Custom resolution?

[Achaean]

Hi!

I just made a fresh install, because my old one, crashed beyond repair.
Before 2 days, bringed me a message that couldn't recognize my installation partition. I ignored it temporarilly due to lack of time, and today my system completely crashed.
I made a fresh install, installed nvidia drivers and I copied my old xorg.conf.
Everything is back to normal and my system resolution is 1360x768 (as it used to be).
Somehow, this resolution (although it's the native one for this monitor), doesn't look very nice to me.
Menus and fonts, are way small.
Is it possible, to change it to 1280X720?
(I can always change to 1024X768, but it's 4:3, while the monitor is for 16:9).
I know that my monitor supports 1280X720, because I can set it at Windows, without any problems.

TIA!

My xorg.conf:

# nvidia-settings: X configuration file generated by nvidia-settings
# nvidia-settings:  version 304.51  (buildd@komainu)  Fri Oct 12 12:53:49 UTC 2012


Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier     "Layout0"
    Screen      0  "Screen0" 0 0
    InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
    InputDevice    "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
    Option         "Xinerama" "0"
EndSection

Section "Files"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"

    # generated from default
    Identifier     "Mouse0"
    Driver         "mouse"
    Option         "Protocol" "auto"
    Option         "Device" "/dev/psaux"
    Option         "Emulate3Buttons" "no"
    Option         "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"

    # generated from default
    Identifier     "Keyboard0"
    Driver         "kbd"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"

    # HorizSync source: builtin, VertRefresh source: builtin
    Identifier     "Monitor0"
    VendorName     "Unknown"
    ModelName      "CRT-0"
    Option "UseEDIDFreqs" "false"
    HorizSync       31 - 101
    VertRefresh     59.8
    ModeLine       "1360x768_59.80" 84.43 1360 1424 1568 1776 768 769 772 795 -hsync +vsync
    Option         "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier     "Device0"
    Driver         "nvidia"
    VendorName     "NVIDIA Corporation"
    BoardName      "GeForce 6150SE nForce 430"
EndSection

Section "Screen"

# Removed Option "metamodes" "1152x864_60 +0+0; nvidia-auto-select +0+0"
    Identifier     "Screen0"
    Device         "Device0"
    Monitor        "Monitor0"
    DefaultDepth    24
    Option         "Stereo" "0"
    Option         "nvidiaXineramaInfoOrder" "CRT-0"
    Option         "metamodes" "1360x768_59.80 +0+0; nvidia-auto-select +0+0"
    SubSection     "Display"
        Depth       24
    EndSubSection
EndSection

[oshunluvr]

You should be able to add the 1280x720 modeline and metamode and switch to it at will or set it as default.

I would try xrandr to make sure the mode works properly before setting it up in xorg.conf. Open a terminal and type "xrandr -q" and it will show you currently available modes. If your desired mode isn't in the list you can add it. Post the results if you need help.

[Achaean]

THANKS oshunluvr!!!

Open a terminal and type "xrandr -q" and it will show you currently available modes.

~> xrandr -q
Screen 0: minimum 8 x 8, current 1360 x 768, maximum 4096 x 4096
VGA-0 connected primary 1360x768+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 0mm x 0mm
   1024x768       60.0 +   60.0  
   2048x1536      60.0  
   1920x1440      60.0  
   1856x1392      60.0  
   1792x1344      60.0  
   1600x1200      60.0  
   1400x1050      60.0  
   1360x768       59.8* 
   1280x1024      60.0  
   1280x960       60.0  
   960x720        60.0  
   928x696        60.1  
   896x672        60.0  
   800x600        60.0     60.3  
   640x512        60.0  
   640x480        60.0     59.9  
   512x384        60.0  
   400x300        60.3  
   320x240        60.1  
~>

No, it isn't on the list.

I tried this way, but something goes wrong:

~> cvt 1280 720 59.80
# 1280x720 59.65 Hz (CVT) hsync: 44.62 kHz; pclk: 74.25 MHz
Modeline "1280x720_59.80"   74.25  1280 1344 1472 1664  720 723 728 748 -hsync +vsync
~>

~> xrandr --verbose --addmode VGA-0 "1280x720_59.80"
xrandr: cannot find mode "1280x720_59.80"
~>

[SteveRiley]

If your monitor is an LCD, you might get better results if you leave the resolution at the native setting, thus avoiding weird sizing artifacts. Force all fonts to be larger by increasing the font DPI in System Settings -> Application Appearance -> Fonts -> Force fonts DPI.

[oshunluvr]

While I agree with Steve, you're stuck with a 1366x768 monitor which are always a problem for xorg.

To attempt the new resolution: First of all, with a LCD try using reduced blanking in your modeline. Most LCD's don't need the lengthy blanking time that CRTs do. Also, 60hz is default so no need to enter it:

cvt -r 1280 720

# 1280x720 59.74 Hz (CVT 0.92M9-R) hsync: 44.27 kHz; pclk: 63.75 MHz
Modeline "1280x720R"   63.75  1280 1328 1360 1440  720 723 728 741 +hsync -vsync

Then, using xrandr to test your new mode:

$ xrandr --newmode "1280x720R"  63.75 1280 1328 1360 1440  720 723 728 741 +hsync -vsync
$ xrandr --addmode VGA-0 1280x720R
$ xrandr --output VGA-0 --mode 1280x720R

Try this and have a look at the results. If your monitor goes white or black, type CTRL-ATL-F1, log in, and restart the display manager. Then try again without the -r:

# 1280x720 59.86 Hz (CVT 0.92M9) hsync: 44.77 kHz; pclk: 74.50 MHz
Modeline "1280x720_60.00"   74.50  1280 1344 1472 1664  720 723 728 748 -hsync +vsync

If it blanks out again or looks too fuzzy, you might want to re-visit Steve's suggestion.

[oshunluvr]

Sorry, forgot to add:

If it looks the way you want, then add the new modeline and metamode to xorg.conf and re-start the display manager

[Achaean]

Hi guys!

a) Indeed the DPI setting is what needed. Now everything, is back to normal.

b) Custom resizing don't seems to work.

~> xrandr --addmode VGA-0 1280x720R
X Error of failed request:  BadMatch (invalid parameter attributes)
  Major opcode of failed request:  140 (RANDR)
  Minor opcode of failed request:  18 (RRAddOutputMode)
  Serial number of failed request:  23
  Current serial number in output stream:  24
~>

THANK YOU VERY MUCH Steve and oshunluvr!!!
Best wishes for a HAPPY NEW YEAR to all Kubunt, KDE and Linux users!!!

[oshunluvr]

Did you run --newmode first? It probably didn't like the refresh rates.

Glad the DPI fixed though. THat's and easy change. I use my xorg.conf to set my DPI to 100x100 to match the fonts. Linux fonts come in 75 and 100 DPI and Windows uses 96.

[SteveRiley]

Linux fonts come in 75 and 100 DPI

Isn't this true only for the ancient bitmapped fonts that come with X? Modern TrueType and OpenType fonts contain what amounts to vector drawing instructions, so there's no preset resolution built in.

On my T520 with nVidia 4200M, if I don't force the DPI to 96, then the fonts render way too large. My suspicion is that X can't properly determine the DPI of my laptop's 1920x1280 LCD panel, and just makes a poor guess.

[oshunluvr]

Isn't this true only for the ancient bitmapped fonts that come with X? Modern TrueType and OpenType fonts contain what amounts to vector drawing instructions, so there's no preset resolution built in.

On my T520 with nVidia 4200M, if I don't force the DPI to 96, then the fonts render way too large. My suspicion is that X can't properly determine the DPI of my laptop's 1920x1280 LCD panel, and just makes a poor guess.

You could be right about the first part - I'm beginning to look ancient too, so maybe I'm holding on to old ideas.

Your comments made me curious, so I went looking and found this: http://askubuntu.com/questions/19782...the-screen-dpi

Based on the math, My screens should be set at 86 DPI, thusly:

19" Dell 1905FP actual screen size: 376x301mm, 14.803x11.850in,
Resolution 1280x1024 divided by the above in inches results in: 86.468x86.410DPI

I'm going to set it at 86 and see what it looks like!

EDIT: Well, changing the DPI on the fly causes a "black screen" issue I've seen before with kwin, but a simple restart of the dm brought me back.

Results are good. The change is subtle, but I think the fonts are sharper! I had to Enlarge my fonts by 2 points because they were too small after the change, but I expected that.

I may effect this change at work to see what it looks like there on my 32" monitors!

[oshunluvr]

Steve: simply enough for you to determine your proper DPI and set it:

xrandr | grep -w connected

gives you resolution and size.

DPI = RESOLUTION / (SIZE / 25.4) is the equation. This would be a fun exercise in bash scripting or a little program in PYQT.

[SteveRiley]

Results of the calculation: 142 DPI. Interestingly, forcing the DPI to 142 has the same result as not using any forcing at all. In both cases, the text is way too large for what I'd expect.

The image below is with fonts forced to 96 DPI. The window size (excluding glow) is 725 x 655:


Same window, this time with no forced DPI:


OxygenSans 10 is my "General" and "Desktop" font. Without forcing the DPI to 96, it seems much larger than 10.

[oshunluvr]

Yes, I agree, but the results are as expected I think. What's the DPI when you let xorg do it's thing?

Either way, if your fonts look Ok, then why worry? I would expect using a larger-than-optimum DPI might lead to a less-than-optimum look more often the if you use a smaller-than-optimum DPI.

Probably doesn't make much difference at all unless you use anti-aliasing and hinting.

[SteveRiley]

When I use your formula, the result is 142 DPI. At that setting, it looks exactly the same as "letting Xorg do its thing" and not forcing a DPI at all, which is what I showed in the second screen shot. So -- on this laptop at least -- Xorg's "thing" is 142 DPI.

If I use this higher DPI, I'd have to crank fonts down to 6 or 7 points so that I'm staring at kindergarten (or old fogie) text. Seems weird, though, to use such a small point size.