Search code examples
gnomegnome-3hidpi

What exactly is modified by setting the GNOME display scale through GUI?

After setting the display scale to 200% through "GNOME Settings" (gnome-control-center display), I check scaling-factor through the command line:

$ gsettings get org.gnome.desktop.interface scaling-factor
uint32 1

As you can see, the scaling-factor is still 1 (100%). So what exactly is modified by setting the GNOME display scale through GUI?

Solution

  • Modifying the scaling factor through the UI modifies the file ~/.config/monitors.xml, and sets the value of the tag <scale></scale> to the appropriate number amount for all active monitors.

    As to what that does, Garet's answer here describes it pretty well.

    GNOME uses xrandr to modify display settings on the fly using the content from the ~/.config/monitors.xml file. Once the display setting is changed, I believe GNOME restarts the display manager to apply the new settings.