(test was done with xp as well no black ss at all ) well here is some new info: Topdog tested my computer at its current configuration,and it in fact,it returned a black screenshot,as I said in my first post,this shoots my theory all to hell lol, after some experimentation,yes Windows Vista (any version, Im running home premium 32 bit updated to service pack 2) and GFX cards of NVidia (Im running a GTX 285) with current drivers,updated punkbuster, DirectX 11, and In game anti-aliasing turned on will possibly return a black screenshot,so in my case (and this would be a pretty common one) yeah Anti-aliasing is causing an error returning a black screenshot. Worth noting: BF2 and all punkbuster related applications were running with full administrative access,and in windows XP compatibility modes. The only thing that allowed me to return a clean SS was turning off anti-aliasing.
So this is a Vista exclusive problem,with NVidia cards. I would encourage any other clan members running vista to report their GFX card types,driver revisions,current directX version,and allow some experimentation with PB screenshots with admins who have the ability to do so. I would like to narrow down this issue to its specific causes,such as: Is it limited to Nvidia GFX cards or does this effect ATI as well? If so,what models? what driver version? Is it a DirectX related problem? If so,what versions are effected? Is there a difference between its effect in 32 and 64 bit versions of vista?......etc.....
If we can narrow it down to the nearest conditions it is encountered by players,we will be able to set up an "honesty test" questionnaire that we can give to players when we encounter black screenshots. Based on their answers we can better determine if the player is honestly encountering this error,if their answers match the criteria of our own experimentation. OR; if the player is likely to be intentionally blocking the screenshots, if the info they provide is not on par with the conditions of this error. In either case, unfortunately we can not base any judgment of a given player based on a black screenshot. In fact I would suggest ignoring black screenshots altogether if there is no obvious evidence that a given player is hacking. As much as I hate to say it,but I need to go against my previous research. A black screenshot may actually be a very common issue that many honest players are having,but most honest player dont know about it,because most of them dont get screenshot'ed.
I think black screenshots should only be taken into consideration if there is other blatant evidence of hacking on the players behalf. It should not be in any kind of normal policy,or even part of the server messages,it should be an ignored issue, If I can run into this problem anyone can. This is exactly why I have been experimenting,to see if I could easily cause this error,and I did.
