Is there a way to set a resolution lower than the native and not have it stretched?

[whitedragon101]

On various screens like the iMac and Macbook Pro 17" the res is very high and the mid range graphics cards struggle to game at native res.

Is there a way to set a resolution lower than the native and not have it stretched to fit. i.e if you set 1440 x 900 the game will play on a 1440x900 pixel area and leave the unused pixels as a black border?


(I know there is windowed mode but doesn't this rather distractingly then have a standard windows bar at the top and show the desktop in the background).

 

[Mackilroy]

As long as you set it to a resolution of the same aspect ratio (such as 1280x800) the image will fill the whole screen.

 

[Ace134blue]

So what you are wanting to do is not possible for any games that i know of. Its either stretch to fill screen or windowed mode. Sorry.

 

[doh123]

almost every fullscreen game will use the right aspect and NOT stretch to fit...

are you using an external monitor that has its own internal settings that is stretching?

If you go into Display Preferences in System Preferences, you'll see there are 2 options.. stretched and not stretched for resolutions that aren't the right aspect ratio for the screen. Normally games always use the non-stretched one.

you can always manually change to one of the resolutions before launching the game... might work.