OoB at 2160p resolution

[GabeKnight]

I've just installed my new 4K "monitor", rather a huge TV, and surprisingly the installation with Win7 went rather smooth. So from now on I'm playing at 3840x2160/60Hz/4:4:4.

Although my whole Windows is scaled at 200% (ppi) due to my rather poor eyesight.
But when starting OoB however, I'm presented with rather "miniature" fonts and popup windows. I guess this is what 100% - 96ppi looks like. Now, my question is this: Is there a way to change that? Having larger fonts and/or UI? No way for me to play like that.

And I'll never be able to post screenshots again with those huge file sizes, even with JPG...
(It took me seven tries to get the filesize under 1MB without too much loss through JPG compression )

But I'm completetly new at this, so maybe there's simple solution for comfortable 4K-OoB-gaming?

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[GabeKnight]

The game as such runs okay, no problems I could see so far. But It looks weird:

Screenshot 806.jpg (909.41 KiB) Viewed 3477 times

[zakblood]

it's quite a simple thing to do on windows 10, on windows 7 i'm sorry to say it doesn't fully support it

I don't think that Windows 7 "lacks" 4K support - rather, it doesn't support HiDPI displays and text scaling all that well, compared to Windows 10.

I was able to get VSR running on my 1920x1080P monitor, at a resolution of 2560x1440, just fine in Windows 7. But I had 1:1 scaling, so icons and text got tiny. (Which is fine with me.)

When I upgraded to Win10, and enabled VSR, it automagically tried to enable 1.25X text/icon scaling. Which, honestly, made it look not much different than 1920x1080P res, only the icons were "bulkier". I had to manually crank the scaling back down to 1:1, to get the desired effect.

from what i can remember and fine online etc, to a degree you may make it slightly better, but no it won't be how it is on windows 10, which fully supports 4k out of the box and most of the time auto alters / scales the windows to fit the display.

the issue for me is your trying to couple the latest display technology while trying to hold on to a old version of windows, while it works, it doesn't or won't be able to re scale to a size which wasn't even in the planning on the time frame the older version of windows 7 was being tested, same goes for putting in the latest display card, it may fit your board, but the drivers may cause some issues with an older version of windows also

[GabeKnight]

And the combat preview:

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[bru888]

It is the Curse of the Large Screen TV (Monitor)!

[GabeKnight]

I see. Thanks, Zak.

Actually I didn't expect 4K to work at all with my old Win7 rig with 60Hz. Therefore the pleasant surprise. I wanted to keep it at 1080p at first, even with the monitor supporting 4K. But then...

the issue for me is your trying to couple the latest display technology while trying to hold on to a old version of windows

And you're definitely right there.

I'll try plugging the thing on my other rig with Win10 and see how that goes. Thanks!

[GabeKnight]

It is the Curse of the Large Screen TV (Monitor)!

Curse or no curse, after I've witnessed today how beautiful BattleTech looks like in 4K, I'll never ever gonna go back to "simple" HD...

[zakblood]

i use a Toshiba 40" TV LED, but it only supports 1920 x 1080(p) (60.000Hz) to a max of (100.000Hz)

on windows 10 i use

User DPI Setting: 120 DPI (125 percent)
System DPI Setting: 144 DPI (150 percent)

and so far it's great, i can read very well on it and play any game i wish, which is one reason so far i haven't gone down the 4k route, as with trouble shooting everyone else issues, i've considered the amount of older games i play and can't see the effort being worth the rewards for me, as my TV was just a replacement one from the house, as i no longer buy monitors as i still have plenty of other ones for testing etc of good sizes, but once this one was plugged in, and it worked and worked so well, it's the one i do my most amount of time on as it's good for forum work and testing, so atm have a switched box so i can use the same display for 4 test rigs and no longer need so much desk space for the other monitors now.

always wanted 3 displays on one pc, but again as nearly no war game would support it, wasn't worth for me the costs or time to mess about with.

windows 10 makes larger displays and higher DPI use on older games work much better than i'd ever hoped for. so as soon as any of my stuff fails, and the prices of 4k stuff has dropped, i maybe getting one in the next year or so, but only then if it's 40" or so, as i wouldn't again have a 29" for any price

[CoolDTA]

Curse or no curse, after I've witnessed today how beautiful BattleTech looks like in 4K, I'll never ever gonna go back to "simple" HD...

Damn. My first thought was to kindly offer the best solution to the "problem": dump your new display to me and revert back to the good old one.

But isn't this (UI scaling) the kind of thing the game itself either offers (=Battletech) or does not (=OoB)?

[GabeKnight]

But isn't this (UI scaling) the kind of thing the game itself either offers (=Battletech) or does not (=OoB)?

I didn't test any other games besides those two yet, it's a brand new setup for me. There was no problem with BattleTech, just had to change the resolution settings and decrease the quality from "ultra" to "high", that was all. With the huge screen size and the 4K resolution, the new level of detail with the models and terrain was awesome, almost incredible.

With OoB, as you can see with the screenshots, the 3D graphical engine works okay, even the strength plates are displayed okay. It's like the 2D overlays and the Windows (standard) text fonts not scaling what's causing the problems.

Ah well, then it's again 1080p with OoB, I can live with that. For the time being...

PS: @zakblood: Thanks for sharing all the info. The 4K stuff's all new to me right now and I'll have to experiment a bit around and test a few settings first. Maybe I'll switch to Win10 after that.

[bru888]

I can live with that. For the time being...

It's as though, for the sake of immersing yourself in ultimate battle action imagery, you must sacrifice your eyesight. A Faustian bargain! A terrible irony! A curse, I tell you! Beware!

[CoolDTA]

Gabe, thee shouldst taketh heed of words of Bru the Wiseth.

With OoB, as you can see with the screenshots, the 3D graphical engine works okay, even the strength plates are displayed okay. It's like the 2D overlays and the Windows (standard) text fonts not scaling what's causing the problems.

That's just what I meant. The programmers have to make a UI suitable for 4K or else you get what is shown in the images above. Battletech is a much newer game and Ultra HD displays are no longer that rare, so they made it work well with 4K. Did you try with different DPI settings like Zak suggested?

[GabeKnight]

Above all, the increased screen size was my first motivation for buying the 43" piece. The 4K I've considered an "extra".
I'm already at the 200% DPI setting, which even looks a bit weird with Windows itself, some menus being kind of unreadable (with older programs/software). So I'm already considering the switch to Win10, but I'll have to test it first on another rig later. No rush.

And to stay on topic, I'm not sure that even using Win10 would solve the issue with OoB. I've entered it into the BugDB, let's see what the devs have to say about that. For the time being, I'm playing at 2560x1440. The fonts are still kinda small, but readable - and I know the UI and most units anyway. An interim solution:

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[CoolDTA]

And to stay on topic, I'm not sure that even using Win10 would solve the issue with OoB.

I don't think it will help, because the problem is with the OoB. I expect you to be very happy with your new screen (cursed or not ) because newer games and all other Windows use should be so much more enjoyable.

[GabeKnight]

I don't think it will help, because the problem is with the OoB. I expect you to be very happy with your new screen (cursed or not ) because newer games and all other Windows use should be so much more enjoyable.

Thanks, and to be honest, I'm happy already!

I said "no rush", but with three HDMI slots on the new "monitor", the test with my Win10 rig was quite easily done. Zak was right about Windows itself, it really looks muuuuuuuch better in 4K - with a default scaling of 300%

On the other hand Cool and I were right, it did not help with OoB at all. Looks exactly the same.
The entry in the BugDB is justified.

[zakblood]

i've been testing windows since NT4, so hopefully i know a thing or 2

[GabeKnight]

i've been testing windows since NT4, so hopefully i know a thing or 2

Yeah, that was the first "stable" Windows system I've encountered in those (ancient ) times, too.
But I've become somewhat (more) lazy with age. Never change a running system...

[GabeKnight]

Followed Zak's advice and updated my (main) rig to Win10. Niiiiiiiiice.

Didn't know that the upgrade option that was offered by Microsoft some years ago was still free. Cool.

(...and everything worked from the start, all my desktop features and apps were converted perfectly as I've returned to the machine this morning. Kudos to Microsoft for that!)

EDIT: To avoid confusion: Windows itself looks much nicer in 4K now - it solved nothing with OoB!

[CoolDTA]

Didn't know that the upgrade option that was offered by Microsoft some years ago was still free. Cool.

Yep, it has been there all the time, just not advertised so much.

EDIT: To avoid confusion: Windows itself looks much nicer in 4K now - it solved nothing with OoB!

I was about to ask so thanks for the clarification. No surprise there.

[GabeKnight]

EDIT: To avoid confusion: Windows itself looks much nicer in 4K now - it solved nothing with OoB!

I was about to ask so thanks for the clarification. No surprise there.

I really hope they get around to fix/adapt the UI scaling to higher resolutions.
The terrain and units look very good in 4K; sharp and crystal clear models and textures. Loving it.