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I have a 17" laptop with 1600x900 resolution, but it's not enough to open windows side by side. I'm wondering if i could zoom out (or any other solution) windows (or the whole desktop). Is there a solution on xserver or on the WM to make this happen?

By the way, compiz zoom out plugin don't let you to zoom out more than 1:1 which is not enough, I want to zoom out more the same way as spreading all windows with unity-tweak-tool.

Rmano
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user212807
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2 Answers2

23

Disclaimer: I do not know if it works for all graphic drivers. Intel driver here, in 13.04.

First of all get the normal screen you have active: 

xrandr --current

My output is:

Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 1024 x 600, maximum 32767 x 32767
LVDS1 connected 1024x600+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 220mm x 129mm
   1024x600       60.0*+   65.0  
   800x600        60.3     56.2  
   640x480        59.9  
VGA1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)

Ok, it is LVDS1. Now for example to zoom out at half linear dimension:

xrandr --output LVDS1 --scale 2x2

The whole screen should zoom out. Now I have: 

(0)asus-romano:~/research/reviews% xrandr --current
Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 2048 x 1200, maximum 32767 x 32767
LVDS1 connected 2048x1200+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 220mm x 129mm
   1024x600       60.0*+   65.0  
   800x600        60.3     56.2  
   640x480        59.9  
VGA1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)

So the systems thinks it has a 2048x1200 screen. Very useful for crappy programs that thinks you have a gazillion pixel space and do not offer scrollbars in some option windows...

To go back: 

xrandr --output LVDS1 --scale 1x1

(You can use 1.5x1.5, too). Look at man xrandr for a lot of fancy things.

Oops. There seem to be a bug in which the extended video zone is not reachable: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xorg-server/+bug/883319 and upstream https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=39949

A workaround for this is to specify the desired larger area as a --panning option, e.g.:

 xrandr --output LVDS1 --scale 2x2 --panning 2048x1200

It will not cause any actual panning, since the whole large area fits on the screen due to the scaling.

Zoltan
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Rmano
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  • it almost works OK, but i need to move the cursor around.i know that my screen specification can't do more than that. but, I'm searching for a solution to bypass them by removing some pixels from the frame the same way when zooming out photos so i can see the whole desktop on my screen – user212807 Dec 12 '13 at 23:54
  • Yep --- I see. The zone where the mouse can go is limited to the original desktop (strange). Maybe is time for another question... – Rmano Dec 13 '13 at 00:53
  • OK --- seems a bug. I linked the two most probable culprits. – Rmano Dec 13 '13 at 01:04
  • "First of all get the normal screen you have active: " ­— uh, how? :-) – Christopher Done Apr 03 '14 at 17:39
  • @ChristopherDone: ok, missing the xrandr line. – Rmano Apr 03 '14 at 17:46
  • I believe xrandr is using bilinear scaleing as default. Can someone comfirm? – lindhe Aug 16 '15 at 16:03
  • I do not know why I can't edit this answer. Anyway ---- there is a workaround for the bug in https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xorg-server/+bug/883319/comments/121 – Rmano Oct 29 '15 at 15:31
  • xrandr --output LVDS1 --scale 2x2 The whole screen should zoom out. - FWIW, for me, on Ubuntu 18.04.4 running Cinnamon with NVIDIA 430.50 drivers, and a monitor attached via HDMI, it doesn't. The framebuffer gets 4x bigger, but the monitor only shows the top left quarter. – Tom Anderson Mar 19 '20 at 18:54
0

There is an option of scaling out the desktop upto 1:4 and scaling in upto 1:0.5. This option is available in System settings -> Display. However, this is not in a very good shape at the moment, have seen issues where it breaks unity.

So this is recommended only if its absolutely necessary and other solutions don't work out.

Community
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jobin
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