No 4:3 setting on the Acer ED270R? /Wide setting 'aspect' only. This is not processing 4:3 properly)

Bydey
Bydey Member Posts: 2 New User
So I am a Speed runner. Mainly I run older games. My main console that I run on is the Super Nintendo (Snes). My current setup is feeding the snes into a retrotink upscaler then hdmi to an elgato then passthrough to my monitor. I have been using the Acer ED273 Abidpx for about a year now and it is simply amazing. A fantastic monitor. My setup goes HDMI (From the Elgato) into the monitor then all I have to do is change the aspect (on the monitor) to 4:3 and voila I have my game in perfect 4:3 format. I have also run this on many tv's and monitors without any issues whatsoever. Always outputs 4:3 on the screen with no problems with some setting changes required on occasion.

I have however been running 2 different setups lately which gets tiring lugging stuff around and wanted to get another similar screen so that I didn't have to carry my monitor with me all the time. So I saw an Acer ED270R for sale at a good price and thought hey it seems like the next model up from what I have or something very similar. Actually a slight upgrade by my account. I bought it. Got it out and set it up. The monitor is fantastic. It looks very good, high hertz range, 2 HDMI inputs and a display port which is exactly what I need for my main setup so I don't have to constantly plug and unplug all the time.

BUT I then fired up my snes game on the new monitor went to the aspect ratio like normal for literally every other monitor I've played on even ones from years go. Check the setting on the monitor and found (wide mode). I then couldn't find an option to set it to 4:3. Erm Hello? No 4:3 forced setting on an upgraded monitor of this standard. I did find an "aspect' setting. This should accept the incoming signal being fed to it but it doesn't process it in 4:3 properly. More like a 3:2 ratio or something weird like a 5:3. Basically the 4:3 image is stretched slightly. It seems to be the right height but not the right width. It basically looks a little weird and makes the game unplayable as it slightly distorts the look of the game. A casual gamer may not notice the difference all that much but to me it sticks out like a sore thumb. 

This is not a classic 4:3 being stretched to a full 16:9 on a widescreen this is a 4:3 being projected on a 16:9 widescreen but slightly stretched.

The game is being fed from the retrotink, to the elgato and then directly to the monitor on the passthrough HDMI so it bypasses the laptop so you cant change or force the resolution change or nvidia settings from the laptop (or PC) as its not directly connected to the monitor. (The monitor should have its own 4:3 setting like almost every one has)

I simply am in shock as I just bought a monitor that is essentially useless for the main intended purpose.

Does anyone have a solution to this problem? I don't mind workarounds. Can we access a diagnostics menu on the monitor? Firmware upgrade? 

Can any representatives from Acer answer me why this monitor doesn't have a simple 4:3 setting?

I have supported Acer a very long time and they have great products but this made me lose faith a lot.

I'm hoping for an answer and hopefully a solution.

Thanks in advance. 

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/560902/force-4-3-on-16-9-monitor
Please also refer to this question from 2019. It seems to be the exact same issue and never received any replies.