RDP display issues when using scaled resolutions
Hi all.
In RDM Mac, I'm having trouble getting a good display quality in an RDP session when using a scaled resolution. I have twin 4k monitors and am using the scaling options on macOS, 1 below full res to make things more readable. When I have this option set though, the quality inside RDP session gets worse when using RDM. It seems to not be passing the setting through to the server.
If I use the MS Remote Desktop client, then it handles it properly and the text inside of the RDP session is much better.
I'm using RDM 2022.3.8.0
In the global preferences under Types -> RDP, I have the following settings:
Optimise for Retina Displays: Yes
Rendering Engine: Metal
And under the session settings, RDP -> Display, I have:
Remote Desktop Size: Default
Screen Sizing Mode: Default
Optimise for Retina displays: Default
Desktop Scaling Level: 100%
Device Scaling Level: 100%
Am I missing a setting that will make it work like the MS client does?
When using the MS client, if I have one of my monitors at full res (More Space) and the other one at 1 below that, then when I move the session between monitors it adjusts the setting inside the session (with a window resize to trigger it) and so it looks good on both displays. However RDM doesn't seem to be doing this.
Any help appreciated. Thanks!
All Comments (2)
Hi,
Using the "Optimize for Retina Display" option enabled actually does two things.
- Without the option enabled, we would usually set the resolution of a session with the resolution advertised to us by the OS (i.e. with the scaling applied), so, on a 3840 × 2160 screen with a scaling of 200% (the default in macOS usually), we would set the resolution of the session to the "resolved" resolution, that is 1920x1080. With the option enabled, it sets the resolution of the session to the actual native resolution without scaling being applied, so, on a 3840 × 2160 screen, at full screen, the session would be given a resolution of 3840 × 2160.
- Now, if we only did the previous step, the resolution would be high (as high as the native resolution), but the UI components would be very small and difficult to look at and use. Therefore, this is where we apply the scaling setting. We take the scaling advertised to us by the OS (usually 200% for 3840 × 2160 or, in the case of my MacBook, 3072 × 1920) and set it to the RDP session.
Now, those two things are done at the launch of the session. We do not adjust this if the session is shifted from one screen to another, so, as you've noted, you won't get a consistent experience if you switch your session between context like this. To be frank with you, I don't even know if it's possible for us to support this (we use FreeRDP). We'll need to investigate and see.
The TLDR is, it's not supported for the scaling of an RDP entry to dynamically change while a session is already launched.
As for your first point. I'm not sure to understand, outside of the issue on switching between screen, you're having bad image quality with the scaling feature?
Best regards,
Xavier Fortin
Hi,
A new version of RDM (2022.3.14.0) is now available and should support dynamic scaling adjustment, so long as the "Dynamic Resolution" display resizing mode is selected.
Best regards,
Xavier Fortin