DPI Scaling Size - Change for Displays in Windows 8.1

How to Change DPI Scaling Size for Displays in Windows 8.1​

   Information

In Windows 8.1, you can now set DPI (Dots per Inch) scaling to make text and other items, such as icons, fonts, and windows, to display larger or smaller for all displays or per-display.

Windows 8.1 DPI scaling improvements are primarily focused on:

• Optimizing the usability and readability of high-DPI displays
• Providing a uniform experience multi-display systems
• Empowering developers to optimize app-specific scaling based on display DPI

If you are running a screen resolution of 1366x768 on a tablet, chances are that UI will look good at 100% DPI settings. But what about when you connect that tablet to an external high resolution display? In Windows 8 you can choose either 100% to optimize the UI on the tablet display or up to 150% to optimize the UI on the external display. You have to compromise.

Windows 8.1 takes care of this issue by supporting per-display DPI scaling to address. By default, Windows 8.1 will choose the optimum DPI scaling value for each display based on the value chosen for overall scaling in the control panel.

For more information, see:

• Windows 8.1 DPI Scaling Enhancements
• DPI-related APIs and registry settings

This tutorial will show you how to change the DPI scaling to make text and other items, such as icons, fonts, and windows, to display larger or smaller for all displays or per-display for only your account in Windows 8.1.

   Note

Setting the DPI size to a smaller number or percentage will decrease all items size on the display(s), while setting the DPI size to a larger number or percentage will increase all items size on the display(s).

In Windows 8.1, the DPI setting only affects screens on the desktop.

To change the DPI of the Modern UI (Metro) screens, see: How to Turn "Make everything on your screen bigger" On or Off in Windows 8

OPTION ONE

Change DPI Scaling of All Displays or Per-Display in "Display" CP

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1. Do step 2 or 3 below for how you would like to open the Display window.​

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2. Open the Control Panel (icons view), click/tap on the Display icon, and go to step 4 below.​

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3. Right click or press and hold on an empty area of your desktop, and click/tap on Personalize. Click/tap on the Display link on the bottom left side of Personalization, and go to step 4 below. (see screenshot below)​

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4. Do step 5, 6, or 7 below for what you would like to do.​

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5. To Change DPI Scaling Size Per-Display​

NOTE: This will have Windows 8.1 automatically choose the optimum DPI scaling value for each display based on the value (ex: Smaller -> Larger) chosen for overall scaling.​

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A) Uncheck the Let me choose one scaling level for all my displays box. (see screenshot below)​

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B) Move the slider to a supported smaller (96 DPI or 100%), medium (120 DPI or 125%), or larger (144 DPI or 150%) for the size you want, click/tap on Apply, and go to step 8 below.​

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[TABLE=class:-grid,-width:-625][TR][TD]
Vertical lines in Screen Resolution
[/TD]
[TD]
Supported DPI scale factors
[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]
<900
[/TD]
[TD]
100%
[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]
>= 900 and <1080
[/TD]
[TD]
100%, 125%
[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]
>=1080 and <1440
[/TD]
[TD]
100%, 125%, 150%
[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]
>=1440
[/TD]
[TD]
100%, 125%, 150%, 200%
[/TD][/TR][/TABLE]

​

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6. To Select a DPI Scaling Size for All Displays​

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A) Check the Let me choose one scaling level for all my displays box. (see screenshot below)​

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B) Select (dot) a listed DPI size you want, click/tap on Apply, and go to step 8 below.​

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7. To Set a Custom DPI Scaling Size for All Displays​

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A) Check the Let me choose one scaling level for all my displays box, and click/tap on the Custom sizing options link. (see screenshot below)​

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B) Click/tap on the drop down menu to select a DPI scaling size percentage you want, and click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)​

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C) Click/tap on Apply, and go to step 8 below. (see screenshot below)​

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8. If prompted, click/tap on Sign out now to apply. (see screenshot below)​

NOTE: Be sure to save anything you are working on first.​

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9. If you didn't need to sign out (ex: using step 5), then you can close the Display window if you like.​

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OPTION TWO

To Change DPI Scaling of All Displays in Registry Editor

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1. Press the Windows + R keys to open the Run dialog, type regedit, and press Enter.​

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2. If prompted by UAC, click/tap on Yes.​

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3. In regedit, navigate to the location below: (see screenshot below)​

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HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop​

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4. In the right pane of Desktop, double click/tap on Win8DpiScaling to modify it. (see screenshot above)​

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5. Type 1, and click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)​

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6. In the right pane of Desktop, double click/tap on LogPixels to modify it. (see screenshot below step 3)​

NOTE: If you do not have the LogPixels DWORD value, then right click on an empty space in the right pane of Desktop, click on New and DWORD (32-bit) Value, type LogPixels, and press Enter.​

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7. Select (dot) Decimal, type in the registry data value from the table below for the DPI scaling size you want, and click/tap on OK.​

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[TABLE=class:-grid,-width:-350][TR][TD]
DPI percentage
[/TD]
[TD]
Registry Data Value
[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]
Smaller 100%
[/TD]
[TD]
96
[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]
Medium 125%
[/TD]
[TD]
120
[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]
Larger 150%
[/TD]
[TD]
144
[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]
Extra Large 200%
[/TD]
[TD]
192
[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]
Custom 250%
[/TD]
[TD]
240
[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]
Custom 300%
[/TD]
[TD]
288
[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]
Custom 400%
[/TD]
[TD]
384
[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]
Custom 500%
[/TD]
[TD]
480
[/TD][/TR][/TABLE]

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8. Close Registry Editor.​

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9. Sign out and in, or restart the PC to apply changes.​

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OPTION THREE

To Restore 96 DPI Scaling for All Displays using a REG File

   Note

This option can be handy if you accidentally set the DPI to large and everything is extended way past the display screen, making them distorted and unreadable.

You could also boot into Safe Mode and change the DPI scaling back to a smaller number/percentage using OPTION ONE or OPTION TWO above.

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1. Click/tap on the download button below to download the file below.​

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Restore_Default_96_DPI.reg​

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2. Save the .reg file to your desktop.​

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3. Double click/tap on the downloaded .reg file to merge it.​

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4. Click/tap on Run, Yes (UAC), Yes, and OK when prompted.​

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5. Sign out and in, or restart the PC to apply changes.​

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6. When finished, you can delete the downloaded .reg file if you like.​

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That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

---

• How to Create a "Display" DPI Shortcut in Windows 7 and Windows 8
• How to Add or Remove "Display" from Desktop Context Menu in Windows 7 and Windows 8
• How to Change the Display DPI Size in Windows 7 and Windows 8
• How to Change DPI for Modern UI in Windows 8
• How to Change Screen Resolution of Displays in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Turn "Make everything on your screen bigger" On or Off in Windows 8
• How to Change the Text Size of Items in Windows 8 Advanced Appearance Settings
• How to Change the Screen Refresh Rate in Windows 7 and Windows 8
• How to Change Your Main Display in Windows 8 and 8.1

 

[power1power1]

Hi Brink, Is it possible to manually set different DPI percentages to each monitor? Say, set the first monitor at 127% and the second monitor at 132%. Thanks!

 

[Brink]

Hello Power1,

I'm afraid not unless some 3rd party software may be able to. DPI is a global setting.

If you like, you cold set a different screen resolution per display that may help. The smaller the resolution, the larger the items will be on the display.

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/5572-screen-resolution-set-displays-windows-8-a.html

Hope this helps some,
Shawn

 

[power1power1]

Thanks for the reply. Do you know of any freeware that might be able to do it? About the screen resolution, that is a good suggestion. Is there a way to set the resolution to a non-predefined value?
Another question: In item 5 above, what does it actually change in the registry?

 

[Brink]

If you mean step 5 in Option One, then that's the pixel value for what you want the DPI to be.

I'm afraid that I don't know of any program that will give you separate DPI settings per display.

 

[power1power1]

Yes, that's the one I was referring to. I thought Windows 8.1 does some sort of per monitor adjustment and I was thinking of overwriting the registry values manually.

 

[Brink]

Unfortunately not with DPI. Only with the screen resolution.

 

[power1power1]

OK, thanks anyways. Please let us know if you came across any solution for this.

 

[Brink]

I sure will.

The best that you could do so far is step 5 in Option One to have Windows automatically set the proper DPI scaling per display.

 

[Sil]

The dpi scaling in Windows 8.1 still sucks big time:

1. Apparently the scaling API was not well conceived and inferior to that of Mac OS X. That's at least how Adobe justifies the problems with Photoshop on high resolution monitors, which don't appear with OS X.

2. Multiple monitor. Until it is possible to choose dpi scaling per monitor dpi scaling will suck.
I'm working everyday on a 3200x1800 laptop bound to a 27" 2560w1440 monitor.
- Either I configure the laptop to not destroy my eyes (e.g 200 % scaling) and the the display on the 27" is way too big and most pixels are lost.
- Or I do the opposite, configure a decent dpi for the 27" inch and kiss goodbye to my eyesight on laptop.
- Further compounding the problem is Internet explorer, because it syncs zoom %. I like to have IE11 Metro on the laptop screen and IE11 desktop on the external screen. But if I adjust zooming on one it with break the other.

 

[vrosa]

I use 125 for a Samsung 18" 1600x1200 monitor and 100 for other 22"+ monitors

 

[shnickburton]

I have the exact same issue. They really to need to find a solution for individual monitor scaling. They didn't take into account the size of the screen when they made this decision.

The dpi scaling in Windows 8.1 still sucks big time:

1. Apparently the scaling API was not well conceived and inferior to that of Mac OS X. That's at least how Adobe justifies the problems with Photoshop on high resolution monitors, which don't appear with OS X.

2. Multiple monitor. Until it is possible to choose dpi scaling per monitor dpi scaling will suck.
I'm working everyday on a 3200x1800 laptop bound to a 27" 2560w1440 monitor.
- Either I configure the laptop to not destroy my eyes (e.g 200 % scaling) and the the display on the 27" is way too big and most pixels are lost.
- Or I do the opposite, configure a decent dpi for the 27" inch and kiss goodbye to my eyesight on laptop.
- Further compounding the problem is Internet explorer, because it syncs zoom %. I like to have IE11 Metro on the laptop screen and IE11 desktop on the external screen. But if I adjust zooming on one it with break the other.

 

[roadworrier]

I have the exact same issue. They really to need to find a solution for individual monitor scaling. They didn't take into account the size of the screen when they made this decision.

The dpi scaling in Windows 8.1 still sucks big time:

1. Apparently the scaling API was not well conceived and inferior to that of Mac OS X. That's at least how Adobe justifies the problems with Photoshop on high resolution monitors, which don't appear with OS X.

2. Multiple monitor. Until it is possible to choose dpi scaling per monitor dpi scaling will suck.
I'm working everyday on a 3200x1800 laptop bound to a 27" 2560w1440 monitor.
- Either I configure the laptop to not destroy my eyes (e.g 200 % scaling) and the the display on the 27" is way too big and most pixels are lost.
- Or I do the opposite, configure a decent dpi for the 27" inch and kiss goodbye to my eyesight on laptop.
- Further compounding the problem is Internet explorer, because it syncs zoom %. I like to have IE11 Metro on the laptop screen and IE11 desktop on the external screen. But if I adjust zooming on one it with break the other.

Yes; I also have the same problem. I have a 4K screen in front of me 28", and then two 22" displays to the right and left. The 22" displays look perfect with native resolution, but I can't keep them from being scaled.... because the 28" display requires at least 125% for me to see. What I'd like to do would be to fake out the resolution on the two 22" displays to the right and left so they'd show me the 1920 x 1080... Can I edit the registry and select a resolution greater than these displays are capable of ie: 2400x1350? Or fake out EDID? Or something?

 

[Zuu]

Is it possible to make smaller than 100% ?
I tried to put some values under 96 into registry, but it doesn't work

 

[Brink]

Hello Zuu,

Not with this setting.

If you like, you could also increase your screen resolution to make things smaller though.

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/5572-screen-resolution-set-displays-windows-8-a.html

 

[rambomhtri]

Hello.

I have a laptop with a 15.6" display with a resolution of 1080x1920 (Full HD). I've set the DPI scaling size to 125% (or size of items, as Windows 8 states).
Everything works fine but one program, that doesn't show the UI correctly if you use Windows scaling size option. The UI of that program only is displayed correctly if the scaling is 100% (no scaling).

Is there any way to run specific programs without Windows scaling it?

 

[Brink]

Hello Rambomhtri,

DPI scaling is a global setting. Unless the program has it's own zoom in/out type setting, then I'm afraid not.

What program is this happening with? Perhaps someone may know a workaround for it.

 

[rambomhtri]

Hello Rambomhtri,

DPI scaling is a global setting. Unless the program has it's own zoom in/out type setting, then I'm afraid not.

What program is this happening with? Perhaps someone may know a workaround for it.

Thanks for replying, Brink, you're awesome as always.

The program is Jammit, and the developers already know about this issue. I just thought may be you could set that in Windows.

 

[AlexSchmidt]

How to change DPI scale for one display???

I'm using 15" laptop and display, both 1920x1080.

Changing DPI Scaling Size Per-Display doesn't work

Actually it works like broken buggy All-Displays variant - it put same scale level on both displays but with "blur" effects on most programs (incl. system windows)
I was trying everything - change main/primary display, re-login, putting all-displays in big/small scale then change another one....

Hate Windows for such capability issues.....

 

[Brink]

Hello Alex, and welcome to Eight forums.

The DPI per display is more of a let Windows automatically adjust the DPI on each display based on what you set (ex: small, medium large) and the screen resolution of each display.