1600x900 better?

[riggi]

I use an external monitor to extend my desktop on my SP.
I have been swapping back and forth between scaling of 100% and having things look nice on the monitor and really small on the SP, and then 125% scaling which makes things look silly on the external monitor, but OK on the SP.

Today, I switched the SP resolution to 1600x900 and set scaling to 100%.
Now, things look OK on both the SP display and the external monitor. I also _think_ that the pen is more accurate with the scaling at 100%, but maybe that is just my imagination.

Also, the Metro screen gives me 4 rows of tiles that make better use of the screen space than the registry hack that sets the screen size to 13.1".

I'm not sure whether this will affect playback of 1080p videos, but I rarely do that. I'm mostly using IE, MS Office and PDFs.

Will running 1600x900 affect performance in any way (because of the need to rescale to a non native resolution or something)?

Thought this might help anyone else trying to work with an external monitor.

Rich

 

[mitchellvii]

I have also tried 1600 * 900 as well and have noticed no degradation in screen quality. Just gives you a bit less real estate but the fonts seem just as sharp to me. You get lots of system warnings about this resolution not being optimal but as far as I can tell just looking at things I've yet to notice the penalty.

** What is this registry hack that gives you 13.3 you speak of? I am guessing this is like setting the DPI number on an Android device. Link me if you get a chance. Thanks!

 

[riggi]

Get Four or Five Rows of Tiles on Your Surface Pro Start Screen — WindowsObserver.com

I think it just makes Windows think you have a 13.1" screen and therefore have room for 4 rows of tiles instead of 3.

Setting my resolution to 1600x900, I get the 4 rows automatically, plus the tiles are larger than doing the reg edit and make better use of the start screen real estate.

Yes, I have run a full day at work at 1600x900 and have not noticed any problems in MS Office, PDF Xchange, IE, connecting to a projector or external monitor, the metro music app and a few casual games.

I think I'll stick with this for the time being.

 

[mitchellvii]

Can you link me to the 13.3 Registry Hack?

 

[souldier]

I tried going to 1600x900 and could really see a difference not just in text but everything. It is hard to use a lower resolution once you've been enjoying the crisp 1920x1080 res. I think if the SP was made with a 1600x900 native resolution, then it would look better at that resolution

 

[CrazyT]

I tried going to 1600x900 and could really see a difference not just in text but everything. It is hard to use a lower resolution once you've been enjoying the crisp 1920x1080 res. I think if the SP was made with a 1600x900 native resolution, then it would look better at that resolution

I have also noticed that the text are less sharp when I switch my resolution to 1600x900 even after I go through the ClearType calibration. I'm back at 1920x1080 with 125% zoom.

 

[apoc_reg]

I'm using 1600x900 at 100% DPI. Seems like a really good balance and the 4 tiles is great... how come you get more tiles at a lower res... im confused!!

 

[riggi]

Can you link me to the 13.3 Registry Hack?

The link is in post #3.

After much back and forth, I have settled on using 1920x1080 with 125% scaling when not connected to an external monitor, and 1600x900 with 100% when connected.
If it's just a short interval (eg. I unplug from the monitor to go to a meeting), I'll leave it at 1600x900. But, most of the time it's not too much hassle to swap between them as the SP is pretty quick and logging out and logging back in again.
I've gotten into the habit of shutting down when travelling to and from work anyway as sometimes it gets really hot in my bag. Even when I put it into sleep from the charms menu.

 

[lkailburn]

The link is in post #3.

After much back and forth, I have settled on using 1920x1080 with 125% scaling when not connected to an external monitor, and 1600x900 with 100% when connected.
If it's just a short interval (eg. I unplug from the monitor to go to a meeting), I'll leave it at 1600x900. But, most of the time it's not too much hassle to swap between them as the SP is pretty quick and logging out and logging back in again.
I've gotten into the habit of shutting down when travelling to and from work anyway as sometimes it gets really hot in my bag. Even when I put it into sleep from the charms menu.

you might try hibernate then instead if you can spare the HDD space. I set my power button to hibernate so when i go i just poke the button and toss it in my bag. Works perfectly.

-Luke

 

[souldier]

I do the same as Luke. Sleep drains battery like crazy, while hibernate doesn't drain at all. The only difference is hibernate will take 3-4 seconds longer to start up, which is a very small price to pay if you ask me.

I set my touch cover to put my tablet to sleep though if I know that I will need to use my tablet again shortly