It's not bad but it's noticeable. I don't think I was really complaining in an unreasonable matter, was just wondering if it was a currently fix-able issue.

For me, it's 8/10ths of an inch on top and bottom so 1.6 inches in total. Measured in Photoshop. And I have a 26 inch monitor. Assuming your 24 " is 16:10 (I'm pretty sure you're not talking about a 24" 4:3 hehe), I'd think your black bars would be even smaller, since the total screen size is smaller. "4 inches" seems like it might be exaggeration. :p

I mean, hey, I'll be happy when they're gone, but frankly, I hardly notice them now.

It was noticeable enough for me that I reverted to the pre-patch version. Screw that.

I have a 28" monitor so they are even larger than that, and yet still I think it is exaggerated whining.

No, it is a 16:10 aspect ratio, not a 16:9.

This patch had nothing to do with why you are having black bars now. Something else other then the game was taking away those black bars, and apparently was zooming the picture for you, either that or you somehow didn't notice the black bars before.

Yes, but if a single rain drop were to fall on your head over and over again, wouldn't that be painful? Oh, that's water torture right. Haha, I'm somewhat tired and in a goof ball mood.

Yeah that's some really good reasoning you got there...not. "uh, you either got sucky equipment...or uh...you shouldn't care because...uh.... ...uh". Why do the game even let you choose 4/3 and 16/10 resolutions if the game isn't gonna display them properly, and is only really meant to be played on 16/9 screens?

Btw. on my 17" 16/10 screen I lose a good 2 cm of the screenspace over/under, so it's not exactly a minor cutoff. Also, the best performance I get on my PC is using a 1024x768 res. and while that's usually okay even on a 16/10 screen, it's just horrible in this game. The screen streching is horrible and I get huge black borders. So yeah this is a pretty big problem for me, and kinda ruin the experience.

So that you can use your native resolution, or so that if your monitor does not do fixed scaling you don't get a stretched image.

You act like you are telling me about something I have never experienced. I have a 16:10 monitor, that is what I am playing the game on. It's a large monitor too, a 28" one, so I lost a lot of "inches." The end point though is that it's not that big of a deal. Previous games that had this issue I didn't even notice they were forcing 16:9 until people pointed it out... Mirror's Edge, Assassin's Creed, Bulletstorm and more, I played them all and never even noticed the black bars until people on forums complained about it.

It's barely noticeable on 16:10. It's pretty much a non-issue on 16:10, no matter what uber-sensitive types like you say. I'm sure you were also one of the people buying cropped movies in the early days of DVDs because OMG THE BLACK BARS. I never understood that then, I don't understand it now.

Lol "uber-sensitive". yeah what ever dude. Keep defending the game and maybe they give you an award or a free gift or something. I just hope they patch this.

Played through the whole game and didn't notice them until I look at the forums.

I noticed them because it did not take up all of my screen space, which I want it to. Just open the damn viewport more on the top and bottom!

Movies are movies. This is a game, i want to see everything, at a proper widescreen ratio instead a small 16:9 viewport

I don't really have a dog in this race, however, I will say this. I only buy Letter boxed widescreen DVDs (when I bought DVDs), because pan and scan murders kittens, but I dont see the issue as being the same for game view ports.

In a movie, you are looking at a series of deliberately composed images, and to compromise the screen shape and crop the image, is to circumvent the director/cinematographer's artistic vision. Every image on that screen is placed with deliberate forethought in regards to the shape of the screen.

In a game viewport, there is only no deliberate composition of the scene. The *player* is the director. There is only un-used space and black bars that people may or may not find distracting.

I'm not overly upset about the widescreen letter boxing issue in the game. But I dont feel the argument comparing it to movies is valid. There are an entirely different set of concerns in play.

And in other threads I am a "basher" of this game, so whatever. Consider me a fanboy if you like, the end point is 16:9 on 16:10 is a minor issue. I am not saying it shouldn't fill the screen, it should, I am just saying it is a minor issue that does not deserve the extremely high level of bitching it is getting.

The reason they can't just flip a switch and make it run in other aspect ratios is because the game was designed for 16:9 though. You are saying with movies it is okay because they are filmed for 16:9, well this game was designed for 16:9. To show other aspect ratios they will have to go in and add assets and animation to areas outside the 16:9 viewport, especially in cutscenes.

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No, I am saying it is *crucial* for movies due to aspects of artistic composition. Actors and scenery are placed deliberately, in a series of stills, in certain manner in relation to the shape of the screen, that are artistically stimulating. Filmmakers study these relationships, and know (sometimes) how to compose an interesting picture. You are watching a movie precisely to see the director's/ cinematographer's artistic vision, which was tailored specifically to that screen shape. It makes a difference whether something is close to the edge, higher or lower, or dead center. If the director wanted something closer to the edge, thats where it should be viewed, but full screen treatments compromise the director's vision.

If you don't understand anything about artistic composition, just nod your head here because is sounds vaguely like something that some artsy fartsy film buff might say, and you don't feel like arguing.

The same is not true of a game viewport. The scene is not deliberately composed. It's random and interactive. In that scenario, you are the director, and have different concerns, like using all available space, or not restricting vision. And in that scenario, black bars may be legitimately distracting.

Again, Im not bothered by the letterboxing here, but cinematic letterboxing and video game viewport letterboxing are not a 1:1 comparison.

Cinematics are. the HUD is. The menus are.