Home Forums Discussions General Discussion high-res display for the holidays... ac looks lousy

Got a high res desktop display for xmas. 34" 3440 x 1440. It's gorgeous until I run AC. Using windows 8.1 and 10. My old monitor was 22 " 1650x1050 or 27" 1920x1080 both with large pixel size but relatively low resolution.

All scaling options yield fuzzy text (scaled) or odd interface button cutoffs. With scaling off everything is tiny.

Any tips? What monitors are you all using? Any chance the old gdi graphical interface will be updated to be hi-dpi aware? These days hate to be stuck on low res large pixel displays just to keep AC readable.

Here's what Microsoft says to developers re high dpi aware applications:

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/dn469266(v=vs.90)

Interested in this topic. Have bought an Alienware AW3418DW monitor which also has 3440x1440 native resolution. Because I still need to upgrade my graphics card I am still using at 1920 x 1080 resolution and the screen cannot be scaled to the full display width. AC shows great at that resolution(but with 2 inch black bars on either side). I was thinking of upgrading the graphics card, but with what you mentioned I do not think I will for now if there is going to be a problem with the display as mentioned above. Thanks for the heads up!

Running at 125% scaling. Things look ok but slightly small. Sharper than the old lower resolution.

One request for advice:

AC main window keeps wanting to snap back to the center of the screen after hitting maximize then restore title button, or closing some popup windows especially after resizing, also randomly while trying to snap window to the side. Any ideas?

Display scaling doesn't work well for multiple apps including AC.

You both have Ultrawide monitors which means they have a 21:9 Aspect ratio instead of the standard 16:9 ratio. Which means you need to scale down to 2560x1080 resolution instead of the standard 1920x1080. That should get rid of your black bars. A 34" ultrawide monitor running 2560x1080 will have roughly the same PPI (pixels-per-inch) as a 27-inch 1080P display.

Hi Beagle,

These three free or 30-day-free-trial programs try to make program windows stay where you leave them.

Results vary according to monitor size, windows version, and program.

***

https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/shellfolderfix.html
(Free. For removal, see note on the same page.)

***

https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/windowmanager.html
(30-day-free-trial $10 program .)

***

https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/winposition.html
(Free.)

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

Thanks!

Tried aquasnap didn't work, AC kept pulling the window back to center.
Tried Windowmanager and it works!

http://www.desksoft.com/WindowManager_Download.htm

AC does a crazy re center at odd times designed for single monitor use to keep things front and center. This overrides AC windows position and locks it to the location I want. Works for updox too. Takes some fiddling with settings to get it right but we can share settings here.

I was about ready to give up on the ultrawide hi-res display and go back to 2 monitors. I can now recommend 34" 3440x1440 ultrawide as a replacement for 2 screens. Looks beautiful and takes up less deskspace. Other high-res savvy programs like web browsers look crisp and sharp.

Running scaling at 125%: AC is a bit funky shapes and slightly small text, but sharp.

Alienware 34" 3440x1440 at Costco $800 with usual no hassle costco 90d return. Worth it!