No fullscreen in ANY older game on 4k display with lower resolution

[pzagawa]

I can't play any game. Any. Arc GPU on my Core Ultra 7 155H is just too weak to play games on 4k display with native resolution.

Solution is obvious: lower the resolution to let's say full hd (1920x1080). The problem is, scaling does not work. Game screen running in 4K, but game viewport is centered with nonscaled resolution. Result: I'm playing with small screen centered on my 4K display.

I'm not some noob. I'm PC user for last 30 years so I know how to find problem solutions and how to change any settings.

I expect that driver settings display/gpu scaling/stretch will resize game scene viewport to fullscreen 4K display.

It does not. It does not working at all. Skip telling me to upgrade drivers or other obvious things.

The problem is driver.

HOW THIS SHOULD WORK

Any game started with resolution lower than native display resolution SHOULD be resized to fullscreen.

That is, game rendered viewport should be scaled to fill full display area ALWAYS.

ALWAYS.

My intention is not and NEVER was to run game in small viewport on big screen. Learn the UX for Christ sakes, drivers devs.

REPRODUCTION

Run Dying Light 1 game on 4K display. Lower the resolution to fullhd. Notice small game viewport. The same problem with Half Life 1, 2 and tons of similar games. Take into account, that 70% of gamers play old games. It needs to be fixed.

EXPECTED

Game viewport should fill display area always for every possible game rendering resolution.

I want any of my game to run FULLSCREEN with no exception. Any, ever. EVER. After changing screen resolution to any lower than native display, viewport should always fill display area.

Because what's the point of having big screen and playing in small center area? Why there is a case for this at all? It's extreme nonsense from usability point!

[AlHill]

@pzagawa   Watch your language.  If you cannot, your post will be removed.

Doc (not an Intel employee or contractor)
[W10 is this generation's XP]

[pzagawa]

Form corrected as you wish. Hope devs/qa make request out of it.

[jbruceyu]

enforce that the display scaling settings in the Intel Arc Control Panel are set to "Maintain Display Scaling" or "Scale Full Screen." This setting should force the game to scale to the full screen give a try creating a custom resolution in the Intel Arc Control Panel that matches your desired lower resolution but with the correct scaling settings. Certain games have their own scaling options. Check the in-game settings to see if there's an option to adjust the scaling or fullscreen mode or check the display settings in Windows are set to scale the display correctly. Go to Settings > System > Display and check the scaling options. Have you checked if there are any updates or patches for the games you're trying to play that might address compatibility with 4K displays?

-bruce

[pzagawa]

I mentioned on the beginning I checked all scaling settings with multiple games and restarts and also many drivers versions. Now using latest drivers.

Looks like no matter GPU scale setting set, nothing really changes.

I also tested multiple games (Half Life 1/2, Dishonored, Far Cry 3, Far Cry 1, and tons others) and all behave the same:

- centered small resolution viewport inside full 4k display black area.

Also, it's not consistent.

For example, when set rendering game viewport to 1366x768 resolution, it magically fills 100% of display area.

But this is the ONLY resolution which behaves properly - renders full viewport on 4k display.

All other resolutions like 2K or 1600x1200, 1440x900, etc.. are ALWAYS rendered in small centered viewport, not scaled to fullscreen.

SUMMARY

When using display other than 4K, all scaling works properly.

For example when I setup games to play on Thinkpad 1920x1200 screen, everything works fine. The same about MSI Claw, which has 1920x1080 screen - all scaling works properly.

But as soon as I connect any of my 4K displays - no scaling option work at all.

This is well visible in Half Life 2, which detects current monitor and shows available resolutions. When it detects 4k display, selecting any resolution lower than 4K, will not scale viewport properly.

FUN PART

When started game on laptop screen, and THEN connected display, game does not detect new monitor resolutions. Then scaling works properly. I can set whatever resolution I want from list or resolutions supported by previously connected screen and scaling on 4K display works great. As soon as 4K monitor resolutions are detected, scaling stops working.