ScreenResolution and AspectRatio

[va!n]

I have a generall questions when it comes to think about the ScreenResolution and AspectRatio for creating 2D only, 3D only stuff...

In the past i used a 4:3 resoultion like 640x480 or 800x600... Since i have a Widescreen TFT, this resolutions looks bad on the TFT (left and right a black border... or the resoltion is stretched, where a circle looks like oval

So the question is, what is the best resolution (aspect ratio) to create the original scene (2D like Tilemapping or just a full 3D scene) that fits nice on 4:3 and on any other WideScreen resolution, so a circle still looks like a circle... and just only having possible black borders on top/button if needed? (depended on the user selected resolution for the game/demo)

Thanks for any infos and hints / tips to manage this in a nice and easy way...



Edit:
I thnk its a lot harder to get this work for 2D stuff only.... When having 3D only stuff, i think you have just to change the cam view!?

[Jim]

There are a few ways you can deal with it, but no perfect solution.
In my personal order of preference...
1) detect the aspect ratio of the screen (code here)
then change your render aspect ratio.  In LoMeDux it means that 4:3 users actually see less at the sides of the screen than 16:9 users.
2) render at 16:9, and letterbox top and bottom on 4:3 screens
3) render at 4:3 and pillarbox left and right on 16:9 screens

Jim

[hellfire]

In LoMeDux it means that 4:3 users actually see less at the sides of the screen than 16:9 users.

That's quite doable but your artist will kill you for that
Imagine the screen content was designed to meet horizontally at the golden ratio of 1,618:1.
When cropping the image horizontally from 16:9 to 4:3 the proportions end up at almost 2:1.

[Jim]

Are these the same artists that think 48, 257 and 255 are powers of 2?

Jim

[hellfire]

*Exactly* the same