I recently bought a new Laptop with Windows 8.1 pre-installed, along with a high DPI (1920×1080) 15.6″ screen.
Most of the system windows (like Windows Explorer) are clear and sharp. However, some (not all) applications I have installed contain blurry text within the application window, even though the window title is clear and sharp.
Some examples of this problem are: Notepad++, WinMerge, Irfanview, Stickies, KeePass and several Windows apps such as Administrative Tools.
After some research, I found that the issue has to do with DPI scaling. It seems that some application developers are careful to consider this during development and others are not. This is why Speccy and EditePad Lite work fine.
I found two ways to fix the problem:
Fix #1: This fix applies to an individual application [but is of no help for the Windows tools (i.e. no Compatibility tab)]
For any program that gives you blurry font, use the following steps:
1. Right-click on the program’s icon -> Properties -> Compatibility -> check “Disable display scaling on high DPI settings”.
2. Close the program (if open) and restart.
This fix worked for each of my installed applications.
Fix #2: A better Global fix is a bit obscure but completely effective.
1. Open the “Display” settings page by selecting the “Personalize” option from Desktop context menu and then click on the “Display” link at the bottom of the left-sidebar.
2. Now check the box “Let me choose one scaling level for all my displays” and apply the change.
3. Restart your system and the problem will be fixed.
This fix corrects all the application windows AND all the Windows Administrative tools as well.
Both of these fixes can be easily reversed in the future if needed.
I hope this is useful to other Loungers.
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