Recently, after purchasing a new laptop, I noticed a huge difference between the screen of this Full HD laptop and the old HD (1366×768) laptop screen. This difference is natural, as the number of pixels on the new laptop is higher. Despite the fact that the laptop screen is small at 15.6 inches like most laptops; I found it difficult to use due to the small size of almost everything, as texts and icons were not clear enough to see. To overcome this, I tried to experiment with Windows tools for better readability, but to no avail. Let me tell you in this article how to make Windows 10 work better on larger screens like FHD, 2K, and 4K.
What I did with this high-density screen was simply change the DPI (dots per inch) as you control through this option the size of texts and windows to make elements appear larger and more readable – just like zooming in on a high-quality image on a small screen – and you can control the DPI without using any software as it is a built-in option in Windows 10 and I recommend you take this necessary step if the computer screen is large to make the interaction smoother.
All you have to do is press the Windows key + the letter i together on the keyboard to open the Settings window, then go to the System section and on the right side of Display you can change the DPI through the Scale and layout option. When you click on the menu, the suggested ratios for switching between them will appear, and once you change the percentage from 100% for example to 150%, you will notice an immediate change in the size of elements on the screen. Windows, texts, and icons will appear more clearly to the eye. You can also click on Custom scaling and specify any percentage of your choice between 100% and 500%. To apply this ratio permanently, you will need to sign out by clicking on Sign out and then log back in.
After that, you will find that program windows appear larger as well as the size of icons, texts, and even the mouse pointer. The difference in the size of elements will be very noticeable on high-resolution screens like FHD, 2K, and 4K or higher.
On the other hand, if the default DPI size of Windows 10 is very suitable for your device screen and everything looks clear, but the problem lies in some programs where elements appear small. For example, in the above example, I have Photoshop on a 1920 × 1080 resolution, it appears in the manner shown in the image on the right, the icons are very small and not visible unless you get closer to the screen. Besides Photoshop, there are many programs that have this problem, and the solution is to change the DPI for each program to appear better on larger screens as shown in the image on the left.
All you have to do is right-click on the program shortcut on the desktop, then choose Properties from the menu. Then in the window that appears, go to the Compatibility section at the top, then check the box next to Override high DPI scaling behavior and then choose one of the three options in the menu, and here is a brief overview of the function of each of these choices:
– Application which is the default option, can be selected if you want to avoid changing the DPI ratio in this specific program when you change the DPI ratio in the system as we explained in the first method.
– System which is the option you can select if you want to increase the DPI ratio in this program only, so if elements appear small in the program. Select this option to make them larger and more usable.
– Enhanced System and this option resizes elements inside the program but more intelligently than the previous option, and you will notice the difference between it and the previous option when you focus more on the text. In the previous option, they appear somewhat blurry and unclear, but with this option, they will appear better and more readable.
In general, select the appropriate choice for you, then press the Ok button to apply the new changes. Note that if the program is currently open, you will need to close it and then restart it to see the difference. Generally, if you select the System or System Enhanced options, you will find the elements inside the program are larger than they were before, and I believe this is very suitable with FHD, 2K, and 4K screens.
