resizing a background image

Is there a way to resize the backgound image of a page to fit the size of the browser window and resolution? I am running up against different screens with different resolutions, on the high resolution screens the background images are not long enough, and repeating the image will not look right.

the easiest thing to do would be to set the size of the background image as a percentage so it stretches with the resolution.. but then of course you get distortion.

only other thing that comes to mind would be to detect the browser size with javascript and use different images but that'd be a pain in the arse

whoops i should be more specific.. um, if you set an image to stretch without repeating itself, then the content would have to be placed on top of it with some sort of div layer..

probably more trouble than it's worth.

ok so ... the images fit a 1280x1024 screen. However anything larger and you have a gap at the bottom. Now to the illusive point, will stretching the image distort it too horribly?

About your second message ... I understand the part about setting the image not to repeat but to stretch but I am lost about the remainder : sorry.

this site is a good resource for css and dhtml to explain what i'm talking about with layers, particularly chapters 8 and 16 i think.. you can learn by example there.

how badly the image would distort, it would really depend on the image.. if it's a simple image, like vector graphics are then it wouldn't be bad at all.

Thank you, I understand now.