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dharmatech
Asked: 2018-04-27 21:15:52 +0800 CST

Different display scale settings - 18.04

  • 772

I have a Dell monitor set to a scale of 200%:

enter image description here

I then set the laptop built-in display to 100%:

enter image description here

However, if I then switch back to the Dell monitor settings, the scale there has reverted to 100%.

Is there a way to have 200% scale on the Dell monitor and 100% scale on the laptop monitor?

Thanks!

multiple-monitors display 18.04 scale-mode

5 Answers

  1. On Gnome 3.32 (default for Ubuntu 19.04) is possible to set up fractional scaling even for X. The command is:

    gsettings set org.gnome.mutter experimental-features "['x11-randr-fractional-scaling']"

    After that you can go to Display Settings and sets different scaling ratio for each monitor you have, even in 25% increments.

    If, for any reason, you need to reset fractional scaling, the command is:

    gsettings reset org.gnome.mutter experimental-features
    • 36

  2. There is an easy workaround.
    Instead of changing the scale: change the resolution of the monitor.
    With a lower resolution on a 4K screen, you should be able to match the additional monitor.

    Hope this helps.

    • 20

  3. Lower the resolution of monitor could solve the problem, but that's not a good solution because it sacrifice the 4k resolution.

    Assume you are using x-window and ubuntu 18.04. A better but more sophisticated approach is: keep resolution of monitor to 4k, raise your laptop monitor resolution double and scale up all windows 200%. Detail step as follows:

    1. Go to setting > displays > set scale to 200%
    2. Connect to dell monitor, type xrandr to check for id of two monitors. Here I assume you have monitor 'HDMI-0' of 3840x2160, monitor 'HDMI-1' of 1600x900. Now I want to place 'HDMI-1' to left, 'HDMI-0' to right.
    3. Run the following

    xrandr --dpi 276 --fb 7040x2160 --output HDMI-0 --mode 3840x2160 --pos 3200x0 --output HDMI-1 --scale 2x2 --panning 3200x1800+0+0

    (Note: 7040 = 3840+1600x2, 3200=1600x2, 1800=900x2)

    • 15

  4. If you have NVIDIA cards, you can use NVIDIA X Server Settings. I tried @travis-wayland 's solution with different settings but always messed up the screens. Here is my settings for both displays (works on Ubuntu 18.04 and Ubuntu 20.04):

    Left Screen and Right Screen

    Notice that ViewPortIn and Panning must match while ViewPortOut is set to the maximum screen resolution (1680x1050). Also notice that I'm using my screen vertical, so XxY is flipped in ViewPortIn and Panning.

    If you don't see NVIDIA X Server Settings among your applications, you may need to install/update your drivers. Btw, my computer uses NVIDIA drivers, not the built in X.Org (Nouveau driver). So make sure you are using NVIDIA driver in Software & Updates under Additional Drivers menu.

    • 11

  5. You can have two different scales using Wayland
    Wayland was the default in 17.04. X11 is the default in 18.04
    To switch to wayland :
    1. logout
    2. On the login screen click on the little cog
    3. and choose "Ubuntu on wayland"

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