Solved SP3 multi-mon dpi scaling tweak

[surfdock]

This tutorial summary will show an alternate approach to achieve seamless multi-monitors on the Surface Pro 3 for desktop productivity scenarios.

Coles notes: use the generic intel.com GPU driver to add the 1080*720 screen resolution and pair the SP3 screen with 21.5” 1920x1080 monitors.

The SP3 screen is fantastic with 2160x1440 resolution in a mere 12" (~216dpi). I wanted to pair this great screen with a large desktop monitor for more screen real-estate in classic-windows desktop, but I had a tough time choosing the right monitor and getting the sizes to match up. By using custom resolutions in the Intel.com driver, the sizes match almost exactly.

For the full tutorial and simple regkey fix, see the blog article.

And checkout our 3-in-1 dock video demo using this hack:

 

[mitchellvii]

MS has been promising independent monitor scaling for 2 years now. I'm not holding my breath.

 

[surfdock]

Yes I know. I was really hoping Vista would have independent scaling...

Seems like nobody has it quite right yet. There are tradeoffs to the approaches taken by Apple, Microsoft, and X. If someone can solve the engineering tradeoffs between performance, fuzziness/aliasing, bitmap UI asset management, memory consumption, etc., etc. they will have a real winner on their hands.

 

[surfdock]

Looks like Intel removed the custom resolution utility in the latest 3907 driver. So you need to get the 3621 driver to get the feature: https://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=23885

Once you add the resolution with 3621, you can install 3907 over top and it should keep the resolution. I'll start a ticket with the Intel guys to see if they can add the feature back.

 

[RoPo]

Hey Surfdoc.
Have been searching for this solution and was oh so hopeful! I followed your inx to the letter and got this message:

Any idea how to get past this? Thanks!!

EDIT: Well, I re-read your post and followed MORE closely and got it to work!
Thank you for this!

 

[RWerksman]

This thread is amazing - exactly what I was looking for. FYI, this is what I did:

• Installed the older version of the Intel driver.
• Added custom resolutions equivalent to 125% scaling and 150% scaling
  • 1920 x 1280 x 60hz
  • 1440 x 960 x 60hz
• Updated to the latest and greatest Intel driver

Everything is working quite well. I'm now running at 100% scaling on everything, 1440x960 on the surface display, and it's perfect -- exactly what I wanted. Thanks!!

edit:

One thing that I did encounter however is a BSOD when updating the driver. I had one of the custom resolutions selected prior. Selecting a standard resolution and then updating worked great.

 

[newhere]

Hi

I've got an SP3 with a toshiba dynadock extending to a dell 22 inch 1680x1050 monitor. I've downloaded the driver pack and clicked thru to have disk, but when i point the update to the unzipped folder, I get the following error message

Any advice or guidance would be much appreciated.

Thanks

 

[surfdock]

Newhere, you need to point device manager to the INF file directly in the unzipped location: Graphics\igdlh64.inf or similar. I've updated the instructions above with this detail.

 

[newhere]

Newhere, you need to point device manager to the INF file directly in the unzipped location: Graphics\igdlh64.inf or similar. I've updated the instructions above with this detail.

Thanks very much, appreciate the advice for the less literate. This has solved my one significant gripe with the SP3 and makes it useful in the docked office environment. Thanks heaps!

 

[surfdock]

Intel has pulled the old driver off their website. But you can still get it from their archive direct link: http://downloadmirror.intel.com/23885/a08/win64_153322.zip

I recommend installing this old driver, setting the resolutions you want, then immediately upgrading to the latest driver. There may be some compatibility issues with this old one.

 

[dan_fein]

In your picture it looks like you have the sp3 mounted in portrait mode. What holds it up?

 

[surfdock]

just holding by hand - hence the crappy pic