4k res 'highdpi' file not working

[Mike7Mak]

Trying to get larger toolbar icons on my 4k monitor. Have created the empty file with no extension in NotePad and placed it in the distro folder but it has no effect. What am I doing wrong? Running 1.4.340 on Windows 7 pro.

[admin]

Trying to get larger toolbar icons on my 4k monitor. Have created the empty file with no extension in NotePad and placed it in the distro folder but it has no effect. What am I doing wrong? Running 1.4.340 on Windows 7 pro.

Hi,

Are you absolutely sure it has no extension/file type? Would you be able to upload a screenshot of the folder? Thank you!

[Wildcat_Pines]

Hello, I am new on the forum. This post is particularly interesting to me because I just installed the demo version of StarTools on my high dpi Dell laptop and seem to be experiencing the same problem. The GUI fills my screen, side to side and top to bottom but the text in the icons is so small I can barely read it. The text in the icons along with the StarTools logo in the top left appear to be rather low resolution as well. On the welcome window, there is a click button on the bottom with an "Ok" in it. The "Ok" is about 2mm high and about 3mm wide. I tried placing the file "highdpi" created in notepad into the "distro" folder and renamed it so there is no file extension. I'm not sure if this is an acceptable method to remove the extension but I could not figure out a way to save an extensionless file in notepad. I'm wondering if the two of you have come up with a fix?
Thanks,

Jon

[Wildcat_Pines]

I may be barking up the wrong tree... In watching some youtubes, I'm noticing that most displays look like mine. Sorry to complain. The GUI resolution is a little weak though, wouldn't you agree???

Jon

[admin]

Hi,

Welcome to the forums. I'm not entirely sure about the nature of the issues you are referring to... The GUI should look fairly smooth in all instances. Can you confirm the High DPI mode is working?

This is the behaviour on a 1920x1200 screen;

72 DPI resolution;

StarTools_100.png (57.68 KiB) Viewed 11372 times

144 DPI resolution (by creating 'highdpi' file);

StarTools_099.png (94.54 KiB) Viewed 11372 times

In both instances the UI should look smooth and not pixelated.

Is that not what you are seeing?

[Wildcat_Pines]

Hello Ivo, thank you for your reply. Your 144 dpi example looks very nice. I hope I can figure this out so I can have something similar. I suspect it has to do with the "highdpi" file that I created. If you wouldn't mind, could you tell me the proper way to create one? My default screen resolution is 3840 x 2160.

Jon

[Wildcat_Pines]

Ivo, I learned how to create an extensionless file in notepad by using quotation marks. I pasted it into my "distro" folder but there was no change. Here is a screenshot of my "distro" folder...

Annotation 2019-10-25 133124.png (224.34 KiB) Viewed 11307 times

I had a similar problem when I installed PHD2 guiding. It displayed very small as well but it was the entire window that was tiny, not just the text and icons. I solved that problem by following instructions to create a .manifest file and enabling it in my registry editor. I tried the same procedure for StarTools but it did not work.

Jon

[admin]

Hi Jon,

The highdpi file looks correct and will/should work.
I think the remaining issue is an issue specific to your Windows setup.
It appears to me you have it configured to "lie" to applications about the window dimensions and to then automatically upscale the application windows. This avoids tiny text and graphics for applications that are not high-DPI aware, but will make things appear blurry and pixelated for those who are.
This option should be turned off for StarTools, as it is able to compensate for the high resolution (via the creation of the highdpi file).
Please see this link on how to disable this behavior on an application-basis
https://www.groovypost.com/howto/fix-fu ... -displays/

Do let me know if this fixes the issue.

[Wildcat_Pines]

Ivo, I think it's hopeless. I followed the procedure you sent me and downloaded the "High DPI" utility and tried every possible combination of settings. Still doesn't work right. The instructions and the "High DPI" utility that you sent the link for are for older versions of Win10, it even says so in the instructions. The same DPI fixes have been written into the newer versions of Win10. I will continue evaluating the demo version of StarTools in the meantime, perhaps you can look into scaling problems regarding newer versions of Win10. I think that may be where the problem lies.
I am using Win 10 Home, Version: 10.0.18362 Build 18362, on a one year old Dell XPS 13 9370 laptop, 8th Gen, CORE i7.
Hope this helps.

Thanks,

Jon

[admin]

Hi Jon,

I have had no problem getting this to work on the latest Windows 10 version on a Dell XPS 13 with 4K screen.
You don't actually need the utility, just the per-application settings.

Right click on StarTools-Windows64.exe, choose Properties, go into the Compatibility tab.
Click on the Change high DPI settings button.
Under "Use the DPI that's set for my main display when", select "I open this program" from the dropdown.
Check "Override high DPI scaling behavior. Scaling perfomed by:" and select "Application" from the dropdown.
Click OK.
Back in the properties window, click Apply.

Now restart StarTools.
Below is a screenshot of what will/should happen without the "highdpi" file in place. E.g. text and UI will be tiny compared to the native WIndows UI. Putting the "highdpi" file in place will cause StarTools to render the text and UI bigger (and still entirely smooth).

Capture.PNG (367.28 KiB) Viewed 11235 times