[RESOLVED] need help with resolution settings in a theme

[u-man]

hello folks,

for my new theme i want to create a animated background. as i know, MPG and AVI is supported by GameEx. my native screen resolution is 1920x1200 on a 27´ inch monitor. my theme is planned for use with HDTVs which have a 1920x1080 resolution (as far as i know).

first i wanted my native resolution, but i realized that i could not make MPGs bigger than 1920x1080 with my editing-software .

my question is, is this a limit by my editing-software or is it possible to make bigger MPGs than 1920x1080? what will happen on HDTVs if they would use a 1920x1200 resolution theme? will the theme be cropped or squeezed to fit the screen?

the AVI format is useless for me at the moment, because the resulting video would be way too big in filesize and probably not playable. as far as i know, AVI is not a codec, it is more a container for different codecs. what AVI codecs are supported by GameEx ?

the AVI codecs i have, are not looking nice and have artefacts if i try to have the same filesize like MPG, except the uncompressed codec which is way to big in filesize. the reason why i ask is that maybe i can create AVIs which are bigger than 1920x1080. its more a cosmetic thing, because i dont like the black borders on top and bottom of my theme, if i use my 1920x1080 MPG. off course i could use the fullscreen feature of GameEx to get rid off the black borders, but then my MPG is stretched to fill the whole screen, resulting in not perfect circles (have buttons in my theme) because of the stretching. as i want my theme to be compatible as possible for HDTVs, i think i must go that route, but maybe i am wrong and somebody here has a better solution. sounds easy, but if i use 1920x1080, i would need to recreate my theme right from the start, because i started with 1920x1200 and have this video problem now .

hope my problem is described clearly and thanks for any help in advice.

[Draco1962]

1920 X 1080 is a 16:9 aspect ratio vs 1920 x 1200 which is a 16:10 aspect ratio. It is possible you could create your videos in 1680 x 1050 as this is within the same aspect ratio as 1920 x 1200. It will upsize to the same proportions without any horizontal or vertical distortion noted. You may, however, lose some quality since your image will scale up to the higher resolution within the same aspect (i.e., may not appear to be quite as clearly in focus).

If you run a video or image of 1920 x 1200 on a 1920 x 1080 display, it will either stretch to fit or crop, depending on the monitor or TV. If it scales to fit, there will be some, albeit minor distortion on the vertical since the aspect ratio is different.

You will find it best to make your theme as you need it to suit your needs as there are too many different resolutions to try to satisfy.

[u-man]

OMG i am to tired from work.... you are right, i will try the 1680x1050 and see how much quality i will sacrifice, i think it will be a minor loss.

If you run a video or image of 1920 x 1200 on a 1920 x 1080 display, it will either stretch to fit or crop, depending on the monitor or TV.

i could live with a crop, as there is nothing important to show up in that area. a stretch would be not so good, ok depends how much, sad i can not test it . the term "either" turns me off. is it really depending on the monitor/TV ?

anyway thank you Draco1962... by the way, send you a PM .

[Draco1962]

Most newer TVs have manual adjustments as to how the images will fill the screen that may have an impact. Others adjust automatically at first but may require additional manual tweaks.

"Either" just means more possible combinations and only reinforces my suggestion to do the them for you first and if there is a benefit to others, great! If not, you can decide to whether or not you have the time to release a separate theme at other resolutions/aspect ratios.

[u-man]

yeah, i will make 2 resolutions for my theme, one for HDTV and one for PAL/NTSC... i think for the PAL/NTSC version, its best to start with 800x600 or not?

but first HDTV .

thank you very much Draco1962, i think this topic can be closed now.