Fractional Scaling Issues on 20.04

[tabascosauz]

Does anyone know a workaround for fractional scaling issues on 20.04?

If I don't use fractional scaling to 150%, I can barely read anything on my XPS 13. It's not even a UHD screen, just the 1080p one.

If I do set to 150%, it makes for crazy tearing and terrible graphics performance. I tried putting the TearFree fix into /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-intel.conf, which solves the tearing and smoothness issue but introduces obnoxious graphical artifacting all over the place, on random text, title bars and icons. This is all on UHD 620.

The scaling is the only thing preventing me from jumping ship to linux on my laptop. There are plenty of good distros, but none of them even have an OOB option for fractional scaling.

 

[Easy Rhino]

Does anyone know a workaround for fractional scaling issues on 20.04?

If I don't use fractional scaling to 150%, I can barely read anything on my XPS 13. It's not even a UHD screen, just the 1080p one.

If I do set to 150%, it makes for crazy tearing and terrible graphics performance. I tried putting the TearFree fix into /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-intel.conf, which solves the tearing and smoothness issue but introduces obnoxious graphical artifacting all over the place, on random text, title bars and icons. This is all on UHD 620.

The scaling is the only thing preventing me from jumping ship to linux on my laptop. There are plenty of good distros, but none of them even have an OOB option for fractional scaling.

Are you talk Ubuntu 20? Also, which environment?

 

[tabascosauz]

Are you talk Ubuntu 20? Also, which environment?

Yeah. The new 20.04 LTS. Launched right before I upgraded my laptop SSD so I gave it a shot. GDE is default, so GDE I guess. I'm not sure if that's the culprit, the tearing and artifacting are both taking place across the entire system.

I also then installed elementary as a quick point of comparison. It had much better problem-free GPU performance than 20.04, but doesn't implement fractional scaling, so it wasn't very useful.

 

[Easy Rhino]

Yeah. The new 20.04 LTS. Launched right before I upgraded my laptop SSD so I gave it a shot. GDE is default, so GDE I guess. I'm not sure if that's the culprit, the tearing and artifacting are both taking place across the entire system.

I also then installed elementary as a quick point of comparison. It had much better problem-free GPU performance than 20.04, but doesn't implement fractional scaling, so it wasn't very useful.

Hrm, i thought Ubuntu 20 was supposed to fix the scaling problems. Guess not. Have you tried Mint out of curiousity?

 

[tabascosauz]

Hrm, i thought Ubuntu 20 was supposed to fix the scaling problems. Guess not. Have you tried Mint out of curiousity?

Isn't Mint based off Ubuntu? Haven't used Mint since Petra, I think. It was an enjoyable experience, but isn't 20.04 the official implementation for fractional scaling? If so, the 20.04-based Mint isn't out yet.

It just dawned on me that I've been trying to fix xorg instead of using Wayland on 20.04, which is supposed to be a better graphics solution. Reckon that might solve the artifacting?

EDIT: it turns out that Wayland is indeed much better for graphical performance. Still a bit of a stuttery mess with fractional scaling, but without ridiculous artifacting or tearing. Anyhow, because it's still a stuttery and blurry mess, I just went back to working at 100% and used the Large Text option in accessibility instead. Now most things look like they're at 110%-ish zoom but crystal clear.