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Bug 658335 - gnome-display-properties should allow maximal resolution when mirroring multiple monitors
gnome-display-properties should allow maximal resolution when mirroring multi...
Status: RESOLVED OBSOLETE
Product: gnome-control-center
Classification: Core
Component: Display
3.4.x
Other Linux
: Normal normal
: ---
Assigned To: Desktop Maintainers
Desktop Maintainers
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
 
Reported: 2011-09-06 08:37 UTC by David von Oheimb
Modified: 2021-06-09 16:27 UTC
See Also:
GNOME target: ---
GNOME version: ---



Description David von Oheimb 2011-09-06 08:37:29 UTC
When I connect my laptop with native resolution 1280x800 to an external monitor with a resolution 1280x1024 and check "Same image in all monitors" in gnome-display-properties, the only common resolution I get offered is 1024x768.

gnome-display-properties should offer *at least* the smaller of the two resolutions, but why not also the largest of the two resolutions.

As a workaround, I use grandr, which is much more flexible.

I'm Using Ubuntu 11.04.

See also:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-control-center/+bug/351427 and https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xorg-server/+bug/566862
Comment 1 Federico Mena Quintero 2011-09-06 21:19:38 UTC
We use the highest resolution that is supported by all the monitors.

We only take into account the resolutions that the monitors say they support.

There are some patches in MeeGo to make mirror mode use scaling - the image will be scaled on monitors that don't support the same resolution.

Another option, which commonly is a lot less desirable, is to use RANDR 1.3's panning capabilities for monitors with smaller resolutions.

I'm inclined to merging MeeGo's patches for scaling, but not do panning at all.
Comment 2 David von Oheimb 2011-09-07 12:25:17 UTC
Thanks Federico for you comments. I can confirm that gnome-display-properties uses the highest resolution that is supported by all the monitors. In my case:

LVDS1 ...
   1280x800       60.0*+
   1024x768       60.0  
   800x600        60.3     56.2  
   640x480        59.9  
VGA1 ...
   1280x1024      60.0*+   75.0  
   1024x768       75.1     70.1     60.0  
   800x600        75.0     60.3  
   640x480        75.0     60.0  
   720x400        70.1  

Scaling sounds interesting. Yet I'd already be content with having the full native resolution on the larger screen (in the above example, 1280x1024) while the image could simply be clipped on the smaller screen (as done by grandr).

P.S. Please disregard the second of the two URLs I gave in my report (https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xorg-server/+bug/566862 is not relevant)
Comment 3 Bastien Nocera 2011-09-19 18:32:07 UTC
(In reply to comment #1)
<snip>
> I'm inclined to merging MeeGo's patches for scaling, but not do panning at all.

Where are those patches?
Comment 4 Federico Mena Quintero 2011-09-20 02:42:40 UTC
(In reply to comment #3)
> 
> Where are those patches?

Good question :)

Let me hunt them down and I'll post them or put them in a branch if they apply cleanly to the latest code.  They are either in MeeGo's git repos, or in MeeGo-specific patches.

(At this point I don't remember if the patches were only for g-s-d or for GnomeRR as well.)
Comment 5 Bastien Nocera 2012-06-20 14:15:23 UTC
Federico, where are the patches?
Comment 6 Tobias Mueller 2012-10-16 10:43:59 UTC
May I assume this to be INCOMPLETE then shortly? Or is this an issue that needs to be fixed anyway? If so, NEW would be appropriate.
Comment 7 David von Oheimb 2012-10-16 11:13:36 UTC
I have just checked again the status of the issue, 
running Ubuntu 12.04 with Gnome2 (since I hate Unity),
this time connecting my Laptop (having a 1280x800 screen)
with a monitor offering resolutions up to 1920x1200.

Ticking the "Mirror displays" option at System Settings -> Displays,
I am only offered resolutions up to 1280x800, which still is a needless limitation. 
Using "xrandr --size 0; xrandr --output VGA1 --auto --pos 0x0", I can manually mirror the screens such that my laptop screen shows part of the monitor display.

Just in case, this is the output of xrandr:

Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 1280 x 800, maximum 8192 x 8192
LVDS1 connected 1280x800+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 261mm x 163mm
   1280x800       60.0*+
   1024x768       60.0  
   800x600        60.3     56.2  
   640x480        59.9  
VGA1 connected 1280x800+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 518mm x 324mm
   1920x1200      60.0 +
   1600x1200      60.0  
   1680x1050      60.0  
   1280x1024      75.0     60.0  
   1440x900       75.0     59.9  
   1280x800       74.9     59.8* 
   1024x768       75.1     60.0  
   800x600        75.0     60.3  
   640x480        75.0     60.0  
   720x400        70.1
Comment 8 David von Oheimb 2013-05-11 12:04:40 UTC
Why was this bug report set to 'more information needed' and now 'unconfirmed?' 
I had provided all information requested.

gonme-control-center is still needlessly restrictive when mirroring displays.
It should allow selecting the maximum resolution of both displays. Again, xrandr allows this, and I see no reason why not also gonme-control-center.
Comment 9 Bastien Nocera 2014-06-03 17:38:29 UTC
(In reply to comment #7)
> I have just checked again the status of the issue, 
> running Ubuntu 12.04 with Gnome2 (since I hate Unity),
> this time connecting my Laptop (having a 1280x800 screen)
> with a monitor offering resolutions up to 1920x1200.
> 
> Ticking the "Mirror displays" option at System Settings -> Displays,
> I am only offered resolutions up to 1280x800, which still is a needless
> limitation. 
> Using "xrandr --size 0; xrandr --output VGA1 --auto --pos 0x0", I can manually
> mirror the screens such that my laptop screen shows part of the monitor
> display.

Except that that's not mirroring because one of the screens is only showing a portion of the other.
Comment 10 Benjamin BELLEC 2019-09-17 17:44:51 UTC
Hello,

I update this bug because still today it's impossible to have a good mirror/clone mode.

In my case, I have a 1400p@144Hz screen plugged on DP, and a 2160p@60Hz TV on HDMI. Both on the same Radeon card.

I can do Joint Display (OK, but doesn't fit my need at all), or single display.

If I do mirror mode:
- if I choose the 1080p resolution in the list, I get my TV to 1080p@60Hz (OK though not perfect) and my screen at 1080p@60Hz (really sub-optimal).
- if I choose the 1440p resolution in the list, I get my TV out of range (the EDID don't have 1440p) and my screen at 1440p@60Hz (bad: I want 144 Hz not 60 Hz).
Comment 11 André Klapper 2021-06-09 16:27:10 UTC
GNOME is going to shut down bugzilla.gnome.org in favor of gitlab.gnome.org.
As part of that, we are mass-closing older open tickets in bugzilla.gnome.org
which have not seen updates for a longer time (resources are unfortunately
quite limited so not every ticket can get handled).

If you can still reproduce the situation described in this ticket in a recent
and supported software version, then please follow
  https://wiki.gnome.org/GettingInTouch/BugReportingGuidelines
and create a new bug report at
  https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnome-control-center/-/issues/

Thank you for your understanding and your help.