Text too small on 1440p on Win7, becomes blurry if i choose larger DPI!

[poohbear]

hey all, i've just gone to 1440p (DELL U2711) but the text is too small on Win7, so i raise the DPI to 150% and clicked "use winxp style DPI". sure enough the icons get bigger, but the text remains small in most programs (winamp, chrome, skype, even Steam). So i unchecked "use winxp style DPI" and now the text is bigger in all programs, but very blurry. I imagine i'm gonna get eye problems after a few months of this! Chrome isn't so bad because i can enlarge the text in program, but is there anyway to increase the text size in all my programs without getting the blurriness? Cleartype text is turned on, so that's not it. I'm using Displayport (not DVI) if that makes any difference. I've googled it and tried some other options, but seems either i'm stuck with small clean text, or large blurry text. anything i'm missing here? The text is also ridiculously small in games.

Thanks in advance!

 

[bystander36]

If you press ctrl + MouseWheel up, the text will enlarge for most programs, and it will keep high quality text. Ctrl +/- also works.

EDIT: I just tested it at the desktop for the first time, and it even works to enlarge the desktop icons and text.

 

[AntonioHG]

If you press ctrl + MouseWheel up, the text will enlarge for most programs, and it will keep high quality text. Ctrl +/- also works.

EDIT: I just tested it at the desktop for the first time, and it even works to enlarge the desktop icons and text.

Huh, that's amazing. I tried it and that surprised me.

 

[spinejam]

Here's some more cool tips: (some are for Windows_8 only)

Shortcut Description

Ctrl+- Zoom out
Ctrl++ Zoom in
Windows+= Turn on Magnifier
Windows++ Zoom in with Magnifier
Windows+- Zoom out with Magnifier
Windows+Z Display app bar in current Windows 8 app
Windows+Tab Cycle through all open apps on Switch List bar
Alt+Tab Cycle forward through all open apps in center window
Alt+Shift+Tab Cycle backward through all open apps in center window
Windows+Q Search
Ctrl+P Print from current app
Windows+P Connect to second screen or projector
Windows+L Lock PC


Windows 8 Keyboard Shortcuts

Ctrl+Esc Switch between Start screen and last app
Windows+, Peek at desktop
Windows+D Go to the desktop

Windows+C Display Charms bar
Windows+Q Display Search charm
Windows+H Display Share charm
Windows+K Display Devices charm
Windows+I Display Settings charm

Windows+W Search settings
Windows+F Search files

Windows+. Snap current Windows 8 app to the right and then cycle to left and full screen
Windows+Shift+. Snap current Windows 8 app to the left and then cycle to right and full screen
Alt+F4 Close the current app
Alt+D Display address bar in Internet Explorer
Ctrl+E Select search box in Internet Explorer

Windows+M Minimize all open windows on the desktop
Windows+Shift+M Restore all minimized windows on desktop
Alt+Esc Cycle through all open windows
Windows+T Preview open windows in taskbar
Alt Show the hidden menu bar in a desktop application
Shift+Delete Permanently delete a file or other item
Ctrl+N Open new window in File Explorer
Ctrl+W Close current window in File Explorer
Ctrl+Shift+N Create new folder in File Explorer
Alt+F4 Open Shut Down Windows dialog box
F1 Display Help

Ctrl+Shift+Esc Open Windows Task Manager
Windows+X Open Power User Tasks menu
Windows+E Open File Explorer
Windows+R Open the Run command
Windows+U Open Ease of Access Center
Windows+Enter Open Windows Narrator
PrintScrn Take screenshot of current screen
Alt+PrintScrn Take screenshot of active window in desktop environment
Windows+PrntScrn Take screenshot and save to Pictures folders
Ctrl+A Select all files or other objects in a window
Ctrl+X Cut selected file
Ctrl+C Copy selected file
Ctrl+V Paste copied or cut file
Ctrl+Z Undo last action
Ctrl+Y Redo last action

Mouse Movements

Move to the bottom-left hot corner Display shortcut to Start screen or previous app
Move to the top- or bottom-right hot corner Display the Charms bar
Move to the upper-left hot corner Display shortcut to next active application
Move to the upper-left hot corner and move down Display the Switch List bar with shortcuts to all open apps
Move to the bottom-left hot corner and right-click Mouse Open the Power User Tasks menu

 

[postmortemIA]

don't change DPI , works only for some applications (that are using newer GDI+ libraries); even some older from MS don't work right with it.
Increse font sizes for desktop icons and meny bars. Firefox has extensions for text zoom only.

 

[bystander36]

don't change DPI , works only for some applications (that are using newer GDI+ libraries); even some older from MS don't work right with it.
Increse font sizes for desktop icons and meny bars. Firefox has extensions for text zoom only.

If you want to force everything large, even programs which are not designed to have large text, then you will get poor quality text. Like I said, it won't work on everything, but it is the best he can get without lowered quality text.

 

[poohbear]

whoa so there's no way around this? I know about ctrl + "+"/"-"/mousewheel, but i'd like something more permanent. It only works on web browsers and office for me though, doesn't do anything for skype, itunes, winamp, and pretty much all non MS software.

 

[tynopik]

the text isn't too small

your eyes are too weak

get reading glasses

 

[poohbear]

huh? no its way too small even in games. If it was my eyesight it would be completely unreadable, but as it is it IS readable but very tiny.

Shogun 2 the in game text is barely readable!! its terrible. seems 1440p isnt meant for mainstream gaming? Here's an image, sitting 3-4 feet from my 27" 1440p the unit stats (whice are important) are barely readable:

 

[poohbear]

ugh, looking at the steam survery us 2560x1440 users make up a mere 0.98% of gamers! no wonder developers don't even care about this! 1080p users make up 31%!

 

[-Slacker-]

You can also enlarge text and other items that can't be changed with ctrl + or dpi settings in the "presonalize"options; Personalize---> Color options, and change the text font size from there.

 

[Mushkins]

huh? no its way too small even in games. If it was my eyesight it would be completely unreadable, but as it is it IS readable but very tiny.

Shogun 2 the in game text is barely readable!! its terrible. seems 1440p isnt meant for mainstream gaming? Here's an image, sitting 3-4 feet from my 27" 1440p the unit stats (whice are important) are barely readable:

Many games have UI scaling sliders so you can make the UI bigger but retain the higher resolution to combat this issue.

 

[Enigmoid]

Personally I have a 1080p 15.6" laptop. I have scaling set to 125% in windows (which seems to work without scaling issues or blurriness) and in browser zoom is at 125%. Works fine for me.

 

[blackened23]

Couple of things.

First, i'm not trying to be facetious, but it sounds like your eyesight isn't ideal; do you normally wear glasses? Again, not trying to be facetious. Using normal DPI at 1440p for me (and most of my friends), is just fine.

That being said, the DPI issue with Windows is not ideal. You *must* use windows XP style DPI scaling, as non-XP style is blurry. The only issue here is that not all applications support it - so the best bet here is to use XP style DPI scaling in conjunction with text scaling specific to your browser. Press Control + mousewheel up and down to manipulate the text size to your liking within chrome and firefox.

Summary:

-Use Windows XP style DPI, always - non XP style is blurry.
-For applications that don't support DPI scaling, use the application specific text/font adjustment.

 

[tynopik]

Here's an image, sitting 3-4 feet from my 27" 1440p

Don't sit 4 feet away from the monitor

 

[poohbear]

Does using displayport have anything to do with it, or that doesnt matter? Is the text supposed to be that small in shogun 2? There is no in game UI to increase font size in totalwar 2.

As for eyesight, i have 20/20vision, so pretty sure its not that. 3~4ft for a 27" is the standard no?

 

[Dahak]

Two things I would suggest is,

1) clicked "use winxp style DPI". -- on setups that I have done I never had turns this on

2) run the ClearType Tuner, by going into control panel and search for ClearType in the top right.

I just skimmed over the posts but did not see that mentioned. Also this was on mostly 23/24 inch screens as well

 

[bystander36]

Does using displayport have anything to do with it, or that doesnt matter? Is the text supposed to be that small in shogun 2? There is no in game UI to increase font size in totalwar 2.

As for eyesight, i have 20/20vision, so pretty sure its not that. 3~4ft for a 27" is the standard no?

2' is probably standard. Most desks aren't deep enough to get it that far away.

Anyways, you may just be best off with a 1080p monitor. I personally am very happy with 1080p at 27". A lot of people act like 1440p is so great due to sharpness, but Windows really isn't designed to perform well at that resolution.

 

[tynopik]

3~4ft for a 27" is the standard no?

2 feet