Hi, and thanks for replying. First, I solved the problem. The problem turns out to be caused by a combination of poor function integration/poor computer architecture by Microsoft, and poor documentation/missing documentation by Intel.
Broadly, the problem is created by NMP (not my problem) on the part of
Microsoft, Intel, and NVIDIA.
... I haven't used an UHD monitor but ... I have never enabled the 'new'
Program DPI option that came with the 1803 update ...
Well, you may need to do this in the future, so listen up!
... What is not working when you use the option ? ...
My laptop has 2 GPUs (graphics processor units): an Intel HD 530 & an NVIDIA GTX 980M. The game is running on the NVIDIA. The native game resolution seems to be 1280x720 (that's 16:9 aspect) -- it's hard to tell, but I think that's native. At fullscreen,
the game is centered but not scaled up to 3840x2160. As a result of not being scaled up, the mouse pointer is too small to see and as a result of that, the game is unplayable.
I can enlarge the game image to 3840x2160 within the game, and it does fill the screen, but the mouse pointer remains its original size and so, is too small to see, especially against a "busy" background -- also, the mouse pointer has about
50% transparency, so that contributes to the problem.
The best solution is to run the game at 1280x720 and have Windows scale it (and the mouse pointer) up to 3840x2160.
The Windows 'Change high DPI settings' settings have absolutely no effect, so I couldn't hack trial solutions.
... With my 1440p monitor I am using 130%, but you may need up to 150%. Don't start too high as the size ramps up fairly quickly. ...
For a 3840x2160 display, Windows recommends 250%. I'm using 200%. Windows is fine. It's game scaling that's the problem. It's the game scaling problem that's caused by
NMP.
... I also use the small program below to fine tune my font sizes.
System Font Size Changer - Increase Text Size in Windows 10. ...
That should be totally unneeded. Windows scales text and pictures just fine based on the single, percent setting.
...This article concerns connecting an external display but may still have something that applies to your machine ? ....
Windows scaling issues for high-DPI devices ...
Here's where you need to listen up. The integrated display (such as in a laptop) and external displays are handled
completely differently. It turns out, the Intel GPU handles the integrated display, even for applications and games that run on the NVIDIA GPU, while the NVIDIA GPU handles the external display. The Intel GPU scales one while the NVIDIA GPU scales
the other -- that's poor computer architecture.
You may ask: "Why not use the Intel GPU for everything?" The Intel GPU has 5 (or maybe 8) graphic cores. The NVIDIA GPU has 1536 graphic cores and a much higher clock.
Here's the payoff: Regardless of which GPU renders the window or game images, it's the Intel GPU that scales them and displays them on the integrated display (that is, that displays the graphic memory). But the Intel functions are very poorly
documented, they are not intuitive (because the rendering is being done the NVIDIA), and
Intel provides no support except for it's NUC computer.
Why would I look at the Intel setup when the game (and almost everything else) is running on the NVIDIA? That, I now know, is a rhetorical question.
Intel provides these settings:
- Maintain Display Scaling
- Maintain Aspect Ratio
- Scale Full Screen
- Center Image
The help: "Select the screen scaling from the list." DUH?! That's it. No other help. No Intel support. Call them. They'll tell you to go away.
PS: Those Intel settings? They're radio buttons... You can select ONLY one. Which one should you select? Well... Experiment.
PPS: I've thought of an appropriate computer-architecture scenario: Windows is using the NVIDIA GPU as a graphics coprocessor, but it's then using the Intel GPU as the integrated display driver hardware. I suppose a Windows developer would say, "Of course.
What else would work?" And I suppose that's right, but no one is documenting how this all works. They are all into
NMP. Just read the Microsoft documentation. It's all about multiple displays. This (scaling) is much more than a multiple-display problem.
