High-DPI monitors are great for their sharpness and clarity but can cause certain software applications to display interface elements too small, making them hard to navigate. If you’re a molecular modeler using SAMSON on a high-DPI monitor and finding its icons too small to work with, don’t worry — there’s a fix! In just a few steps, you can adjust SAMSON’s settings on Windows to get a much better visual experience.
Adjust SAMSON’s Display Settings in Windows
The compatibility settings in Windows allow adjustments for high-DPI scaling. Follow these steps to make SAMSON display properly:
- Access the SAMSON program’s properties: Locate the SAMSON executable file on your computer. Right-click on it and select “Properties.”
- Go to the Compatibility tab: In the Properties window, navigate to the Compatibility tab.
- Change DPI settings: Under the Compatibility tab, click on Change high DPI settings. A new window will appear.
- Enable scaling override: In the “High DPI scaling override” section, check the box next to Override high DPI scaling behavior. Then, from the dropdown menu, select System as the scaling performed by.
- Apply changes: Click “OK” in the DPI settings window and then “Apply” in the Properties window to save your adjustments.
After doing this, restart SAMSON if it was already running. You should notice that the icons and interface elements are now appropriately scaled and easier to interact with.
Visual Examples
Below are visual guides to help you through the process:
Step 1: Open the Properties window and navigate to the Compatibility tab:
Step 2: Change the DPI settings by overriding scaling behavior:
Why Is This Necessary?
High-DPI monitors render elements at a higher resolution, which often makes interface components of software appear smaller. Without high-DPI awareness or proper settings, software can become unintuitive to use. By overriding scaling behavior, Windows renders SAMSON with system-level scaling, ensuring a better and more user-friendly visual experience.
What If You Still Have Issues?
If these steps don’t resolve your issue, there may be other underlying causes concerning your display configuration or system setup. Make sure your monitor resolution and scaling settings in the Windows Display settings are configured correctly. Otherwise, the SAMSON Connect Forum is a great resource for troubleshooting and getting help from the community: SAMSON Connect Forum.
To learn more and explore additional troubleshooting steps for SAMSON, visit the full SAMSON Troubleshooting page.
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. Get SAMSON at SAMSON Connect.