Hi-Res displays: Adjusting the size of the elements in your operating system (rather than changing your monitor?s resolution)

Now with the advance of high resolution displays I have this question:

Do you use your native resolution and see everything smaller or do you somehow increase the size of things on your screen?

I don't know about Windows 8 but in Windows 7 you have this:

( Via)
- I haven't tries this on a hi-res display but is it decent? Not a really useful function on a "non-retina display".

On retina MacBooks you have it easy: twice the pixel count and every object remains the same size (preferred) but more detailed.

On the PC it will get a little funkier with the resolutions do not double but increase in by other measures.

Ubuntu, anyone?

 

I haven't tried this on a high-res display but even using my 15.6" 1080p clevo as a desktop setup... I have to bump up the sizes.

Otherwise from 2ft away I'm squinting like i'm 60

 

Windows 7's scaling is terrible. If you're used to 100%, everything just looks disproportionate and wrong.

I remember borrowing my coworker's ThinkPad T500 once a couple of years ago. The first thought that immediately crossed my mind was "What's wrong with the Start Menu? There's so much white space around each item." It wasn't until a couple of minutes later that I realized that I was staring at a 1200p screen with scaling in effect.

 

I almost think it's better to change the screen resolution than use scaling. If DPI is high enough then 1600x900 on a 1920x1080 screen looks OK. Although I use 1920x1080 on a 13" screen 100% scaling and I think it's perfectly fine.

 

I use default scaling (125%) on 17,3'' 1080p screen and I don't notice anything skewed. 100% is way too nasty on the eyes in my view. I compare it to my desktop with 20'' 16:10 love screen and it looks pretty much the same.

 

The best way is to use your display's native resolution and adjust scaling if necessary to achieve your desired UI size. You should never use a lower resolution to try to "blow up" the UI due to the blurriness inherent to interpolation.

This is not true. In Windows, you can specify custom integer DPI scaling at, for example, a 2X factor. This gives you the same "1440x900" viewable area on the 2880x1800 rMBP as you get under OS X.



Windows is actually quite usable on the Retina MacBook Pro, the problem is with applications support for high-DPI. If the application isn't Retina-aware all sorts of funniness happens, like some elements will get huge and overflow their borders while others will ignore the scaling setting entirely and be too small.

It is actually quite useful, even for those of use who don't use super high-PPI screens. For example, my dad's eyesight is not as good so when he uses my Y500 he prefers 125% scaling, which makes it look like 1600x900. 1920x1080 on a 15.6'' screen at 100% scaling is just a little too small for his comfort.

 

The limit to what you can get away with without undue disproportions. Any further and the compromises become too great.