SDL Studio still doesn't work right with HiDPI displays??
Thread poster: Lennart Luhtaru
Lennart Luhtaru
Lennart Luhtaru  Identity Verified
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Nov 16, 2018

I just bought Studio 2019 upgrade license. Multiterm icons still look like small dots not to mention other weird things. HiDPI screens went mainstream in 2012 with the retina mbpro. It's 2018 right now and the only choice I have are truncated or messed up GUI elements or running their "fix" that just overrides correct scaling behavior and makes everything fuzzy. Am I doing something wrong or who do I have to complain?

Screenshot 2018-11-16 at 6.40.08 AM


Stepan Konev
 
Anton Konashenok
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Use application compatibility options Nov 16, 2018

There are several different ways to handle display resolutions in Windows, and if an application (Studio in your case) looks fuzzy or otherwise wrong, you can fix it as follows:
- Right-click the shortcut you are using to start Studio, and select Properties. A small window will open.
- In this window, click on Compatibility tab at the top.
- Tick the "Override high DPI scaling behavior" checkbox.
- In the menu directly under this checkbox, select an option different from
... See more
There are several different ways to handle display resolutions in Windows, and if an application (Studio in your case) looks fuzzy or otherwise wrong, you can fix it as follows:
- Right-click the shortcut you are using to start Studio, and select Properties. A small window will open.
- In this window, click on Compatibility tab at the top.
- Tick the "Override high DPI scaling behavior" checkbox.
- In the menu directly under this checkbox, select an option different from the one currently selected.
- Click OK.
- Start Studio and check if it looks better now.
- If still not satisfied, repeat the steps above and select yet another option in the scaling menu (there are three possibilities). One of the three should work.
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Rob Edwards
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This is a workaround, not a fix. Jun 25, 2020

The ONLY way to fix dpi issues in Windows apps is for the developer to use the tools, made available by Microsoft, to make the application DPI aware. Trados, MemoQ and DejaVu X3 are all DPI unaware (to test this, press CTRL+ALT+DELETE to open task manager and click on the Details tab, right click on the column headers for the table and make sure that the checkbox for DPI awareness is ticked). The only route to a satisfactory hidpi experience with any app (CAT tools are far from being the only of... See more
The ONLY way to fix dpi issues in Windows apps is for the developer to use the tools, made available by Microsoft, to make the application DPI aware. Trados, MemoQ and DejaVu X3 are all DPI unaware (to test this, press CTRL+ALT+DELETE to open task manager and click on the Details tab, right click on the column headers for the table and make sure that the checkbox for DPI awareness is ticked). The only route to a satisfactory hidpi experience with any app (CAT tools are far from being the only offenders) is to do the work and write the necessary code to make the UI scale correctly in Windows 10.

Larger and smaller QHD and 4K displays are gradually becoming more popular, so this issue is going to gain in importance over time. It would be much appreciated if SDL, Kilgray and others got ahead of the curve and fixed this now. Does anyone know if Trados 2021 will fix this issue?

Here are some guidelines for developers from Microsoft. They were written in 2018 – this issue has been recognized for a while...

High DPI Desktop Application Development on Windows

[Edited at 2020-06-25 11:40 GMT]
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Lennart Luhtaru
 
Lennart Luhtaru
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SDL doesn't care Jun 25, 2020

I would be surprised that they did anything. I've complained about this in forums, in-person at conferences, and in comments since version 2014. The fact is that HiDPI displays went mainstream with 2012 Macbook Pro. I had a Lenovo laptop with 3K display in 2014. By now there's probably harder to find a non-HiDPI display Windows laptop than a LoDPI one. Apple doesn't even sell any non-HiDPI laptops for a few years now. I think SDL just doesn't care about their desktop application and will go to a... See more
I would be surprised that they did anything. I've complained about this in forums, in-person at conferences, and in comments since version 2014. The fact is that HiDPI displays went mainstream with 2012 Macbook Pro. I had a Lenovo laptop with 3K display in 2014. By now there's probably harder to find a non-HiDPI display Windows laptop than a LoDPI one. Apple doesn't even sell any non-HiDPI laptops for a few years now. I think SDL just doesn't care about their desktop application and will go to a browser based solution soon anyway.

And these compatibility options are the "fuzzy mess" I'm talking about. Definitely not a fix.
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Rob Edwards
 
Samuel Murray
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@Lennart Jun 25, 2020

Lennart Luhtaru wrote:
By now there's probably harder to find a non-HiDPI display Windows laptop than a LoDPI one.


HiDPI is relative. Can you tell us what your DPI or pixel density is (or what your screen size and screen resolution is)?

Do I understand correctly that you're running Trados on a Mac?


 
Rob Edwards
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Agreed Jun 25, 2020

Agreed.

To be honest, switching to a browser-based solution might be a better option anyway, as browsers generally handle DPI scaling well, it's easy to adjust the magnification and Microsoft doesn't appear to offer any other modern options for desktop GUI than UwP, which won't work at all for anyone using any operating system, which isn't Windows 10...

Of course, that does beg the question of how browser-based will be implemented. Remote server TMs are fine for some p
... See more
Agreed.

To be honest, switching to a browser-based solution might be a better option anyway, as browsers generally handle DPI scaling well, it's easy to adjust the magnification and Microsoft doesn't appear to offer any other modern options for desktop GUI than UwP, which won't work at all for anyone using any operating system, which isn't Windows 10...

Of course, that does beg the question of how browser-based will be implemented. Remote server TMs are fine for some projects (as long as data cannot be accessed by SDL or 3rd parties!), but might cause NDA headaches for others... local servers should (!) be fine for NDAs, but might complicate cross-platform compatibility...
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Lennart Luhtaru
 
Lennart Luhtaru
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Higher than 100% scaling Jun 25, 2020

I don't think HiDPI is relative. Isn't it anything higher than 100% on Win?

200% scaling on most monitors. I currently use the following

27" 5K iMac + 2x Dell P2715Q (27 inch 4K)
2x Macbook Pro 15" Retina
Macbook Pro 13" Retina

The last Win machine I had
Lenovo W540 with 3K display

Studio looks like sh*t on all of them. Much worse than MemoQ for whatever reason.


 
Samuel Murray
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@Lennart Jun 25, 2020

Lennart Luhtaru wrote:
I don't think HiDPI is relative. Isn't it anything higher than 100% on Win?


Sorry, I misunderstood. I did not realise that when you spoke of "HiDPI", you meant "HiDPI scaling". I imagined Trados would look just fine and dandy on a 5 K monitor (teensy tiny, but still crisp and clear)... but you were talking about using Trados **with scaling**.

I only have a measly 2.5 K monitor (also 27"), so my problems are a lot less pronounced than yours, although there are certain programs in which I wished that I was able to "zoom in" on some of the dialogs, tables etc. The scaling feature has always been so bad in Windows that it simply did not occur to me that anyone who isn't severely sight impaired would ever want to use it. I did not realise that some propgrams actually scale quite well. As a test, I set my scaling to 125% and then checked all of my CAT tools, and only WFP5 scales cleanly; Trados, MemoQ and WFP3 are all blurry.

So, I don't use the scaling setting, but I do want my icons, menus, ribbons, etc. to have larger text. What I did is to use the Wintools.info tools, which allows one to change font settings in Windows 10 that were possible to change in Windows 7. This font change affects my icon font size, my taskbar font size, menus in programs, ribbons in programs, right-click menu items, and sometimes other elements in programs (e.g. column headings in my mail program), all without using the "scaling" feature. However, some GUI elements within programs are not accessible to system wide font changes, for example the file list in Trados.


 
Stepan Konev
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I use 22-inch monitors Jun 25, 2020

with 150% scaling. If I turn scaling to 100%, everything looks extremely small (I have normal 20/20 vision). I have to zoom to 150%. This makes SDL Studio, memoQ, Heartsome, Movavi (video editing software) and some other apps look exactly as Lennart Luhtaru described it for Studio. In some screens, when I want to run a command, or apply changes, or press OK, I have to press tab several times to locate the button I need that may appear under the Windows task bar (as shown on the screenshot below)... See more
with 150% scaling. If I turn scaling to 100%, everything looks extremely small (I have normal 20/20 vision). I have to zoom to 150%. This makes SDL Studio, memoQ, Heartsome, Movavi (video editing software) and some other apps look exactly as Lennart Luhtaru described it for Studio. In some screens, when I want to run a command, or apply changes, or press OK, I have to press tab several times to locate the button I need that may appear under the Windows task bar (as shown on the screenshot below) or even lower beyond the screen limit.
Alternatively, I can change the resolution compatibility settings to make everything fit the screen but blurred. I have to choose what I prefer most: blurred, spilled off the screen, or too small. Just can't make it all sharp, fit the screen and big enough to read comfortably.
Somehow Memsource Desktop Editor can handle all these issues, which makes me think this problem is solvable though.


[Edited at 2020-06-25 15:38 GMT]
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Samuel Murray
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Somewhat off-topic: magnification utilities Jun 25, 2020

Stepan Konev wrote:
I have to choose what I prefer most: blurred, spilled off the screen, or too small. Just can't make it all sharp, fit the screen and big enough to read comfortably.


I acknowledge that different people would be satisfied with different solutions, but some people might want to consider a magnifier tool. Windows does have a built-in magnifier but it is crippleware. I know of two third-party magnifiers that still work under Windows 10.

With most magnifier tools, the magnification pane follows the mouse, and while this is fine if you want to magnify just one small part of the screen temporarily, it can make for a very dizzying experience, especially if you zoom in on a large area (or the entire screen). If you want the magnification pane to zoom in on fixed coordinates, Magnifixer can do it. The program takes a bit of getting used to. Put Trados e.g. on the left side of the monitor, then put the magnification pane to the right side of the monitor, and then (while Magnifixer has the focus) hover your mouse over Trados, and press Ctrl+F. The downsides arte that the mouse cursor is not visible in "fixed" mode, and obviously you have to get use to clicking "here" while looking "there".

Some magnification tools whose magnification pane moves around with the mouse do not allow you to interact with zoomed content. Or, the magnification pane disappears as soon as you click. OneLoupe is an exception. You can see the mouse pointer and interact with zoomed elements directly under the normal mouse pointer. For this, you have to use the "real time with mouse" mode. Unfortunately the magnification pane can't be resized (so it's either a small area or full screen). The fact that the centre of zoom follows the mouse does mean that there is a temporary vertigo whenever you move the mouse to an area far away from its current position.

I'm surprised that I wasn't able to find a utility that magnifies a specific window.


[Edited at 2020-06-25 18:19 GMT]


 
Lennart Luhtaru
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Rant because Studio 2021 should be called Studio 1991 Aug 18, 2020

Samuel Murray wrote:
but you were talking about using Trados **with scaling**.


This is something that SDL guys should read first https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/hidpi/high-dpi-desktop-application-development-on-windows

iPhone 4 came out like 10 years ago and I'd say that was the first mainstream truly hidpi device (2x scaling). 96dpi that Win uses as 100% should be legacy and in the past. I don't think you can even get 96dpi laptops any more - 13" 1080p would be 160 dpi, 15" 4k would be almost 300dpi; 96 dpi (100%) would be 13" XGA (1024x768) or 15" WXGA (1280x768). People don't even develop websites for XGA for years and who even makes laptops with this low resolution any more?? Using 96dpi (100%) setting with a 300dpi monitor makes everything ridiculously small and you lose out on what the higher resolution is for - making stuff on screen (obviously images but also TEXT) more crisp and easier on the eyes. Not to mention that Dell is already selling an 8K monitor priced for prosumers or rich consumers. Give it a couple of years and it will be mainstream like 4K is right now. Also, all new 2020 flagship phones record 8K video and there have been 800dpi phones (5.5", 4K) out there for a while now. Still developing DPI dependent software is ridiculous. Unfortunately I don't think SDL will ever fix Studio as they seem to move towards browser based solutions (Studio 2020 Live or whatever is called).

[Edited at 2020-08-18 15:33 GMT]


Pavel Slama
 
Lennart Luhtaru
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Facepalm 2021 Jun 9, 2021

Screenshot 2021-06-09 at 04.07.15

Why Trados? Just why????


arterm
 
Stepan Konev
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This is how they "fixed" the issue Jun 9, 2021

Lennart Luhtaru wrote:
Why Trados? Just why????
They enlarged icons while font size remained the same. This is how they solve problems. Typical.

There can hardly be a more stupid "solution". Top 1.


Lennart Luhtaru
arterm
 
Lennart Luhtaru
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Ultra facepalm Jun 9, 2021

Stepan Konev wrote:
They enlarged icons while font size remained the same



2f7

How many versions does it take to get it right...


 
arterm
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Trados 2021 still has the blurred fonts Dec 13, 2021

Trados 2021 still has the blurred fonts

 


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SDL Studio still doesn't work right with HiDPI displays??







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