Proper Wallpaper Resolutions

some fuzzy, some clear

from WinCustomize Forums
greetings citizens: my monitor resolution is set at 1280x1024 (or something very close to these numbers) ... but it seems that when i download wallpapers the wallpapers are fuzzy ... this is the case whether the wallpaper is 1280x768 (or something close to this) or 1600x1200 ... i can understand that the 1600x1200 is higher than my monitor can support ... but i should be able to show a lower res wallpaper clearly, right?

any guidance is appreciated.
wallpapers
10,903 views 14 replies
Reply #1 from WinCustomize Forums Top
but i should be able to show a lower res wallpaper clearly, right?


from what I've seen - stretching to fit also causes fuzzy.

pixel size & resolution are not exactly the same thing.
if the wallpaper is 1024x768 you're trying to make 1024 pixels fit in 1280 (and 768 into 1024) 256 extra pixels by 257 extra pixel. It's gonna blur somewhat.

take a .bmp 50x50 and stretch it to fit your monitor. fuzzy.
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Reply #3 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I'm going to disagree a little bit.

Even though 1280x1024 is a bit of an odd resolution (as discussed in another thread), any program that does a decent job of resampling should be able to convert a 1024x768 or 1600x1200 wallpaper to 1280x1024 with very little loss in quality.

Now if you're just depending on Windows to stretch/shrink the image for you, that's different. But if you really like the wallpaper, use a graphics program to resize it for you. ACDSee and Photoshop will both do a good job, but I'm sure there are good free solutions.

And if that's too much trouble, you can always use the freeware Wallpaper Changer, which has decent resampling built-in, so that you don't have to permanently edit the wallpaper. http://www.wallpaperchanger.de/


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Reply #4 from WinCustomize Forums Top
You can even resize in Paint:

- Edit menu > select all (Ctrl+A)
- Image menu > Attributes (Ctrl+E)
- Enter the Width and Height dimensions you want, click "OK"
- Save
Reply #5 from WinCustomize Forums Top
thanks. you guys are much more expert than am i ...i wouldn't have thought of either of these suggestion. as they say in brazil: muito obrigdo!
Reply #6 from WinCustomize Forums Top
also, check out irfanview (just do a google search). awesome proggy.
Reply #7 from WinCustomize Forums Top
The best program I've found to resample wallpaper's is a program by Xymantix (the creater of sysmetrix) called Wallpaper XChange http://www.xymantix.com/programs/wallpaper_xchange.html . It's easy to use and does a great job. Most importantly, it's free
Reply #8 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I can't tell from the link, but does Wallpaper XChange have the ability to monitor folders (including subfolders) automatically? That's an absolute must for me. I'm a bit of a wallpaper collector, and frequently make changes to my global wallpaper folder, and need a program that I can just set and forget. Wallpaper Changer and WallMaster Pro both have that ability. And both resample images when resizing.


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Reply #12 from WinCustomize Forums Top
pixel size & resolution are not exactly the same thing.

I must also disagree a bit........ they are exactly the same thing.....

One other thing to remember...... shrinking an image generally looks better than enlarging one. So, if you have an image that is 1600x1200, resizing it to 1280x1024 will usually work better than enlarging the same image from 1024x768 to 1280x1024.

Reply #13 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I must also disagree a bit........ they are exactly the same thing.....


yeah, don't know what I wasn't thinking.

But 13 days to set someone straight? That's just lollygaggin.
Reply #14 from WinCustomize Forums Top
But 13 days to set someone straight? That's just lollygaggin.

I didn't notice the date...... I'm a slacker..... what can I say?