If you want it 1.6 or something times upscaled try this formula:

(1680 / 1.6) (1050 / 1.6) = 1050 656

and set:

d3d_disp_scaled_2d_overlay 1050 656

Whether he set d3d_disp_scaled_2d_overlay to 64 or 2 it wont matter, it will be 2x upscaled. With 840 525 it will also be 2x upscaled, which he mentions is too big.

I don't think I have ever seen that research screen.

Same here.  Is it from a mod?

The proper (original) hud is actually scaled properly on those screens. Since the mod you're using wasn't created with NewDark in mind, it looks like the research image gets thrown out of the screen so I don't think there's a clean way to do a proper pixel-perfect scaling, you'll have to find the overlay resolution you like best.
It doesn't look like there is a bug in the new engine either, just that it was probably made without knowledge that some mods would add large panels to the UI.

That monkey report was taken within Zygoptera's Arena mission.
Well, I thought that would be a stock report. Maybe I was wrong.

Indeed the settings 2 and 64 simply produce the same result. No matter what individual value you enter, the screen will always look like shot #2.
Or is there any info availlable what 2 or 64 would do differently ???
Thanks for pointing out the formula for the second variant, bluemess!



With that I was able to calculate how the Original Look and Feel would be calculated.
in order to achieve a more or less original look and feel (even on widescreen), you want to use the formula to calculate the factor for a fixed height of 480.
For a more modern look and feel that makes good use of the widescreen resolution you might want to achieve a fixed height of 640.
(Don't ask why it would be 640. It must be a mere coincidence related to the UI design, but it looks best imho, at least for 16:10 TFTs)

E.g. given a native resolution of 1680x1050 you get these results:

'Original' SS2 Look & Feel (o.k. widescreens adds some blank space horizontally, but the view is vertically optimized)
f=1050/480=2.1875
1680/f=768
d3d_disp_scaled_2d_overlay 768 480

'Modern' Look & Feel (making best use of the top of the screen, horizontal optimization)
f=1050/640=1.640625
1680/f=1024
d3d_disp_scaled_2d_overlay 1024 640

Indeed, it belongs into the Helpdesk.
The other forums are file archives and only persons with upload rights can create new threads there, because every thread is about a download in these forums.

EDIT: If you had written a mod for SS2 I would gladly give you upload rights and then you could start a new topic about it in the SS2 mod archive. Until then you like most people can only reply to threads in the file archives. You can create new topics only in the Community boards.

[...]
Or is there any info availlable what 2 or 64 would do differently ???
[...]

Yes it is. It will try to do pixel perfect (multiply by integer numbers) UI (640x480) upscale as many times as it fits your resolution, up to 64 times. But it will stop at 2 because:

(640 * 2) (480 * 2) -> 1280 960 < 1680 1050 - fits OK

(640 * 3) (480 * 3) -> 1920 1440 > 1680 1050 - doesn't fit

so it seems - no idea why the default setting is so high (64 would translate into 40 960*30 720, and even the craziest monitor configuration I know of is "only" 11 520*4 320). still, it should be the first value the user should try, as it should result in an optimally scaled hud in most cases.

Author probably pick that value by hand choosing somewhere between good measure and ridiculous.

Since we are putting that much thought to it, probably more than the author himself:

I think there is no actual technical limitation (like this 64) how many times UI can be enlarged, but that variable by definition takes integer values, so it couldn't be set to something like "bestfit" or "infinity", and some value had to be chosen. Setting it to 65535 would puzzle as too much, as 64 gave us enough of the riddle.

There's no need for it to be power of 2, it could be any integer (natural, to be specific) value. Don't be mislead by this 64, programmer's nature makes them choose "round" numbers by their standards

Uh, gaps? Look the UI is an overlay. Its size has no business with your screen resolution, except it has to fit into it.