Monitor Aspect Ratio

I recently purchased Photoshop Elements 6 to replace version 4 that I had been using. I installed PE6 on my Dell Inspiron 1420 laptop because that computer has a much more powerful processor and lots more memory than my older desktop computer.

PE6 works great. One problem is that the laptop has a monitor with an aspect ratio of approximately 3:5 whereas a standard monitor has an aspect ratio of 3:4. PE6 automaticallly scales images to fit the width of the screen, resulting in some distortion–a circle becomes an oval.

Is there a way to correct this problem? Perhaps I could fiddle with the NVIDIA driver? Or is there a way to correct the problem in PE6?

One solution, of course, is to use an external monitor with a standard aspect ratio–I’ll probably do that so that I can work with larger images while I’m at home. I’d still like to have undistorted images on my laptop while I’m traveling.

I recently purchased Photoshop Elements 6 to replace version 4 that I had been using. I installed PE6 on my Dell Inspiron 1420 laptop because that computer has a much more powerful processor and lots more memory than my older desktop computer.

PE6 works great. One problem is that the laptop has a monitor with an aspect ratio of approximately 3:5 whereas a standard monitor has an aspect ratio of 3:4. PE6 automaticallly scales images to fit the width of the screen, resulting in some distortion–a circle becomes an oval.

Is there a way to correct this problem? Perhaps I could fiddle with the NVIDIA driver? Or is there a way to correct the problem in PE6?

"GordonP" wrote in message

I recently purchased Photoshop Elements 6 to replace version 4 that I had been using. I installed PE6 on my Dell Inspiron 1420 laptop because that computer has a much more powerful processor and lots more memory than my older desktop computer.

PE6 works great. One problem is that the laptop has a monitor with an aspect ratio of approximately 3:5 whereas a standard monitor has an aspect ratio of 3:4. PE6 automaticallly scales images to fit the width of the screen, resulting in some distortion–a circle becomes an oval.

Is there a way to correct this problem? Perhaps I could fiddle with the NVIDIA driver? Or is there a way to correct the problem in PE6?

Your notebook is similar to mine (an inspiron 6000), and the pixels are square unless you set the rez to a non-native mode. Are you running the notebook at the full rez of 1280X800? This is in Display properties.
Elements is an excellent subset of Photoshop.

I have have just looked at the Smartcurve plugin mentioned by the OP. It looks tro be very good. Have you got any comments about it – just curious

GordonP wrote:

I recently purchased Photoshop Elements 6 to replace version 4 that I had been using. I installed PE6 on my Dell Inspiron 1420 laptop because that computer has a much more powerful processor and lots more memory than my older desktop computer.

PE6 works great. One problem is that the laptop has a monitor with an aspect ratio of approximately 3:5 whereas a standard monitor has an aspect ratio of 3:4. PE6 automaticallly scales images to fit the width of the screen, resulting in some distortion–a circle becomes an oval.
Is there a way to correct this problem? Perhaps I could fiddle with the NVIDIA driver? Or is there a way to correct the problem in PE6?

You should be selecting a monitor resolution, for both machines, that has the same aspect ratio as your monitor. For LCD monitors, I would recommend using the _native resolution_ of the display.

I see that the Dell Inspiron 1420 laptop has a native resolution of 1280×800, a 16:10 ratio. Try your system with that resolution. If it’s too fine for you, pick something smaller, but with the same ratio, like 1024×640, if it has it.

As for your desktop computer: If you’re using an LCD panel, the same advice applies. You’ll have to find the native resolution from your monitor manual, or online. If you’re using a CRT monitor, it is most likely has an aspect ratio of 4:3, so choose a tolerable resolution accordingly.

No adjustment to Photoshop Elements 6 qualifies as a reasonable solution to your problem.

One solution, of course, is to use an external monitor with a standard aspect ratio–I’ll probably do that so that I can work with larger images while I’m at home. I’d still like to have undistorted images on my laptop while I’m traveling.

That does bring up an interesting scenario. If you were to get an external monitor for your laptop, and it’s a different aspect ratio, you’ll likely have to fiddle with your screen resolution moving from screen to screen.

Maybe getting one of those 16:10 LCD televisions is not a bad idea. It’s fairly big, would have the same resolution as your laptop, and can double-duty when you’re on the road?