Ubuntu 9.10 display aspect ratio question

[Steve]

On Mon, 07 Dec 2009 20:53:06 -0000, Default User <xyzzyx at sbcglobal.net>  
wrote:

> 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 centred, 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 analyse the situation?
>
> Thanks in advance for any input.
>
LCD displays really need to be run at their native resolution, any thing  
else distorts the display as you’ve seen.
I would go to System > Preferences > Appearance and play bout with the  
themes, fonts and rendering until you find some thing satisfactory.

-- 
Steve