Monitor limitations are out! High-resolution screenshots are in! I always wanted to take high resolution screenshots of my favorite games but my display just said NO. Fortunately I figured out a way to bypass this limitations with ALL games. With this tutorial, you will only be limited to your graphics card('s drivers). I got to 3200x1800 (16:9) with a single GTX 480. Unfortunately, I do not know if this is possible with ATI/AMD and/or Intel graphics cards as I only have an NVIDIA GTX 480. Please PM me if you figured out a similar way with ATI/AMD and/or Intel graphics cards. I will include the instructions here then. Also, before continuing on, please check first it is even worth it: Even though you are NOT limited by the monitors resolution (eg 1680x1050), you will still be limited by the games resolution as well as the graphics card's (driver's). If your game isn't too old and supports various resolutions with different aspect ratios, it is . Just check it here at ****! So is going through the trouble of running games really slowly at really high resolutions worth it for you? Yes? Great! Let's get to it then! Let's force higher resolutions: Open up your Windows Control Panel Start NVIDIA Control Panel Go to Display -> Change Resolution Click Customize with your main monitor selected Click "Create Custom Resolution..." Set the Resolution to a new maximum (eg 2560 Horizontal Pixels and 1600 Vertical lines). Stick with regular aspect ratio dimensions (4:3, 5:4, 16:9, 16:10, etc). Leave the rest untouched: Screenshot Click Test At this point, there are two possible outcomes: Outcome A: If you are lucky, you will still have some kind of visual, but it might be screwed up. Mine looks like this: Picture (2560x1600 on 1920x1200 Samsung T260). Continue reading "Outcome A". Outcome B: If you are unlucky, the display itself might say "Screw you, I don't support this resolution" and you'll end up with a black screen. Continue reading "Outcome B". Outcome A: An error message will appear. Do NOT click Ok. It will revert your resolution. Just leave it open. Start the game of your choice in window mode if possible. Change the game's resolution. New options allowing 2560x1600 or so should be available now. If not, check the Master Game List on how to force these resolutions for the game in question. Use Fraps or similar tools to take screenshots. Once you are done, you may revert to the old resolution by clicking on the previous error message. Outcome B: At this point, you either have to try starting the game blindly at your new high resolution and then revert back to a supported resolution. try starting the game blindly at your new high resolution and then move the game window to your second monitor that is still working. Keep in mind that you only see a portion of the game using that method. Continue reading "Outcome A" then. connect to your "hires" computer using VNC/Teamviewer/etc from another computer and continue reading "Outcome A". And there you go, a game running at very high resolutions without a super expensive high resolution monitor. If you want to slow down the game even more, you might want to check out my Anti-Aliasing Comparison to add that little extra touch to those darn edges. Slowdowns guaranteed! Here are some of my pictures taken using this method:
I remember Doom 3 even had a better option. Binding a key so it would instantly switch back and forth between ultra high res and normal only for when the screenshot was taken.
well thats gamespecific. cryengine even allows to export screenshots at a higher resolution using the console. though my method is universal
Not that I disagree with you but wouldn't running your monitor/HD TV on resolutions HIGHER than the maximum supported resolution damage the screen? Most screens are 1920x1080. Supposing I force 2560 x 1600 on a 1920x1080 screen, would this not damage or effect the monitor at all? As far as I know forcing resolutions higher that your monitor supports can damage the screen. Anyone else agree?
doesnt sound logical to me. the monitor just doesnt know how to handle the higher resolution... it cant display more pixels than there are, thus will only show a partial image. its not like the voltage of the DVI cable is higher at higher resolutions or anything like that, which actually could damage the display... thats unfortunate. the resolution should still be high, so if you got yourself 2 monitors, you could drag the game window to your other monitor OR revert back to the old resolution while the game is running at hires. some games will continue working, others might crash (the source engine will continue to run for example).
I suppose you could run a window at a massive resolution, I don't see why it wouldn't work other than the obvious clipping of the borders.
most games will not even start at an higher resolution than your desktop resolution is. Actually... I dont know of any game that supports that. Plus, this guide is meant for recording pictures and/or videos, not regular gaming. I wouldn't want to play on that screwed up system either, but its nice to be able to take screens at these resolutions
Well depends, but if you set the scaling to be done on the GPU, I doubt it would do any damage as the signal is downscaled to your native resolution before it even reaches the monitor.
personally i would never use this method for posting screenshots of my games (also i would never photoshop or improve my shots in any way) that would be cheating or faking and i don't like that. i'll always present the real thing to people even if it means 8bit @ 320x240 shots lol it's very cool nonetheless and a pretty handy option, but if i ever use this method for any reason, i will let people know that the images are "improved". honesty before all.
i never meant this as cheating, more like showcasing the visuals of a game... who would even call this cheating. and what do you cheat anyway. you lost me :3eyes: P.S: i understand the ps part, as this doesnt show the game, but a post-edited version of it, thus not representing the actual game. though thats not the case at simply a higher resolution:nerd:
lol here's an example of what i meant.. imagine doing this with GTA4 without any mods, you then give the impression that there are no jaggies in game and that the graphics are high quality and defined or something, someone buy the game only to find that 1) there's no AA 2) the jaggies are all over the place that's a bit of cheating, you take high res images to make the shots look better, you're not actually showcasing the game as is. btw i'm not criticizing you or what you posted, i'm only trying to say that if someone enhanced his images he should at least tell people that he did in order to not give false ideas, that's all. hope its clearer now.
