Menu and toolbar icons too small

[Kenneth Evans]

I have found a fix for this since I had the same problem with my new laptop Dell XPS 13 with a very high res display. Visit this webpage for the solution.

http://www.danantonielli.com/adobe-app- ... plays-fix/

The fix is complicated and you must be handy with the Register. I have done this fix for several of my programs that had the problem.

Did you actually use this fix with Video Studio?

The reason I ask is that I am aware of the problem with Photoshop, and have fixed it that way. The fix requires adding a registry setting that tells it to use an external manifest and then copying a generic manifest you can get (from the link you gave) to the directory with the executable. Reportedly you only have to change the file name of the generic manifest to xxx.exe.manifest from Photoshop.exe.manifest. The generic manifest sets dpiAware to false. This is the opposite to what you would expect, as you want it TO be dpi aware. It works for me for Photoshop CS5. (Adobe has since fixed the problem if you want to subscribe to their subscription model.)

So I tried that with VS X9, and found there is already a manifest with that name there. That manifest does not have the dpiAware setting, either true or false. (It's a text file, actually an XML file. If you make a copy , give it an XML extension, and open it is a browser, you should see a nicely-formatted version.)

There don't seem to be others mentioning the problem, which is odd. Since I HAVE the registry setting, it may be doing something different than normal for me (i.e. USING the manifest that is there). The default for dpiAware should be false when it isn't specified.

Apart from Photoshop, VS X9 is the only problem I have had installing software on a new high-resolution notebook. I installed Paintshop Pro X8 and Painter, and both work OK. The fonts are a reasonable size.

So before either replacing it with the generic one or modifying the current one, it would be nice to know if it actually worked for you.

[Kenneth Evans]

I was wrong. dpiAware is in the existing manifest and has the value true. I changed it to false, and now I have a readable interface. The manifest is actually quite long, so replacing it with the Photoshop one as in the link is probably not wise. The dpiAware setting is near the end (of the one long line). You do need to add the registry key PreferExternalManifest with DWORD value 1 to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\SideBySide as described in the link. It isn't that hard.

Apparently setting dpiAware to false, means the application is not DPI aware, so let Windows handle it. I learned something.

[titan3025]

Is there any news from Corel support on this and an official fix/update of Videostudio to make it look nice on hidpi displays.

I also assume that Videostudio is not the only Corel application which is affected by hidpi issues.

[aljimenez]

Is there any news from Corel support on this and an official fix/update of Videostudio to make it look nice on hidpi displays.

I also assume that Videostudio is not the only Corel application which is affected by hidpi issues.

There is a nice solution to this problem if you have Windows 10. Right-click on the VS Studio icon and select Properties. Click on the tab Compatibility and click to set "Override high DPI scaling behavior. Scaling performed by:" Select System in the option box below. You can use this technique for any other applications that behave in this manner.

[titan3025]

It only helps a bit. Some of the Fonts are very pixelated still They somehow just don't look like they are programmed for HiDPI

[aljimenez]

Adjust other items of Windows 10, like screen scaling, text size, etc. I have been able to get a look I like.

[Kenneth Evans]

You have also lost the resolution of your high resolution display and are getting 96 DPI while using it. 4K displays are fairly common these days. They need to fix it, especially since video is definitely into the 4K range.

Their manifest states they are DPI aware. The problem is they aren't handling displays with today's resolution correctly. The Properties fix just says to ignore that they are DPI aware and let Windows do its thing (make it 96 DPI).

More recently, Windows has introduced per-monitor DPI aware. They really need to implement that, too. In my experience most applications are handling DPI aware for high resolution screens, but fewer support per-monitor DPI aware.

[titan3025]

Agree

[aljimenez]

You have also lost the resolution of your high resolution display and are getting 96 DPI while using it.

Only for menus and other items, not for video and photo windows, they still show the full res of the monitor.

[Kenneth Evans]

You have also lost the resolution of your high resolution display and are getting 96 DPI while using it.

Only for menus and other items, not for video and photo windows, they still show the full res of the monitor.

I don't see how it can. Yes, you can view higher resolution video and images (and presumably edit them - I haven't tried), but you will still be viewing and editing them at the 96 dpi resolution.

I tried doing a full screen dump and previewing it in VS. It is all scrunched up, because there is no room in VS (at 96 dpi) to show it fully expanded. If it were using the full resolution of my screen, it would look much better.

[aljimenez]

The feature that changes a program for hi dpi displays does not change the display resolution. I have three displays, with one being 4K. If I move VS to one of my non 4K displays and adjust the window size to that display, and then move the window back to the 4K display, it is clear that the way it works is like I described. The photos and videos are shown at the 4K display resolution.

Note that I am not saying VS should not fix this problem correctly like other programs are doing. It is just that Windows 10 has a very nice solution for programs that have yet to be fixed.

[Kenneth Evans]

What happens if you start on the HiRes display and stay there. Which is display 1?

My display 1 is the HiRes one, and staying there gives the low resolution, as I stated. I will try what you did when I get a chance.

What they do with multiple monitors is more complicated and the behavior for that has changed with the major updates.

[Kenneth Evans]

The feature that changes a program for hi dpi displays does not change the display resolution. I have three displays, with one being 4K. If I move VS to one of my non 4K displays and adjust the window size to that display, and then move the window back to the 4K display, it is clear that the way it works is like I described. The photos and videos are shown at the 4K display resolution.

How do you know it is 4K resolution?

I have a 4K Display 1 and a 1080p Display 2. I run VS on Display 1. As a better test I did a full screen dump of the smaller screen and opened that in VS. If I maximize the Preview in VS, the screenshot is actually a little larger than its 1920x1200 true size, which would be just half of the 4K screen size. If I then open the screenshot in the default photo viewer, and adjust it to be the same size as in VS, then the one in VS clearly has less resolution than the one in the photo viewer.

I am still perhaps not doing the same as you are. I have modified the external manifest to say dpiAware=false and have the registry key PreferExternalManifest set to 1 (as described earlier (1-114-2017) in this topic). That makes the menus readable, but makes the program run at 96 dpi. With it set this way, I have tried it both with and without the shortcut fixed as you said.

Before testing by changing the registry (which I need for other programs) and the manifest, could you be sure you are truly seeing 4K resolution, perhaps by viewing a full screenshot of the smaller screen as I did.

In addition, what the system does is based on Display 1, so it makes a difference what is your Display 1.

If your solution truly works, I would be happy to look into this dpi stuff again. Windows continues to change. What I did was mostly done a year ago when I got the computer with the 4K display.

[aljimenez]

I am not excited about doing more tests on this. If you are not happy, then don't use the technique. I am much happier with having this option than not. I await Corel and other applications to be fixed as new versions are released.

[Kenneth Evans]

It's not a question of happy. I'm just curious. What I have works ok for me. I respect your wishes. I am skeptical you are getting 4K resolution, though, but it doesn't matter that much.