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Old 24-01-2011, 12:13 AM   #1
TheAnyKey
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Default How to increase the resolution in DOSBox?

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.
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Old 24-01-2011, 12:57 AM   #2
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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".

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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...)
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Old 24-01-2011, 01:38 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Japo View Post
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.
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Old 24-01-2011, 01:52 AM   #4
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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...
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Old 24-01-2011, 02:14 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Japo View Post
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?
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Old 24-01-2011, 06:51 AM   #6
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Overlay output doesn't support scaling to anything else than multiples of the original resolution. Switch to ddraw.
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Old 24-01-2011, 07:15 PM   #7
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Quote:
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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.
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Old 24-01-2011, 09:36 PM   #8
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That's how I remember it behaving on my machine. I might be wrong.
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Old 25-01-2011, 04:15 AM   #9
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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

Last edited by TheAnyKey; 25-01-2011 at 04:21 AM.
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Old 25-01-2011, 06:27 AM   #10
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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.
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