Ways to adjust display scaling?

[M3Stang]

Hey guys, I just hooked my Linux Mint machine to my 4K 28" monitor that I usually use my Windows gaming PC on, and everything is way to small. I have to constantly squint lol. I did some searching around the settings and did find a scaling option under "General" but it only gives me the choice to leave it "Normal" or "Double" Double is far too big and it messes up the scaling on my second 1440p monitor. Is there a way to adjust this in terminal? On windows, it is where you choose the resolution and I have it set to 125%/ Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

[laederlappen]

System Settings -> Fonts -> Text Scaling Factor

[M3Stang]

Thanks for the reply. Doing this does not make the overall UI larger like the double dpi does. The cursor remains the same as does the task bar. Surely there is a way to set the DPI in terminal somehow? I was reading that apparently unity has a slider for this very thing. Would hate to switch since I prefer mint's GUI.

[laederlappen]

Please read:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/HiDPI

I just did a couple of tests in a virtual machine.

One method you could try:

First, increase text scaling factor

Install dconf-editor:

Code: Select all

sudo apt install dconf-editor

start dconf-editor

and go to: /org/cinnamon/settings-daemon/plugins/xsettings/

Now double click at "overrides" and enter value {'Xft/DPI': <147456>}

use formular: dpi * 1024
for example:
120 dpi = 122880
144 dpi = 147456

[Ozo]

Hey guys, I just hooked my Linux Mint machine to my 4K 28" monitor that I usually use my Windows gaming PC on, and everything is way to small. I have to constantly squint lol. I did some searching around the settings and did find a scaling option under "General" but it only gives me the choice to leave it "Normal" or "Double" Double is far too big and it messes up the scaling on my second 1440p monitor. Is there a way to adjust this in terminal? On windows, it is where you choose the resolution and I have it set to 125%/ Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

In Settings/Preferences/Visual/Visual Aids, select "Large Text". Then go to Panel settings (R click panel) and select custom panel size and use the slider to enlarge the panel. Try this with Large Text and without to see what works for you. I also click the button below custom panel size which allows Cinnamon to automatically size text/icon of the panel.

[laederlappen]

Interesting, "large text" setting was already activated on my machine. deactivating and reactivating it had an positive impact on my machine.
The text is now larger than with the active setting before. In particular Virtualbox, which uses an old version of Qt. (qt 5.6 has better scaling options)
I used to set default font to 11 to get a proper font size in Virtualbox. Now with the re-enabled "large text" setting, I can go down to default font 10.
Google-Earth, which is another Qt app, also looks better now.

[Ozo]

The size of the panel icons fills the panel (height) with the settings I mention above and looks just like a properly adjusted Windows panel. That is with the panel height slider at approximately 80% on a 40"screen. My text scaling factor is 1.0 with interface scaling set at double. Perfect on the 40" screen.

Of course these settings will be different on a 20" monitor.

[M3Stang]

Please read:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/HiDPI

I just did a couple of tests in a virtual machine.

One method you could try:

First, increase text scaling factor

Install dconf-editor:

Code: Select all

sudo apt install dconf-editor

start dconf-editor

and go to: /org/cinnamon/settings-daemon/plugins/xsettings/

Now double click at "overrides" and enter value {'Xft/DPI': <147456>}

use formular: dpi * 1024
for example:
120 dpi = 122880
144 dpi = 147456

Lol now I went and broke it. I set the number in the billions and now the computer is unusable no windows open nothing works anymore. Typing off of the live CD right now. Installed dconf in the live cd mode in hopes it could access the hard drive file but no dice. Any ideas on how to fix this? Or should I grab my files and reinstall?

[laederlappen]

Lol now I went and broke it. I set the number in the billions and now the computer is unusable no windows open nothing works anymore. Typing off of the live CD right now. Installed dconf in the live cd mode in hopes it could access the hard drive file but no dice. Any ideas on how to fix this? Or should I grab my files and reinstall?

Boot your System. On login, hold "Ctrl+Alt+F1".

Now login on the command line and enter.

120 dpi:

Code: Select all

gsettings set org.cinnamon.settings-daemon.plugins.xsettings overrides "{'Xft/DPI': <122880>}"

default setting is:

Code: Select all

gsettings set org.cinnamon.settings-daemon.plugins.xsettings overrides {}

[M3Stang]

Thanks. I got it working again, although I had to do a graphical login and sort of do it blind with the terminal invisible as those commands didnt work with the ctrl alt f1 thing. These settings dont make the mouse or the task bar larger though.

[laederlappen]

Do you mean the cinnamon panel? You can resize the panel - see Ozo's posts.

Now this thread covers all the system settings that cinnamon 3.4.4 provides for scaling.

System Settings -> General -> User interface Scaling
System Settings -> Fonts -> Font Selection and Text Scaling Factor
System Settings -> Accessibillity -> Large Text
System Settings -> Mouse (and Touchpad) -> Pointer Size (and speed)

(and of course you can resize the panel and the icons on it)

In a virtual machine I had little success with these dconf-settings to make things a bit larger but yeah
I can't reproduce your situation in a VM. It was one of the methods from the wiki, but I still think the answer lies in the text.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/HiDPI

For example,
in Firefox I use the about:config setting "layout.css.devPixelsPerPx"
For Chromium programs (not only chrome) I use the parameter -force-device-scale-factor=1.3 on startup

Maybe the combination of Cinnamon's scaling-factor and xrandr .. whatever you do, be careful and good luck.

[charsi]

The user interface scaling seems to do what I am lookingg for but I can't find a way to -

- Apply it only on one of the screens. (I have 2 1080p screens. One is a 22" the other is 12.5")
- Set it to between 1.2x to 1.5x

[Moem]

The user interface scaling seems to do what I am lookingg for but I can't find a way to -

- Apply it only on one of the screens. (I have 2 1080p screens. One is a 22" the other is 12.5")
- Set it to between 1.2x to 1.5x

Please start a new thread for your question, and in that thread, post the result of the following terminal command, and enclose it in code tags. It's the button marked </>. This is needed for pretty much any question about your system, so it's a good habit to post it straight away.

Code: Select all

inxi -Fxz

[IDG]

Please read:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/HiDPI

I just did a couple of tests in a virtual machine.

One method you could try:

First, increase text scaling factor

Install dconf-editor:

Code: Select all

sudo apt install dconf-editor

start dconf-editor

and go to: /org/cinnamon/settings-daemon/plugins/xsettings/

Now double click at "overrides" and enter value {'Xft/DPI': <147456>}

use formular: dpi * 1024
for example:
120 dpi = 122880
144 dpi = 147456

What is the formula for 4K TV that scales to 1080P?

[RKinColorado]

I tried out LM 20, and for some reason, after working great, it was as if the screen was larger than my monitor (1080P). There was a red border around the screen, and the entire desktop scrolled around by using the mouse. I have never seen this before. I then adjusted the scaling feature and the red-bordered , scrolling window was taking up part of the larger desktop, overlayed on it. WTH? I love LM, but installed Ubuntu to see if it was a hardware issue. Nope. I may retry LM 20, but what is the deal?

[paulsirdal]

I have a similar issue with the screen being bigger than my monitor, its anoying as windows/boxes are displayed and apply buttons are out of the display and I cannot move the window enough to get to them.. this is after a fresh install too. being trying ever since to find a way to get it right..

am using Linux mint 20 cinnamon
version 4.6.6
Linux Kernel 5.4.0-42-generic
graphics card nvidia GF108 Geforce GT630

[jnanatara]

I have this same problem. I have a high resolution screen and have installed mint mate. When I open a window it is so incredibly tiny in normal and in auto that in the user interface I have double hidpi selected. But the windows are too big and go underneath the transparent taskbar and don't fit my laptop monitor. I am in an HP Elitebook 840 G3 with a UHD laptop display which I 2560 x 1440.
I wonder if I should go back to Cinnamon from Mate.
Otherwise please, someone, advise me how to fix.
Thanks so much!

[Moem]

I have this same problem. I have a high resolution screen and have installed mint mate. When I open a window it is so incredibly tiny in normal and in auto that in the user interface I have double hidpi selected. But the windows are too big and go underneath the transparent taskbar and don't fit my laptop monitor.

Hello, as you can see this thread is old as dirt and people are not following it anymore.
Please start a new thread for your question, and in that thread, post the result of the following terminal command, and enclose it in code tags. It's the button marked </>. This is needed for pretty much any question about your system, so it's a good habit to post it straight away.

Code: Select all

inxi -Fxz