16:10 screen resolutions with MacOS 9?

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Level 1

6 points

16:10 screen resolutions with MacOS 9?

I've just connected a PowerMac G4 (AGP 400) with MacOS 9.0.4 to a new LG wide screen LCD display, a 20.1" display that supports natively the 1680x1050 pixel resolution through the VGA connector.
The Monitor control panel lists only regular 4:3 or 5:4 resolutions, like 800x600, 1024x768, 1152x870, 1280x1024, but no chance to see the native resolution. I would connect the display to the computer thru the DVI-ADC connector, but I lack the DVI-ADC adaptor.

Is it a constraint of the graphic chipset? The G4 is equipped with the built-in ATI Rage Pro 128 with 16 MB RAM, with dual display connectors, a standard VGA and a ADC one.

Is there a way to see 1680x1050 with OS 9? I haven't tried the MacOS 9.1 or the MacOS 9.2.2 yet: I really hope such upgrades fix my issue, because I can't afford a 4:3 resolution stretched to 1680 pixels and a 16:10 screen ratio.

PowerMac G4 AGP 400 MHz Mac OS 9.0.x

Posted on Nov 27, 2006 9:39 PM

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Answer 1

eww

Level 9

53,052 points

Nov 28, 2006 6:52 AM in response to Marco Tenuti

Hi, Marco and welcome to Apple Discussions. I can't find any useful information on LG's website about how much VRAM is necessary to support your monitor's native 1680 x 1050 resolution in millions of colors, but I suspect it's more than 16MB. If you reduce the number of colors in the Monitors control panel to thousands, are you offered any higher resolutions or different aspect ratios? If not, your video card may be too old and inflexible to support your new monitor. I would call LG's tech support and ask.

I don't believe there is any limitation in OS 9 itself that would cause your problem.

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Answer 2

Marco Tenuti Author

Level 1

6 points

Nov 29, 2006 4:03 PM in response to eww

Hi, Marco and welcome to Apple Discussions. I can't
find any useful information on LG's website about how
much VRAM is necessary to support your monitor's
native 1680 x 1050 resolution in millions of colors,
but I suspect it's more than 16MB. If you reduce the
number of colors in the Monitors control panel to
thousands, are you offered any higher resolutions or
different aspect ratios? If not, your video card may
be too old and inflexible to support your new
monitor. I would call LG's tech support and ask.

I don't believe there is any limitation in OS 9
itself that would cause your problem.

Well, I didn't try to downgrade the color depth, but I will try soon. In past times it was fairly easy to calculate the V-RAM needed to support some pixel resolution, but with all those gigabyted graphic boards, it seems hardly there's still a strict dependency.
1680x1050 million colors needs theoretically only 6,7 MB...

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Answer 3

Marco Tenuti Author

Level 1

6 points

Nov 29, 2006 4:25 PM in response to Marco Tenuti

It seems I'm not the only guy facing this issue...

http://se-server.ethz.ch/Staff/af/Cubeand_CinemaDisplay.html

http://forums.macosxhints.com/archive/index.php/t-10091.html

So I will attempt to pump out some MacOS 9.2.2 from a Classic run, in order to get latest MacOS 9.2.2 display extensions.

PowerMac G4 400 (AGP) Mac OS 9.0.x

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