Windows 8 / 8.1 "Hi-DPI" mode?

[hellfire88]

Quick question, I notice a lot of the new laptops/ultrabooks coming out from Dell, HP, Samsung, etc. come with (or the option for) a 2560x1440+ (some even 3200x1800) res screens in like 13.3-15" size.

My question is, does Windows 8 (or 8.1) have the "Hi-DPI" scaling like Macbook Pro Retina's do? Meaning while the resolution of the Macbook Pro Retina 15" is 2880x1800, the "default mode" in OSX is where it simply double-ups the pixels with a 1440x900 workable res. I really like this since I prefer the text size of 1440x900 but now that the pixel density is doubled (I think) it looks great.

Does Windows 8 (or 8.1) have this option (I'd prefer Windows to Mac for work-purposes)? Or can we just rely on the "100%, 125%, 150%" dpi scaling?

Thanks.

 

[Rhonda the Sly]

Windows has support for 150% scaling while Windows 8.1 will introduce support for 200% scaling.

http://blogs.windows.com/windows/b/.../15/windows-8-1-dpi-scaling-enhancements.aspx

 

[mikeymikec]

Though the scaling isn't as consistent in Win8 as it was in Win7 or Vista (Re: Metro UI and the Explorer ribbon). Apparently Metro's fonts don't get affected by the setting unless the screen resolution is beyond a certain range. The Explorer ribbon is probably affected in the same way.

 

[CSMR]

Windows has support for 150% scaling while Windows 8.1 will introduce support for 200% scaling.

http://blogs.windows.com/windows/b/.../15/windows-8-1-dpi-scaling-enhancements.aspx

The Windows desktop has support for arbitrary scaling. I think this has been there since Vista. You can definitely choose 200% already. I don't have Vista or Win7 systems but I am sure this was true and can confirm this on a Win8 system. (I think XP allowed this too but it wasn't well supported then.)

 

[CSMR]

Quick question, I notice a lot of the new laptops/ultrabooks coming out from Dell, HP, Samsung, etc. come with (or the option for) a 2560x1440+ (some even 3200x1800) res screens in like 13.3-15" size.

Nice that they are producing machines with more than the useless 768p resolution, but going above 1080p at this screen size is a marketing gimmick.

My question is, does Windows 8 (or 8.1) have the "Hi-DPI" scaling like Macbook Pro Retina's do? Meaning while the resolution of the Macbook Pro Retina 15" is 2880x1800, the "default mode" in OSX is where it simply double-ups the pixels with a 1440x900 workable res. I really like this since I prefer the text size of 1440x900 but now that the pixel density is doubled (I think) it looks great.

Does Windows 8 (or 8.1) have this option (I'd prefer Windows to Mac for work-purposes)? Or can we just rely on the "100%, 125%, 150%" dpi scaling?

Yes Windows 8 has this, but you will find that with a moderately high res screen (e.g. 1080p at 15") you get excellent sharpness and appropriate scale at 125% or 150%.

The only advantage of 200% is for some badly programmed legacy applications that 1. draw all pixels themselves including fonts, not leaving it to the OS, and 2. are not aware of OS dpi settings. These programs will look bad at 200% (as if you had a low res screen) but even worse at 125 or 150%. But best to just avoid these applications.