MSDN <> AutoIt : Developing a Per-Monitor DPI-Aware WPF Application

[mLipok]

How to use this example in AutoIt ?

MSDN: Developing a Per-Monitor DPI-Aware WPF Application

MSDN: Per-Monitor Aware WPF Sample

Below other useful links:

MSDN: DPI Tutorial sample

MSDN: High DPI

MSDN: User Interface - High DPI Awareness

mLipok

Edited June 25, 2014 by mLipok

[orbs]

I know this is not the answer you are looking for, but I once tried to delve into the depths of programming GUI appearance, I found that the issue is much more complex than I expected. The solution however may be very simple (for a controlled environment, at least).

 

In general, an application can be written to detect DPI settings and draw its GUI accordingly. Some modern applications (e.g. Microsoft Office 2007) are written from scratch to do that; but most applications, and legacy applications in specific, require practically a complete re-write.

 

Fortunately, Microsoft acknowledge that this would be a trouble for developers, so since Windows Vista, a feature called “DPI Virtualization” is introduced. This feature detects when an application GUI is not fit to high DPI, and draws the GUI to fit. This is done by the operating system, and the application itself does not need to be aware of this. This is a decent solution for legacy applications, until a newer version is written to be DPI-aware and can do it on its own. This is not a perfect solution; DPI-virtualized GUI may appear blurry.

 

By default, DPI virtualization is not enabled (until Windows 8.1, where it is enabled and cannot be easily disabled…). To enable it and use it properly, follow these steps:

 

Step 1: enable DPI Virtualization system-wide:

 

Go to: “Control Panel” “Display” “Set custom text size (DPI)”

Uncheck the checkbox “Use Windows XP style DPI scaling”.

 

 

This requires log-off/log-on to apply.

 

Step 2: launch your application to see that this indeed solves the issue.

 

Step 3: check impact on other application:

 

Some applications may not react well to DPI Virtualization. For example, I was surprised to see that the modern browser Safari is impacted. Fortunately, You can disable DPI Virtualization per application.

 

(Unfortunately, you cannot enable DPI Virtualization per application; you must enable DPI Virtualization system-wide and then disable DPI Virtualization per application.)

 

To disable DPI Virtualization per application: right-click the application, select “Properties”, switch to the “Compatibility” tab, and check the checkbox “Disable display scaling on high DPI settings”.

 

 

Note that you can disable DPI Virtualization per application for you only (current user) or for all users.

 

[mLipok]

Thanks for such a comprehensive lecture on the subject.

btw.
Reading your lecture, I noticed that I did not need nor right to wonder about its meaning, at the same time I read it smoothly without pausing, and text virtually alone I explained in my head, which means that both my English skills in reading and understanding is greatly improved by the last two years, and this means both that your lecture was written in friendly style.

Cheers

mLipok