After opening Resolve for the first time since I have upgraded to an UHD-monitor I noticed that something was off: Everything is way to small even though I had set my display scaling in Windows to an appropriate value.
Apparently Blackmagic didn’t implement High-DPI scaling correctly, even in the latest version. A quick internet search didn’t give me a viable solution either, but after a while of research I finally found something that works:
The solution
Thanks to this post I had the idea that maybe changing some QT Environment variables would help and although that person had a great idea, they didn’t find a solution.
A search for “QT_AUTO_SCREEN_SCALE_FACTOR resolve” lead me to this post which explains how to fix the scaling issue on Linux. I thought: Why not try this on Windows? So I opened a PowerShell window and used these commands to set these environment variables:
cd "C:\Program Files\Blackmagic Design\DaVinci Resolve\"
$Env:QT_DEVICE_PIXEL_RATIO = 2
$Env:QT_AUTO_SCREEN_SCALE_FACTOR = 1
.\Resolve.exeEt voilà, it worked!
But obviously we don’t want to tediously enter these commands into a PowerShell windows every time we want to use Resolve. Luckily we can just add them to the shortcut that opens Resolve:
- Right click and open the properties menu of the shortcut you want to change
- If you want to edit the start menu shortcut you will need to right click that one and press “Open file location” to get to the actual shortcut.
- Replace the Target with the following:
powershell.exe -WindowStyle Hidden "$Env:QT_DEVICE_PIXEL_RATIO=2;$Env:QT_AUTO_SCREEN_SCALE_FACTOR=1;start 'C:\Program Files\Blackmagic Design\DaVinci Resolve\Resolve.exe'"- You may need to change the path in here if you have Resolve installed at a different location
- Press “OK” to save your changes
From now on, when you start Resolve from this shortcut, it will display with correct scaling.
Note: You may need to redo these steps after installing an update for Resolve
Another note: Setting scale factors other than 2 will work, but non-integer ones will make some text and all images look very pixelated.
26 Comments
Peter Glynn · 25th October 2021 at 22:37
My problem is the HP PAVILION Laptop 15″ screen resolution 1920×1080 windows scaling set 150% my problem. Is that it scale upto 200% with the new version 17.4 with the fonts too big and filling the half screen
Himbeer · 25th October 2021 at 22:42
Hello! I currently don’t know how to properly fix that problem, however if you don’t mind the window being a bit blurry, you can, instead of making the change described in the blog post, go to the “Compatibility” tab of the exe properties and then “High-DPI Settings” and choose “System” in the dropdown at the bottom. That will make Windows scale Resolve to 150%.
mark · 2nd September 2021 at 05:37
Now here is the weird thing. When I run Davini Resolve at 2560 x 1440, Windows scaling or the above change does not work. Everything is super tiny. But when I run the software at 3620 x 2036, the above scaling works.
I just started using this software about a month ago. I am severely visually impaired (can’t even drive) and find the tiny font issue aggravating. My screen magnifiers set as a windows don’t even work in this software as a work around. Instead, I have to put my face up to the 32 inch monitor so I can read the text. It looks like I am trying to sniff the monitor.
Anyway, thanks for this article. At least now my fonts are readable at 3620 x 2036, but I usually run the computer at 2560 x 1440. So when using this software, I just increase the resolution.
Himbeer · 17th September 2021 at 09:09
Hi! Have you tried setting QT_AUTO_SCREEN_SCALE_FACTOR to 0 instead of 1? I think that should work even on the lower resolution.
Greg · 29th July 2021 at 10:35
It’s mind boggling that you can edit 8K video with Davinci Resolve yet they haven’t fixed this scaling issue. This worked first tine for me, Danke schön!
laraband · 19th June 2021 at 14:12
Amazing, thank you so much! I’ve just bought a new laptop that can handle Da Vinci Resolve, after 6 months working with one that really struggled, opened Da Vinci and could barely see *anything*. I was getting ready to cry, then I found your solution. Extremely happy now 🙂
Francesco · 11th June 2021 at 15:12
Hi, I wanted some help, I entered and started the command from power shell, and now davinci takes 20 minutes to boot and after boot it takes a long time to do some key actions, is there any way to reset? without reinstalling everything?
Himbeer · 24th June 2021 at 14:57
Hi! To undo these changes, you just need to remove the powershell parts again to keep only the path (usually “C:\Program Files\Blackmagic Design\DaVinci Resolve\Resolve.exe”).
morgo1968 · 27th April 2021 at 01:35
Hi, hopefully this thread is still active.
I was very excited to come across this potential fix…but I have tried this and can’t get it to work. Perhaps I am doing something wrong. I was using the Change High DPI settings (System Advanced) hack under Compatibility Mode, but this makes some of the menus disappear and stops the Video Clean Feed (to second monitor) option from working correctly.
Should this option work with dual monitors, one 4k and one 2560 x 1440? How should I leave the settings in Compatibility mode for this to work?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Himbeer · 3rd June 2021 at 21:04
Hi! Sorry for the late reply, WordPress’ E-Mail notifications somehow broke. If you still want help, feel free to join my Discord server (you can find it on my homepage https://himbeer.me) so it’s easier to communicate.
David · 23rd March 2021 at 14:23
I’ll add my thanks as well. Now I can use my Yoga Laptop. Thanks!
Seb · 17th February 2021 at 21:54
Tausend Dank dafür 🙂
Das war’s was auch ich über Google nicht finden konnte aber über DuckDuckGo direkt der erste Treffer war.
JC · 28th December 2020 at 03:11
What an easy and helpful fix. Thanks a lot!
Himbeer · 28th December 2020 at 11:14
You’re welcome!
Chris Brearley · 20th November 2020 at 18:46
Here’s how Resolve scaling works. If your Windows scaling is set to 100-125% then Resolve will stay at 100% – far too small for UHD screens but works for HD and large 2.5k screens. If your Windows scaling is 150%+ then Resolve will scale to 200% – far too big for something like a 32″ UHD monitor. What Resolve really needs is a 150% scaling option. Blackmagic have known this but have chosen to neglect it for years. The best option I have found is to override the hi-dpi settings and change it to System. This will give you the 150% scaling that Resolve so badly needs but with the caveat of everything being every so slightly soft and it throwing up some issues if you use a Wacom tablet.
Himbeer · 21st November 2020 at 18:43
Thank you for your informative comment. I didn’t want to include the “System” option in my post because, as you said, it makes the window very blurry (especially noticeable on large monitors). You are completely right though, 100% on resolve is too small and the 2x scale that can be achieved with this post or by setting Windows to 200% is almost a bit too big. It will launch with the scaling set to 1.5, but as I mention in the post, some of the icons are completely broken when you do that.
Peter · 25th August 2021 at 00:06
This was really helpful for a monitor size where 150% made the most sense, thank you! The blurriness was easier to deal with than the pixelation from putting 1.5 into the other method.
Mayberry Jones · 17th November 2020 at 03:32
Forgive my ignorance but what do you mean when you say “Replace the Target with the following” , what is the Target and how do i replace it with the following
Thanks in advance
Himbeer · 17th November 2020 at 08:41
I hope this GIF helps: https://imgur.com/DfsfXZ6
(sorry for it being German)
Feel free to just ask if you need more help.
Nathaniel S · 14th November 2020 at 19:47
I didn’t even bother using DaVinci Resolve because of the small fonts on the user interface. Just made my eyeballs come out.
Now, this solved the problem. I can use DaVinci once again.
Himbeer · 15th November 2020 at 11:13
I’m glad I was able to help!
Daniel Rose · 2nd November 2020 at 05:25
Your solution is LIFE CHANGING for me! It absolutely works.
I can’t thank you enough for posting it.
I have seriously impaired vision, but now I will be able to edit and learn faster.
I don’t think I found this on the Blackmagic Forum for Davinci.
I will check again. I hope it will be alright if I put a link or something to this page.
Thank you Thank you. Live long and prosper….
Himbeer · 2nd November 2020 at 10:04
Thank you for your nice comment! I’m glad I could help. As far as I know, the most popular forum thread already has a link to this post, but feel free to share it to others, too. It’s a shame Blackmagic still didn’t fix this problem.
Christos Miniotis · 26th June 2020 at 13:54
I don’t know why this doesn’t show up on Google. This is the only solution for now, Thanks for posting this! Got Resolve to work on my Surface Pro 4, where the scaling wouldn’t force to 200% even though my Windows Scaling was set correctly.
Peter Glynn · 25th October 2021 at 22:45
What resolution is your monitor mine is 1920×1080 at 150% scaling and it forced the davinci app to 200% making it impossible to fit on screen did you use the target variable and what did you set it to
Queefolestra Jackson · 30th December 2021 at 05:16
Thanks, but naturally doing this screws up the scaling of the second monitor (32″ 2560×1600) which doesn’t have any Windows scaling applied (4k monitor’s setting gets used) because they didn’t program something correctly that works fine with QT programs I have that were written before the current iteration of Windows scaling even existed.
I’m actually a big fan of QT, but when you’re a large company that rakes in cash on both hardware and software and your entire deal is color grading and accurate editing, use some sense and write GUIs native to the OSes you’re targeting. You avoid problems like this, and as a bonus you don’t have the other major problem of Resolve that most people don’t care much about:
It doesn’t look like a Windows program, and ignores all system settings regarding UI sizing and such. When used on two monitors, it creates a modal Window on the second screen (without explicitly full-screening the main monitor’s window) that other software gets buried under without alt-tabbing that’s completely disruptive to any sort of multi-tasking. Resizing and moving the main window is possible, the second monitor is just covered whether you like it or not unless you disable the second display. If you can read the menu in order to disable it. Microsoft’s UI guidelines told everybody to stop doing this years ago. Nothing else does it.
It doesn’t look like a Mac program. I don’t like the way Mac windowing works as it’s less conducive to multitasking for me, but that doesn’t really matter. Hide your quick bar or you’ll be hitting it constantly while clicking the inexplicably placed mode switcher tabs at the bottom of the screen. (For that matter don’t accidentally drag the window slightly on Windows, the tiny icons end up under the taskbar). Maybe look at where every other piece of software known to any life form in the galaxy puts their program modes / tabs, where everyone intuitively looks because it’s built into them if they’ve used a computer before…. and put them at the top? At least one of my most hated Mac UI features, the ever-changing top-of-screen menu bar, comes to the rescue and forces the menus to be a visible size regardless of how badly they want to make it too tiny to read, because software has to go to extreme lengths to mess with that menu bar’s size on Mac.
For god’s sake, it doesn’t even look like a Linux program, and Linux is a scattershot mess of professional software running alongside some of the worst UI design known to man in practically every major program and has no standard window manager. I would have said Blender was a perfect example of awful UI, or “The Gimp” with its menu items that are pointlessly named and placed differently from every other image editor in existence just in some effort to pretend it’s not a Photoshop clone (which it fails horribly at being, ironically)… but wow, Resolve makes those look just fine.