Difference between VGA and QVGA (newbie)

[sjonkel]

What is the difference in "Qvga" and "vga" mode ?



AND is "Standard SE VGA" mode the same as 240 x 320 ??? ..little confused here...

(I understand that "Real VGA" mode is 640x480 becaurse of the small letters and so on...)

-R

What is the difference in "Qvga" and "vga" mode ?



AND is "Standard SE VGA" mode the same as 240 x 320 ??? ..little confused here...

(I understand that "Real VGA" mode is 640x480 becaurse of the small letters and so on...)

-R

Qvga is 320*240 resoultion, VGA is 640*480 resolution. So VGA is double the pixels. Standard SE VGA is kind of a pixelation by microsoft to make it 640*480. It is not "true VGA" because of the brute force hacks offered here in this forum by various members. So I hope this answers your question.

Actually I think QVGA is quarter VGA, i.e. VGA has FOUR times as many pixels. 320*240=76800 ; 640*480=307200

Actually I think QVGA is quarter VGA, i.e. VGA has FOUR times as many pixels. 320*240=76800 ; 640*480=307200

Yes good call. It does work out to be 4 times. My mistake.
Thanks

[sjonkel]

Sorry... but what do u mean by: It is not "true VGA" because of the brute force hacks offered here in this forum by various members

-R

[TheGreatMe]

well, if i'm correct he means that the QVGA displays show everything like on a QVGA display. For example, the buttons have the same size, also the fonts have the same size, the only difference is that VGA makes it being sharper. So you can say that this is scaled. Some nifty apps can remove this scaling, which enables you to show more on your display.

[gjw]

Out of the box, a VGA device running WM2003SE runs in "pixel-doubled mode".
Every pixel is doubled in height and doubled in width.
This provides compatibility with QVGA (320x240) programs and generally makes for a much sharper picture.
It is not true VGA because all 307,200 are not being used to their fullest capability.
It is also not QVGA because there are more than 76,800 pixels on the screen.

If you're running a program that has been updated to be VGA-aware, then the operating system will NOT pixel-double it, and will display it as a true 640x480 application although the operating system's scroll bars, buttons, and other operating system elements WILL still be pixel-doubled.
This is still not true VGA for the same reason as above.

There are hacks that let you force an individual application to NOT be pixel doubled and there are other hacks that force the entire operating system to NOT be pixel-doubled.
This last mode would be true VGA as all 307,200 pixels are now being used.

[pbunt911]

There are hacks that let you force an individual application to NOT be pixel doubled and there are other hacks that force the entire operating system to NOT be pixel-doubled.
This last mode would be true VGA as all 307,200 pixels are now being used.

What are the "hacks" you are referring to and which ones perform which task, i.e. programs vs. OS? Are there hacks available that utilize all the pixels in the screen (true VGA) but don't make everything too small to read and use? The way you described it makes good sense but from what I can tell "true VGA" mode uses the newly utilized pixels to fit more on the screen rather than enhancing the existing QVGA formatted images.

[gjw]

The file that I attached in this thread:
http://www.aximsite.com/boards/showthread.php?t=92000
is an example of a program hack.
You place it in the same directory as the program you're trying to hack and rename it match the program's executable.
In this case it was for Pocket Word (pword.exe.0409.mui).
To use it for an other program, like calculator.exe, you'd rename it to calculator.exe.0409.mui.
The 0409 refers to the language of your operating system and 0409 is for English.
The same file should work for all programs and all operating systems if it's renamed correctly.
If the program is already VGA-aware it should have no effect.
I say 'should' because Pocket Word is supposedly already VGA-aware yet the problem described in that thread is somehow cured by the hack.
If the program isn't VGA-aware then you should see the difference but again it is a program hack and not an operating system hack so all toolbars, scrollbars, etc. will be unaffected.
Stand-alone programs like Tweaks2k2 and ForceHires.exe use a similar procedure but behind the scenes where you never notice it.
You tell it which programs to hack and it does it.

An other method is to use a binary editor to actually edit the programs executable and make it VGA-aware.
ResHacker.exe is probably the most common for this and you can search for instructions.
This won't work for files in ROM that you can't access (like pword.exe) but for those that you can access it saves you from having multiple .MUI files taking up RAM space and once done, the change is permanent (until you re-edit it).

Operating system hacks are programs like SE_VGA or OZ_VGA that resize everything.
http://www.aximsite.com/boards/showthread.php?t=67899
These are probably what you want because while utilizing all pixels they still let you adjust the sizes of individual fonts and OS elements like tool and scroll bars.