Dual monitor different resolution

Asked 17/10, 2014 at 15:42 Answered 18/10, 2014 at 15:55

What is the correct way to configure a dual monitor environment with different screen resolutions?

I have very different font size in both screens and I can not find how to configure different dpi per monitor or whatever.

Thanks in advance!

Waterside answered 17/10, 2014 at 15:42 Comment(6)

I am not sure but i don't think it's possible to set different dpi per monitor. Maybe i am wrong. But i have xubuntu on my laptop when i plug in hdmi. i get the option to display only on one monitor. clone monitors, or extend. When i select extend i can set different resolution per monitor, but not font size and dpi. Again maybe i am wrong. – Buchbinder 17/10, 2014 at 15:45

Your xorg.conf can have DisplaySize entries in each monitor section which are used to calculate DPI for that screen. See man xorg.conf for more details. I'm not sure about setting different fonts per monitor, though... Possibly the X server will pick a different font if the DPI is different enough or something, but that's just speculation... – Iscariot 17/10, 2014 at 16:9

Hi @twalberg, thanks. I don't have xorg.conf with KDE 4.13.3. – Waterside 17/10, 2014 at 16:11

I'm pretty sure KDE is still using an X server... Perhaps they've renamed it or something... What's in your /etc/X11 directory? – Iscariot 17/10, 2014 at 16:14

Is this a programming question? Or just a general question about how to configure your monitors? – Militiaman 17/10, 2014 at 16:23

@Iscariot yes is X11 is working but not xorg.conf file under /etc/X11 – Waterside 17/10, 2014 at 16:27

The answer depends on your particular hardware. DPI will not be directly configurable using the standard Kubuntu display configuration tool, but if you try worse resolutions in the monitor with the best DPI you might go closer to the desired effect. You could also try to generate the xorg.conf file and tweak it, but you will not go much farther than using the display tool.

Delmadelmar answered 17/10, 2014 at 16:16 Comment(0)

DPI setup is incomplete under KDE4. AFAIK there is no default tool to specify the DPI with a per-monitor behaviour, only global. Workspaces5 is supposed perform better on hi-DPI setupsbut it's not ready for the public yet. However, I'm not sure this is what you are asking for.

There may be a way to do per-monitor DPI in xorg.conf (which you correctly don't have yet, despite of course using X) but it may break other stuff. You might try to force a specific DPI which fits both screens well under System Settings -> Application Appearance -> Fonts.

As for the resolution setup, you can tweak it under the standard "Display Configuration" or "Size & Orientation" dialogs, under System Settings -> Display and Monitor. On my system, it automatically pops up when a new screen is detected, but this may depend on HW and on SW version.

I've never had any problem running on external screens, but that depends on the used resolution. My notebook is 1280x800 and the highest resolution external screen I've used is 1920x1080. What resolutions are you using?

Remediable answered 18/10, 2014 at 15:55 Comment(9)

Thanks @adriano-fantini. My problem is that I work with an external screen and the laptop. There are a lot of difference between their resolutions and I can not configure fonts and dpi to see well in both screens. Or too high in the external or too small in the laptop screen. :( – Waterside 19/10, 2014 at 6:17

Yes, I understand that. What are the default resolutions of the external screen and of the laptop? – Remediable 19/10, 2014 at 13:34

The laptop has 1920x1080 and the screen 1680x1050. I have tried to find an intermediate point, but can not get anything @adriano-fantini – Waterside 20/10, 2014 at 8:13

@John, The resolution difference between the two screens is really small, even though the DPI difference is probably very big. However I've never had problems even with bigger differences, just set both screens at their respective default resolutions. I honestly don't see what the problem is. Can you please explain it in more detail? – Remediable 21/10, 2014 at 6:51

Basically with both screens at their respective default resolutions, in the laptop everything is too small if in the external screen is ok and if I tweak the desktop fonts or the dpi to see ok in the lapton in the default screen is too big. – Waterside 21/10, 2014 at 7:0

@John I'm sorry I can't help you more. I find it quite strange honestly. Right now I'm using a 1920x1080 external monitor with my 1280x800 laptop and I don't have those problems. The resolution difference is way higher, even though the DPI is similar. Have you tried forcing the DPI value as indicated in my answer? As already noted, DPI config should be taken care of automatically, but some screens just don't tell the OS what the correct setup should be. – Remediable 22/10, 2014 at 8:6

I'm using a 15.6" screen with 4K resolution (3840 x 2140) and, even if I usually set things small to have more content displayed, now it's a bit too small. (note: I have a 1920 x 1080 27" external display) – Hedgepeth 7/11, 2014 at 8:9

I'm afraid there is no detailed hiDPI support in KDE right now which will allow to use such different DPI settings as yours. This are supposed to vastly improve within the next year (according to recent posts by KDE devs). The only things you can try for now are listed in Arch's wiki page on the subject – Remediable 7/11, 2014 at 8:58

On the state of KDE's HiDPI implementation, refer to this new blog post – Remediable 14/11, 2014 at 8:46

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