Ubuntu 9.10 display aspect ratio question

[Default User]

Hello!  

I am running a new install of Ubuntu 9.10. It is (supposedly) the 32-bit
i386 version, but I am using it on a laptop with a 64-bit Intel Celeron
900 processor.  (Yeah, I know, but that's another story.)

The machine has an LCD display. Unfortuately it is wide-screen (16:9
aspect rato).  It seems to have an Intel "Graphics Media Accelerator"
display chipset built in, I think it might be "WXVGA" (not sure).
Currently the display is set to: 

1366 x 768, 16:9 ratio, at 60 Hz

also available is: 

1360 x 768, 16:9 ratio, at 60 Hz 

also:  

1024 x 768, 4:3 ratio, 60, 70, 75, or 85 Hz

and lower resolutions, too "zoomed in" to be useful. 

1366 x 768, 16:9 ratio, 60 Hz


If I  choose 1366 x 768 or 1300 x 768, the image displayed is so small
it hurts my eyes, and I get a headache. My eyes really need 1024 x 768.
But if I choose that, the display image is stretched (distorted) to fill
the width of the screen.  Ugh!  

What I really would like to have is 1024 x 768, 4:3 ratio, UNSTRETCHED.
And centered, so it uses the full screen height, but fills in the
undisplayed areas to the left and right of the image with empty black
space. 

Is that too much to ask for?  

In the past, I might have been able to fiddle with an xorg.conf file.
Unfortunately, there is neither an xorg.conf nor an xorg.conf file to be
found (apparently those are no longer used).  After doing some research,
I think it would be better to ask before doing, instead of after.  

So can this be done?  If so, how?  An what technical information about
the computer would be helpful to analyze the situation?  

Thanks in advance for any input.