The Aspect Ratio was designed for the ground up for us the users of Ink, it what we have been clamoring for since 2001, something that replicates the dimensions of a legal pad with about the same thickness....
Secondary Monitor scaling
- Thread starter PCAnyWhere
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I wasn't suggesting changing the aspect ratio - the fact that they left 16:9/16:10 is the only reason I own a SP3. 2880x1920 is the same aspect ratio as 2160x1440, but the higher resolution would allow a direct 4:1 down scaling of content to 1440x960 which makes things a pretty usable size, and would have no scaling artifacts at all.
Scaling is vastly improved in Windows 10, especially as the purge more and more of the legacy Win32 Control Panels with WinRT Style versions....they've also updated and refined the Algorithm so iconography is consistent. Below is my SP3 wirelessly connected to a 24" External Display...
I hope they improve it immensely, because the state they deliver the current SP3 in I would say is almost unusable as a flexible device that is quickly docked and un-docked. The fixed custom resolutions is by far the best solution I have seen so far and I suspect many others feel the same way. Like RWerksman above I would not feel comfortable delivering SP3's to regular users with the standard Windows scaling setup.
We have 30 devices deployed to mere mortals without problems...using HDMI or Display Port we get good results....using VGA or DVI we get some fuzziness so we're moving to the newer standards....We will eventually have all mobile staff (around 80+) with Surface Pro 3s
What are the settings you are using?
I cannot find a standard Windows setting that provides a good experience. With Scaling I am both left with elements that are sometimes too large or too small, and even worse, content that is completely fuzzy after docking. With fixed scaling for all displays elements are always too large or too small on one of the displays. My displays are fairly standard 1920x1200.
I cannot find a standard Windows setting that provides a good experience. With Scaling I am both left with elements that are sometimes too large or too small, and even worse, content that is completely fuzzy after docking. With fixed scaling for all displays elements are always too large or too small on one of the displays. My displays are fairly standard 1920x1200.
That's what mine was supposed to be set at, but I consistently get fuzzy text from window re-scaling when I dock or undock. This is a known issue, so I don't think there is anything wrong with my setup.
Pardon me if I'm a bit skeptical, but you are pretty much the first person I've heard report that 'it just works' with 1080p external monitors.
Pardon me if I'm a bit skeptical, but you are pretty much the first person I've heard report that 'it just works' with 1080p external monitors.
It does....like I said we have 30 deployed with 50 more in planning, they have been deployed to Project Managers, Marketing Consultants, Business Consultants, IT Consultants and the CEO, Chairman and President...granted we have very little legacy software, we have upgrade to the latest Adobe CC Suite.
I suspect this may be a difference of what we consider 'acceptable'. My results are consistent, repeatable, and match the experiences reported on this site and all over the web. If you are so happy with it why aren't you in those threads telling everyone reporting issues that it's fine? This doesn't even have anything to do with legacy programs - Microsoft's own programs and built-in elements all display the same behavior - it's not a matter of certain elements being the wrong size - it's a matter of the entire window being rendered fuzzy because it is being rendered for one resolution and then re-scaled for another depending on which screen was set as the 'primary' one at log in.
This is the behavior I see, and as I say, this is the same behavior reported all over the place. If you see something wrong, please let me know because I can replicate this behavior every time.
I set the Surface Pro to its native resolution and set the scaling slider to the middle (recommended) position.
If I am docked when I log in, it uses the attached monitors as the master size, so content is appropriately sized for the monitors and crisp. The menu bar is a little bit small on the Surface. Windowed elements are an appropriate size for that smaller screen, but many are somewhat fuzzy. When I undock, some elements like the menu bar remains small and the windows that were fuzzy remain so. Logging off then back on fixes this. Until I dock again.
If I log in undocked, and then dock, I get the opposite problem. The menu bar on the Surface is tiny. It is oddly sized on the external monitors with the program icons being smaller than usual for the size of the bar and the task bar icons being larger than usual. Still livable. Again, many of my windows are fuzzy - especially in Office and Chrome. It's subtle, but it's definitely not something I would want to look at all day every day. Sometimes elements are comically large - like the Control Panel. Other times they are normal sized but fuzzy.
Using the fixed custom resolution method works better because it makes the behavior consistent. Elements are still somewhat less than perfectly crisp on the Surface because you are working at its non-native resolution, but it seems to be a scaling factor that works better than what happens in the above scenario because it's still usable. I'll also always take scaling on the high DPI screen because all those pixels hide the issue a lot better than low dpi standard monitors. This is why things would have worked so much better with a 2880x1920 screen where you would have had the option of a direct 4:1 scaling factor which means everything stays crisp and extremely sharp.
This is the behavior I see, and as I say, this is the same behavior reported all over the place. If you see something wrong, please let me know because I can replicate this behavior every time.
I set the Surface Pro to its native resolution and set the scaling slider to the middle (recommended) position.
If I am docked when I log in, it uses the attached monitors as the master size, so content is appropriately sized for the monitors and crisp. The menu bar is a little bit small on the Surface. Windowed elements are an appropriate size for that smaller screen, but many are somewhat fuzzy. When I undock, some elements like the menu bar remains small and the windows that were fuzzy remain so. Logging off then back on fixes this. Until I dock again.
If I log in undocked, and then dock, I get the opposite problem. The menu bar on the Surface is tiny. It is oddly sized on the external monitors with the program icons being smaller than usual for the size of the bar and the task bar icons being larger than usual. Still livable. Again, many of my windows are fuzzy - especially in Office and Chrome. It's subtle, but it's definitely not something I would want to look at all day every day. Sometimes elements are comically large - like the Control Panel. Other times they are normal sized but fuzzy.
Using the fixed custom resolution method works better because it makes the behavior consistent. Elements are still somewhat less than perfectly crisp on the Surface because you are working at its non-native resolution, but it seems to be a scaling factor that works better than what happens in the above scenario because it's still usable. I'll also always take scaling on the high DPI screen because all those pixels hide the issue a lot better than low dpi standard monitors. This is why things would have worked so much better with a 2880x1920 screen where you would have had the option of a direct 4:1 scaling factor which means everything stays crisp and extremely sharp.
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Chrome uses XP Style GDI scaling as does 32bit Office and unfortunately as does many of the Win32 Control Panels and any MMC based tools.... legacy apps = any legacy code, this has everything to do with legacy code, specifically anything that uses GDI Scaling instead of Vista and later scaling.
On Office 64bit and on Chrome you can turn off Scaling on high DPI displays.
We also use extended displays not mirrored on one external display while docked.
On Office 64bit and on Chrome you can turn off Scaling on high DPI displays.
We also use extended displays not mirrored on one external display while docked.
