutorials...)


I had the exact problem (black screen with little square for game in middle). Your tips did it... I think it was especially changing the display to "overlay", although I have no idea why it got changed or stopped working. All my games were fine before, then suddenly none of them work anymore until I make these small changes. Totally weird, but THANKS!!!

Unregistered David Cade 08-04-2012 05:47 PM

Thank-you, Eumaeus!!!!!!
 
Eumaus, after days of frustration I have found your perfect instructions for anyone having problems making DOS programs play in full-screen mode via DosBox in Windows 7.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unregistered eumaeus (Post 425008)
fullscreen=true
fullresolution=0x0
output=ddraw
scaler=2xsai

For anyone combing the internet for instructions on how to use DOSBox to play DOS programs in full-screen mode on modern large screens while using Windows 7, here's the few easy steps that you have to take.

After DOSBox has installed just stay inside Windows and go to the folder where you have installed DOSBox and find the file that is called
"DOSBox 0.74 Options.bat".

Double-click on "DOSBox 0.74 Options.bat" and it will open up and you will see that it is also called "dosbox-0.74.conf". For some mysterious reason, to do with the clever inner workings of DOSBox, you don't need to worry about this. Ignore all directions you have seen to edit the *.conf" file. By editing "DOSBox 0.74 Options.bat" you ARE editing the ".conf" file!

Just move your cursor into this configuration file and make the changes that Eumaeus has listed.

The terms "fullscreen", "fullresolution", and "output" are all in the first block of commands that are hard up against the left margin. Change the values as Eumaeus has suggested (above).

Then move down the page to the section which is headed "[render]", and find the term "scaler". Change its value as Eumaeus has suggested.

Then go up to "File" and click "Save". Then close the windows.

For some reason you will notice in Explorer that the date associated with this file will not have changed although you will have just modified its contents. Don't worry about this mystery either. Just relaunch one of your DOS programs now and see how they load in a full screen AND that you can still use the mouse and/or keyboard.

For anyone having trouble creating DOSBox shortcuts to their DOS programs, make sure that the Target in your shortcut reads:
C:\DOSBox\DOSBox.exe -userconf -exit "C:\DOS-programs\[name of specific dos-game foler]\[name of the executable file].exe"

In the above example c:\DOSBox is the directory in which I have chosen to install the DOSBox program, and c:\DOS-programs is the adjacent folder in which I have placed a number of different DOS programs, each one of them in a different sub-folder.

Once again, many thanks to Eumaeus.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Keywords to help other frustrated DOS-users find this web-page:

DOSBox, full-screen, mouse, keyboard, exit, 1920x1080, resolution, small, DOS programs

http://www.davidcade.net

dosraider 09-04-2012 06:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unregistered David Cade (Post 441402)
After DOSBox has installed just stay inside Windows and go to the folder where you have installed DOSBox and find the file that is called
"DOSBox 0.74 Options.bat".

Double-click on "DOSBox 0.74 Options.bat" and it will open up and you will see that it is also called "dosbox-0.74.conf". For some mysterious reason, to do with the clever inner workings of DOSBox, you don't need to worry about this. Ignore all directions you have seen to edit the *.conf" file. By editing "DOSBox 0.74 Options.bat" you ARE editing the ".conf" file!

:mhh:
I guess that:

Start menu -> all programs -> dosbox 0.74 -> options -> dosbox 0.74 options

Is too complicated for you to open/edit the dosbox conf file ...... ???????

Ah well.

The Fifth Horseman 09-04-2012 01:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unregistered David Cade (Post 441402)
By editing "DOSBox 0.74 Options.bat" you ARE editing the ".conf" file!

:palm::no: You're not.
By double-clicking the batch script, you run the commands contained inside it, not edit its' contents.

This is what the BAT contains:
Code:

DOSBox.exe -editconf notepad.exe -editconf %SystemRoot%\system32\notepad.exe -editconf %WINDIR%\notepad.exe
Which, coincidentally, is exactly the same thing you get through the "DOSBox 0.74 options" shortcut in Start->Programs->DOSBox-0.74->Options .


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