Secondary monitor isn't in fullscreen with lower resolutions [Partially solved]

[Federicrit]

Problem: when I lower the resolution of my secondary monitor (connected via hdmi to my laptop), the image isn't in fullscreen, rather, it's centered and has black borders on all four sides. This doesn't happen on the laptop's integrated monitor, so I suspect it's an issue related with projecting screens and Intel Graphics or Windows. I'm only using the secondary monitor, I'm not duplicating the image or extending the desktop. All drivers and Win10 are updated.

 

You can work around this problem by opening Intel Graphics manager and selecting the scaling option "Maintain Display Scaling" (found in "Display"). The thing is that I have to do this every single time I change my resolution to anything lower than native (1080p).

 

Now, I mostly use 1080p for everything, yet ET (2.60b) was way too laggy for this old laptop, so I had to lower my resolution. But, for some reason, whenever I start ET, the "Maintain Display Scaling" option gets changed to "Center Image", and I have the four black borders again, and I can't change that option, because if I Alt+Enter it goes back to 1080p and ET goes to windowed mode.

 

Before I managed to find a partial solution, I tried many things, like tweaking compatibility options in et.exe file, downloading a minimizer and changing the scale option while ET was running, editing the registry and some other things; none of that worked.

 

The partial solution I found is the following (it doesn't work with ETLegacy 64-bit, it only works with ET 2.60b). Step 1, only display image in your secondary monitor (most laptops have a keyboard shortcut for that, mine is Fn+F6). Step 2, lower the resolution of your secondary monitor to the desired one (720p in my case). Step 3, go to Intel graphics manager and select the option "Maintain Display Scaling". Step 4, open ET. Step 5, use the keyboard shortcut to display image in your laptop monitor. Step 6, use the shortcut again to now display image in your secondary monitor. Hopefully, now you will have ET at 720p while using the full extent of your monitor. This is the only way I managed to do it.

 

This solution is partial because I have to do this every time I open ET. Also, I need to change my resolution back when I close it. It doesn't work with ETLegacy, but I only play 2.60b really. Furthermore, if I /vid_restart, I have to repeat steps 5 and 6. Luckily I don't have to do it inbetween maps. Maybe you can help me find a more permanent solution (like, completely disabling my laptop monitor, but I don't know if I want to do that), or perhaps this post will only help someone somewhere somehow.

 

Specs

CPU: Intel® Celeron® Processor N2808 1.58GHz

GPU: Intel® HD Graphics for Intel Atom® Processor Z3700 Series (integrated)

OS: Windows 10 Home 22H2

Laptop screen: 1366x768 60Hz

Secondary screen: 1920x1080 60Hz, connected via HDMI

[Federicrit]

Something I didn't mention for the previous method is that you have to change your game resolution to the one you desire, in my case, 720p. That would be "Step 0".

 

Anyways, I found a quicker method using the shortcuts of Intel Graphics. There's one that gives you the option to switch between the scaling modes "Center Image" and "Maintain Display Scaling", and the default keys are Ctrl+Alt+F11.

 

Step 0. Set your game resolution to the one you want (720p in my case) and enable shortcut keys for Intel Graphics. Note that not all the resolutions will have the "Maintain Display Scaling" option available.

Step 1. Open Enemy Territory 2.60b.

Step 2. Press Ctrl+Alt+F11.

Step 3. Press TAB three times to select the "Maintain Display Scaling" option. You won't be able to see it, but it's happening.

Step 4. Press Enter. This will apply the selected option and now you will have ET at 720p while using the full extent of your monitor.

 

Sadly, this method still doesn't work for Enemy Territory Legacy v2.82.1 (32-bit or 64-bit), since when you press Ctrl+Alt+F11, the game will minimize and go to desktop, and there's no way to "be" at the Intel Graphics panel without minimizing ETLegacy simultaneously.

 

The general problem is not caused by ET, of course, but by Intel Graphics and/or Windows making "Center Image" the default option for your resolution when you choose one that is lower than your native one, and by not allowing you to change what the default is. Apparently, this problem only affects laptops when using an external screen connected via HDMI; this is why you won't experience this problem with your integrated monitor.

 

Links of interest:

• https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000057700/graphics.html
• https://stackoverflow.com/questions/60287373/windows-10-determine-if-maintain-aspect-ratio-is-set-on-a-pcs-gpu?answertab=scoredesc#tab-top
• https://superuser.com/questions/1714791/only-maintain-display-scaling-in-intel-graphics-control-panel