How to Get League of Legends on Certain Monitor
Look, getting League of Legends to behave on your specific monitor can feel like trying to herd cats. One minute it’s fine, the next it’s stretching like taffy or cutting off half the screen.
I spent a solid weekend once wrestling with a new 1440p ultrawide, convinced the game was broken. Turns out, it was just me not knowing the right buttons to push.
Figuring out how to get League of Legends on certain monitor setups isn’t rocket science, but it’s definitely fiddly. It’s less about the game itself and more about how your PC, your graphics card, and that particular display decided to hold hands.
So, let’s cut the fluff and get to what actually works, because nobody has time for vague advice when they just want to play.
What the Heck Is Going on with My Display?
Honestly, the first time it happened to me, I thought my GPU drivers had spontaneously combusted. I’d just plugged in a new 27-inch 1440p panel, expecting glorious esports visuals, and instead got a stretched-out, blurry mess that looked like it was painted by a toddler. It wasn’t just League; other games were acting weird too, but LoL seemed particularly offended. This is where you start Googling things like ‘League of Legends display issues’ or, as we’re doing here, ‘how to get League of Legends on certain monitor’.
Seriously though, the number of times I’ve seen people suggest reinstalling the entire game, or worse, buying a new graphics card, for what’s usually a simple setting change is astounding. It’s like telling someone their car won’t start and they need a new engine, when all it needs is a jump start or, you know, gas.
The core problem is usually a mismatch between what the game *wants* to do and what your monitor is *telling* your PC it can do. Think of it like trying to play a Blu-ray on a VHS player – it’s just not going to work without some serious translation. Your PC, your graphics card driver, and the monitor’s own settings all have to be on the same page.
Then there’s the aspect ratio. Older games, even ones as consistently updated as League, can sometimes struggle with newer, wider displays. The game might default to a 16:9 aspect ratio, and if you’re rocking a 21:9 ultrawide, you’ll get those black bars on the sides. Or, even worse, it might try to force the 16:9 into your 21:9, stretching everything horizontally. Ugh.
The Graphics Card Driver Is Your First Stop
Before you even touch League of Legends settings, you absolutely have to get your graphics card drivers in order. This is non-negotiable. If your drivers are outdated, corrupted, or just plain wrong, nothing else you do will matter. I once spent a solid three hours pulling my hair out trying to get a game to run smoothly, only to realize my NVIDIA drivers hadn’t updated in about six months. Embarrassing, but a lesson learned the hard way. (See Also: How To Put 144hz Monitor At 144hz )
Download the latest drivers directly from the NVIDIA or AMD website. Don’t rely on Windows Update for this; they’re usually behind. A clean installation is usually best, which means picking the ‘Custom’ or ‘Advanced’ install option and selecting ‘Perform a clean installation.’ This wipes out any old settings that might be causing conflicts. It’s like clearing out your old email inbox before starting fresh – gets rid of the junk.
Once the drivers are updated, reboot your PC. Seriously, just do it. Then, right-click on your desktop and find your graphics card control panel (NVIDIA Control Panel or AMD Radeon Software). This is where you’ll set some foundational stuff.
Resolution and Refresh Rate Savvy
Inside your graphics card control panel, find the display settings. Your primary goal here is to make sure your monitor’s *native* resolution and its *highest supported* refresh rate are set correctly. For example, if you have a 1440p monitor that can do 165Hz, you want to see 2560×1440 and 165Hz selected here.
Why is this important? Because the game will often try to pull these settings from your operating system. If Windows is telling your graphics card that your monitor is something it’s not, League will get confused. This is foundational for how to get League of Legends on certain monitor setups.
NVIDIA Control Panel / AMD Radeon Software
| Setting | What to Set It To | My Take |
|---|---|---|
| Display Resolution | Your Monitor’s Native Resolution | Don’t even think about anything else. This is the crispest picture. |
| Refresh Rate | Your Monitor’s Highest Supported Refresh Rate | Anything less feels like wading through treacle after you’ve tasted butter. |
| Scaling Options | Refer to section below | This is where the real magic (or disaster) happens. |
League of Legends in-Game Settings: The Nitty-Gritty
Okay, drivers are good, OS settings are good. Now, launch League of Legends. Go to Settings (usually the gear icon in the top right of the client or in-game). We’re looking at the ‘Video’ tab.
Resolution: This is the big one. Set this to your monitor’s native resolution. For a standard 1080p monitor, that’s 1920×1080. For 1440p, it’s 2560×1440. For 4K, it’s 3840×2160. If you don’t see your native resolution here, something is wrong with your graphics card settings or monitor detection, and you need to go back a step.
Aspect Ratio: This is often overlooked. For most standard 16:9 monitors, you’ll want to leave this at 16:9. If you have an ultrawide monitor (21:9 or 32:9), you’ll need to select the corresponding aspect ratio (21:9 or 32:9). If the option isn’t there, it’s often tied to the resolution selection. (See Also: How To Switch An Acer Monitor To Hdmi )
Window Mode: This is a HUGE deal for how League behaves on different monitors. Everyone talks about ‘Fullscreen’ for performance, and yeah, it can help. But for ensuring the game correctly scales to your specific monitor, especially ultrawides or weird aspect ratios, ‘Borderless’ or ‘Windowed Fullscreen’ is often your best friend. It makes the game *think* it’s just another window on your desktop, allowing Windows and your GPU drivers to manage the display scaling more effectively. I’ve found that for my 34-inch ultrawide, ‘Borderless’ is the only way to get a full-screen experience without weird stretching or black bars.
Refresh Rate: Set this to match your monitor’s highest refresh rate, just like you did in the graphics card settings. If you have a 144Hz monitor, set it to 144Hz. This ensures smooth gameplay. A common mistake is leaving it at 60Hz when your monitor can do much more, leading to a noticeably less fluid experience. Think of it like trying to drink a milkshake through a straw designed for water – it’s just not going to flow right.
Vertical Sync (VSync): Generally, for League, I recommend turning VSync OFF. It can introduce input lag, which is the last thing you want when you’re trying to dodge skill shots. If you’re experiencing screen tearing (where the image looks like it’s ripped in half horizontally), then you might consider turning it on, or using Adaptive Sync (G-Sync/FreeSync) if your monitor and GPU support it, configured in your GPU control panel. Many gamers find that Adaptive Sync is the true sweet spot between performance and visual smoothness, and it’s something you absolutely should look into if your hardware supports it.
The Scaling Predicament: GPU vs. Monitor
This is where things get a bit technical, but it’s absolutely vital for how to get League of Legends on certain monitor setups, especially if you’re not using a standard 16:9 display. Your graphics card and your monitor both have scaling options. When the game’s resolution doesn’t match your monitor’s native resolution, one of them has to stretch or resize the image.
GPU Scaling: This is usually controlled in your NVIDIA Control Panel or AMD Radeon Software. You’ll find options like ‘Aspect Ratio’, ‘Full-Screen’, or ‘No Scaling’.
- Aspect Ratio: This tells the GPU to maintain the game’s original aspect ratio. If you’re playing a 4:3 game on a 16:9 monitor, you’ll get black bars on the sides, but the image won’t be stretched vertically. This is often preferred by competitive players who want to avoid image distortion.
- Full-Screen: This forces the game to fill the entire screen, even if it means stretching the image and distorting the aspect ratio. This is what you’ll see if you’re getting that awful stretched look in League.
- No Scaling: This tells the GPU to do nothing, and the monitor itself handles the scaling. This is often the default and can lead to inconsistent results depending on the monitor’s own scaler.
Monitor Scaling: Your monitor itself has an On-Screen Display (OSD) menu, usually accessed via buttons on the monitor itself. Within this menu, you’ll find scaling options, similar to the GPU’s. It can be set to ‘Wide’, ‘Full’, ‘Aspect’, or ‘1:1’.
Which one should you use? My personal rule of thumb, and one I’ve seen work for many others, is to let your GPU handle the scaling. Set your monitor’s scaling option to ‘No Scaling’ or ‘1:1’ (if available) and then configure the scaling in your GPU control panel. For League, and most competitive games, I’d lean towards the GPU’s ‘Aspect Ratio’ scaling if you’re on an ultrawide and want to avoid stretching, or ‘Full-Screen’ if you’re on a standard 16:9 monitor and want it to fill the screen correctly. The key is to pick ONE – either the GPU or the monitor – to do the scaling and stick with it to avoid conflicts.
I once spent ages trying to get my 21:9 monitor to display League correctly. I had GPU scaling set to ‘Full-Screen’ and my monitor also set to ‘Full’. The result was a horribly stretched mess. When I finally set the monitor scaling to ‘Aspect’ and kept the GPU scaling on ‘Full-Screen’ (which would have stretched it if the monitor wasn’t telling it not to), the game filled the screen perfectly without distortion. It took me about five hours of fiddling and three separate YouTube tutorials before that clicked. Five hours! (See Also: How To Monitor My Sleep With Apple Watch )
What If I Still Have Black Bars or Stretching?
If you’ve gone through all of the above and you’re still seeing black bars on the sides of your screen when you play League of Legends on your monitor, or if the image is stretched, here are a few more things to check:
- Check the Game’s Config Files: League has configuration files that can sometimes override in-game settings. You can find them in your League of Legends installation folder, usually under `Config\game.cfg` or `PersistedSettings.json`. Be careful editing these; always back them up first. Look for settings related to resolution and aspect ratio. Sometimes, manually setting these to your monitor’s native values can force the game to behave.
- Ultrawide Specific Fixes: For ultrawide monitors, it’s common for games to not natively support the wider aspect ratio. You might need to find community-made patches or tweaks. A quick search for ‘League of Legends ultrawide fix’ will often yield results. Websites like Widescreen Gaming Forum are invaluable here.
- Monitor Settings Itself: Double-check your monitor’s OSD menu. Sometimes there’s a specific setting called ‘Input Signal Plus’ or ‘HDMI Ultra HD Deep Color’ or similar that needs to be enabled for the monitor to properly recognize higher resolutions or refresh rates from your PC.
- DisplayPort vs. HDMI: While less common now, sometimes one cable type works better than the other for specific resolutions or refresh rates. If you’re using HDMI, try a DisplayPort cable, and vice-versa.
It’s a bit of a rabbit hole, I know. But usually, one of these steps will get you there. The frustration is real, but the feeling of finally having it look right is pretty sweet.
People Also Ask
How Do I Make League of Legends Full Screen on a Specific Monitor?
To get League of Legends full screen on a specific monitor, first ensure your monitor’s native resolution and highest refresh rate are set correctly in your Windows display settings and your graphics card control panel (NVIDIA Control Panel or AMD Radeon Software). Then, launch League of Legends, go to the ‘Video’ settings, and set the ‘Resolution’ to your monitor’s native resolution. For ‘Window Mode’, select ‘Fullscreen’ or ‘Borderless’. ‘Borderless’ often works best for ensuring the game takes up the full screen without issues, especially on ultrawide displays.
Why Is League of Legends Stretched on My Monitor?
League of Legends often appears stretched on a monitor when the game’s aspect ratio setting doesn’t match your monitor’s aspect ratio, or when GPU or monitor scaling settings are incorrectly configured. If your monitor is 16:9 and the game is forced into a different aspect ratio, or if the scaling option is set to ‘Full-Screen’ instead of ‘Aspect Ratio’ in your graphics card settings, it can cause stretching. Ensure your in-game resolution matches your monitor’s native resolution and that the aspect ratio setting in League is set appropriately (e.g., 16:9, 21:9).
How Do I Change My Monitor Resolution for Gaming?
You can change your monitor’s resolution for gaming by right-clicking on your desktop and selecting ‘Display settings’ in Windows. Under the ‘Display’ section, find ‘Display resolution’ and select your desired resolution, ideally your monitor’s native resolution for the sharpest image. For optimal gaming performance, also go into your graphics card’s control panel (NVIDIA Control Panel or AMD Radeon Software) and set the display resolution and refresh rate there to match your monitor’s capabilities.
How Do I Fix the Black Bars in League of Legends?
Black bars in League of Legends usually appear when the game’s resolution doesn’t match your monitor’s native aspect ratio. To fix this, go into League of Legends’ ‘Video’ settings. Set the ‘Resolution’ to your monitor’s native resolution. Crucially, check the ‘Aspect Ratio’ setting and ensure it matches your monitor (e.g., 16:9 for standard monitors, 21:9 for ultrawides). If you’re using an ultrawide monitor and the option isn’t available, you may need to adjust scaling settings in your GPU control panel to ‘Aspect Ratio’ mode or explore community fixes for ultrawide support.
Conclusion
So, there you have it. Getting League of Legends to look right on whatever screen you’ve got isn’t some arcane magic trick. It’s usually a dance between your GPU drivers, your Windows display settings, and the in-game video options, with a bit of understanding about aspect ratios and scaling thrown in.
Don’t be afraid to poke around in your graphics card control panel. That’s where a lot of the real power lies. And if all else fails, remember that sometimes a simple ‘Borderless Windowed’ setting can save you hours of headache.
Honestly, I think the biggest hurdle for most people when it comes to how to get League of Legends on certain monitor setups is just not knowing which settings to prioritize. It’s not just about resolution; it’s about aspect ratio and how the image is being scaled.
Before you go blaming Riot or your hardware, give these steps a solid try. You might be surprised how much better your Summoner’s Rift looks.
Recommended For You
