Beta display size issues on MacBook Retina with dual screen

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kubark42
Posts: 15
Joined: 10 Dec 2014, 18:34

Beta display size issues on MacBook Retina with dual screen

Post by kubark42 »

I have a MacBook Retina. When I run the beta on the laptop screen, it looks fine. When I run it on the external monitor, the text and model browser balloon. They look to double in size.* The toolbar elements stay the same size, so it's likely linked to V-REP and not Qt.

If I had to guess, I would say that V-REP is computing image size by looking at absolute monitor resolution, and not px/cm. My MacBook has a 15" with 2880 x 1800 pixels, whereas my 29" external screen only has 2560 x 1080 pixels.

*I would upload images here, but the forum doesn't seem to support it. Or am I missing something?

coppelia
Site Admin
Posts: 10339
Joined: 14 Dec 2012, 00:25

Re: Beta display size issues on MacBook Retina with dual scr

Post by coppelia »

Hello,

yes, this configuration is not yet supported, since you would have to switch modes on-the-fly (e.g. when dragging the V-REP window from one display to the other).
Oh, and the best to upload images or other content would be to use a service such as dropbox or similar.

Cheers

kubark42
Posts: 15
Joined: 10 Dec 2014, 18:34

Re: Beta display size issues on MacBook Retina with dual scr

Post by kubark42 »

Thanks for the response! Some additional info that might be helpful: this problem arises when I start V-REP on the external monitor, it's not just related to moving it from the retina to the external monitor.

The font problem can be managed, but can the library toolbar be scaled as well? For me, the beta isn't as usable as the current release because of this issue.

coppelia
Site Admin
Posts: 10339
Joined: 14 Dec 2012, 00:25

Re: Beta display size issues on MacBook Retina with dual scr

Post by coppelia »

you can force a specific behaviour with the variable highResDisplay in file system/usrset.txt. Set it to 0 for the same behaviour as with V-REP 3.1.3 and previous versions.

Cheers

kubark42
Posts: 15
Joined: 10 Dec 2014, 18:34

Re: Beta display size issues on MacBook Retina with dual scr

Post by kubark42 »

Brilliant! I'll give it a try next week at work.

ahundt
Posts: 112
Joined: 29 Jan 2015, 04:21

Re: Beta display size issues on MacBook Retina with dual scr

Post by ahundt »

I'm continuing to have similar problems. I tried to give a presentation that included a demo with V-REP. I have a retina display and the external projector was low resolution at 800x600. I had to move the window between screens and I believe due to this display issue V-Rep crashed after a few seconds. Due to this issue I aborted the demo and moved on. I couldn't repeat the problem on the laptop alone, only when the display was attached.

Additionally, I'm not sure V-REP has really been tested at 800x600 resolution because the "play" and "stop" buttons disappear, which increases the number of steps and complexity of showing a simulation demonstration. I currently don't know how to find the buttons once they disappear, so I moved the screen between the retina and presented resolutions.

I've been happy with V-REP overall and said so during the presentation despite the technical glitch. Nonetheless, I don't think these technical problems during the presentation gave my audience a very flattering opinion of V-REP's quality and stability. The crashing issue may have an outsized impact compared to other bugs since I suspect it is fairly common for users to have retina display MacBooks and show presentations/demos.

Eric
Posts: 186
Joined: 11 Feb 2013, 16:39

Re: Beta display size issues on MacBook Retina with dual scr

Post by Eric »

just for info:

ctrl-space will run/stop the simulation

Also, when in low resolution, when the run button disappear, there is a small arrow on the right that when you click on, make appearing a line where the "hidden" buttons will be. If the small arrow does not appear that s probably due to QT.

Cheers

Eric

coppelia
Site Admin
Posts: 10339
Joined: 14 Dec 2012, 00:25

Re: Beta display size issues on MacBook Retina with dual scr

Post by coppelia »

Hello,

yes, this is still an issue if you move the V-REP window from a retina to a non-retina display.
In that case you could temporarily disable retina mode by adjusting the variable highResDisplay in file system/usrset.txt.

As Eric mentions, you can also start/stop a simulation with ctrl-space. Additionally, you can start the Add-on addOnScriptDemo, which will add auxiliary buttons into the scene to start/pause/stop a simulation.

We'll have to look into that dual-screen issue.

Cheers

ahundt
Posts: 112
Joined: 29 Jan 2015, 04:21

Re: Beta display size issues on MacBook Retina with dual scr

Post by ahundt »

Thanks! I have another presentation tomorrow so I'll give these a try.

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