Widescreen Optimum Use

[john.moniz-rieW9WUcm8FFJ04o6PK0Fg at public.gmane.org]

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> Date: Tue, 15 Dec 2009 10:51:10 -0500
> From: ayilmaz-e+AXbWqSrlAAvxtiuMwx3w at public.gmane.org
> To: tlug-lxSQFCZeNF4 at public.gmane.org
> Subject: Re: [TLUG]: Widescreen Optimum Use
>
> john.moniz-rieW9WUcm8FFJ04o6PK0Fg at public.gmane.org wrote:
>> Hi all;
>>
>> I recently bought an LCD monitor for my mother-in-law. She was looking for a square monitor, but all there is nowadays is the widescreen. It's a Samsung 21.5" screen.
>>
>> She is using Ubuntu 6.06 LTS (I know, I should upgrade it for her one of these days). With the widescreen, the background picture gets spread out and looks very unnatural. From the settings on the monitor itself, I restricted the screen to a square size. The background looks good, but there's a lot of real estate unnecessarily lost.
>>
>> What's the best way to handle a widescreen monitor? I'd be happy with having the background picture cut back to a square, but would like the icons and any open applications to use the full screen.
>>
>> I've never heard anyone complain about this before, so it must be something silly I've done or overlooked.
>>
>> Thanks for any help.
>>
>> John.
>
> When in widescreen mode, is just the background picture spread out, or
> are the desktop icons and text spread out as well?
>
> Conversely, when you manually set the monitor to 4:3 mode, and the
> background picture looks OK, are the desktop icons and text squashed
> horizontally?
>
> What to do next will depend on the answer to these questions. If the
> background picture *and* the desktop icons and text are spread out in
> widescreen mode, that indicates a video card configuration issue.
>
> If the background picture is spread out but the desktop icons and text
> look fine in widescreen mode, you would just need to change the
> background picture display mode (Zoom, Centre, etc.) and/or crop it
> and/or choose a different background picture.
>
> Amanda
>
Just what I needed to know, thanks. I don't want to risk messing up configurations if it's just the background picture. I have to take a drive to her place and get a closer look (was a bit rushed last time). I might even get a chance to upgrade her distro.

John.
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