Blurry toolbar icons/graphics while using 125% windows scale, with HiDPi turned on

[Kash]

Hi,

Just by launching Cubase, the splash GUI looks “un-sharp” and the text a bit blurry.
In Cubase itself, the toolbar icons (undo/redo, edit icons, etc…) look just like it is “unfocused” / blurry, other text on screen within Cubase GUI - looks “fine”.

For example, “state button” in toolbar looks like this at 120% scale :

Tried with different configurations: HiDPI flag turned on/off, Windows DPI compatibility settings , started the app in safe mode - all ended with same results, blurry splash + icons.

The only way I got Cubase to be displayed sharp in 125% scale factor , is the following “workaround”:

1. Set windows scale to 150% or 200%.
2. Launch Cubase (now the Splash screen looks sharp!)
3. Open a project (the icons look sharp and crisp, but just too big…)
4. Set back windows scale to 125% or even 100%
5. Check out Cubase GUI… prefect!

Now everything looks sharp, for example, now the “state button” in toolbar :

I hope it helps others that might have this issue.

Is it a “known” issue ? HiDPI feature defect ? configuration issue ?
Any suggestions ?

My setup:
Windows 10, Cubase 11.0.10
32" HP monitor, 2560x1440, 125% scale factor
nVidia GT1030 (with “Image Sharpening” option turned off).
HiDPI flag - on (default)

Thanks!
Sam

[steve]

You have the same result with HDPI on or off? Reset your preferences.

Look for Cubase Safe Mode

[Kash]

Thanks Steve for your fast reply.

I just tried it with Safe mode and reset the preferences. Same results

[steve]

I dunno, sorry. I haven’t seen this exact issue on the forum. In any case you have a workaround that’s fairly trivial.

[Kash]

Update:

After trying to pinpoint the root cause of the problem (graphics card, drivers, monitor, OS, etc…)
I installed Cubase 10.5 and was happy to discover that the GUI looks sharp and crystal clear using the HiDPI flag in 125% scale or even 150%.

@steve - So it’s a Cubase 11 scaling issue after all, I hope it will be fixed in future updates.

Thanks again.

[norocea.sergiuandrei]

11.0.20 has just been released and I’m seeing the same issue you described initially
At 125% toolbars and buttons in general are washed out
At 150% everything is crisp

I’m wondering what may cause this issue as 150% makes everything way too bigger on my 32" 4k monitor

[Richard_F]

Same issue here
125% scale
1440p some elements are blurry
maybe change to vector icon elements @steinberg

[Kash]

@Richard_F Do you know if this was fixed by any chance in version 12 ?

Thanks!

[Richard_F]

I’m getting 12 tomorrow

I changed my windows scaling back to 100%
As it was messing up my plugins scale sizes too

They would load up massive and off screen and not remember my last scale settings

At 100% it fix all the issues everything looks sharp

I will see if 12 is any better
And let you know if I remember but I got used to %100 now lol

[Kash]

All is working fine with 4K in 125% / 115% I guess… ?

[antic604]

No, nothing changed since v11.

Some elements remain blurry, there’s many glitches & artifacts if you’re using scaling other than 100% or 200%.

[ColdSteel]

Same problem here in Cubase Pro 12.0.30 and 125% on a 4K screen. The text is sharp but the graphical icons are all washed out.

[Louis_R]

HiDPI should be disabled (100%) in Windows, or some GUI elements will be rendered blurry initially, regardless of the HiDPI setting in Cubase.
This is even explained in an official Steinberg Support article.

Cubase 10: HiDPI support on Windows 10

[ColdSteel]

Thanks Louis but the article says nothing about disabling HiDPI in Windows - in fact it’s activated by default in C12. Also, this article is about Cubase 10, not Cubase 12, and AFAIK has made quite some changes in regards to HiDPI in the meantime.

[Louis_R]

To me it clearly says that enabling HiDPI in Windows makes the graphical assets to appear blurry, and sorry be that guy, but in Cubase it is disabled by default.
Cubase 10 or Cubase 12 isn’t the problem, HiDPI was added in Cubase for this above reason.
If you use Windows HiDPI at the same time with odd values, it will conflict with the Cubase HiDPI and still appear blurry.
The only way to avoid that is to set it to Application Scaling in Cubase, or if you use custom values,
set Windows HiDPI to a multiple of your monitor resolution. It is all explained in the link above !

[ColdSteel]

Hey Louis, you made me curious. So I trashed my preferences and no, HiDPI is enabled by default BUT I assume it depends on your system. When using a Full HD monitor for example, I guess it will be disabled.
However with a 4K monitor, HiDPI is enabled and in a perfect world, Cubase just needs to adapt to the Windows scaling settings (I use 125% which is a standard setting and needs to be supported). As long as that isn’t the case, something is clearly wrong here.

[Louis_R]

Really ? Even when you click Defaults in the Preferences dialog it stays enabled ?
AKAIF the defaults Preferences are the same for everyone, there is no specific defaults for when you have a 4K monitor or not… at least not that I know.

Well this is written on the support page :

Currently Cubase supports only integer monitor scaling settings from Windows, for example.:

• Monitor scaling setting of 125% displays Cubase with 100%

Nothing is wrong, it just works like this, for now.

[ColdSteel]

Yep, really. Makes sense that it gets enabled for people who need it due to their setup and disabled for those who don’t need it.
Then we all need to hope that “fow now” changes quickly because a lot of things don’t look that pretty.

[Louis_R]

Actually, some GUI elements seem not to load properly in regard to the HiDPI setting, or, are simply only existing as “low-res” files.
The following images proves it. Resolution is 1440p at +50% HiDPI.
(please watch it on a computer, not on a smartphone)

The Control Room gain controls, VU meters overlays, M-S-R-W buttons in the toolbar, some old knob models, bypass/edit/arrow buttons in the inserts, EQ overlay (numbers), and probably some others that I missed, look blurry/pixelated.

However there are some differences depending on the HiDPI setting.
If we set it to +25% instead of +50%, every toolbar icons (except for the undo/redo arrows that are still sharp), the cogwheel buttons, and the edit e buttons for channel settings, all become blurry, though they weren’t at +50% setting… How confusing is that ? Every other elements remain blurry regardless of the HiDPI setting.

So, this really proves that Cubase doesn’t properly load the right assets for the corresponding HiDPI setting !
This is then a real programming issue that originates from Cubase itself.

[Louis_R]

Anyone commenting on this ?

I’ll open a support ticket, and you guys should do the same if you want the HiDPI to get fixed as soon as possible.