3840 x 2160

[mark.martin.se]

Hi,

is Autodesk going to adopt AutoCAD Ribbons and Menus for UHD Monitors any time soon? I've been using a 28" 4K monitor for a while and have no problems with Microsoft office 2013 UI, but AutoCAD doesn't "scale" well. Windows 7 scaling is set to 135% DPI. Would an upgrade to Windows 8.1 make any change in this matter?

Regards!

Any feedback from other users would be highly appreciated!

[nestly2]

As silly as it sounds, Autodesk does not announce future plans or features, and anyone that's in a position to know is bound by contract not to reveal those plans either. 

I have no such knowledge, but I would have to think it's a high priority as not offering support is going to have an adverse affect on profitability... which is the same reason I expect that they won't offer support for previous versions... they'll likely use it as selling feature to entice users to upgrade to the most recent version.

[braudpat]

Hello

They are some strange problems with ACAD 201X when the horizontal resolution is more than about 3000 pixels !

So please try to use something like 2560x1440 / 2560x1600 or something not too far ...

If you set Windows to use 125% or 150% interface scaling , you will have to face to some others problems with ACAD 201X :

... look at the image ...

- text outside from dialog boxes

- curious justification

- etc

http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/autocad-2013-2014-2015/4k-monitor-display-issues/td-p/5081746

[mark.martin.se]

Hi,

working with 135% dpi scale in AutoCAD is a little bit annoying but doable. At least it has ribbons that somehow look enlarged (scaled) despite non fitting text description in all menus. 150% dpi scale is a disaster!!!

The main problem is with old icon based user interface in some other Autodesk tools I'm unfortunately using.

It's sad that software adaptation to "new" technologies is so slow, it used to be vise versa two decades ago. UHD Monitors have been around for a while now and based on the droping prices I've seen on web shops 4K is definitely going to be a standard hardware on every desk. Anyway, who's buying new HD monitors nowadays!!!

Just hope that Autodesk will catch up soon, if not with a service pack, than with the next 2016 version.

Would be nice to have a Autodesk official comment on this topic!

Regards!

[mark.martin.se]

Hi Braudat,

.....downgrading resolution below 3000 (I tried 2560x1440) really resolves the problem ("weird"???), but then the image quality on a brand new UHD is way below native 1920x1080 monitors. 

Regards!

[dgorsman]

"Going to be on everyones desk" - there's the key.  Everybody has monitors already.  Most companies have gotten around to replacing the SD monitors with HD ones.  They aren't going to turn around and drop a lot of money on new technology which doesn't actually do anything.  As for AutoDesks part, we can't blame them for not jumping feet-first into every new technology trend.  Not everything is successful - how many people ended up with the large laser disc movie systems?  Or HD-DVD hardware instead of BluRay?  Or (really old here) BETAMAX instead of VHS?  Whos to say that 4K/UHD won't be eclipsed in a couple of years by something else?

[nestly2]

---

dgorsman wrote:

 As for AutoDesks part, we can't blame them for not jumping feet-first into every new technology trend. 

---

The quest for better display resolution isn't a "trend" it's going to exist as long as digital media exists. It's not about the total resolution anyway, it's about whether the program's features scale properly to the OS settings.  Autodesk doesn't necessarily have to predict future technogies, but they had better keep up the the Operating systems that most of their software runs under.

[dgorsman]

If the 4K/UHD display format is mainstream right now, it was bleeding edge when the 2015 release was under development (I should ask - how many 4K/UHD data sources are there?).  Once there is a noticeable market presence there will be support, and not before.

[mark.martin.se]

Hi,

......sooner or later everyone will catch up to 4K or whatever resolution comes next. I just wonder why MS Office 2013 (that was developed much earlier than cad 2015) scales like a charm and none of Autodesk products I'm using don't....

Personally I don't have such a big problem with cad scaling on a 28" monitor, but if I've had a high end 17" (19") laptop, it would've been really useless.

Regards!

[nestly2]

Again, it's not really a problem caused by the increase in display resolution/technology,  The problem is because AutoCAD (Autodesk) features do not scale uniformly according to the OS settings. I have similar problems running AutoCAD 2015 on a 4year old laptop using 1920x1200.

[detroit808]

Everyone that has a monitor is using it because the market doesn't provide the type of monitor that they really desire, thus being a temporary solution. I'm using a 30" 2560x1600 only because there isn't a 40" 4096x2160@120hz, and when such monitor does arrive on the market, there's nothing stopping me from buying one and bringing it in to use at work. You'd have to be joking if you accept a 27" 2560x1440 as a suitable monitor for this type of work, haha way too small.

[Backnblack]

I'd rather see Autocad be able to truly use multi-core processors before any improvments on using HD displays.

[nestly2]

Multi-core support has been on the wishlist as long as multi-cores have been available.  It's a legitimate request, but if Autodesk were to implent wishes in the order they're added, we'll still be waiting for 4K support in 2024 ...multicore support too 🙂

[braudpat]

Hello from France

For me support 4K display and other very high definition is not a priority !

A 27/28/30" display with 2560*1600 / 2560*1440 is quite enough ...

A BETTER support (ACAD, Revit, Inventor) for multi-Core is MY priority !

An other personal prioriry, is a better ACAD , so waiting for ACAD 2016 ...

Because I am running as often as possible 2012 or 2014 which are more reliable (compared to the 2015/2013) ...

On my current PC, I have :

- MAP 2010/2011/2012/2013/2014/2015

- ACAD 2012/2013/2014/2015

- CIVIL 2012/2013/2014

- MEP 2013

- ACAD LT 2013

- Many others Autodesk software

My favorites: MAP 2012/2014 , ACAD 2012/2014 ...

[detroit808]

I would also agree that AutoCAD needs to be updated to provide significantly better performance, whether that can be done by making use of multi cores remains a mystery. However, the GPU(s) should not be sitting idle doing nothing as is the case now, AutoCAD desperately needs to make full use of any and all GPU resources available. The CPU has stagnated for 10 years in terms of single thread performance, (the measure by which AutoCAD is governed) as Intel focus purely on more cores and lower power. The GPU on the other hand has much more room for performance improvements considering the dies are still tapped out on the 28nm node, besides the GPU is designed for the workload of AutoCAD 3D not the CPU.

The problem for us is that Autodesk waste too much time by making stupid alterations to the software such as changing GUI fonts, themes, removal of text buttons etc which in themselves impede performance rather than rolling up their sleeves and working on the core graphics pipeline to improve the use-ablity of the software. The performance in 3D is atrocious and it's probably the most buggy, unreliable software I think I've ever used and after 30 years of development i'd expect a great deal more. Example, in AutoCAD 2014 with a 1MB 3D drawing containing 2000+ blocks displaying an X-Ray visual style having textures, materials and lighting turned off, or Realistic in model space, it's almost impossible to select all the blocks in order to mirror or rotate/copy. Even by dragging the cursor over less than 1 quarter of the objects results in AC stalling for over 1 minute and then taking a further 5 or so minutes to select the rest of the objects while the cursor and the application are completely unresponsive to the point that it appears the app has crashed. Meanwhile, a single core of the fastest single threaded CPU on the market is pegged at 100% while the high end GPU's are sitting around doing nothing other than looking pretty. The only time I see GPU activity is when selection effect is on and the cursor moves over objects in model space, (which is useless) not actually moving, rotating or orbiting objects as it should be doing.

The mentality around here however, suggests we aren't supposed to use AutoCAD for 3D. The lack of ambition and willingness to accept mediocracy amazes me.

[chadwilliamson1]

I just upgraded my dual 24" monitors to a single 4k 50".  AutoCAD is not happy.  The ribbons are completely gone, but the main problem is problems in the workspace. The crosshairs jump around while doing commands or zooming.  It's basically unusable at this point.  I will need to run a second monitor now that can run at 1920 just for CAD.

[detroit808]

For the ribbon problem, try changing the workspace to '3D Modelling' then back to the normal workspace you use.

Crosshairs jumping around, Snap to Grid isn't on is it? If it isn't snap it is likely the display (which probably a TV not a computer monitor) is running at refresh rate of 30hz instead of 60hz, check your video card settings to confirm this. I'm guessing it's a TV and connected via HDMI 1.4 and if the case then it likely isn't able to do 60hz, only HDMI 2.0 can do 60hz and monitors with this won't be out until next year. If you had a proper computer monitor it will have DisplayPort 1.2 connectivity and this allows 60hz refresh rate.

Maybe you jumped the gun, the first in the 4k large computer monitor display class only became available the yesterday, that being the Philips BDM4065UC.

http://hexus.net/tech/news/displays/77973-40-inch-philips-brilliance-4k-monitor-launched-549/

[chadwilliamson1]

Thanks for the suggestion.  I will at least try the workspace suggestion.

As for the "jumping around"... this is not a refresh rate problem.  I constantly use the wheel to zoom and pan, as I'm sure most do.  When zooming, the cursor jumps to another position and the center point of my zoom is wrong.  It is a 50" 4k TV via HDMI indeed.  It is most likely only seeing 30hz due to the HDMI bandwidth limitation for 4k, but that is defintely not the issue here.

There are numerous other issues that AutoCAD is confused on with this scenario, but I won't go into them here.  I have since realized that it has more to do with the DPI of text size as well.  If I set windows to 1920x1200 and 100% default DPI, AutoCAD behaves nicely.  I even added a second monitor (24" 1920) and tried to get AutoCAD to work on it, but no dice.

I'm a software engineer now (ex drafter) so AutoCAD is a hobby for land development and circuit board design, but still really irritating!!

[pendean]

AutoCAD 2015 and lower are currently not able to handle higher res of these newer monitors: you found the only workaround, knock it down to "HD" res.
Maybe AutoCAD 2016?

[chadwilliamson1]

Just wanted to let anyone know that sees this thread, I solved my problem with the following:

You can find all the application compatibility flags at the following location in the registry: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AppCompatFlags\Layers
In that key, create a String entry with:
Name = The full path to the .exe of your application
Type = String (REG_SZ)
Data = HIGHDPIAWARE

Now no floating items, zoom/crosshairs work correctly... everything works perfectly on my 50" 3840x2160 screen.  Hope this is of help to someone.

This is the same as checking "Disable display scaling on high DPI settings" in the Compatibility tab of properties (by right clicking on an exe)... but for 64 bit applications this option is greyed out, but still works if you do it in the registry as I did.