High DPI + Windows Store version = slow?

Hello,

I'm a Windows Store purchaser and user here. I noticed that the last updates (10/14 and 10/15), resulted in huge slowdowns in pen movement. The "official" fps count was about the same, with a familiar range, but the actual usage was very slow. Drawing smooth curved lines, even very slowly, is now impossible. I've tried this with my Wacom stylus and Windows Ink/Surface pen. I've tried this with lite and lite+ mode, too. Identical problem.

I suspect this has to do with high DPI being enabled, but I'm running an Intel HD 620, so that's no good. If the problem is high DPI, naturally I'd like to turn it off, but that doesn't appear possible in the Windows Store version of the settings.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you!

Andrew
Surface Pro (2017) i5/4GB
Expresii (Windows Store 2018/10/15)

HD 620 indeed could be slow for high DPI - especially when there's not enough RAM dedicated to GPU.

We have provided a way to turn off high DPI using Window's own system override in our blog entry about high DPI:
http://www.expresii.com/blog/high-dpi-support-rolling-out

Please try that and let us know if it's really high-DPI slowing down. Thanks!

Thank you for your quick reply!

There is a very noticeable difference in speed from a few weeks ago, making Expresii difficult to use. I tried to the System Override route before - it seems that it is not available for Windows Store apps.

From the Windows Central article: "The new DPI scaling settings are only available for traditional desktop (GDI-based) apps. Windows Store apps cannot be configured with these options because they're already optimized for high pixel density displays." So it seems Windows just forces high DPI for Store apps.

I tried to run the app as an administrator but it didn't change anything.

Screenshot:

Is there any way to change my license to the non-Store version? Perhaps that will help.

I'm sorry I wasn't aware that MS doesn't allow Store apps to have high-DPI override. Sure, I will give you a Desktop version license if you have purchased the Store version. Contact us at support@expresii.com privately please. And before you getting the license, you can already test if the override gets you back the speed by running the Desktop version without a license: http://expresii.atspace.cc/files/rdtr/Expresii_Setup.zip

I'll try to contact MS to let them know there's still some cases where the override is needed for Store apps.

I went back to the desktop version and I was able to make the changes you suggested. Yes, turning off high DPI appears to make a very big difference in performance. So I guess I'll stick to the desktop version for now.

Thank you for being flexible about the license and for always being a responsive dev. I'll contact you shortly.

Andrew

Thanks for confirming. I've also posted in Microsoft's online community and hopefully someone will do something.

Hi. Is there an update on the Store version supporting the High DPI override? I recently purchased the Store version and am using Expresii on a Surface Book 2 and the slow performance makes the app unusable.

Thanks in advance.

MS doesn't have any response yet:
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/store-app-high-dpi-override/65ea15bb-2e48-4352-bf21-d6935e06a677

So you must be using the lowest model of Surface Book 2, which doesn't have a discrete graphics card. Otherwise, you should be running Expresii fast enough.
Anyway, I'll give you a Desktop version license so that you can use Exprseii with DPI System Override. Please email to support@expresii.com with screenshots of your Store purchase. Thanks!

Thanks for your update. I actually have a higher level Surface Book 2, which includes the GTX 1060 when docked. I'm not sure why the Expresii system info doesn't show that in the GPU, however. I've also set Expresii to use Game Mode to force it to use the GTX 1060. It's not bad when the canvas is relatively small, but if I attempt to use a larger canvas or make it full screen, it slows to a crawl.

Expresii x32s [Microsoft Store Version] (v.2018.10.15) - 2018.11.28 8:38:02 PM started
OS: Windows 10 Pro (10.0)
CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8650U CPU @ 1.90GHz
Mem Free/Total: 10.3 GB / 16.3 GB
Max Touch Count: 10
GPU: Intel(R) UHD Graphics 620; GL 4.5.0 - Build 24.20.100.6136
Max Texture Size: 16384 Max Output Size: 12288
Screen resolution: 3240 x 2160 (DPI Scale 200%)
Stylus: Windows Ink, Windows Pointer Emulation v1.1 (p:1023)
Local IP: 192.168.1.82

I'll send an email to your support team. Thanks, again.

For the record, already handled your support request.
Regarding GPU, you need to go to Nvidia's Optimus Control Panel to set the GPU usage.
Please see our support page for screenshot of using Discrete GPU. http://www.expresii.com/support.html

Hi there, I have the same problem as the person above, no matter what I do (change the Nvdia settings, Overide high dpi etc, Expresii is still unusable as its very slow, both with Wacom and windows ink. even using the mouse is the same.

Here are my specs.

Expresii x64 (v.2018.11.12) - 2018.12.11 8:57:29 PM started
UserType = 0
OS: Windows 10 Pro (10.0)
CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8650U CPU @ 1.90GHz
Mem Free/Total: 12.2 GB / 16.3 GB
Max Touch Count: 10
GPU: GeForce GTX 1060/PCIe/SSE2; GL 4.6.0 NVIDIA 397.64
Max Texture Size: 32768   Max Output Size: 12288
GPU Mem Free/Total: 5.90 GB / 6.00 GB
Screen resolution: 1620 x 1080 (DPI Scale 100%)

Andy, I'm on a desktop with GTX 1060, and Expresii runs very smoothly here. Although I don't have a Surface Book 2 with me to verify, it's really strange that Expresii runs very slowly on your system even when using 1060 GPU.

I'd recommend you try running some GPU benchmark like Furmark:
https://geeks3d.com/furmark/
and compare yours with others:
https://www.geeks3d.com/20120413/furmark-opengl-benchmark-scores-comparative-charts/

If it's slow on the benchmark, then it means there's something wrong with your system, rather than Expresii.

For the record, Andy's case is fixed by checking the "run this program in win8 compatible" box in Properties. What is Microsoft doing??!