Horizontal Bars?
 

I've been using this screensaver for about a week and have really enjoyed it. But last night I walked into the computer room to show it to some friends and I was shocked to see it was now has very distinct horizontal bars all the way through it. Very noticeable, my eye caught it as soon as I entered the room. I know it wasn't there before. I have tried changing settings, fish, backrounds but they remain. 16bit to 32 bit. I tried some of my other screensavers and the bars are not there. I even messed with the controls for the monitor but nothing changes. If I can't get rid of the bars, I guess I just wasted 19 bucks. Any suggestions?

I haven't heard of that one before, but we'll get it figured out. Eric is on the forum right now and maybe he will have a ready answer. But to start with, what operating system, video card, and drivers are you running? Next can you post a screenshot of what you are seeing?

I think you want to update/replace your video drivers.

I did some screenshots of the screensaver but can't figure out how to post them. In doing the screenshots I realized that the horizontal bars are only in the backround, not in the fish, rocks, plants or gravel. I still have the demo Serenescreen Marine screensaver on my computer and it works just fine. I also have another (demo) marine one from another company and it also work just fine, no bars. My only option is to uncheck automatic lights and set the backround to black, then you can't see the horizontal bars. I am thinking of getting a new video card, but don't know which to choose.

Very interesting, r1wigs! I don't recall ever hearing (or seeing) a problem quite like that one. Sounds like something Edgar (programmer extraordinaire) might need to dig into. Could you tell us, as Feldon suggested, the specifics of your hardware? And if you could post the screenshot, that would be even better. (Feldon, could you explain how to do that?)

Sorry, it was Jav who requested the technical info, not Feldon.

That sounds like banding. Try changing to 32bit, or turn off anti-aliasing, (if on).
Or you may have to go to a better video card, and/or latest drivers.

Click "Go Advanced" or click "Quote" to open the more advanced editing window. You should be able to scroll down past Post Icons and past Miscellaneous Options down to Attach Files. Click "Manage Attachments".

Pictures
 

You can't see the bars very well on the first screenshot, but I enlarged it and you can see it better. It is much more noticable setting in front of the monitor.

Lighten the background some, and paste the whole screenshot. If its to large and you have nothing to reduce the size, then email it to me and I will take care of posting it for you. Those are difficult for me to see.

?
 

When you click on the pictures I attached, they open up large, you can't see it ??

Yes, I know how the attachments work, but thanks anyway. What I would like to see is lighter and larger please.

Looks like simple 16-bit banding to me. Switch to 32-bit. MA and Goldfish don't use each other's settings, so it's entirely possible for one to be set to 16-bit and the other to 32-bit.

In the first post he said he already tried switching from 16 to 32 bit. Thats why I wanted to see a larger shot with a lighter BG to see how it covers the whole thing. Hopefully we will get a shot.

Yes, I think that's the banding, that was referred to in the link I gave earlier. It was also a problem to a few of us some years ago on MA. - Below is a screen shot. I think it was a product of a number of things, which got resolved with better and newer video cards and drivers, etc.

If it covers the whole thing then I will guess that it is banding and if he has actually already tried switching, then he probably needs better drivers and/or a better video card. What gets me is he says he ran it for a week without seeing any sign of this in the beginning. That could be attributed to bad drivers, mem leaks, and an overloaded system if he hasn't rebooted before seeing this. Depends on the system setup.

IF you look at the top, it says that it's running in 16bit. 1024 x 768 x 16.

But even on 16bit, I do not get that banding. I think you should upgrade your video drivers, ignoring the drivers offered by Windows Update.

Morgan. Who are you referring to?

Jav - When he said that he had tried switching from 16 to 32-bit, it's possible that he did this in Display Preferences. The setting in MA or Goldfish Settings will override this.

Well duh, thanks Jim. I didn't think of that, and I should have asked. It seems my brain is the only thing that still gets vacations sometimes. :lol:

Thanx cjmaddy, your picture of the marine saver is exactly what I'm seeing on my screen! For some reason my screenshots don't show it well. I tried changing from 16 to 32 in the Goldfish 2 controls, "not" in display. I understand what people are saying about the video card but it doesn't explain why it worked perfectly before. If I had seen that I would not have purchased it. It seems a little crazy to spend 100 $ on a new video card just to run a 19 $ screensaver and I'm not a gamer.

It may not be the "video card" per se, it could be the drivers. You haven't actually told us yet what card it is, and what driver version you are using. If you have a bad set running it could be that causing it. Reboot the machine and then run it in 32 bit and see what you get. Meanwhile what card is it and what drivers?

Video Card
 

As you may have guessed, my computer knowledge is not up to this boards level. Please forgive me. My card is a stock card that came with the computer, NVADIA Vanta/Vanta LT. This is what is listed in the Device Manager. I went to the NVADIA website and can't figure out how to check if there is an updated driver. You seem to have to know exactly which card you have and I don't. I'm looking at video cards on Ebay, maybe I can snag one for not so many $.

No problem, no one knows anything until they learn it the first time. :)

Thats what we are here for, in case you don't feel the need to try and learn it. :TU:

The Vanta/LT is an old card, along the lines of 4-16MB. Which means basically that it is struggling somewhat to run what you are seeing. Where did this computer come from? Some resellers supply cards with their system that have been changed somewhat and you must go directly to their site to check for drivers. Other more standard builders supply industry standard cards and you can go to the nvidia site and download which ever drivers you wish. It makes a difference if they will work properly and run or not when you change them.

IF your card/system will run standard drivers even then the latest ones you could probably use from nvidia would be somewhere in the 70.xx series. Later drivers than that will not work with your card as it is to old to use them and not supported.

Another thing I want you to do is run the aquarium and press the "S" key while it is running. Look in the top left corner and copy down what you see there and post it here. If your system is that old we probably want to limit the frame rate somewhat as well so as not to overheat your cpu/system. Remember that the fish in this screensaver are drawn in real 3D, and it taxes older systems to run it continually.

r1wigs,
It has always been accepted that the Goldfish SS is more demanding than the Marine SS, but I don't understand why you did not notice the banding effect of the background, before. - Some sorts of banding can be difficult to see at times, check out this thread about MA from way back in 2001.

As my previous link shows, banding was a problem for a number of us in the early days of the Goldfish Aquarium but was easily cured by a change to 32bit. It is my opinion that with more recent cards and drivers, the effect is probably less likely to occur. The trouble is that this was so long ago! - There was another occasion on the beta forum, (which won't be available to all of you), which was due to applying AA in an attempt to reduce 'jaggles'. - If you do have any AA present, I would suggest you try it set for 'Off', or check the 'Application-controlled' box.

But as Michael has said, it is vital that we know more about the equipment and drivers that you are using, if we are to sort this problem out for you.

Edit: This was written before those last two posts. ... It now looks like we may get somewhere. ..... Good!

This page suggests that 66.93 may be the latest drivers for Vanta LT. - Downloadable here.

The last driver I found was 71.84 as shown by the compatibility list. But, that doesn't necessarily mean that it would be the best driver.

You would need to get the proper version for either 2k/XP or 98/ME.

You were close Cliff, and it may be that those particular drivers would work better than the actual "latest". :)

http://www.nvidia.com/object/71.84_g...supported.html

Thanx Everyone?
 

Attachment 5521I tried the 66.93 and it did install but I think the banding was better but not gone. I then tried the 71.84 and it wouldn't except it. I'm have limited funds due to (many) health issues so I'm trying to find the best video card for the least amount of money that I can get to run this screensaver. My wife splurged and bought me a beautiful 20 in LCD monitor for my 50th birthday. So i feel a bit guilty about spending more money. I found this card and I do have a AGP slot. I included a pic I found on the internet and it looks exactly like my AGP slot. The picture caption says its a 2x/4x agp slot. What I need to know is will this card work?http://www.gearxs.com/gearxs/product...oducts_id=4955

I don't see why not.

I would rather go for one of the better known cards, like nVidia GeForce.
For that amount of money it would probably have to be something like a MX440, and I'm not sure that would be good enough, - what do others here think?

Almost any of the GeForce 4's will be good. I am not sure how long this link will work, but it should show $10-25 video cards and several are GeForce AGP cards:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...SubCategory=48

newegg is a good place to order from, they have alot of options as far as product goes, and their shipping is usually spot on and fast. Let us know what price range you want to stay within and we can help you find a good overall card within that range.

If you do finish up getting that XGI Volari card, I see that it has a DVI Connector, (as will many other cards, - but not all.). Therefore, assuming your new 20 in LCD monitor is equipped with a DVI option, (most new flat panel monitors are!). Then I recommend getting a card with a DVI out, and using the DVI in preference to the 15-pin VGA. - The degree of improvement in picture quality will vary depending on various factors, ..... but DVI will always give a better/sharper image.

(.....Waits to be shot down on that last statement, - but I am convinced that it is a fact!) :)


ps, On the Newegg link given, the Asus V9400-X appears to be the only one showing a DVI connector. .... That is the one I would be tempted to consider!

DVI connector is almost always better. I've noticed that some of the cheaper LCD panels have a VERY poor, fuzzy picture with analog (VGA). They didn't even bother to optimize the quality with this connector since they figure most people will use the DVI connector.

I agree with that.

Monitor
 

It's a 300$ Westinghouse monitor, I don't know if that's "cheap". I have posted this question on other computer boards and they said they see no difference on picture quality for monitors with vga or dvi connections. They said it was about the same. I don't know.

All I can do is say what I have found to be a fact, - NOT my opinion!
Read these two sites, then draw your own conclusions....
http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-3174_7-5136369-1.html
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/108

?
 

I wasn't trying to start an argument but my new monitor has a DVI connection and I don't have a DVI connection on the computer. I started investigating whether I should invest into a new video card. Photos on this LCD screen are eye popping, but fonts leave a lot to be desired. I have adjusted more setting than I can recall and now have fonts very reasonable, using clear type and all that. (I never heard of clear type before this) Screen resolutions and DPI, font sizes, font types (Tahoma is now my font of choice), I have changed so many times I lost track of how I arrived at my current state. Tried the "UseHR" in registry that totally fixed the font problem but I couldn't live with the fuzzy graphics. Looks great now but a few programs I have, the fonts still look like hell. Anyway, I posted on several computer boards to see if this would help out on making the fonts cleaner. (photos were perfect already). General info was that it didn't. So that's what I was referring to. Sorry. (the goldfish screensaver was just one more reason to go ahead and get the card)

If you don't see the difference that DVI can make to fine text, then as my son is an optometrist, would you like me to make an appointment with him for you? :)

Seriously though, I have recently bought identical dual ViewSonic 19" LCD flat panels, (I previously had one 17" LCD and one 17" CRT), and I am just about to change my GeForce FX 5200 Ultra, (that has one DVI and one VGA connector), - for a GeForce 256MB 6800XT, (that has dual DVI connectors). - Because, I CAN see the difference. ... Most noticeably mainly with fine print, like reading these forum pages. - If you were to look at any of the print on this page, whilst the identical page was displayed on the adjacent monitor, I am sure that anyone would be able to tell instantly which monitor was connected via a DVI cable, and which one was analog.

Depending on other factors, you will not notice much, (if any), difference on pictures, MA, GA or DA screensavers for instance. But on fine text the difference could be night and day!

?
 

Did I say "I" couldn't tell the difference?????

I don't have a DVI connection. Reread the post ! Oddly, the main moderator from a forum that is associated with the website link from above is the one's advice I was referring to. He told me he has many computers hooked up both ways and sees little difference in the font problem with LCD screens. Obviously he has a lot of computer knowledge and I listened to his advice. I guess he was wrong. :mad: