Windows 10 - 4K Displays Scaling Secrets | Make texts larger and easier to read! by Art Suwansang

A 4K display has so much pixel dimension and resolution. This is a great thing, however, many times text and program interface can be really small and difficult to read. This can cause eyes strain, eyes problems which leads to eyes health and ergonomic issues when using a 4K display. This video will guide you through the secrets, best methods and practice how to set your 4K display resolution scaling on Windows 10. This guide uses BenQ SW271 27" 4K hardware calibrated display, however, this will work for BenQ SW320 32" 4K or any other 4K displays as well regardless of size!

And if you use a Mac, here's a link to
Display Scaling on macOS

Learn how to customize your BenQ SW series display hockey puck keys.

Learn how to calibrate your BenQ SW series display using Palette Master Element:

Learn how to use BenQ SW Displays Multiple Calibration Slots with multiple computers!

BenQ SW2700PT

BenQ SW320

BenQ SW271

BenQ SW240

Director of Photography & Filming by
Ashlyn Hulin

[kevinsantoso]

very informative! I think that the scaling should be the power of 2 (200%, 400%, 800%, 50%, 25%, etc) so that the pixel aligns.

[Allan-dyze]

Artis, thank you for this informative video. I've been shopping for a new 27-inch monitor for the past week, but the multitude of specifications is mind-numbing . You answered many of my questions less than 8 minutes. Now that I'm retired, I'd like to get deeper into photo and video editing, but I don't want to struggle with font sizes when I switch from photo/video editing to word processing, web browsing and emailing. Your little lecture has provided the basic information I was lacking when I started shopping. Thanks again.

[oidenis]

That's just one of the problems that I'm dealing with to get everything properly set up togheter.
I'm only an enthusiast and it's difficult to describe those issues and get accessible content about these tecnologies envolved, such as pixel format (4:4:4, 4:4:2, 4:4:0? sRGB? YCbCr?), color density (why I'm only getting 8bit on a 10bit Display?), ghosted and hard to read text (done solved thanks to you) and whased or shaky shimmering colors with HDR enabled.
I'm not using that TV as a main monitor for my PC setup, that's a better job for my 1080p ultrawide display. But I want my living room TV ready to display my Windows desktop PC at its full potential for entretainment scenarios, there should be nothing wrong with that.
The default settings result is a disappointing inferior image quality than FullHD.
Your channel is the only place so far I could find helpful guidance to check the settings up right.
Good job!! I'm now looking to your other videos to learn more about it and finding a lot of interesting subjects about digital image processing and representation.

[Crossfire]

@ArtIsRight
Great video.
How about certain menus and pages in Windows 10/11 that do not scale well on 4K displays?
(As an example, if you type into Run the following command: "tpm.msc". That page, which is being opened, doesn't take advantage of the general scaling option, so the writing looks blurry).
Is there a way to solve all of the blurriness inside of the Windows menus?

[sheunglunchu]

hi @ArtlsRight, thanks for the video. I just changed to a 4k displayed but i have to scale the text to 200% to see them clearly, however, i find out that the wallpaper i'm using, even in 4k resolution, are shrunk to pretty small size, is there any way i can solve this issue please? Thanks in advance.

[Edmundostudios]

4K emulating 1440p in terms of real estate makes the most sense on a 27 inch. The higher resolution just gives crisper text. Problem with Windows is that the scaling is pretty flakey and some apps behave differently. If you play games at a lower res and come back to desktop it can really mess things up.

[atf]

Thanks! I just ordered an acer 28inch UHD and was concerned about this! Windows scale perfectly on premiere too?

[squatch]

So if you use the system % scaling or the application's own % scaling (as opposed to the resolution scaling), text will stay sharp as you increase size? Is this correct?

[retroflics]

I'm having that vision problem which hits after the age of 40. I'm using a 24" FHD monitor and I sometimes have to use glasses. I'm planing to buy a 27" monitor. After watching this video, I think 4K is not for me. I don't play games, I mostly use Dreamweaver for web developing and I surf the web a lot. What if I buy the BenQ 27" EX2710? It's FHD, some say fonts look a bit pixelated on this size and resolution. Would this cause some eye strain?

[patrick.]

Thanks this was helpful! Found this information nowhere online …
There is only one important question left: Does the scaling affect the sharpness of the displayed photo in Lightroom? I’ve read some negative reports about this.
I’m not sure if I should go with a 27 inch 4k or QHD monitor. 😕
(For Lightroom, Web Design, watching YouTube videos, office/writing)
I now have a 24 inch FHD which is a bit too small and I can see the pixels, hate that. Do you know if this wouldn’t be the case with a 27 inch QHD? Or should I go for 4k?
(32 inch 4k would be great but I don’t have the space for it)

[primetiming]

Sir i want to buy 4k 32 inches but i sit only 23 inches away, will there be issue? i run adobe creative cloud all apps and ms office?

[RafaelCasacurta]

Is better 4k 125% or 3k 100%, phisically they are the same... but for vga 3k is more speed/performance, how about graphically?

[theswagler]

I'm update one of my apps to 'Per Monitor DPI Aware'. I have always locked my font & font height so couldn't be tampered, but 1440p and 2160p are forcing me to start incorporating DPI aware. I have too may custom controls that do not work when fonts and scaling are messed with. I've worked on MicroStation, AutoCAD, Steinberg Nuendo... in days past needing to increase resolution to 1600x1200, but 4k-8k??? Anyhow, writing app dpi aware looks great, auto changes dragging between monitors, no need to log-off... but a hell of a lot of additional work.

[redapple]

If I change the scaling for the monitor, will it change the scaling on my laptop screen as well? Thank you.

[Lekks]

I'm used to 125% on a 1440p 27" monitor, it's the sweet spot for me as I sit 95 cm (about 3 foot) away from the monitor, but am considering getting a 4k monitor.
Would it be possible to get a similar scaling on a 4k monitor that matches the size on a 1440p one at 125%?

[rxlky]

this is important and informative
yet I still a bit doubt which one to buy
24 inch 2K or 27 inch 4K? this is for WFH general use like excel, coding lines, few graphics, dashboards of charts and sometimes a little time to watch movie

any suggestion?

[DIMITRISNECONOMOU]

Thanks for that! Excellent presentation! I do office work on windows 10 pro (office 365 and adode acrobat mainly). I consider buying a 27" FHD 1920 x 1080 monitor with 60hz refresh rate OR a 27" 2K @ 100 hz. My concern is that if I go with the 2K I will face scaling problems. I will be using it at 150 scaling (roughly) as my eyesight is not that great (wearing glasses) and that kind of defeats the purpose of the 2K monitor. Please let me know what do you think. Also, is a FHD 1920 x 1080 27" decent for office or is it 'pixelated'. I am mainly worried about the text as I will be typing for hours mainly copy pasting text from 2-3 documents. Thanks!

[beck]

What is the gain of having 4K when you're sacrificing readability or clear picture? It's ridiculous. I can't believe I have to return my 4K PC due to the scaling issue and downgrade to a 1080p display!

[acooks]

Thanks because i have a 27 inch dell monitor

[azzinny]

I guess, if you choose "Extend Displays, " Windows 10 does not recommend the weird resolution.