all widgets gigantic

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matita
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all widgets gigantic

Post by matita » Wed Mar 08, 2023 2:26 pm

I have just set up a new mini-pc with debian 11. Installed qcad 3.27.9-pro.
The monitors are connected by hdmi.

I am unsure whether this is a problem with the hardware or with qcad or its dependencies.
The widgets are all rendered giant size, about 250% I guess. The toolbars run off the screen
and the workspace left for the drawing is minute. I attach a screenshot from a 1920x1200 monitor.
It is really amusing, but not at all useful.
Any suggestions where this elephantiasis is originating?
qcad.jpg
qcad.jpg (212.35 KiB) Viewed 4757 times

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petevick
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Re: all widgets gigantic

Post by petevick » Wed Mar 08, 2023 5:28 pm

what screen resolution is that ?
Pete Vickerstaff
Linux Mint 21.2 Cinnamon, Qcad Pro 3.29.6

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petevick
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Re: all widgets gigantic

Post by petevick » Wed Mar 08, 2023 5:30 pm

You could also try resetting Qcad - https://qcad.org/en/tutorial-resetting- ... figuration
Pete Vickerstaff
Linux Mint 21.2 Cinnamon, Qcad Pro 3.29.6

CVH
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Re: all widgets gigantic

Post by CVH » Wed Mar 08, 2023 5:36 pm

Hi,
I presume that you use the default Theme:
Application Preferences .. General .. Theme
I also presume that other applications are displaying appropriate.

I would first have a look at:
Application Preferences .. General .. User Interface

For fonts refer to:
Application Preferences .. Graphics View .. Fonts
Among others.

Some Icon sizes can be set:
Application Preferences .. Widgets .. Toolbars .. Icon size
Application Preferences .. Widgets .. Tool Matrix .. Icon size
Application Preferences .. Widgets .. CAD Toolbar .. Icon size

Regards,
CVH
Last edited by CVH on Wed Mar 08, 2023 7:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.

matita
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Re: all widgets gigantic

Post by matita » Wed Mar 08, 2023 6:05 pm

I have discovered the reason for this problem. The monitor appears to be issuing an incorrect EDID
so that xrandr reports:

Code: Select all

HDMI-2 connected 1920x1200+1920+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 160mm x 90mm
It should be 552mm x 345mm.

I am trying to find the workaround for this. It looks complicated. Setting the dpi with

Code: Select all

xrandr --output HDMI-2 --dpi 88.3
does not change either the output of xrandr or the rendering of qcad.

matita
Junior Member
Posts: 10
Joined: Sun Jan 07, 2018 9:08 pm

Re: all widgets gigantic

Post by matita » Thu Mar 09, 2023 11:03 am

After further examination, I confirm that the issue is a result of the faulty EDID reported
by my main monitor. Apparently QT calculates the dpi for every screen and uses the
highest dpi to calculate the scaling for widgets. Maybe this is only true on HDMI, or
maybe it is a new feature in QT. I have never had this problem before.

It looks insoluble to me, and I suppose I shall simply have to throw out the monitor and
buy a new one. :-(

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andrew
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Re: all widgets gigantic

Post by andrew » Thu Mar 09, 2023 3:41 pm

Did you try setting a scale factor under

Application Preferences > General > User Interface

You might also want to try editing the QCAD launch script "qcad" and change

Code: Select all

QT_AUTO_SCREEN_SCALE_FACTOR=0
to

Code: Select all

QT_AUTO_SCREEN_SCALE_FACTOR=1
Qt tries to detect display resolutions automatically but quite often fails to do so correctly.

matita
Junior Member
Posts: 10
Joined: Sun Jan 07, 2018 9:08 pm

Re: all widgets gigantic

Post by matita » Thu Mar 09, 2023 5:04 pm

Andrew, thanks for the suggestion. It is complicated:

I was not able to access the menu for Application Preferences because it is either too
small to click on, or too large to find. (see below)

I tried this edit in the qcad script (QT_AUTO_SCREEN_SCALE_FACTOR=1) and things
seem as bad or worse.

I have two monitors and usually run the main screen of qcad fullscreen in the larger
monitor 1920x1200px size 552x345mm, and the properties window in the smaller
monitor 1920x1080px size 477x268mm (together with other reference material).

If I start the main window in the large monitor, everything is totally oversize, as the
screenprint I posted shows.

If I close down and restart the computer without the large monitor, then qcad is
correctly rendered. The new small monitor reports its size correctly so this is
as expected.

When I run both monitors, and start qcad main window in the small monitor, then
the drawing area and drawing toolbar are rendered normally, but the main menu and
other toolbars and the command window etc. are rendered with unreadably small
fonts and icons. I assume QT has calculated the virtual screen size based on the
sum of the two monitors and assumed that the pixel count of one monitor fills that
width...

It gets even worse if I drag the properties window to the large monitor, as it renders
it gigantic, but dragging it back causes a doubling of the down-scaling, and each
subsequent drag from monitor to monitor in either direction reduces it yet smaller
until it threatens to vanish!

I am guessing that these weird results are particular to QT's HDMI rendering,
because I have been using the large screen for years with digital input and no
problems. But I suppose it could be that it reports a different and correct EDID
in digital. One thing that this shows is that different areas of the screen are
having their scaling calculated by different algorithms. Another thing it shows
is that it is impossible to work in QT applications with incorrect EDID. I think
I am going to have to buy a new monitor. Most of the applications I use are
unaffected by this issue, but Qcad is not the only one. Gimp's tools are enlarged
for example, although it remains usable. Okular comes up looking like an
accessible version with large type, but is also still usable.

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andrew
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Re: all widgets gigantic

Post by andrew » Fri Mar 10, 2023 9:26 am

matita wrote:
Thu Mar 09, 2023 5:04 pm
I was not able to access the menu for Application Preferences because it is either too
small to click on, or too large to find. (see below)
You can also adjust these settings in the ~/.config/QCAD/QCAD3.ini file directly by adding these lines:

Code: Select all

[Ui]
EnableHighDpiScaling=true
QT_AUTO_SCREEN_SCALE_FACTOR=true
QT_SCALE_FACTOR=0.5
You might want to experiment with different values (true / false) and scale factors (1, 0.5, 0.25, ...). This might not solve the entire problem but hopefully should give you something you can work with.

matita
Junior Member
Posts: 10
Joined: Sun Jan 07, 2018 9:08 pm

Re: all widgets gigantic

Post by matita » Fri Mar 10, 2023 10:35 am

andrew wrote:
Fri Mar 10, 2023 9:26 am
You can also adjust these settings in the ~/.config/QCAD/QCAD3.ini file directly by adding these lines:
[ ... ]
This might not solve the entire problem but hopefully should give you something you can work with.
Thanks. I will give it a try.

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