If you want to test the widescreen, e-mail me.

test
 

Feldon,

I want to test it out also, check your pm. Thx

First off, let me say this looks like a fantastic screen saver. (I've not purchased it yet). A couple of questions for all.

Is there an anamorphic widescreen version?

I have a projector for a front screen display that is 8' wide. The resolution is currently 1360x1024. Typically only 1360x765 is used for displaying 16:9 material. So this would work nicely with the wide screen edition. The fish might look a bit large on the 8' wide screen. For a 1360x765 image, how large an image would represent a 1:1 image??

However I also have an anamorphic lens. This lens allows me to squish the 1360x1024 pixels into a 16:9 area. I feed in a tall wide picture and have the optics compress it to a normal 16:9 image. This gives me a slightly brighter image with a higher resolution image.

Thanks,
Mark Hoy

It should work anamorphically like that, yes.

Awfully quiet here lately. So... is the 1.1 widescreen final available yet? I do not have a widescreen display, but the ws 0.99 version I have looks great in windowed mode.

I have heard nothing yet about the final of 1.1.2 of the widescreen. I've been handing out the so-far bugless 1.1.2 beta to registered owners who request it.

Don't know why Prolific hasn't advertised the link yet. I turned it in a long time ago.

I am considering making a "fake" aquarium using Jim's screensaver. The idea is to get a monitor and put it on a shelf with a "fish tank-style" surround to make it look all the more realistic. A wide-screen monitor would be idea for the real fish tank look, can anyone suggest the best monitors for this, or has anyone done this.
ps: i'm looking to spend as little as possible :-)

If prolific have the new widescreen version could we have a date that it will be made available ?

Ricci,

If you need the widescreen version, e-mail me.

There will be a 1.1.3 widescreen at some point; I'm coordinating with Prolific.

Any news on the final widescreen version ?

Apparently they're working on version 1.1.4 of the Widescreen and regular version.

If you've signed up on my website to get e-mails, then you'll get one.

So what happened to v1.1.3 ?

Who knows.

The Great Key Code Switchover?

I assume that means that everyone with a key has to change it (again)?
Good thing Microsoft doesnt do that with these XP keys.. although I hear rumours they might :S (at least to the corporate customers, I would be very miffed if I had to reinstall or give a new key to 400 or so systems!)

Why would there be another key switchover after 1.1?

We're testing 1.1.4 right now, by the way.

And so we continue to skip version numbers... :rolleyes: (I prefer build numbers like 1.1.4.0727).


Anyway, we are beta testing a widescreen 1.1.6 version now. If you don't get an e-mail in the next hour and want to test the widescreen update, please e-mail me. I will expand the beta group from ~20 people to ~80 people early next week.

I have finally entered the world of dual displays. Although I don't plan to run it often, the widescreen albiet a bit fat, works well on dual monitors if you have one of the TwinView type nVidia cards with 2 VGA ports on it.

https://www.feldoncentral.com/forump...aldisplay3.jpg

that looks great Morgan, just the bolder of the monitor r too thick, if you have two LCD monitor with think bolder, it'll looks better that way, or if u can get it on a monitor wall display, usually those monitor wall has no bolder at all!!
I'll try to find a way to achive that and take a photo of it, but currently I'm not sure about the setup in nView, how exactly did u set it in the nView(aka TwinView) option Morgan?

it's a single nVidia GeForce 2 MX400 with 2 VGA plugs. so it is one 2048x768 desktop.

If I get the monitors closer together the picture on the one on the right vibrates badly. As it is that monitor is on its way to failing anyway. It changes colors, develops a pink cast, etc.

ic.... so u mean u just adjust the TwinView setting as horizontal extension?

as ur monitor problem I suppose it only happens to CRT monitor while LCD monitor won't interference each other....mmmm.....dreamming two LCD monitor inlaid into wall....must be eye catching!!:)

Cool . feldon23 how an where do you set that up ? I have winblows98 an a GeForce4 mx440 . I have been trying to do just what you did . I must be dumb as a bag full of stones . I guess my mind is just going . I'm not as young as I used to be .......:D

If it has 2 VGA ports and you have 2 monitors, you open the Display control panel, click on Advanced, click on nView tab.

I don't remember exactly what I did in this window but I know I had to fiddle with it quite a bit. I think I clicked "Horizontal Span" and then hit the APPLY button at the bottom.

I thought that might be it . I have the dual monitors ( dual 21" Nokia's ) But in Nview I don't have any span options . I even sent a e-mail to the company asking for help an never got any . At one site a guy got back to me an said the span options don't work on Winblows98 . But I don't see why it wouldn't .

If anyone could help me that would be great . I even tried different drivers an it still has no span options in Nview . :(

Duh!
 

Just add a LetterBox option for reg. monitor users. kind of like the option on DVD movies.
:hmad: <--WTF is that!?

Spanning two monitors.
 

Try going to Display properties, then find the tab for open GL.

Once there you should be able to find an option for enabling both monitors to run openGL. The default is single monitor.

After you set it to run dual monitors, shut down display properties, open SS Aquarium and set it windowed mode, then drag the edges to encompass both screens.

Note that you must also have window spanning enabled and openGL apps will only span so far. You may or may not be able to completely span both screens depending on resolutions, screen size, etc.

Hope that helps.

Snaps

Thanks for the info . I did get it to work now . I installed win 2000 .

Hi folks!
I'm really amazed about the widescreen version.
I only have an ordinary 19" Monitor and I just wanted to check out the WSV in order to have some new optical climaxes
during the "dry" times we all are in waiting for some other aquarium news ...

I didn't expected the WSV to run in full screen mode
for it always sounded as if it wouldn't do.
But what hat a surprise!
It works - surely a bit scaled - but it works!
It even increases my framerate despite the eighth fish!

Is this kind of accidental? Or are they working on a Wide Screen Version for narrow Screens???
If they do so, I wished they would force the SS to retain its dimensions and not to fit screen. I prefer black stripes above and below the aquarium to "squeezed" fishes.
Does anyone know more details?

diverslung,
I use the Wide version all the time.
I just adjusted the vertical size of the SSA with the monitor settings (in my case to 0).
The black bars top and bottom give a much better Fish Tank look, (in my opinion), and the monitor remembers the size each time the SSA is started.
I have a thing about pictures that are not the correct proportions, I can't stand all the TV that is transmitted in the wrong format. (My 16:9 14:9 4:3 button is nearly worn out!)
My monitor is a Sony 17" Multiscan G200 - BTW.

Hi cjmaddy,
I don't think I understood your explaination.
You wrote:"with the monitor settings (in my case to 0)...".
But which monitor settings do you mean? The options the SSA provides contain no "0". By the way: Any "resolutions"-preference I formerly did is going to be reset to "desktop resolution" the very moment I exit the menu.
And if you meant the general screen settings of the video card - there are no SSA-specific options to adjust vertical size or so.

Please be so kind as to concrete your nice reply.
I'm longing for such panorama

diverslung,

Run the widescreen and then use the buttons on the front of your monitor to adjust the vertical height of the picture. Since the Aquarium uses a 60 Hz 16-bit color mode, this vertically squashed setting should not affect your other programs unless the monitor is at least 5 years old.

Hi diverslung, I've been tied up with a very lengthy reply on the 'Other Screensavers' thread. (Do read it - if you have a sense of humour!) .... It's all go isn't it.
Sorry my explanation was unclear. It's something that doesn't seem to be very well documented anywhere, (at least it was new to me, when I first did it!), but if, whilst the SSA is on full screen, you adjust your monitor (in my case it's a button on the underside, near the front, by the on/off switch), you are presented with an on screen menu. Amongst the many options available in that menu, is one for vertical size. Reduce the vertical size until the proportions are correct, - you then have black bars top and bottom. Now comes the magic bit. Your monitor SHOULD remember the setting each time the SSA is called up, but it should not affect other resolution settings. I understand this may not work on all or older monitors. Perhaps others could comment?

ps, - Morgan already has!

Hi cjmaddy,

As you wrote: it SHOULD work ... well actually it doesn't.
I run my monitor (scott 995 19" - not older than 2 years)
@ a resolution of 1600 x 1200 x 32 bit. The frequency is set to optimum.
Of course I know how to adjust vertical screen setting. That's not the point - I mean: it was the first thing I did when running the Wide Version fullscreen. But in my case this setting affects my normal desktop screen. So I'm steaddy adjusting...

I'm afraid there's no way for me to get it working.
But thanks for your reply anyway

diverslung, Very sorry to hear it did not work for you. It surprised me when I first did it, but apparently it is the norm for modern monitors.
I have just looked back at some earlier posts and found one from Socrates, he states .....

" ..... you can easily adjust your monitor to show the wide Aquarium perfectly on a regular monitor. All you have to do is make some adjustments and accept that there will be black bars like in a letterbox film on your TV.
Newer monitors should either have autofit or should have some "resolution memory" so that you can have more than one resolution adjusted to fit perfectly on the screen.
Plus it runs perfectly in a window at the exact right aspect ratio.
Before the Starfish I used the widescreen version exclusively on my normal shaped 19" monitor."

That is just how it works for me.
Lets hope that someone else can come up with a solution, this forum has rarely let me down.
The widescreen version really does look superb when set to the correct proportions.

diverslung,
How about trying to run the (W-)SSA at a different resolution than your desktop? I know you want to see it att the higest possible resolution, but just try it at 1280x1024 and see if it remembers the adjusted settings. Ideally the monitor should have separate settings for 1600x1200x32bit and 1600x1200x16bit (and perhaps even differentiate between 1600x1200x32bit@85Hz and 1600x1200x32bit@75Hz) but somehow this is a bit messed up on your system. Could you try and set the SSA to run at "1600x1200" instead of "Desktop resolution" and see if it makes any difference.

For further reference – What OS and video card are you using?

/Tiny Resolution

Hi Tiny,

I quote myself: "By the way: Any "resolutions"-preference I formerly did is going to be reset to "desktop resolution" the very moment I exit the menu." There's no way to get the Wide SSA remembering the resolution settings.
I use Win 98 SE and my video card is "ATI Rage Fury Pro/Xpert 2000 Pro"

diverslung,
It's now my turn to not understand fully your explanation.
(Perhaps I'm thick, - and they do say that a LITTLE knowledge can be dangerous)

Like you, I also use Win98SE, so I will try to detail my exact settings. (This may help you, it may not!)
Please do not take offence if I state the obvious, I'm just trying to help you get to the bottom of this, and I assume that I may not be writing this in your home tongue.

In Display Properties/Settings I have Screen area set to 1024 by 768 pixels, and Colors to True Color (32bit)
For the 'Normal' SSA, the Resolution in Aquarium Settings is set to Desktop Resolution.
For the 'Widescreen' SSA the Resolution in Aquarium Settings is set to 1280 x 720
(Aquarium Settings is obtained by pressing Spacebar whilst the relevant SSA is running.)

With the Widescreen SSA running I adjust the monitor's vertical size (in the Sony on-screen menu) until the proportions are correct, and there is an equal black area at both the top and bottom of the screen. I 'OK' this by switching off the menu. I then press Esc, to leave SSA. My system is still working at it's normal 1024 x 768 full screen. If I now re-launch the Wide SSA, the monitor has remembered the 'Wide' settings. Likewise if I start the normal SSA, the screen stays at 1024 x 768 full screen.

I currently use a GeForce2 MX400, but in the past I had an ATI Rage Fury. I don't think it would have affected this!

Hi cj,
Thanx again for your bothering...
I did perfectly understand everything even before your diligent reply. I'm not taking offence but maybe my problem is so seldom that everyone thinks he's getting me wrong...

You wrote: "For the 'Widescreen' SSA the Resolution in Aquarium Settings is set to 1280 x 720" - and so ISN'T mine!!! It is set to "Desktop resolution", and all the same what I'm about to adjust - it resets itself the very moment I press the EXIT button of the Aquarium settings. So far for that.

Every Change made in the on-screen menu of the monitor affects every mode - it doesn' t swich between the SSA mode and let's call it "desktop mode" (I almost think my monitor doesn't make more than one mode). When I adjusted the monitor settings to make the Wide SSA look alright and exit the SSA after that, the windows desktop appears in the same proportions as the Wide SSA.

Did I make myself clearer now? Hopefully...

Sorry I called you "cj" - I just visited your homepage and realized that cjmaddy doesn't mean "CJ Maddy" but "C & JM Addy", haha.
don't take it personal ;-)

diverslung,

I know I'm late to this thread, but when you're making these adjustments to screen size, are you running SSA in windowed or fullscreen mode?

From some of your replies, it sounds like you're in windowed mode. In that case, adjusting screen size WILL also affect your desktop.