Scaling problem with external display(1920x1080 monnitor)

[SPV1961 A]

Greetings,I am using Dell xps 15 9500 with 4k display and a standard 1920x1080 monitor branded as Philips(I don't remember the model name sorry) my problem is when I connect my laptop to my monitor my desktop graphical interface does not scale with my screen.the icons and buttons looks huge ! and I can only see 25% of the desktop. I am trying to solve this issue for a week,although the best way I found is manually tweak setting.I need a better solution it takes time and effort before I start my work.

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System:    Kernel: 5.4.0-72-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 9.3.0 Desktop: Xfce 4.14.2 
           tk: Gtk 3.24.13 wm: Compiz dm: LightDM Distro: Linux Mint 20.1 Ulyssa 
           base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal 
Machine:   Type: Laptop System: Dell product: XPS 15 9500 v: N/A serial: <filter> Chassis: 
           type: 10 serial: <filter> 
           Mobo: Dell model: 0RHXRG v: A03 serial: <filter> UEFI: Dell v: 1.6.1 date: 12/24/2020 
Battery:   ID-1: BAT0 charge: 32.0 Wh condition: 77.4/84.3 Wh (92%) volts: 10.8/11.4 
           model: BYD DELL M59JH0A serial: <filter> status: Discharging 
CPU:       Topology: 6-Core model: Intel Core i7-10750H bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: N/A 
           L2 cache: 12.0 MiB 
           flags: avx avx2 lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 62399 
           Speed: 3276 MHz min/max: 800/5000 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 2893 2: 3517 3: 3532 
           4: 3794 5: 3675 6: 3856 7: 3582 8: 3771 9: 3552 10: 3296 11: 3277 12: 3081 
Graphics:  Device-1: Intel UHD Graphics vendor: Dell driver: i915 v: kernel bus ID: 00:02.0 
           chip ID: 8086:9bc4 
           Device-2: NVIDIA vendor: Dell driver: nvidia v: 450.119.03 bus ID: 01:00.0 
           chip ID: 10de:1f95 
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.9 driver: modesetting,nvidia 
           unloaded: fbdev,nouveau,vesa compositor: compiz resolution: 3840x2400~60Hz 
           OpenGL: renderer: GeForce GTX 1650 Ti/PCIe/SSE2 v: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 450.119.03 
           direct render: Yes 
Audio:     Device-1: Intel Comet Lake PCH cAVS vendor: Dell driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel 
           bus ID: 00:1f.3 chip ID: 8086:06c8 
           Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.4.0-72-generic 
Network:   Device-1: Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201 vendor: Bigfoot Networks driver: iwlwifi v: kernel 
           port: 4000 bus ID: 00:14.3 chip ID: 8086:06f0 
           IF: wlp0s20f3 state: up mac: <filter> 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 953.87 GiB used: 95.10 GiB (10.0%) 
           ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 vendor: Samsung model: PM981a NVMe 1024GB size: 953.87 GiB 
           speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 serial: <filter> 
Partition: ID-1: / size: 154.64 GiB used: 95.08 GiB (61.5%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/nvme0n1p3 
USB:       Hub: 1-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 16 rev: 2.0 chip ID: 1d6b:0002 
           Device-1: 1-10:2 info: Shenzhen Goodix FingerPrint type: <vendor specific> driver: N/A 
           rev: 2.0 chip ID: 27c6:533c 
           Device-2: 1-11:3 info: Realtek Integrated_Webcam_HD type: Video driver: uvcvideo 
           rev: 2.0 chip ID: 0bda:5510 
           Device-3: 1-14:4 info: Intel type: Bluetooth driver: btusb rev: 2.0 chip ID: 8087:0026 
           Hub: 2-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 10 rev: 3.1 chip ID: 1d6b:0003 
           Hub: 3-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 2 rev: 2.0 chip ID: 1d6b:0002 
           Hub: 4-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 2 rev: 3.1 chip ID: 1d6b:0003 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 46.0 C mobo: N/A gpu: nvidia temp: 57 C 
           Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Repos:     No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-earth-pro.list 
           1: deb [arch=amd64] http: //dl.google.com/linux/earth/deb/ stable main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list 
           1: deb http: //packages.linuxmint.com ulyssa main upstream import backport
           2: deb http: //archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal main restricted universe multiverse
           3: deb http: //archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates main restricted universe multiverse
           4: deb http: //archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-backports main restricted universe multiverse
           5: deb http: //security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal-security main restricted universe multiverse
           6: deb http: //archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ focal partner
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/phoerious-keepassxc-focal.list 
           1: deb http: //ppa.launchpad.net/phoerious/keepassxc/ubuntu focal main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/spotify.list 
           1: deb http: //repository.spotify.com stable non-free
Info:      Processes: 297 Uptime: 54m Memory: 15.38 GiB used: 2.82 GiB (18.3%) Init: systemd 
           v: 245 runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 9.3.0 alt: 9 Client: Unknown python3.8 client 
           inxi: 3.0.38 

[GS3]

Please read and do viewtopic.php?f=90&t=318644

I have trouble imagining a laptop with a 4K screen. 4K is defined as 3840 x 2160 pixels so they must be tiny but, in any case, if you are mirroring (duplicating) the image of the 4K 3840 x 2160 laptop screen on the FHD 1920x1080 external monitor then, obviously it will only display 1/4. That is what I would expect. You would need to set it up as dual, independent monitors for it to display independent images with different resolutions.

[absque fenestris]

viewtopic.php?f=59&t=333033 see the screenshots for the settings of the laptop (Hi-DPI) and the external monitor (native).



@ GS3

I have trouble imagining a laptop with a 4K screen. 4K is defined as 3840 x 2160 pixels so they must be tiny ... ...

Of course, a 4K screen is not usable on a laptop in the native resolution. This is what the Hi-DPI setting is for.

https://www.eizo.com/library/basics/pixel_density_4k/



P.S. 2021.05.07 @ SPV1961 A
I just saw that you are running Mint Xfce - my specs are for Cinnamon .... Simply no idea how this is handled in Xfce.