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Disclaimer: Actually I am on Windows 10 Preview, but I suppose the DPI features are the same.

I heard Windows 8.1 supports per-monitor DPI settings. But whether checking or unchecking "Let me choose one scaling level for all my displays", I cannot set different DPIs manually.

I would like to set 150% for the 15" Retina display and 100% for a 1920*1200 24" monitor. Is this impossible with Windows 8.1? If so, please tell me it is impossible. I do not want Windows automatically to choose DPI for me. I want 150% and 100%.

Thank you for any answer.

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2 Answers 2

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I think the reports of per-monitor DPI settings were reviewers printing the press release. After plenty of research and experimenting, I can report that 8.1 has no way that I have found of manually setting DPI per monitor.

As you have found, you basically have a choice of 'Choose One scaling level', which doesn't work well with very different DPI (I have a Surface Pro 3 with 24 inch 1920x1080), or letting windows try to choose.

Apart from lacking complete control, this also means that the scaling of my device display changes depending on whether or not it is docked, and requires at least one logout after docking/undocking before it improves. See further discussion at http://www.surfaceforums.net/threads/personalize-display-with-docking-station.11764/

If you are on the 10 preview (which I can't at this stage), I recommend utilizing the integrated feedback tool to report that you cannot achieve desired results.

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I guess this post needs some updated information.

In Windows 10 Build 9926 setting different DPI levels for different displays is possible. It's not yet perfect but it's great to see that MS is working on it!

I use a Yoga 2 Pro with 3200x1800 @200dpi and an external monitor with 1360x768 @100dpi. To achieve this, do the following:

  1. right click on Desktop, select screen resolution
  2. Select "Make text and other items larger or smaller" at the bottom
  3. Uncheck "Let me choose one scaling level for all my displays".
  4. To achieve my set up, I chose the 4th delimiter of the 6 available steps in the "smaller <-> larger" slider.
  5. Save the settings and log out.
  6. Check your settings in the modern settings app. Open it, to go System > Display and select your displays and its dpi (although it's a percentage there) in the dialog.

All windows scale perfectly down/up when moving them between the displays - only context menus and some other details are not perfectly scaled yet.

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    Doesn’t sound like it’s different from what Windows 8.1 offers.
    – Daniel B
    Apr 21, 2015 at 9:41
  • When moving a window from monitor A to monitor B in Windows 8.1, it didn't change its scaling, did it?
    – sibbl
    Apr 23, 2015 at 15:23
  • Dunno, the only High DPI device I have is my MacBook Pro with OS X.
    – Daniel B
    Apr 23, 2015 at 16:42
  • @sibbi, yes Win 8.1 DOES change scaling when move between monitors, when UNCHECK "Let me choose one scaling level for all my displays". NOTE: May have to logout/login after making the settings change, to get correct behaviour. And some apps that use custom GUI libraries (E.g. Maya Autodesk 2014) won't scale correctly. Jun 17, 2015 at 18:04
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    IMHO, this answer does nothing to address OP's question, which is about manual ability to set DPI. (though OP must mean "to set scaling", since DPI is a technical term determined by monitor's pixels and the selected display resolution.) As OP said I do not want Windows automatically to choose DPI for me. -- he has already stated that the current behaviour (where Windows 10 preview, like Windows 8.1, guesses at the scaling to use, per monitor) is not satisfactory. (And I agree) Jun 17, 2015 at 18:10

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