Linux: Scaled vs Native Resolution?

Regev

New Member
Joined
Jun 11, 2020
Messages
28
Reaction score
4
Credits
287
I'm buying a new monitor to increase my productivity (writing, sites management, reading studies, etc) y. At first I was considering a 4K monitor, but I realized I'd have to scale it to 2K (on a 27-32" - which yields about 95-110PPI) to see the UI elements and fonts big enough. So what's the point? Might as well just get a 2K monitor. The only drawbacks I see are that I won't be able to play 4K content (tho I rarely do, that's what's the TV's for) or high-res photos. What do you guys think -

Go for a native 2K 32", or a 4K 32" and let the OS do its scaling acrobatics?
 
Last edited:


I have a 2K and 4K monitor. Have a 1080p elsewhere too. If you want to use Linux, scaling in multiples of 100% will yield you the crispest text. e.g. Scaling 200% on a 4K to have text as big as it was on 1080p.

If you must buy a 2K monitor, either run it without scaling or if you have to scale to 1080p text sizes, you have to use KDE. I've tried Gnome and xfce but both aren't able to scale without text being fuzzy or inconsistently sized UI elements. e.g. I'm running 125% scaling on my 2K monitor using Manjaro KDE. Even this isn't as crisp as Manjaro KDE scaled 200% on my 4K monitor but still a lot (I mean a lot) more usable than using Gnome or xfce.
 
Oh, thanks.
I want the screen real estate to be bigger than a 1080p screen tho, what do I do in that case?
Just buy a 2K screen or use ~150% on a 4K monitor? Where will the text look sharper?
 
Always buy the highest-resolution, most memory and fastest CPU you can afford at the time.
 
The 4k and 2k costs the same here :) I just don’t want to be stuck with small screen real estate if I end up scaling 200% on a 4k compared to running 2k natives
Unless scaling 150% is possible without quality loss
 
The 4k and 2k costs the same here :) I just don’t want to be stuck with small screen real estate if I end up scaling 200% on a 4k compared to running 2k natives
Unless scaling 150% is possible without quality loss
You can always buy a 4k and scale 150. Stick to KDE plasma. Though you can try out Gnome and xfce to verify if they don't scale as well as plasma.

Whether to buy 2k or 4k depends if you game. If you use 4k you need a very powerful graphics card to drive it.
 
But I read some people reported "fuzziness" to text scaled fractionally (like 150%)..." ?

Lets ask it that way: will the text look better and sharper using a 32" 2K natively (100% scale), or a 32" 4K scaled 150% (from 4k --> 2K)?

This is for pure productivity, text-based usage. I want as easier time as possible for my eyes.
 
Last edited:
But I read some people reported "fuzziness" to text scaled fractionally (like 150%)..." ?

Lets ask it that way: will the text look better and sharper using a 32" 2K natively (100% scale), or a 32" 4K scaled 150% (from 4k --> 2K)?

This is for pure productivity, text-based usage. I want as easier time as possible for my eyes.
150 will look fuzzy in Linux. Just different level of fuzzinesss in KDE gnome and xfce. It is least fuzzy to me in KDE. 100 200 will be very clear regardless of KDE Gnome or xfce
 
150 will look fuzzy in Linux. Just different level of fuzzinesss in KDE gnome and xfce. It is least fuzzy to me in KDE. 100 200 will be very clear regardless of KDE Gnome or xfce

So the text will actually look better (crispier, sharper, easier to read, etc) on a native 2K monitor than on a 4K scaled 150%, even though it has smaller pixel density?
 
Last edited:
So the text will actually look better (crispier, sharper, easier to read, etc) on a native 2K monitor than on a 4K scaled 150%, even though it has smaller pixel density?
At least on my LG 4K monitor, yes.
Also, I compared a 4k 200% vs 2k 125% of the same KDE setup. Result was 2k 125% looks clear by it self but when put side by side with the 4K 200%, it was blown out of the water.
 
Thank you so much !!!
I'd love to be able to get a 200% scale, but the only way to get as much real estate as a native 2k would be to scale a 5K, with 4K scaled 200% it'd be like 1080p, 70% less real estate right?
 
Thank you so much !!!
I'd love to be able to get a 200% scale, but the only way to get as much real estate as a native 2k would be to scale a 5K, with 4K scaled 200% it'd be like 1080p, 70% less real estate right?
Get a native 2k then. At least in Windows the text is very clear even when scaled and in Linux, it's quite clear when using KDE Plasma to scale at any scale factor
 

Members online


Latest posts

Top