How do I get all games to display the same?

[LeedsFan]

Basically I'm trying to set up an LCD monitor to display all vertical games the same resolution. I tried setting the res to 1024x768 (native for the monitor) but the games don't display the same. Some games appear in a little window as if they are expecting some bezel or overlay etc. Some games display full screen but I get an annoying "adjusting" message from the LCD on screen as it shifts the screen a little... and even then it doesn't get it right and I have to press the auto button on the monitor to centre it correctly.

Some games like Space invaders don't even start up at all on this monitor. I'm wondering if it's anything to do with the high resolution backgrounds for this game, but I have all the artwork options switched off in mame.ini.

Any ideas? 

[Blanka]

First of all, connect LCD screens over DVI, not over VGA. If you have tried that, then ask again.

[u_rebelscum]

What version mame, and are use using directdraw or direct3d (ddraw or d3d)?  Is switchres enabled?  What res is your windows desktop running at?

If it's a current mame, and d3d, and switchres is off, and your windows desktop is 1024x768, I'm surprised you're getting small screens.  Which games?  Can you show your mame.ini?

[LeedsFan]

In reply to Blanka:  I can't connect over DVI as the laptop I use only has VGA output. Also the monitor only has VGA anyway.

OK I switched "switchres" off and now the monitor has stopped with the auto setting messages. So that's cool.

I'm using the latest Mame v.132 and am using d3d. However Frogger still displays small (approx. 7" screen size). In fact I would actually like to have all the games displayed in a small area like this as I'm building a scaled down bartop. The 15" monitor is nice but I would like to scale the display to about 9" or 10" size if I can.

I thought about making a black bezel that would be used for all vertical games, and yet still keeping the same 4:3 aspect ratio. I dunno if I'm thinking along the right lines though. Maybe there is an easier way to do what I want just using the mame.ini? Sorry I'm a bit of a n00b and I'm unsure what all the options there actually do. 

If I could just work out what makes Frogger display the way it does, then I could tweak that so it displays slightly larger and then apply the same to all vertical games.

[LeedsFan]

OK I found the problem with Frogger. I went into the Video Options section of the TAB menu and it was set to using full bezel. Switching it to 3:4 aspect ratio sorted that out.

I found a webpage to basically make your own .lay files for bezels. I'm currently playing around with this. I want to make a "blank" bezel (all black) so you won't see anything. But the result will be a scaled down "play" area to suit my bartop. I just don't know (yet) how to make this bezel a default piece of artwork within Mame for all vertical games.