How to get rid of black bars at each side of the screen

[Dneno$]

The first things that came to me was the aspect ratio and resolution but im not sure which one of this is causing the black bars

[cfs111]

Aspect Ratio. Do you have a wide screen? 16:9 should be the one you want.

[Dneno$]

finally a reply

[cfs111]

Did it work?

[Grogu]

If you are playing any game in 4:3, but your monitor is widescreen, you either have to play in the correct aspect ratio or adjust your scaling settings.

If using Nvidia go to Adjust Desktop Size and Position and set your scaling mode to Full-Screen instead of Aspect Ratio. That will allow you to use a 4:3 aspect ratio on a 16:9/10 monitor without the blackbars also known as 4:3 stretched.

I am not sure how to do it for AMD.

If you are using Windows 10 you may need to do other things, unless they fixed scaling in Windows 10.

[Dneno$]

im using windows 8.1,and the resolution of my display in general like surfing internet or looking at the desktop is 1920 x 1080 since its recommended by the settings and look fine.So should i choose 1920 x 1080 for skyrim also?

[beans]

Originally posted by FishyBlueWavez:

im using windows 8.1,and the resolution of my display in general like surfing internet or looking at the desktop is 1920 x 1080 since its recommended by the settings and look fine.So should i choose 1920 x 1080 for skyrim also?

Yes.

To explain:

Your monitor has 1920 pixels width-wise and 1080 pixels height-wise. The ratio for that is 16:9, which is a pretty popular ratio for some reason. 4:3 was more popular back in the day. As technology progresses, people (especially gamers) tend to want more horizontal viewing space (because they can see their flanks easier), and not so much vertical viewing space. There are a few games where vertical viewing space is important, notably Planetside 2 and the Battlefield series, where jets and such are common, but for most games it's not as important as horizontal viewing space.

Of course, you could just take three 4:3 monitors and put them side-by-side, but that means there'll be small gaps inbetween the monitors, unless you somehow ripped off the monitor's case and aligned them perfectly. So, 16:9 was born; if you put four 4:3 monitors and one 16:9 monitor right next to each other, and they added up to have the same horizontal size, you'd basically end up with 16:12 (the four 4:3's) and 16:9. The 16:12, i.e. the four 4:3 monitors lined up in a row, would have a lot more vertical space and would also have three breaks because of the monitor casings getting in the way. One 16:9 monitor fixes those problems: there isn't as much vertical viewing space, which is unnecessary anyway for most applications and also saves on graphical processing power, and it's all one screen, so there aren't any breaks in your vision where one monitor's screen ends and another begins.

Tossing around all those aspect ratios may have made it a bit confusing, but for the most part, 16:9 is a good ratio to have for gaming purposes. Windows, as well as pretty much every other OS out there, will default to using your monitor's maximum size. If it didn't, parts of your screen would be invisible (because they wouldn't be displayed on your monitor), or parts of your screen would be unused, which defeats the point of having a large monitor. In the end, these kinds of differences are usually made up for by stretching the screen so that the monitor's screen space is being used to its maximum potential.

Because of this, if you play Skyrim in 4:3, the game is basically being stretched to fit your entire screen. It's not as graphically intensive as running it in 16:9, but it's extremely ugly to the point where it'll probably give you a headache and seriously mess with your vision after playing the game for an extended period of time. You can disable the stretching by playing in windowed mode, but you should really just be playing at your monitor's aspect ratio.

The reason that 1920x1080 is an option instead of 16:9 is because there are other monitor sizes out there that are 16:9 but aren't 1920x1080. If you, for example, ran the game at 1600x900 resolution (which is also 16:9), the game would be stretched slightly to accomodate for your larger monitor, but the aspect ratio would be correct. This is slightly less annoying than playing in the wrong aspect ratio, but you should still be playing in 1920x1080.

TL;DR: Play in 1920x1080.

Make sure that every game you play is set to 1920x1080 in the options menu.

[Turtle]

Originally posted by PeggleFrank:

Originally posted by FishyBlueWavez:

im using windows 8.1,and the resolution of my display in general like surfing internet or looking at the desktop is 1920 x 1080 since its recommended by the settings and look fine.So should i choose 1920 x 1080 for skyrim also?

Yes.

To explain:

Your monitor has 1920 pixels width-wise and 1080 pixels height-wise. The ratio for that is 16:9, which is a pretty popular ratio for some reason. 4:3 was more popular back in the day. As technology progresses, people (especially gamers) tend to want more horizontal viewing space (because they can see their flanks easier), and not so much vertical viewing space. There are a few games where vertical viewing space is important, notably Planetside 2 and the Battlefield series, where jets and such are common, but for most games it's not as important as horizontal viewing space.

Of course, you could just take three 4:3 monitors and put them side-by-side, but that means there'll be small gaps inbetween the monitors, unless you somehow ripped off the monitor's case and aligned them perfectly. So, 16:9 was born; if you put four 4:3 monitors and one 16:9 monitor right next to each other, and they added up to have the same horizontal size, you'd basically end up with 16:12 (the four 4:3's) and 16:9. The 16:12, i.e. the four 4:3 monitors lined up in a row, would have a lot more vertical space and would also have three breaks because of the monitor casings getting in the way. One 16:9 monitor fixes those problems: there isn't as much vertical viewing space, which is unnecessary anyway for most applications and also saves on graphical processing power, and it's all one screen, so there aren't any breaks in your vision where one monitor's screen ends and another begins.

Tossing around all those aspect ratios may have made it a bit confusing, but for the most part, 16:9 is a good ratio to have for gaming purposes. Windows, as well as pretty much every other OS out there, will default to using your monitor's maximum size. If it didn't, parts of your screen would be invisible (because they wouldn't be displayed on your monitor), or parts of your screen would be unused, which defeats the point of having a large monitor. In the end, these kinds of differences are usually made up for by stretching the screen so that the monitor's screen space is being used to its maximum potential.

Because of this, if you play Skyrim in 4:3, the game is basically being stretched to fit your entire screen. It's not as graphically intensive as running it in 16:9, but it's extremely ugly to the point where it'll probably give you a headache and seriously mess with your vision after playing the game for an extended period of time. You can disable the stretching by playing in windowed mode, but you should really just be playing at your monitor's aspect ratio.

The reason that 1920x1080 is an option instead of 16:9 is because there are other monitor sizes out there that are 16:9 but aren't 1920x1080. If you, for example, ran the game at 1600x900 resolution (which is also 16:9), the game would be stretched slightly to accomodate for your larger monitor, but the aspect ratio would be correct. This is slightly less annoying than playing in the wrong aspect ratio, but you should still be playing in 1920x1080.

TL;DR: Play in 1920x1080.

Make sure that every game you play is set to 1920x1080 in the options menu.

Damn bro thats 566 words there, did you really type all that? lol thats like a damn essay :D

[Falro the Great]

Originally posted by Turtle:

Damn bro thats 566 words there, did you really type all that? lol thats like a damn essay :D

Wanna know how I know you've never been to (American) college?

An "essay". You sweet, summer child.

[Ace]

Originally posted by Falro the Great:

Originally posted by Turtle:

Damn bro thats 566 words there, did you really type all that? lol thats like a damn essay :D

Wanna know how I know you've never been to (American) college?

An "essay". You sweet, summer child.

Lmao that cupcake wouldn't last a day I assure him .....

[cfs111]

Originally posted by PeggleFrank:

SNIP

Make sure that every game you play is set to 1920x1080 in the options menu.[/h1]

Mind if I add this to the General Discussion and Turorial Pages?
http://steamcommunity.com/app/72850/discussions/0/485622866435280490/

[beans]

Originally posted by cfs111:

Originally posted by PeggleFrank:

SNIP

Make sure that every game you play is set to 1920x1080 in the options menu.[/h1]

Mind if I add this to the General Discussion and Turorial Pages?
http://steamcommunity.com/app/72850/discussions/0/485622866435280490/

I'd be honored, though I honestly wrote that off the top of my head so some things might need to be verified a little.

[cfs111]

Originally posted by PeggleFrank:

Originally posted by cfs111:

Mind if I add this to the General Discussion and Turorial Pages?
http://steamcommunity.com/app/72850/discussions/0/485622866435280490/

I'd be honored, though I honestly wrote that off the top of my head so some things might need to be verified a little.

NP, why don't you copy and paste, that way you can make any changes you deem necessary. I'll add it to the contents once it is in place. Thanks!! That thread kind of morphed into a little more advanced how to and help needed thread.

[Dneno$]

thanks for the replies especially you frank,It works now