[Solved] This feels like a stupid question: How to make "everything".. bigger?

[CataclysmicGentleman]

Look at screenshot for example, but basically EVERYTHING IS SO SMALL- is there a way to make "everything" bigger? I like this screen resolution, so I am just meaning the text and the mouse and firefox butons.

 

[f33dm3bits]

You can try increasing the "Scale" under "Display Configuration", it' set to 100 by default but you can increase it.

 

[CataclysmicGentleman]

You can try increasing the "Scale" under "Display Configuration", it' set to 100 by default but you can increase it.
View attachment 14740

true, however it does make everything look a bit blurry, when I change the scale up.

 

[f33dm3bits]

It may depend on the resolution you are using how well the scaling looks when you increase it, are you using an Xorg or Wayland session? You can also try scaling your cursor, font and icon.

HiDPI - ArchWiki

wiki.archlinux.org

When I try "Global Scaling" under Xorg it just looks fine(it's just called "Scaling" under a Wayland session), so I'm kind of getting the idea it has to do with your resolution as in how well increasing the scaling looks. What resolution are you using?

 

[CataclysmicGentleman]

It may depend on the resolution you are using how well the scaling looks when you increase it, are you using an Xorg or Wayland session? You can also try scaling your cursor, font and icon.

HiDPI - ArchWiki

wiki.archlinux.org

When I try "Global Scaling" under Xorg it just looks fine(it's just called "Scaling" under a Wayland session), so I'm kind of getting the idea it has to do with your resolution as in how well increasing the scaling looks. What resolution are you using?

 

[f33dm3bits]

I just tried changing the scaling in a vm running Fedora 36 with 1080p resolution and it looks just fine, to what were you increasing the scaling to when it looked a bit blurry? You can also just try switching to a Wayland session and try increasing the scaling there to if it's not blurry then? Logout and at the bottom left click on "Desktop Session" and switch it to "Plasma (Wayland)", then log back in and try changing the scaling again.

 

[f33dm3bits]

I found this.

Wayland scaling? • KDE Community Forums

i've been trying out plasma wayland and i can't see what advantage the global monitor scaling option has compared to just setting a lower resolution if i set it to

forum.kde.org

Thu Jun 10, 2021 11:57 am
I'm running the amdgpu drivers with an RX580 under Arch.

With any scaling, everything on screen is blurred, at 100% it's fine just unreadably small. This is not related to the application, the system dock, menus, the settings app it's all blurred. Doesn't matter if it's 150%, 175% or 200%, still blurred. Now that the 5.22 release is out there is the option to scale each monitor differently, but it doesn't change that anything other than 100% looks blurred.

I'm just using kde under X, using xrandr and changing the default dpi seems to keep everything crisp and sharp while being a reasonable size, even when the 4k screen is set to 175% scaling. Under wayland everything is blurred unless 100% scaling is used, so not really usable.

 

[digitaltrails]

Gnome wayland fractional scaling appently results in blurry X-Window apps because "any scale above 100% - fractional or not - reduces the screen size available to X applications proportionally" (https://intellij-support.jetbrains....n-using-Sway-or-fractional-scaling-on-Wayland). So XWayland X-Applications are supplied less pixels to draw on, and they scale up blurred as a result.

KDE KWin-Wayland has only recently supported fractional scaling. Perhaps they're taking the same approach?

I don't think pure X-Windows has any such issues.

Rather than scaling, I just adjust default font and icon sizes. It can be a bit of pain to do. Depending on which desktop is in use, the browser, and the console-app, may need to be individually adjusted. However, I think the end result is better than scaling, and once set right, I never need to touch it again.

Which approach works best, scaling or font/icon adjustment, may depend on the size and resolution of your monitor. For a 4K 27" monitor, I find I prefer to set the fonts/icons.

 

[digitaltrails]

It looks like KDE Plasma 5.26+ may have addressed the issue of blurry xwayland-apps:

https://pointieststick.com/2022/06/17/this-week-in-kde-non-blurry-xwayland-apps/

Plasma 5.26 will resolve a major pain point for users of the Wayland session with high DPI screens: you’ll now be able to choose how you want your XWayland-using apps to be scaled:

• By the compositor–ensuring uniform scaling, but blurriness (this is the status quo)
• By the apps themselves–allowing them to use their pre-existing X11 high DPI capabilities, if they have them, but leaving apps without such capabilities at the wrong scale

 

[Thunderpants]

In Firefox, hold down the CTRL key then use the mouse wheel to increase or decrease text size.

 

[CataclysmicGentleman]

In Firefox, hold down the CTRL key then use the mouse wheel to increase or decrease text size.

Thanks for the tip. the buttons are still quite small though- (back button, refresh button, etc)

 

[bob466]

I use the Zoom feature on Web Browsers myself.

 

[KGIII]

Yup... Just zoom in the browser.

CTRL and then+/- keys.

 

[Condobloke]

Perhaps these sizes relate to a particular theme you have installed?......I do not use fedora so can't be much more help.

 

[wizardfromoz]

@Thunderpants , @bob466 , @KGIII - that feature (and with Ctrl-0 (zero) to reset back to normal) - only changes the text and usually pictures in the browser's main pane. It also applies to considerably more browsers than just Firefox.

The OP is saying

Thanks for the tip. the buttons are still quite small though- (back button, refresh button, etc)

and that does not change with the suggested feature.

I am working on material that I will likely present on my tomorrow. It works in Fedora 37 but I have to try it in 36.

Cheers

Wiz

 

[f33dm3bits]

I found this.

Wayland scaling? • KDE Community Forums

i've been trying out plasma wayland and i can't see what advantage the global monitor scaling option has compared to just setting a lower resolution if i set it to

forum.kde.org

In fact, in the X11 setup, I simply enforce a DPI of 144. This is same as a 150% scaling, but the native 4k resolution remains. For the laptop screen I have, in addition, to reduce the screen resolution a bit.

How much are you wanting to increase the scaling, as mentioned here it seems increasing the DPI using xrandr(--dpi) is a solution to the problem where things start to look a bit blurry after increasing the scaling. You should be able to create an xrandr script to set your resolution and dpi on login, one of us can help you with that. In the past when I had to create an xrandr script myself I always did it the lazy way by installing arandr(a graphical tool to create xrandr scripts) and then configuring my monitors as I want then save the output as a script and then add custom settings to it.

Also it might be worth trying to upgrade to Fedora 37 to see if the scaling is better there than on Fedora 36 since you are going to have to upgrade eventually anyways. When I change my scaling on Fedora 37 it doesn't look blurry but I am also using a different graphics card.

 

[wizardfromoz]

@CataclysmicGentleman - have you actually run updates and upgrades since you installed the Fedora 36 KDE?

If not, you should do so in one of two ways -

• Click on the orange button (bottom right of your desktop in the System Tray) for Dnfdragora and choose update, or
• From the Terminal (Konsole in KDE) run

  sudo dnf upgrade

As a part of that exercise, it will update your KDE Plasma desktop environment from the installed v5.24.3 to v5.26.4-1.

Presuming that you are running on the default Wayland Display Server, that will then bring you into the range described by @digitaltrails above, where he says

It looks like KDE Plasma 5.26+ may have addressed the issue of blurry xwayland-apps:

and then you could try some of the other suggestions, such as he and my friend Maarten @f33dm3bits outlined.


WIZARD'S GLOSSARY

File Systems:

EXT4 - the default for most Linux Distros
BTRFS - aka "Butter FS" or "Better FS" - newer, but not yet widely adopted

Displays/Display Servers:

X11- provided by our friends at X.org Foundation

Wayland - newer, but not yet widely adopted, although Ubuntu defaults to it now.

If you simply followed the defaults for Fedora 36 installation, you will likely be on BTRFS and Wayland. Which scheme you are on can determine what methods will enhance your viewing improvement, with choices made, and also with means to put in place a Recovery Plan.

If you want to check which Display Server you are using, go to Konsole and enter the following command

echo $XDG_SESSION_TYPE

It will output either

wayland

or

x11

If you want to check which File System you are using, go to Konsole and enter the following command, first letter is an l for "Larry"

lsblk -f

It will include output showing either

ext4

or

btrfs

That being said, I believe you may be able to get the effect you are looking for by simply logging into an x11 session, as Maarten has described at #6 but the other way around - go for x11 over Wayland if you are on Wayland.

The DPI (dot per inch) figures correspond as follows, defaulting to 96 and then increments of 24.

96 dpi (usual default most Distros) is 100 % scaling or 1.0 view

Use multiples or fractions for different percentages eg

120 dpi for 125%

144 dpi for 150%

168 dpi for 175%

192 dpi for 200%

I use 144 for my personal use, and what I was able to achieve on a Fedora 36 KDE USB stick session shows in the following screenshots (click the pictures to enlarge).

SCREENSHOT 1 - Default (96 dpi) settings, in Firefox session

SCREENSHOT 2 - 150% (144 dpi) settings, back in Firefox session

and

SCREENSHOT 3 - 150% (144 dpi) settings, back in Firefox session, with larger White cursor

This was all done with no need to modify my Display (monitor/screen) settings which are set on this laptop to 1920x1080 (16:9).

And no need for an xrandr script at this point.

See what you think and let us know, and I achieved the larger cursor from the same area of System Settings as that for the fonts and object/icons.

Cheers

Wizard

 

[Deleted member 137406]

[Quoted from thread title]​

This feels like a stupid question: How to make "everything".. bigger?​

My whole life growing up my peers always told me to ask questions if I wanted to know about things I didn't know about so I always did.

Doesn't matter what others think of the question asked as most likely someone has already asked that question and will have an answer.

Never hesitate to ask questions I'm still asking questions at 71 years old and ain't about to stop now.

 

[wizardfromoz]

Hear, hear.

 

[Condobloke]

EH ?......what's that you say ?

oh....yeah...I agree too.