Windows 10: Display Settings rearrange displays view doesn't take Sceen Scaling into account

Context:


When multiple displays are connected, they can be arranged relative to each other in the Display Settings screen. They can also be scaled individually. This is particularly useful to me when I use screens with widely varyingpixel densities. Using scaling, things on the screen look the same size on all screens regardless of resolution and screen size. The screen rearrange view however doesn't update with scaling changes. When different displays have different scaling settings, this is strange.


The problem:


The rectangles representing the screens don't represent either the effective screen real-estate or the physical dimensions when screens have different scaling factors. This makes the view counter-intuitive. It is hard to immediately distinguish which rectangle corresponds to which display based on size, which makes the feature harder to use than it needs be.


The solution:


Factor the scaling setting into the size of the rectangles. The rectangles are then similar to the amount of screen real-estate on each screen.


Reasoning and example:


The rectangles currently seem to be based entirely on screen resolution. Unfortunately, with widely varying pixel densities, this doesn't correspond with physical screen dimensions at all. An example is a notebook which has a 15" 2160p display. When used with a 24" 1440p monitor, the built-in display is represented larger than the external monitor, when it is physically smaller. In this combination, a user would most likely adjust the scaling of the built-in display to for instance 175% while keeping the 24" monitor at 100%.


If this scaling were factored in, the built-in display now effectively has the 'real-estate' of a 1234p-screen as 2160 / 1.75 = 1234. If this 'effective' number were used to determine the rectangle size, the rectangle for the built-in display would be slightly smaller than the one for the external monitor. This not only accurately represents how much content can be displayed on each display, but also approaches the relative physical size of each display, making it easier to arrange the screens as they are arranged physically.


My reasoning behind this is that a user's scaling settings are most likely set in such a way that it 'compensates' for varying pixel densities anyway due to the effect it has in regular use of Windows. This makes the scaling factor a suitable approximation to improve the representation of the Rearrange Displays view in a way that makes the rectangles more accurately represent the physical displays the user sees on her desk.

:)

 

Disable display scaling on high DPI settings. globe switch

Hi Lasse,

Thank you for being a part of Windows 10.

I appreciate you for providing details about the issue and your effort towards resolving it.

I suggest you to follow the below steps to customize the display scaling and check if it helps.

• Right click on the open area on the Desktop.
• Select the Graphics properties.
• Click on Display option.
• Click on the General settings from the left pane.
• Under the Scaling click on the Customize
  Aspect Ratio and try to customize.
• Click on Apply.
• If you want to reset the display scaling settings then follow till the above 4th step.
• Then under the Scaling click on the Maintain Display Scaling.
• Click on Apply.

Kindly let us know if you need any further assistance with Windows. We are glad to assist you.

Thank you.

 

Display scaling

Hi,

This issue with display scaling can be caused by an outdated display driver.

As an initial troubleshooting step, we suggest updating your display driver directly from the manufacturer's website.

You can also refer to this article for more information on how to update the driver on Windows 10.

Get back to us with the outcome so we can help you out further.

 

How do I globally disable display auto-scaling?

Hi,

In reply to your query with disabling automatic scaling while connecting an external interface.

The scaling is adjusted with the display resolution in dots per inch (DPI) with device you connecting with your PC and its by design.

However you can set a custom scaling level.


To set a custom scaling level :

1. Type "dpiscaling" in the search area on the taskbar and select dpiscaling.

2. Change the scaling settings in the display window.

3. In the display window, you can click on set a custom scaling level option and check if it helps.

Also you can provide us your valuable suggestion in our feedback app.

Follow the steps :

1.Type Feedback in search bar.

2. Select/double click the Feedback app from the listed option in search.

3. Follow online instruction.

Keep us informed with the status of the issue.