4k/UHD Resolution Vertical Stretching Bug (characters, certain GUI Elements, etc.)

 

Description:

There is a problem when playing the game at 4k/UHD Resolution (3840x2160). It appears that the game improperly believes this is an Ultra-Wide resolution/aspect ratio instead of regular 16:9 and thus automatically stretches certain assets like characters and certain GUI Elements that aren't part of the GUI Editor (Galactic Starfighter Targeting reticules, for example etc.) vertically, and thus they appear elongated and horizontally squashed together. The game appears to only set this at game start time. It's really annoying in regards to GSF targeting circles, as they are supposed to be round, not oval, and the characters look like they have Caminoan genes, being skinny and tall with long limbs.

Note that there are no borders on the screen nor is anything being cut off, so it isn't a display or video card scaling issue.

I've tested this with several 4k/UHD TVs and screens, all with the same results. (Tested on OS Windows 10 1709 up to latest release build 16299.334).

 

Steps to reproduce:

1. Connect an 4k UHD TV/Screen to your PC and start it.

2. Start SWTOR.

3. Observe your character, and certain GSF and other GUI Elements to be stretched vertically.

 

Workarounds:

1. Connect a 1920x1080/Full HD screen as primary monitor and 4k/UHD Screen as secondary monitor.

2. Press Win+P and select to use the 1080p screen only.

3. Start SWTOR.

4. Press Win+P and select to display on the 4k/UHD screen only.

5. Switch to 3840x2160 4k/UHD resolution.

6. Observe that there is no stretching.

This means the game only applies this Ultra-wide fix on every startup.

 

Proposed Possible Solutions:

- Exclude the 3840x2160 resolution from the apparent Ultra-wide screen resolution check/fix on startup.

- Change the Ultra-wide screen fix to check for the aspect ration instead of (presumed) "if (resolution > x)".

 

Update: It seems that SWTOR oddly enough reads the aspect ratio from the highest X/Y resolution listed in a Monitor's EDID value which is often different than the actual native resolution of the display or currently set resolution of the desktop and/or game. It would be a good idea to have SWTOR either read the aspect ratio from the currently active resolution or give us an aspect ratio setting in graphics settings to force a certain aspect ratio instead (I seem to remember there used to be such a setting early on, can't recall whether it was in beta or the early release versions of SWTOR).

Edited April 11, 2018 by Glzmo

Look in the nvidia/amd game profile there should be three options: Center Image, Scale Full Screen, and Maintain Aspect Ratio. select Maintain Aspect Ratio.

 

Sometimes using a different video driver version has an impact on this

 

otherwise try creating an edid override with CRU with just the native resolution and frequency.

Edited April 8, 2018 by OwenBrooks

Look in the nvidia/amd game profile there should be three options: Center Image, Scale Full Screen, and Maintain Aspect Ratio. select Maintain Aspect Ratio.

 

Sometimes using a different video driver version has an impact on this

 

otherwise try creating an edid override with CRU with just the native resolution and frequency.

Thanks. I tried all scaling settings in the Nvidia drivers as well as tossed out all but the native resolution/refresh rate in CRU these things and it didn't change a thing.

 

But I guess you might be understanding the problem wrong. The image is displayed on the screen perfectly fine, there are no borders and nothing is cut off either. It's just that some (but oddly enough not all) of the game's graphics elements are squished together horizontally, which I believe might have to do with a fix for ultra-wide resolutions (for multi monitor setups, etc.) that might have been added many years ago and SWTOR wrongly detecting the UHD resolution as such on game startup. Again, if you use a native 1920x1080 (or lower) 16:9 screen on game start and then switch the display to the UHD screen while the game is running, the proportions are right and remain so even if you change resolutions. It appears to be entirely a game issue, not a driver/display issue.

Edited April 11, 2018 by Glzmo

This sort of issue has risen a number of times over the years though and not sure what you are experiencing is any different

 

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=867728&goto=newpost

 

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=687987

 

 

kurokage found using dvi-d instead of hdmi helped http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?p=7278755#post7278755

Edited April 11, 2018 by OwenBrooks

Thanks Owen. It does look like the same issue, since I've noticed that even though 3840x2160 is all the monitors' native resolution, they also have 4096x2160 (DCI 4k) listed as a selectable resolution (it's really scaled, though) in Windows and Nvidia Control Panel, which apparently causes SWTOR to use the aspect ratio of that resolution instead even though 3840x2160 (16:9 aspect ratio) is used for the Desktop and the game.

 

I managed to get rid of the resolution with the latest preview version of CRU cru-1.3.99-p1 (the current stable version cru-1.3.1 didn't show the resolution), and everything is fine now. I had to disable driver signature enforcement of Windows 10 to install the driver .inf created by CRU (since the driver is unsigned), but it's okay. So thank you very much for your help.

 

That said, it still seems to be a bug or at the very least an issue with SWTOR which needs to be fixed so it determines the aspect ratio from the currently set resolution instead of the highest X Y EDID value or, at the very least, a box is added to SWTOR's Graphics settings to force an aspect ratio (I do seem to remember that option being present way back, not sure if it was in beta or early release versions, however - perhaps somebody could dig up an old .ini file and see if there was an aspect ratio entry back then that might still work). It is high time Bioware fixes this issue, as you can't expect people to jump through hoops and deleting resolutions with third party utilities, that could potentially create problems.

Edited April 12, 2018 by Glzmo

I managed to get rid of the resolution with the latest preview version of CRU (the current stable version didn't show the resolution), and everything is fine now. So thank you very much for your help.

 

Glad to hear it is sorted

 

if swtor just looked at current desktop we wouldn't be having this conversation....

 

least we have a thread that may help others in the future with similar issue

Thanks Owen. It does look like the same issue, since I've noticed that even though 3840x2160 is all the monitors' native resolution, they also have 4096x2160 (DCI 4k) listed as a selectable resolution (it's really scaled, though) in Windows and Nvidia Control Panel, which apparently causes SWTOR to use the aspect ratio of that resolution instead even though 3840x2160 (16:9 aspect ratio) is used for the Desktop and the game.

 

I managed to get rid of the resolution with the latest preview version of CRU cru-1.3.99-p1 (the current stable version cru-1.3.1 didn't show the resolution), and everything is fine now. I had to disable driver signature enforcement of Windows 10 to install the driver .inf created by CRU (since the driver is unsigned), but it's okay. So thank you very much for your help.

 

That said, it still seems to be a bug or at the very least an issue with SWTOR which needs to be fixed so it determines the aspect ratio from the currently set resolution instead of the highest X Y EDID value or, at the very least, a box is added to SWTOR's Graphics settings to force an aspect ratio (I do seem to remember that option being present way back, not sure if it was in beta or early release versions, however - perhaps somebody could dig up an old .ini file and see if there was an aspect ratio entry back then that might still work). It is high time Bioware fixes this issue, as you can't expect people to jump through hoops and deleting resolutions with third party utilities, that could potentially create problems.

 

I am having the exact same issue you are having. It looks like whatever you did would work for me. However, I don't quite know how to use that program. I don't want to screw my PC up. Maybe a detailed explanation on what you did in CRU?

Edited April 3, 2019 by DarthVengeant

Hi there,

 

I have the same problem with my 4k tv screen.

Is it possible to have a quick tutorial or explanation on how to fix this?

Don't know what CRU is and how to use it.

 

Thanks

Not sure if this is against the rules, but I'm bumping this so we can get a tutorial on the fix. I'm running in 3440x1440 and it stretches it. I tried the OP's workaround and it didn't work for me. Thanks.

Not sure if this is against the rules, but I'm bumping this so we can get a tutorial on the fix. I'm running in 3440x1440 and it stretches it. I tried the OP's workaround and it didn't work for me. Thanks.

 

just to try something different does setting a dsr resolution have any affect ? presuming you use nvidia