Solution to issues with Resolution/3:2 in Games

Framework Laptop
#1

Hey everyone!

I recently had my Framework Laptop arrive, and have been very happy with it on the whole! However, the unique resolution has caused some issues in games. Both because a) the game has weird graphical glitches or b) the native resolution is too high for the Intel Xe graphics to handle, but the other resolutions available aren’t scaled to the 3:2 aspect ration and look stretched. I’ve managed to find a solution that works for me, and thought may it could help others.

First, I found this thread on Reddit which lists a ton of useful 3:2 scaled resolutions, including 1920x1280, which is the equivalent of 1080p. I find that at least for the games that I usually play, (Civ, a bunch of Paradox strategy games, etc.) that resolution works great and the GPU is able to keep up.

Then second, using this, the Custom Resolution Utility, (CRU), I added a “Detailed Resolution” to Windows, which not only allows me to add any 3:2 scaled resolution I want to Windows, but those custom resolutions show up in the game display options. This lets me have my desktop at full 2256x1504, while I can have games open in fullscreen at a lower resolution that still fits the screen and aspect ratio.

Hope this can be helpful!

(side note, if someone can think of a better/more consice title, I’m open to suggestion)

12 Likes
#2

Neat utility! I used this to add 1920x1280, 1440x960, and 1296x864.

It would be nice to be able to hide some of the preset resolutions in the settings dropdown. There’s a lot I never use:
image

2 Likes
#3

@feesh Yeah, that would be helpful…

#4

This is awesome. I added the additional 3 resolutions @feesh did to mine, and after a restart, they appear in the list for Windows and I can use them. However the one game I tried to use that I have installed, Mirror’s Edge, doesn’t show those resolutions as options in the game. Any ideas?

I did notice that Windows says its a generic PnP monitor. I wonder with a better device driver or profile if this would work out of box better. And I agree that it would be nice to trim out a lot of the other resolutions…

#5

@dmac8086 Huh. I’m not sure why they wouldn’t show up, and I don’t own the game to test it… I did find a few threads (1, 2, 3,) that seem to indicate that Mirror’s Edge has some weird problems with resolution sometimes. The first thread has some instructions on editing the config file for the game, you could try that…

1 Like
#6

That does the trick, thanks. Definitely a game-specific thing. Still would love it if there were a more specific driver for the panel that included the 3:2 aspect ratios by standard. I think this might be a valid usability feature for some people. At least this workaround exists though! Hope the people who need it, find it.

1 Like
#7

This is a fantastic solution! I can finally play Skyrim, for the 11th time, in 3:2 aspect ratio!

1 Like
#8

Thanks! :+1: CRU is awesome! When searching on Google I only found references to the custom resolutions you used to be able to set in the Intel Graphics utility, but it looks like they removed that feature. I now added 1920x1280, 1620x1080 (as two full HD alternatives) and 1440x960.

I made a YouTube video about gaming on the Framework laptop using lower resolutions and settings and I found that something close to 900p Medium/High will let you run most games at 60 fps. I did see that using 16:10 aspect ratios older games like Crysis will strech the image out and relatively newer games like Doom 2016 add black bars, so I’m really happy to have found this thread :slight_smile:

PS here’s the little Google Sheet I put together to illustrate resolution scale in my video for those who feel adventurous, LOL :stuck_out_tongue:

Edit: I suggest to stay somewhere above 50% resolution scale (752p) or the fidelity will degrade.

Framework Laptop Resolution Scale

5 Likes
#9

So I finally made a forum account (albeit not specifically for this thread) and, despite myself not (yet!) having access to a Framework laptop, I just want to point out that a resolution of 1128x752, while not the highest of resolutions, should let you enable what Intel calls “retro scaling” in their graphics control panel which will “pixel double” and give you razer-sharp pixels.

This should be similarly applicable to any custom resolution that is 1128 pixels wide, such as 1128x704 (16:10) and 1128x632 (16:9).

(if it doesn’t like the 1128 pixel width due to not being a multiple of 16, then try 1120x696 [16:10] and 1120x624 [16:9])

Speaking of which, if you need to run at 16:10 or 16:9 for less-demanding games that don’t know what a 3:2 ratio is, then a custom resolution of 2256x1408 (16:10) or 2256x1272 (16:9) should similarly give razer-sharp pixels while also still being high-resolution since no upscaling will occur due to matching the panel’s native horizontal resolution.

4 Likes
#10

I downloaded this utility but for some reason when i type in a custom res it does not allow me to hit ok any ideas?

#11

Can you take a screenshot of what you’re seeing in CRU? Also maybe consider asking in the linked CRU forum thread on monitortests.com