Cloned Screens with different aspect ratios

[Dan Farrell]

On Thu, 7 Feb 2008 19:25:39 +0200
Marius Gedminas <mgedmin at b4net.lt> wrote:

> On Thu, Feb 07, 2008 at 10:21:02AM -0600, Dan Farrell wrote:
> > I am trying to configure a laptop with 2 screens which display the
> > same image.  One runs at 1280x800, the other at 1280x1024.  
> > 
> > Is it possible to configure X so that the top 800 pixels of the
> > large display clones the smaller, widescreen display?
> 
> Talking about intel video: yes; that's exactly what you get if you ask
> for clone mode.  

It's an nvidia card I'm trying to use; right now I use
	...
	Option "TwinView"
	Option "MetaModes" "CRT: 1280x1024, DFP: 1280x800"

and the desktop is 1280x1024 on the (larger) external lcd.  However,
if I set virtual to 1280x800, nothing will display on the external lcd.
Do you think I'm approaching this from the right direction?  

> As far as I know, it's impossible to ask the driver
> to scale one of the outputs so you'd get the same picture on both
> screens.

Interestingly enough, I seem to have the exact opposite problem.  The
nvidia settings seem to stretch it by default, and I end up with a
screen that's the right width, but stretched vertically.  

Is there some way to do this without using proprietary driver options?

> > Is it possible that I might be able to use the remaining 224 pixels
> > at the bottom for a seperate X display?  
> 
> I doubt it.  But you get a 1280x1024 desktop and you can position a
> window in the bottommost 224 pixels, and that window will not be
> visible on the smaller 1280x800 screen.
> 
> Marius Gedminas