Connecting WXGA Notebook to Projector

I am debating whether I should buy a widescreen notebook or a regular size screen. Though I prefer a widescreen.

My concern: If I connect a widescreen notebook (WXGA 1280x800)to an LCD projector rated for 4:3 aspect ratio (1024x764 resolution), will the projected image look funny? Will the projected image be widescreen or squashed to fit the LCD projector spec.? or do I have to reduce my image size to fit my projection screen, which is 4:3 aspect ratio? Is this someting adjustable within the computer?
Anyone has any experience? [?]

Thanks

dcngo

 

External video resolutions are only 4:3 ratio resolutions. I'm not sure if you have to change the resolution of your LCD before you can output to the projector. But my best guess would be that you would have to drop your res before beain able to output to the projector. Your LCD will look a bit stretched at 1024x768, but the projection will look fine.

-Vb-

 

It also depends on the GPU that you have in the notebook, as ATI, Nvidia and intel all handel the output slightly differently. With my ASUS M6Ne (ATI 9700 GPU) I can run two independent displays, ie the notebook at its natural 15.4" display, and then the projector at what ever its natural res is. To get this to work properly you need to do this in extended mode, not clone mode. This has advantages and disadvantages depending on your view point (no pun intended).
Hope this helps a bit

a

 

Please explain how to do this:

"To get this to work properly you need to do this in extended mode, not clone mode. "

 

I think what he means is that you cannot use the projector, in this case, to show exactly what is on your computer screen, but the projector acts as an extension of your desktop.

I actually had this issue in the class I taught yesterday - it was the first time I used Powerpoint and and LCD projector. The first classes' presentation was messed up when I tried to clone my widescreen to the projector's resolution.

What I did for the second class was just change the resolution of my widescreen from 12xx x 768 to 1024x768, a 4:3 square. I then used the project to show the exact same thing that was on my screen, and it worked just fine.

Yeah, you gotta take that extra step, but if you want to get a widescreen notebook, this is what you have to do.

I think, however, a caveat to this is if you have a widescreen projector (which exist, but most businesses and universities won't spend the money on them)

Hope this helps!

 

Thanks! My problem is that i have a Toshiba Satellite A10-S169 and when it is connected to an lcd projector, the projector displays the desktop background, but nothing else! I have tried several different projectors thinking that the problem was with the projector. Could it then be the resolution? I believe the laptop is widescreen.

 

My mistake! The problem is not the size of the image or the resolution. The problem is that the display appears to be frozen on my desktop. It will not show any files, programs or windows that are opened. It does show the picture when it changes through the screen saver.

 

I remember just a week ago, a classmate of mine had to do a powerpoint presentation and hooked up his widescreen laptop to the projector and it displayed it in fullscreen with no distortion or anything like that.