Running LCD Displays at 1280 x 1024 and effects on photos

Just purchased a 17" LCD (LG L1710s) which runs at 1280 x 1024
resolution. Photos look great but problem is my images don't fit
properly in the screen. There is a gap at top and bottom of screen
which from what i read is due to the different aspect ratio of the LCD
Monitor. I can run the LCD at 1280/960 and the pictures look
great,entire screen is filled, but the text looks lousy so not a good
solution. Is there a fix to get the images to fill the entire screen
while keeping my resolution at 1280 x 1024? I can't believe they are
selling millions of these monitors and images don't fit properly.