elementary OS

HiDPI Support

Registered by Cody Garver on 2014-05-02

How to enable to "high dpi":
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface scaling-factor 2

back to normal scale:
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface scaling-factor 1

Blueprint information

Status:: Started

Approver:: None

Priority:: Medium

Drafter:: Cody Garver

Direction:: Needs approval

Assignee:: None

Definition:: Approved

Series goal:: None

Implementation:: Good progress

Milestone target:: juno-beta1

Started by: Cody Garver on 2014-05-02

Related branches

Related bugs

Bug #1288845: Support for GTK's HiDPI	Fix Released
Bug #1289680: Gala doesn't know about HiDPI	Confirmed
Bug #1362126: Many icons look blurry in HiDPI-mode	Fix Released
Bug #1365813: Wingpanel does not darken on maximize on hidpi mode or when "gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface scaling-factor 2" is set.	Fix Released
Bug #1419911: Gala lacks the ability to scale multiple monitors differently.	Confirmed
Bug #1458038: screenshots are blurry in HiDPI environments	Fix Released
Bug #1469908: Use Gtk.Image from icon name instead of from Pixbuf	Fix Released
Bug #1473764: No working HiDPI setting	Confirmed
Bug #1475644: Mouse cursor does not scale on HiDPI	Confirmed
Bug #1483080: Tab icons not scaling in hidpi	Fix Committed
Bug #1490167: Set notification size in terms of characters	New
Bug #1516824: Icons in breadcrumbs are blurry with large text/hidpi	Confirmed
Bug #1530505: Elementary Os Window moves out of control	New
Bug #1537378: Grub2 menu is unreadable on a HiDPI (4k) screen	Confirmed
Bug #1556551: psuedo-dock for alt-tab doesn't scale	New
Bug #1582792: Wallpaper previews blurry on HiDPI	Confirmed
Bug #1588881: Does not detect HiDPI	Fix Released
Bug #1589639: Plymouth text is super tiny on HiDPI	New
Bug #1589643: icons on update page are tiny on HiDPI	Fix Released
Bug #1589648: Icons in icon view are blurry with hidpi	Confirmed
Bug #1589650: Avatar widget is blurry with hiDPI [$25]	Fix Committed
Bug #1589651: icon is blurry in About dialog with HiDPI	Fix Released
Bug #1589684: Icon in properties dialog blurry with HiDPI	New
Bug #1589688: timezone map is blurry on hidpi	In Progress
Bug #1589689: sidebar spacing is all messed up with HiDPI	Fix Released
Bug #1590548: Greeter is blurry in HiDPI	Confirmed
Bug #1594910: Deprecate setting about icon from pixbuf	New
Bug #1616530: "Whole Screen" shots have an extra black area in HiDPI ($50)	Fix Released
Bug #1630612: Cursor size and position not scaled for HiDPI	Fix Released

Sprints

Whiteboard

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface scaling-factor 2

Q: Why doesn't this option support float numbers? like 1.35
A: Because you can't draw on only a part of a physical pixel. The closet approximation would be blending the colors that should be on the parts of that pixel which would just make everything look blurry and crappy.

Workaround for 1.5x screens: https://wiki.gnome.org/BrionVibber/HiDpiNotes
This is essentially the "make everything look blurry and crappy" approach, but it's probably better than the user setting a lower resolution than their native screen's native resolution. I'm using this setup on my laptop now and am pretty happy with the results.

(?)