display – TechUtils.in

September 21, 2021

#StackBounty: #multiple-monitors #display Font scaling in dual monitor setup

Bounty: 50

Just installed Ubuntu 20.04 on a ThinkPad W451 where the screen resolution on the laptop is 2880×1620 and attached a second monitor with resolution 1920×1080. Sadly there seems Ubuntu either shows tiny fonts on the laptop monitor, or if the fonts on the laptop monitor are OK, the windows and fonts on the second monitor are huge.

In the Displays settings, there is a scale selection for either monitor, but the scale cannot be independently set: if I set it on one, it affects the other.

Is there a way to use dual monitors so that the font sizes would just adapt to the actual DPI for each monitor? I cannot believe that such a fundamental thing is still not solved in 2020: for each monitor, if we know the DPI, we should be able to draw things with the intended size.
I tried this with the default window manager, xfce4 and Mate, and all of them get it wrong.

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September 20, 2021

#StackBounty: #20.04 #display #21.04 Squiggly/wavy/interlaced display

Bounty: 50

I’m on a MSI PE70 2QE Laptop with an NVIDIA Geforce GTX960M.

I was running Ubuntu 21.04 and since I’ve installed all the latest software updates my display is acting up.

It doesn’t flicker but it’s kind of squiggly looking interlacing or something (best description I could come up with :p).

I’m running a dual boot setup, and on Windows there’s no problem, so I guess I can rule out the display being broken.

I’ve tried installing proprietary drivers (several of them), tried rolling back the updates and even uninstalled Ubuntu and installed Ubuntu 20.04 but the problem persists now.

Hope someone can help me out!

Some pictures of the problem (pictures are all taken during startup but the problem persists when in UI/OS as well):

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September 16, 2021

#StackBounty: #display #annotation #whiteboard Best, free and multiplatform screen annotation software

Bounty: 50

I am looking for multiplatform desktop screen annotation software.

I am conducting lectures on multiple platforms, like Windows or macOS.
Recently, I was performing the classes using text editors, paint/gimp, etc.

But sometimes, I find it hard to explain some things this way. It would be nice to have some tool that allows me to draw on the screen and use it on all platforms like Windows or macOS.

I researched and found some tools available online.

EpicPen – It is the first result Google returns. It is available only for windows and macOS, and the functionality is quite limited (for example, drawing lines or squares is unavailable, there are only 16 colours, and whiteboard/blackboard are not available). EpicPen pro, on the other hand, is available only for windows (https://epic-pen.com/).
Windows Snipping Tool – This one, as most of you know, is a windows tool and is quite constrained and available only for windows (obviously).
ppInk – another annotation software for Windows, this one looks interesting, but it sometimes hangs on my machine, nevertheless it is only for Windows (https://github.com/pubpub-zz/ppInk).
gInk – similar to above, again only Windows (https://github.com/geovens/gInk)
live-draw – Only windows, requires .net (https://github.com/antfu/live-draw)
OpenBoard – only whiteboard tool but cross-platform (Windows, Linux, macOS) (https://openboard.ch/index.en.html)
SnagIt – it’s more screen shoot maker, quite expensive, and only for windows and mac (https://www.techsmith.com/screen-capture.html)
UltimatePen – commercial, only free trial, only for macOS (http://www.snowmintcs.com/products/ultimatepenmac/)
TuxPen – author claims that is it not completed and some functionality looks not working (https://github.com/csgn/TuxPen)
ScreenPen – multiplatform, requires Python, installation with pip, supports charts using matplotlib, but it’s mentioned that the support could be improved (https://github.com/rsusik/screenpen)
Draw Over – only windows and Linux (mac is not listed) (https://gilzoide.itch.io/draw-over)
ShareX – only windows, also file sharing tool (https://getsharex.com/)

To summarize, I created the below table:

Name	Free	Windows	Linux	MacOS	Shapes	White/blackboard
EpicPen	Partially	Yes	No	Yes (only basic)	Yes	Paid
Windows Snipping Tool	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
ppInk	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
gInk	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
LiveDraw	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
OpenBoard	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Only
SnagIt	No	Yes	No?	No?	Yes	No?
UltimatePen	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No
TuxPen	Yes	Yes?	Yes	Yes?	No?	No?
ScreenPen	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Draw Over	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No?
Sharex	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No?

I marked bold those that look promising in my personal opinion (multiplatform and free is the priority). OpenBoard is the only whiteboard tool. In some cases, it has limited functionality (and maybe shouldn’t be enumerated here).

Tuxpen is incomplete, and even the author writes in README that there are functions not working. The Screen Pen looks very interesting, the matplotlib support sound very good, but seems it is not a mature software, so I guess some bugs or crashes are possible.

Similar case with Draw Over. It appears to be an experimental software (written in-game engine), plus it has limited functionality (no whiteboard and macOS support).

I would like to know your recommendation, especially those who have already used any of these tools or maybe there is someone who tested them already and decided which one to use.

Disclaimer: I prepared this table only for my cases. There are some functionalities that I didn’t enumerate here and maybe good for somebody else. Please let me know if I missed any software that is worth adding to this list. I used google and GitHub for searching the software

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September 15, 2021

#StackBounty: #display #annotation #whiteboard Best free multiplatform screen annotation software

Bounty: 50

I am looking for multiplatform desktop screen annotation software.

I am conducting lectures on multiple platforms, sometimes it is windows, sometimes windows, and sometimes macosx.
Recently I was performing the classes using text editors, paint/gimp, etc. but I find it hard sometimes to explain some things this way, it would be really nice to have some tool that gives me the opportunity to draw on the screen and use the same tool on all platforms.

I made some research and found some tools available online.

EpicPen – it is the first result Google returns. It is available only for windows and maxosx and the functionality is quite limited (for example drawing lines, squares is not possible, there are only 16 colours and whiteboard/blackboard are not available). The EpicPen pro on the other hand is available only for windows (https://epic-pen.com/).
Windows Snipping Tool – this one as most of you know is a windows tool, it is quite constrained and available only for windows (obviously).
ppInk – another annotation software for Windows, this one looks interesting but I had some troubles using it, and it sometimes hangs on my machine, nevertheless it is only for Windows (https://github.com/pubpub-zz/ppInk).
gInk – similar to above, again only Windows (https://github.com/geovens/gInk)
live-draw – only windows, requires .net (https://github.com/antfu/live-draw)
OpenBoard – only whiteboard tool but cross-platform (Windows, Linux, macOS) (https://openboard.ch/index.en.html)
SnagIt – it’s more screen shoot maker, quite expensive, and only for windows and mac (https://www.techsmith.com/screen-capture.html)
UltimatePen – commercial, only free trial, only for macOS (http://www.snowmintcs.com/products/ultimatepenmac/)
TuxPen – author claims that is it not completed and some functionality looks not working (https://github.com/csgn/TuxPen)
ScreenPen – multiplatform, requires Python, installation with pip, supports charts using matplotlib, but it’s mentioned that the support should be improved (https://github.com/rsusik/screenpen)
Draw Over – only windows and Linux (mac is not listed) (https://gilzoide.itch.io/draw-over)
Sharex – only windows, also file sharing tool (https://getsharex.com/)

To summarize I created the below table:

Name	Free	Windows	Linux	MacOS	Shapes	White/blackboard
EpicPen	Partially	Yes	No	Yes (only basic)	Yes	Paid
Windows Snipping Tool	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
ppInk	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
gInk	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
LiveDraw	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
OpenBoard	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Only
SnagIt	No	Yes	No?	No?	Yes	No?
UltimatePen	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No
TuxPen	Yes	Yes?	Yes	Yes?	No?	No?
ScreenPen	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Draw Over	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No?
Sharex	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No?

I marked bold those that look promising in my opinion (multiplatform and free is the priority). The OpenBoard is the only whiteboard tool, so in some cases, it has limited functionality (and maybe shouldn’t be enumerated here). The tuxpen is NOT completed and even the author writes in README that there are functions not working. The screenpen looks very interesting, the matplotlib support sound very good, but seems it is not a mature software, so I guess some bugs or crashes are possible. Similar case with draw over, which looks like experimental software (written in game engine) and also has limited functionality (no whiteboard, and no macos support).

I would like to know your recommendation especially those who have already used any of these tools or maybe there is someone who tested them already and made the decision which one to use.

Disclaimer: I prepared this table only for my use cases, there are some functionalities that I didn’t enumerate here and may be important for someone else. Please let me know if I missed any software that is worth adding to this list. I used google and GitHub for searching the software

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August 27, 2021

#StackBounty: #linux #x11 #nvidia #display Display Constantly "Fuzzy" with Nvidia Driver

Bounty: 50

I’ve been having this issue for at least 3 years where my display will be blurry while using the proprietary Nvidia driver. Nouveau doesn’t fix anything either.

Any screenshots that I take using the monitor will show up crystal clear, but visually looking at it, everything seems fuzzy, blurry and sometimes even ghosts if I move a window around. I have a second monitor plugged in via a DP->VGA adaptor and, even when my main monitor is blurry, that looks perfectly fine. Sometimes my monitor will work flawlessly, but that’s once in a blue moon.

I’m currently running Void Linux with the latest Linux kernel and KDE Plasma.

I am using an Nvidia RTX 2060, and the monitor is getting the signal via HDMI. I am unsure of the monitor’s control board and anything like that as it’s a seemingly random brand that have no official datasheets (and it doesn’t even seem to be sold anymore). What I do know is it’s a 32" 1080p@60Hz display, and it won’t go higher than that.

I don’t have this issue on Windows 10, and everything is displayed crisp and clear as day.

Here are some steps I have taken:

Tried GNOME, KDE Plasma and even XFCE – all produce the same output
Swapped the HDMI cable and even bought a whole new one
Tried changing the HDMI port that I use on the monitor
The issue has persisted across two GPUs now (I used to use a GTX1050)
Reinstalling the Nvidia Linux drivers (and reconfiguring them). They show up in lsmod and X11 is set to use them – nouveau is blacklisted and I confirmed this with lsmod
The issue has persisted over many distros, such as Ubuntu, Pop, Arch, Gentoo and Void.
I have looked in the monitor settings and found nothing relevant, and changing everything I can see does nothing to fix the clarity either
I’ve looked high and low in Plasma’s and Nvidia’s settings, and tried things such as forced anti-aliasing, text rendering, and even vsync changes. They make no difference even after a save + reboot.
I’ve installed every (even seemingly) relevant package across every Linux distribution that I’ve used, and none of them made a difference.
I re-tried POP_OS and ensured that I was using the Nvidia ISO and installs to root out any misconfiguration, to no avail.
Ensured that FXAA was disabled in the Nvidia settings
I can view this image found by @ArtemS.Tashkinov in Firefox while using F11, with no vertical/horizontal scroll bars
I have checked through the nvidia log file (the one you’re able to generate manually) and found nothing that seems to relate to my issue.

It’s probably important to note that, in a live Linux ISO, if I change my output to a lower resolution and then back to native a good 5-8 times, the monitor will clear up. This is not a permanent fix but I think it has something to do with the connection being re-initialised, although I’m not too sure about the reason.

Another odd thing I have noticed is that, occasionally, on first boot the monitor will look perfectly fine (as it does on Windows). If the monitor goes into standby mode and turns back on however, things go back to the usual blurry state.

I have looked around for others that have experienced something similar to me and all of the issues turned out to be misconfiguration or things that had nothing to do with what I’m experiencing (mostly anti-aliasing issues).

I find it hard to think of things that could be at fault as it works perfectly fine in Windows, which is baffling to me. In addition to this, when I ran Windows under Linux via KVM+QEMU (with Single GPU Passthrough), all the issues went away as the drivers were handled by Windows.

Here is an output of xrandr:

Screen 0: minimum 8 x 8, current 3360 x 1179, maximum 32767 x 32767
HDMI-0 connected primary 1920x1080+1440+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 376mm x 301mm
   1920x1080     60.00*+  59.94    50.00    23.98  
   1680x1050     59.95  
   1440x900      59.89  
   1280x720      60.00    59.94    50.00  
   1152x864      60.00  
   1024x768      60.00  
   800x600       60.32    56.25  
   720x576       50.00  
   720x480       59.94  
   640x480       75.00    72.81    59.94    59.93  
DP-0 connected 1440x900+0+279 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 408mm x 255mm
   1440x900      59.89*+
   1280x1024     75.02    60.02  
   1280x960      60.00  
   1152x864      75.00  
   1024x768      75.03    70.07    60.00  
   800x600       75.00    72.19    60.32    56.25  
   640x480       75.00    72.81    59.94  
DP-1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP-2 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP-3 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP-4 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP-5 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)

Here are two previews of google.com, this is windows and this is Linux. I know the differences aren’t too perceivable on camera, but they are to the naked eye. Looking at it more, it seems that the output is also heavily under-saturated while in Linux.

Just as an additional comparison, I ran this sharpness test on both Windows and Linux. Here is Windows, and here is Linux.

I’m completely out of ideas now, so any help or insight as to how I’d go about even debugging this would be greatly appreciated!

I have also asked this question on the Nvidia Linux forums, as suggested by a commenter, but have had zero help there.

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August 18, 2021

#StackBounty: #windows #video #display #nvidia-graphics-card #laptop-display How can I improve my laptop screen's video quality wit…

Bounty: 50

I have an HP ZBook G2 laptop with a DreamColor screen, Nvidia Quadro K5100M graphics adapter, and Windows 10. When I bought the laptop in 2016, it offered multiple choices for screens and graphics adapters, and the DreamColor and Nvidia Quadro K5100M options were by far the most expensive options, so I thought I’d be getting the best image/video quality out of it.

But I have always noticed terrible video quality on this laptop when watching videos with dark scenes. The quality is a lot worse than an older ThinkPad T60 laptop from 2006 with Windows XP.

Here is an example showing the exact same video file on both laptops, playing in VLC media player, paused at the same place (these are photos of the laptops’ screens, not screenshots). The newer HP ZBook laptop looks like:

The older ThinkPad laptop looks like:

I also took this photo of the HP ZBook laptop duplicating its screen (on the left) to an external monitor (on the right):

As you can see, the gradations on both the older ThinkPad laptop and the external monitor look very smooth, while they look very rough/pixelated on the newer HP ZBook laptop. Apparently this phenomenon is known as "color banding".

Since the HP ZBook laptop’s output to an external monitor looks fine, that would indicate the problem is related to the ZBook’s DreamColor screen and not its Nvidia K5100M GPU.

It is extremely disappointing that the HP ZBook’s DreamColor screen, which was supposedly the best laptop screen one could buy at that time, looks so much worse than the ThinkPad screen, which is almost 10 years older. Are there any settings I can change in Windows 10 or the Nvidia Control Panel to have the HP ZBook’s video quality be more like the ThinkPad and external monitor?

I did see a setting in the Nvidia Control Panel for the "Output color depth", although I’m not sure if that would have any impact on this problem. Currently it is set to "8 bpc", and it shows a "10 bpc" option:

Unfortunately, when I change it to "10 bpc" and click "Apply", it automatically changes back to "8 bpc". I’m not sure why it won’t let me change it to "10 bpc". Everything I have read about the DreamColor screen and Nvidia K5100M tell me that they both support 10-bit color. But I don’t know if the ThinkPad with Windows XP supports 10-bit color – if it doesn’t, then changing the ZBook to 10-bit probably won’t help.

Additional information: I just tried booting up the laptop using a SliTaz Linux Live DVD to see if the problem also happens in a different operating system. I played the exact same video file, and although it is still pixelated in dark scenes, it definitely isn’t as bad as it is in Windows.

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August 18, 2021

#StackBounty: #windows #video #display #nvidia-graphics-card #laptop-display How can I improve my laptop screen's video quality wit…

Bounty: 50

But I have always noticed terrible video quality on this laptop when watching videos with dark scenes. The quality is a lot worse than an older ThinkPad T60 laptop from 2006 with Windows XP.

The older ThinkPad laptop looks like:

I also took this photo of the HP ZBook laptop duplicating its screen (on the left) to an external monitor (on the right):

Since the HP ZBook laptop’s output to an external monitor looks fine, that would indicate the problem is related to the ZBook’s DreamColor screen and not its Nvidia K5100M GPU.

Get this bounty!!!

August 18, 2021

#StackBounty: #windows #video #display #nvidia-graphics-card #laptop-display How can I improve my laptop screen's video quality wit…

Bounty: 50

But I have always noticed terrible video quality on this laptop when watching videos with dark scenes. The quality is a lot worse than an older ThinkPad T60 laptop from 2006 with Windows XP.

The older ThinkPad laptop looks like:

I also took this photo of the HP ZBook laptop duplicating its screen (on the left) to an external monitor (on the right):

Since the HP ZBook laptop’s output to an external monitor looks fine, that would indicate the problem is related to the ZBook’s DreamColor screen and not its Nvidia K5100M GPU.

Get this bounty!!!

August 17, 2021

#StackBounty: #windows #video #display #nvidia-graphics-card #laptop-display How can I improve my laptop screen's video quality wit…

Bounty: 50

But I have always noticed terrible video quality on this laptop when watching videos with dark scenes. The quality is a lot worse than an older ThinkPad T60 laptop from 2006 with Windows XP.

The older ThinkPad laptop looks like:

I also took this photo of the HP ZBook laptop duplicating its screen (on the left) to an external monitor (on the right):

Since the HP ZBook laptop’s output to an external monitor looks fine, that would indicate the problem is related to the ZBook’s DreamColor screen and not its Nvidia K5100M GPU.

Get this bounty!!!

August 17, 2021

#StackBounty: #windows #video #display #nvidia-graphics-card #laptop-display How can I improve my laptop screen's video quality wit…

Bounty: 50

But I have always noticed terrible video quality on this laptop when watching videos with dark scenes. The quality is a lot worse than an older ThinkPad T60 laptop from 2006 with Windows XP.

The older ThinkPad laptop looks like:

I also took this photo of the HP ZBook laptop duplicating its screen (on the left) to an external monitor (on the right):

Since the HP ZBook laptop’s output to an external monitor looks fine, that would indicate the problem is related to the ZBook’s DreamColor screen and not its Nvidia K5100M GPU.

Get this bounty!!!