4k scaling

AltTabbins

AltTabbins

Fully [H]
Joined
Jul 29, 2005
Messages
20,387
I'm having a hard time getting 4k to scale down on a laptop im using. I've tried Mint Cinnamon, and Ubuntu but I get the same issues as Windows 10 where some things work, and others just look terrible with small text and huge windows.

Any tips? Any good distros that have good built in scaling?
 
You could try KDE Plasma. It has pretty good scaling. Go with KDE Neon or spin up Arch (or a derivative like Antergos) with KDE. Keep in mind though you will have issues with some apps regardless of DE as they simply aren't 4K ready.
 
Cinnamon is GTK based... I don't know if this applies in your situation. But if you have QT based software you may want to look at something like qt5ct a configuration tool for QT 5.0 applications. I'm not running a buntu distro but I'm pretty sure it should be in the main distro packages. This is of course assuming the scaling issues you are referring to are related to QT based software. I run gnome mainly and found I had to mess with the default qt to make software like krita look right to me even without hidpi.
 
This is primarily the program not being designed for the hi dpi screen. Programs setup for Qt typically fair much better, but I usually just lower my res to 1440 or even 1080. I don't do video/photo stuff where I NEED that crazy resolution however, so ymmv.

Edit: Actually, mint/ubuntu are hard coded for 96dpi, but you can actually re-compile it with a different number. That SHOULD help a lot, but I have not tried it myself. I believe this lays it out fairly well.


Also, you will get a better performance out of a lower resolution as well.
 
The only OS that I've ever experienced that even remotely has 4k down pat is OSX/macOS.

I've run vanilla Ubuntu with Unity @ 4k and it wasn't too bad. Ubuntu MATE has the ability to change the DPI of font rendering, not too sure how that would benefit 4k however as this machine has always been a dual 1080p workstation - Can't be assed lugging my 4k monitor over.

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I have not given it a try personally, but... If you're still looking for things to try...

I've heard that System76 has been working on HiDPI issues and has produced some code (and contributed back upstream - no clue if it's been accepted.) You might give Pop!_OS a look. It says it's still an Alpha release, but it's essentially an Ubuntu fork and I'd expect it to incorporate their additions.

Alternatively you could dig through their "System76-driver" PPA to see where you end up, but I'd put that completely in the "SWAG" category (Swinging Wild Ass Guess). I honestly have zero clue if that would get you anything useful when not on their hardware, but if you have the time and desire...
 
Frobozz said:
I have not given it a try personally, but... If you're still looking for things to try...

I've heard that System76 has been working on HiDPI issues and has produced some code (and contributed back upstream - no clue if it's been accepted.) You might give Pop!_OS a look. It says it's still an Alpha release, but it's essentially an Ubuntu fork and I'd expect it to incorporate their additions.

Alternatively you could dig through their "System76-driver" PPA to see where you end up, but I'd put that completely in the "SWAG" category (Swinging Wild Ass Guess). I honestly have zero clue if that would get you anything useful when not on their hardware, but if you have the time and desire...
Click to expand...

I think that in general Gnome 3 is actually quite well featured when it comes to HiDPI scaling?
 
BulletDust said:
I think that in general Gnome 3 is actually quite well featured when it comes to HiDPI scaling?
Click to expand...
I've heard that, but haven't hooked the computer up to the TV(4k) to see. 2560x1440(PC's usual monitor) is the most I've played with and, in a traditional desktop setup, seems to work well enough with KDE and gnome. However, I've heard about the System76 stuff on some Linux podcasts. They also mentioned some collaboration work with Canonical and the Gnome dev team a month or so ago. I imagine we'll see the results in a release or two.

The next release of Ubuntu should be full of interesting things.. If not for implemented features, things on the roadmap.
 
Frobozz said:
I've heard that, but haven't hooked the computer up to the TV(4k) to see. 2560x1440(PC's usual monitor) is the most I've played with and, in a traditional desktop setup, seems to work well enough with KDE and gnome. However, I've heard about the System76 stuff on some Linux podcasts. They also mentioned some collaboration work with Canonical and the Gnome dev team a month or so ago. I imagine we'll see the results in a release or two.

The next release of Ubuntu should be full of interesting things.. If not for implemented features, things on the roadmap.
Click to expand...

See I'm the same. I have a 4k Monitor on my Windows PC, I'm just too damn lazy to drag it over to my Linux rig and see how it performs. Having said that, it's not pure laziness, changing my desktop configuration from dual 1080p to single 4k is a bit of a muck around considering this Linux rig is my daily driver, I'd prefer to leave it the way it is - Nice and reliable.
 
Gnome has good hidpi support.

I didn't mention it either... I don't think about it any more as most distros include it by default. However I'm not sure about buntu. Anyway.... make sure you install the Gnome tweak tool if you don't already have it. I'm pretty sure it has a hidpi scaling option. So you can scale size without changing font settings. Having said that of course it also allows you to easily change the fonts your system is using and set size ect. One of the first things I do on any Linux install is install a ton of free google fonts and change my system fonts. Options like OpenSans ect tend to look better to me then most distro defaults.

Between gnome tweak tool for GTK apps... and qt5ct for the QT apps. You should be able to adjust things to your tastes.

https://fonts.google.com/ I normally download a ton of my favorites in a zip and then just expand them into my shared fonts folder. Check your distro though a bunch now have a top 20/40 google fonts as a curated package. Up to you I prefer to go and grab the ones I like and just copy them but it does mean you don't get any updates. Not that there normally are lots of updates on font files still the idea of a curated package is nice.

EDIT: after typing all this I just realized you mentioned you are running mint and cin. lol I honestly can't say I now much about hidpi and cin..... not sure you want to go and install gnome. Gnome is underrated in a way though. I know people like to bitch about it for lots of reasons. I used to be one of them... honestly though gnome as grown on me over time. Its my favorite DE hands down at this point.
 
I've never hooked up my raspberry pi on the 4k telly I wonder how it will muster it lol.
 
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