If you’ve ever come across an app with blurry text or tiny icons, your monitor’s high DPI (dots per inch) is likely the culprit – and the app is probably not optimized for it. Curious about what DPI-unaware apps are and how to fix the issue? This guide will answer your questions.
Content
- What Are DPI-Unaware Apps and How to Detect Them
- Change the DPI Settings of the App
- Run the Program in Compatibility Mode
- Adjust Windows Scaling
- Registry Hack to Force DPI Awareness
- Change Display Resolution in Windows
What Are DPI-Unaware Apps and How to Detect Them
To understand what DPI-unaware apps are, you must first understand what DPI means. Although we call it DPI, it’s actually PPI (pixels per inch) in the case of digital displays. DPI is just a term we adopted from paper printing, where it refers to actual physical dots per inch. PPI refers to the number of pixels per inch of the display.
High PPI happens when the pixel density is high compared to the physical size of the monitor. For example, a 13” laptop monitor with a 1920×1080 resolution has a high PPI because many pixels are packed into a small area. Without proper scaling, high PPI will lead to interface elements appearing too small, as too many pixels are packed into a smaller space.
To address this, Windows and apps scale content according to the display’s PPI to ensure elements are properly sized. Apps that aren’t programmed to detect the display’s PPI are called DPI-unaware apps. These apps don’t scale correctly and thus have tiny or blurred elements due to improper scaling.
To detect these apps, open the Task Manager by pressing Ctrl + Shift + Esc, and move to the Details section.
Right-click any column’s title area, and choose the Select columns option.
Scroll down and enable the DPI Awareness column.
The DPI Awareness column will show which processes are DPI unaware. Look for the main interface process of the app – if it has multiple processes – and check whether it’s unaware.
Change the DPI Settings of the App
If an app isn’t DPI aware, Windows can try to scale it. The scaling may not be as good as DPI-aware apps, but it will be good enough to fix the blurriness. You can enable system-based scaling individually for apps.
Right-click on the executable file of the app, and select Properties.
In the Compatibility tab, and click Change high DPI settings.
Here, enable the Override high DPI scaling behavior option and select System (Enhanced) from the drop-down menu. This will force Windows to manage scaling for the particular app.
If this doesn’t fix the problem, try selecting System or Application, and check whether it fixes the issue.
Run the Program in Compatibility Mode
If using system-applied DPI scaling didn’t help, running the program in compatibility mode could fix it. Typically, the DPI-unaware apps are also legacy apps with issues beyond just being DPI-unaware. Running the app in a previous Windows version compatibility mode may fix it.
Right-click on the app’s executable file, and select Properties.
Move to the Compatibility tab, and enable the Run this program in compatibility mode for option. For most users, selecting Windows 8 should work fine, but you can try Windows 7 as well if it doesn’t work.
Adjust Windows Scaling
A DPI-unaware app uses the currently selected global Windows scaling setting. Try changing the global scaling to fix the issue. Of course, this will impact your overall Windows experience as well, but you can choose to only change scaling when you have to use the app.
In the Windows settings, go to System -> Display to find Scale under the Scale & layout section and some preset scaling options, like 100%, 125%, 150%, etc. Select higher percentages than the current one to see whether it fixes the problem.
If preset percentages don’t work, try custom scaling. Click on the Scale option, and add a percentage between 100 and 500 in the Custom scaling option.
You’ll have to sign out of the current account to apply the custom scaling, so make sure your data is saved before applying. Of course, finding the correct percentage will require experimenting. We recommend increasing in increments of 10%.
Registry Hack to Force DPI Awareness
Similar to overriding DPI scaling behavior in compatibility settings, you can use a registry hack to force the app to use the latest Per-Monitor scaling to fix the blurry app.
Warning: incorrect changes in the registry can cause system corruption and data loss. Make sure you back up the Windows Registry before following these instructions.
Type regedit in Windows Search to locate and open the Windows Registry Editor.
Move to the following location:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options
Right-click on Image File Executions Options, and select New -> Key. Name this key the same name as the executable file of the app, which can be found in the app’s folder. Or, launch the app, and check its name in the Details section of the Task Manager. For example, check Greenshot.exe in the Greenshot app.
Select the new key, right-click anywhere in the right panel, and select New -> String Value.
Name this string DpiAwareness, then set its value as PerMonitorV2. Restart the app, and in the Task Manager’s DPI Awareness column, it will now display Per-Monitor (v2) instead of Unaware.
Change Display Resolution in Windows
Since issues related to high DPI are caused by too many pixels per inch, you can decrease the pixel count to possibly fix the issue. The screen resolution decides how many pixels are spread vertically and horizontally. If you decrease the high resolution, it will also lower PPI and make the app look better.
Of course, this also means the display on your PC will be less crisp/sharp, but it may be better than stretched/blurred elements.
In Windows Settings, go to System -> Display. Use the list menu next to Display resolution to select a lower resolution.
If the app supports changing the resolution as well, then select the same resolution inside it too. You can undo the resolution change when you are not using the app.
One of these methods should help you find the correct setting to fix blurry apps. Apart from high DPI, this blurry app issue can also arise when using custom resolutions – like for a bigger FOV in games. You may want to use a native resolution in that case.
All screenshots and images by Karrar Haider.
Karrar Haider –
Staff Writer
Karrar is drenched in technology and always fiddles with new tech opportunities. He has a bad habit of calling technology “Killer”, and doesn’t feel bad about spending too much time in front of the PC. If he is not writing about technology, you will find him spending quality time with his little family.
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