topic Re: External monitor scales some elements in Installation & update

External monitor scales some elements

kathrinev — Wed, 14 Dec 2022 07:42:33 GMT

Hi!

My external monitor scales certain elements in Archicad in particular. It does this every time I use my monitor, no matter if I reboot or reconnect and no matter which AC version I've used. I have tested the resolution and scaling in Windows, but nothing helps. The weird thing is, text and icons are perfectly sized, but my scroll bars are HUGE. Also, it won't let me scroll the overhead toolbar, so there are certain tools I can't use unless I pull AC over to my laptop screen (where everything looks normal).

This is mostly a problem in Archicad. In Adobe, everything is scaled okay, except my cursor is enormous when working in Indesign or Illustrator. Also, my Windows taskbar is unnecessarily big.

Nothing I have seen on Windows forums have been of any help, so I wondered if any of you know how to customize sizes in Archicad or know a solution to this?

Re: External monitor scales some elements

kathrinev — Wed, 14 Dec 2022 07:47:51 GMT

It also happens to the title and the scroll bars in the Teamwork Palette, but the rest of the palette is fine.

Re: External monitor scales some elements

Barry Kelly — Wed, 14 Dec 2022 07:56:00 GMT

I would suspect a Windows setting for accessibility or maybe a theme?

But I am not sure why it would affect just your external monitor and not every application.

Barry.

Re: External monitor scales some elements

Marc H — Wed, 14 Dec 2022 23:06:37 GMT

It may be settings, but if not, I'll relate a similar esoteric issue I had a few years ago with (Windows based) MS Access when running it on a large, high-resolution, extended monitor. (In this case, it was enormous checkboxes showing within input forms. Everything else was normal size.)

My research turned up that some software code is/was 'hard-coded' to launch on specific display specifications. I used a workaround wherein I would open the application on my 'home' (device) screen, then drag the session window over to the external monitor for use. It was kind of inconvenient, but it worked. If this is the case, you may want to relate the issue to GS.

Re: External monitor scales some elements

Rubia Torres — Mon, 19 Dec 2022 10:17:10 GMT

Hi @kathrinev,

If the previous replies cannot solve your problem and it requires deeper investigation from the Graphisoft team, please contact your local distributor. You can find their contact information here: Get in Touch – Graphisoft.

Regards,

Re: External monitor scales some elements

kathrinev — Mon, 19 Dec 2022 12:41:54 GMT

Thank you for your replies! Nothing has worked so far, so I'll contact Graphisoft and see if they have a solution.

Re: External monitor scales some elements

martin-b — Tue, 03 Dec 2024 07:42:53 GMT

Hi @kathrinev, I know this is an old post, but I seem to have the same problem. As well as my colleagues who have recently migrated to Win11. Did you get any help with this?

Re: External monitor scales some elements

martin-b — Tue, 03 Dec 2024 17:46:56 GMT

I have a problem with text size and icon sizes on context menus in Archicad 26 and above when running AC on Windows 11. The problem appears only on external monitors and it is possible that it is a Windows issue, but so far I've seen this behavior only in Archicad.

I've set my external monitors to 100% zoom, but the scaling of the context menus seem to be a little random. Some text sizes get larger and some icons get smaller in context menus when displayed on an external monitor.

Has anyone come across a similar problem?

Operating system used: Windows 11 Pro 23H2

Betreff: Random text and icon size in context menus AC26/27/28+Win11 and external monitor

runxel — Tue, 03 Dec 2024 11:28:52 GMT

If the scaling is set to 100% this should usually not occur. However GS ist still using the deprecated, bug ridden, old File Dialog from Win 95, which should not be in use, but alas... So in short: I don't think there is much to be done here from your end.

Betreff: Random text and icon size in context menus AC26/27/28+Win11 and external monitor

martin-b — Tue, 03 Dec 2024 12:22:40 GMT

Thanks, at least I won't waste my time looking for a solution that does not seem to exist.

@Minh Nguyen is it maybe a compatibility issue, such that is not mentioned under https://community.graphisoft.com/t5/Installation-update/Windows-11/ta-p/306971?

Re: External monitor scales some elements

kathrinev — Tue, 03 Dec 2024 12:29:26 GMT

Hi! No, I never got any solution that seemed to work on this one. I had half a mind to try changing my quite old HDMI cable, because I've changed my monitor and laptop, but the cable has always been the same and the problem persists. Never got around to buying a new one but if I do and it works, I'll let you know.

Betreff: Random text and icon size in context menus AC26/27/28+Win11 and external monitor

Lingwisyer — Wed, 04 Dec 2024 01:19:10 GMT

Minh no longer works for GS. People should stop tagging him for everything...

Re: External monitor scales some elements

MinhNguyen — Wed, 04 Dec 2024 04:33:28 GMT

That's true, I no longer worked in GS, but I'm still here under a new account. Feel free to DM/tag me (this account) into any problems and I'll try to help.

Regarding the issue here, I found that the scaling can be an issue if you move AC between screens having different resolution, or using remote desktop to remote into your PC, and your home display has different resolution than your work PC. Overall, the issue seems to come from screen resolution changes. Close and reopen AC on the correct screen should solve the issue. I saw this happens on different programs as well, so may not be AC vs Win11 thing

Betreff: Random text and icon size in context menus AC26/27/28+Win11 and external monitor

martin-b — Wed, 04 Dec 2024 08:09:15 GMT

Thanks, I tagged him because he was the author of an article that might have something to do with the topic. Maybe GS shold consider re-tagging their articles when someone no longer works with them.

Betreff: Random text and icon size in context menus AC26/27/28+Win11 and external monitor

MinhNguyen — Wed, 04 Dec 2024 08:15:17 GMT

Well, the problem with it is I no longer have access to that account, so no one, GS or me, knows that this needs to be addressed 😄

Anyhow, from my experience, this is not related to Windows 11 (as I had the same issue on Windows 10 as well). As @runxel explained, AC is still built on some old codes that may not play well with modern OS. Best to raise it directly to GS (though I don't think a fix will come any time soon ☹️)

Re: External monitor scales some elements

martin-b — Wed, 04 Dec 2024 08:15:36 GMT

Thanks Minh! I always open and use my AC on the same-external display, but it helped when I changed my display settings to use "only" external monitors and keep the laptop screen turned off. Then, when the AC is already on, the context menus keep correct text sizes even after i turn the laptop screen back on.

Re: External monitor scales some elements

MinhNguyen — Wed, 04 Dec 2024 08:20:26 GMT

Yeah, that confirmed my theory. I'm surrounded by Full HD displays still, so that's not a big deal for me, though I'm seeing people with 4K screens having this issue (my director for example). Very annoying when precious display area is being used up by giant icons/scrollbars

Betreff: Random text and icon size in context menus AC26/27/28+Win11 and external monitor

Rubia Torres — Wed, 04 Dec 2024 09:07:27 GMT

Hi all, @MinhNguyen ,

Since this issue seems to be affecting many users, I’ve escalated it to our Tier 2 Support team.

Apologies for the inconvenience in the meantime.

Best regards,

Re: External monitor scales some elements

Lee Hankins — Wed, 04 Dec 2024 10:48:05 GMT

This may be completely irrelevant but I run older Legacy Versions of Archicad 7 and 10 on Windows 11 through Parallels on the Mac. I had issues with scaling of certain interface elements in Archicad and also other software. I resolved this by right clicking on the app and selecting 'Properties'. there is then a tab within the Properties pop-up window called 'Compatibility' within here there are various settings for the app to emulate older Windows OS's and also colour management and high dpi settings. this resolved the issue for me.

Re: External monitor scales some elements

Batu Gezer — Tue, 10 Dec 2024 14:01:12 GMT

Hi everyone,

Thank you for bringing this issue to our attention. I've identified it as a known display scaling issue in how Archicad manages dialogs across multiple monitors with different scaling settings, logged as DEF-22535 in our system. This is responsible for problems regarding the dialog sizes and interface.

The issue arises when dialogs are displayed on a secondary monitor with a scaling factor different from the primary monitor. While the main application window respects internal scaling settings, dialog headers, and borders inherit the primary display's scaling. For example, if your primary monitor uses 250% scaling and the secondary uses 100%, dialog headers may appear oversized, leading to a mismatched interface.

Workarounds:
Until a permanent fix, here are some suggestions to mitigate the issue:

Change the laptop display to a smaller scale. If the scales are the same then the problem disappears.
Use an UHD external display. This way the external display can have a larger scale (that should be equal to the laptop scale so the problem goes away)
Set the external display to be the Main Display. This way the scrollbars on the laptop display will be too small, but this may be the easiest way to get rid of the problem.

Kind regards,