Hello Dorico team,
I hope you are all doing well!
I would like to focus your attention on how the Plugins are rendered in the Plugin container
in HiDPI regime (in my case 125%).
I’m giving examples with the BBC SO Pro Player, where the problem is heavily noticeable. Firstly I was thinking this could be a Spitfire Audio Player issue, but it isn’t.
In Cubase the Plugin looks just fine. The letters are clearly readable, while hosted in Dorico the letters look very blurry and uncomfortable for reading.
Here are few screenshots. Two from Cubase and two from Dorico: From Cubase:
@dspreadbury hello,
I hope you are doing well!
No problem. I believe that you both will be able to find out where the problem is!
Thank you for the replay!
I also was able to check how this Spitfire Audi Plugin looks in Studio One 5.2 (the very same HiDPI settings) and it’s exactly the same as in Cubase Pro.
@Ulf hello,
Thank you very much for the reply!
Well, that’s very strange… on your screen they both look the same, and both look blurry.
On my screen Dell P2416D (QuadHD) 23,8" and NVidia Quadro 4000 card, 2GB the Spitfire BBC SO Player looks different. In Cubase it looks clear, as it should be, but in Dorico it’s blurry, a bit darker and all text objects are not easily readable.
I have no idea what could lead to this issue?!
Hi Thurisaz,
the images you posted have not the same size and not the same format (png and jpeg).,
so for a real comparison, can you please run Cubase and Dorico in parallel and bring the BBCSOs next to each other on the screen (just like I did) and then take a screenshot? Thank you very much.
The left one is the plugin in Dorico, the right in Cubase.
You would notice how clear the text objects look in Cubase and that they look a bit blurry in Dorico.
I hope now everything is more clear!
I suppose it’s something related with brightness, or contrast. To me, the plugin hosted in Dorico looks between 2 - 3 nuances darker than in Cubase (only the keyboard, the logo of BBC and the controller sliders look the same. When it comes to text objects and articulations, they look very different from each other)
Hi Thurisaz,
okay, I see. It must have something to do with scaling. I “blew up” your picture and copied two areas next to each other for true comparison. There you can see that the same text in Dorico is a few pixels shorter than in Cubase.
Therefore, sure it will look different if you “squeeze” the same text into fewer pixels, the render algorithm calculates differently and also consequently the output to the screen looks different.
On the other hand, what puzzles me very much, I did the same with my own screenshot and there the very same text is identical in length and appearance in both, Dorico and Cubase.
Hi @Ulf,
How are you doing?
I’m using the latest update of Cubase Pro 11.0.20. But I did the same comparison test with Studio One 5.2 Professional (Demo) and Dorico, the result is exactly the same.
Here is the screenshot. On the left is the BBC Player hosted in Dorico, on the right in Studio One:
The plugin looks identically in both Cubase and Studio One, but differently in Dorico.
No matter if I resize the plugin, or not in bot Cubase and Studio One they look fine and easily readable, the situation in Dorico is the same, always looks blurry and hardly readable.
Hm, strange. I need to confirm with my engineers, maybe Dorico gives less space to draw for the plug-ins and thus they need to squeeze themselves into some few pixels less space.d
@Ulf,
You could do the same test on various monitors at various DPI settings.
For example on QuadHD (2560x1440p), 4K and 5K monitors (I suppose you are using FullHD monitor). Check how it behaves at 125%, 150% and 200% DPI.
Hi @Ulf ,
I’m glad that you were able to find the cause of the problem so fast!
Bravo to you and your team!
Seems that the next generation of the Audio Engine will be far more powerful than the current.
By the way, Ulf, who is responsible for the Dorico’s mixer? Many improvements are needed there, too. Would be nice if we have at least Cubase-like Control Room where we can add plugins like Sonarwoks SoundID or Reference, which are used just for monitoring but would not affect the exported files. The Control Room isn’t important for the people in the Engraving business and those who are just scoring for bands and orchestras, but is very important for the people who are working on end products, or demos with high quality virtual instruments.
Thank you once again for the good work, Ulf!
Dorico’s Mixer is entirely implemented within Dorico, though of course it communicates with the audio engine. We know it is in need of some love and attention, and like every part of the application, it will receive it in its turn.
