How do I correct display scaling issues on Surface Pro 4

Anonymous

I'm noticing display scaling issues and docking issues on the Surface Pro 4. I'm using the docking connector and have two Dell 24" Ultrasharp U2415 monitors. When I undock the Surface, the text is aliased very poorly on the Surface display, not crisp as it should be. Certain elements appear fine, but my browser, Outlook 2016, and other apps have poor quality text. A restart is required to get the text back to its normal hi-DPI quality.

Secondly, if I start a program while undocked and dock the surface, some apps are scaled up (both text and UI elements of the window) and others are fine.

Lastly, a few times when the SP4 is docked and I return from being away for a few minutes, my external displays don't kick on. Clicking the mouse or pressing keys on the keyboard do nothing. Occasionally, the SP4 display will activate and my mouse/keyboard will control work. I've tried disconnecting the dock connector, power cycling the dock, but only restarting the SP4 will correct this issue.

In general a restart is required to resolve any of these issues. Is this the result of buggy display drivers or something else?

I've installed the latest SP4 firmware update and have the latest OS updates through Windows Update, as of this morning, February 19, 2016.

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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Answer accepted by question author

Anonymous

Hello SP4_user11,

A lot of work was done in Windows 10 to support high resolution screens, such as the Surface Pro 3, Surface Pro 4, Surface Book, and third-party laptops and tablets with screen resolutions above 1080p. However, there are issues that occur when using Office apps on these devices when connecting to an external monitor with a lower resolution.

To find out more about what has been improved and what is still being worked on, please check out these articles:

The current and future improvements are dependent on having Windows 10 Creators Update installed. So if you have not yet updated, please start with that.

Best Regards

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52 additional answers

Anonymous

2016-10-18T12:01:28+00:00

Nanoine,

You can use google (or bing if you wish) to find a picture of a cord - any cord will do, as the issue isn't depended on cord/interface.

Would you please post a video showing ANY Surface 4 not having the issue mentioned in this thread?

I have a feeling that no one at Microsoft is using SP4 (at least with external monitor).

Best regards

They probably want to blame it on the cord since a lot of people would have bought some cheaper alternative to the MS issued one.

If they want to send me a MS issue mini-DP to DP cable then i'm more than willing to test it out. But I KNOW that it won't fix the issue at all.
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Anonymous

2016-10-18T11:59:12+00:00

Hi,

What steps have you done to resolve your issue? Please send us a photo of the cords you tried using.

Regards.

Pre-baked answer!!!

There's hundreds of post about the same issue, i seriously doubt we all have the same cord ...

But to humour you, I am using a startech cord :

https://www.startech.com/ca/Cables/Audio-Video/DisplayPort/6-ft-Mini-DisplayPort-to-DisplayPort-Adapter-Cable-Male-to-Male~MDP2DPMM6

Steps?

The only time i get the right scaling is if I boot my SP4 by itself, then dock it. If I go to a meeting and undock it, when I come back and dock it, the scaling of most icons, software, etc.. is all out of whack. Skype Enterprise is extremely small on the surface, I have to use my external monitors.

So if I need to use some of my software that doesn't scale well, I have to shutdown, un-dock, boot it, then dock.
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Anonymous

2016-10-18T07:13:03+00:00

Hi,

What steps have you done to resolve your issue? Please send us a photo of the cords you tried using.

Regards.

Nanoine,

You can use google (or bing if you wish) to find a picture of a cord - any cord will do, as the issue isn't depended on cord/interface.

Would you please post a video showing ANY Surface 4 not having the issue mentioned in this thread?

I have a feeling that no one at Microsoft is using SP4 (at least with external monitor).

Best regards
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Anonymous

2016-10-18T02:47:52+00:00

Hi,

What steps have you done to resolve your issue? Please send us a photo of the cords you tried using.

Regards.
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