Calibre GUI is very slow to update

[Katsunami]

It is the first time I noticed this, because I've just upgraded my montior from my 7 year old 19 inch Eizo S1931 (1280x1024) to a 27 inch Eizo EV2736W (2560x1440).

Previously, I would run calibre full screen; on 1280x1024, there's not really any other option. On this new display, calibre can display a lot more information, even when running in a window. This is when I noticed some lag in updating the GUI, when resizing the window. Even selecting a book has a lag of about 0.5 seconds or so.

Maybe the following has something to do with it; maybe not. I'll mention it anyway.

Due to my poor eyesight I cannot read anything when the display is set at 100%. Therefore I set the custom DPI setting at 133%, which effectively gives me a 1920x1080 working area. Thus, I use the extra resolution and monitor size for sharpness and GUI size instead of more working space, compared to a 21-24" 1920x1080 display.

The relevant specifications of this old-ish computer are:

Intel Q8400 quad-core, 2.67 GHz
Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
8GB RAM (DDR2, 4 sticks)
nVidia 560Ti 1GB
64GB SSD

Is there a way to speed up the calibre user interface? It would be nice to have, but not really important. If it's just slow to redraw because QT behaves like that at a non-standard DPI setting, then it's just the way it is. Readability is more important to e than speed.

[BetterRed]

@Katsunami - this maybe a dumb question, but can't you select 1920x1080 from the Display Resolution slider bar on Control Panel\Appearance and Personalization\Display\Screen Resolution, rather than tweaking the DPI setting to a non standard value - ie not 100, 125, 150 or 200 percent.

According to manual that res is baked in - see attachment

Not sure whether it would make any difference though

BR

[JSWolf]

Actually, if you need to drop the resolution, on a 27" monitor, try 1920x1200. You may find it better to have more vertical space then you get with 1920x1080.

[BetterRed]

I wonder if cabling makes a difference, following applies to DVI connections, not HDMI.

Eizo manual - 1920x1200 (VESA CBT RB) and 2560x1440 (VESA CBT RB) have this note referenced - "The monitor must be connected using the DD200DL signal cable (DVI dual link) provided with the product."

Doesn't say the other resolutions can't use dual DVI connects - but could be worth trying.

BR

[Katsunami]

Thanks for the suggestions.

First: lowering the resolution to 1920x1080 is not an option. I'm not going to spend the money on a 2560x1440 monitor to get as high a DPI as possible, and then make it blurry by lowering to a non-native resolution. My goal was to get a 27" monitor with a working space of (at least) 1920x1080, and also be as sharp as possible. A 25660 x 1440 monitor set to 133% achieves this. (2560 / 1.333333 = 1920, and so forth, at 108 dpi, while a normal 1920x1080 monitor as large as 27 inch would only be 81 dpi.)

Second: I am using the dual-link DVI cable that came with the monitor, and my graphics card is powerful enough to control this screen (nVidia GTX 560 Ti.)

Third: No other programs have any lag, except for LibreOffice, which is as slow as Calibre is.

Fourth: Disabling the colored row I set for "Read" books makes calibre a tad faster, but not by much.

In the end, if there is not an easy fix for this, I'll just leave it be. On this monitor, I just dock calibre to the right of the screen using Aero Snap, and then stretch it to display all my columns. After that, I normally don't resize it.

[BetterRed]

I should have made it clear that my suggestion to lower the resolution was intended to determine if it exhibited the same slowness, not as an equivalent solution. If it doesn't then that would suggest that the slowness is caused by the 133% DPI custom setting.

It might also be interesting to observe if the GPU (or CPU) has to work harder at the custom setting than at a standard setting.

If you wanted to check another program then you could try the Digikam image manager - as you can imagine it is graphics intensive. Pretty sure it uses python and qt4, it's pretty slick on my main system which is lower powered than yours. Be aware that Digikam is big - 230MB download.

BR

[AnotherCat]

In case you have not tried this:

I have not tested it as we have no Win 7 machines left here now and while it works in Win 8 I have not got the slowness problem so cannot verify that it solves that particular problem or not. The settings I mention are from Win 8 but from memory I think they are the same, or similar, as in Win 7.

Leave the monitor at its native resolution (2560x1440) and at your 133% scaling setting so that it remains as you want it for other applications.
Navigate to the folder with your Calibre shortcut in and right click the shortcut.
In Properties>Compatability check the "Run this program in compatability mode" checkbox, select your current operating system i.e. Windows 7 (we are not trying to make it compatible with another version of Windows), and tick the "Disable display scaling on high DPI settings" checkbox (I am assuming that box exists for you).

Now when you start Calibre everything else including other running applications will remain at the display's native resolution and 133% scaling. However, Calibre will still be at the native resolution but will now be scaled at 100%. Hopefully, at that the slowness problem may be resolved but the text size in Calibre now needs to be fixed so it is readable.

If the speed problem is resolved, in Calibre go to Preferences>Change Calibre Behaviour>Look & Feel and change the Interface font to the style and increased size that suits you.

Dislocating the system's display scaling from Calibre's may give you the result you want of faster refresh speed. As I said, I cannot test this, so if you try it Good Luck.

[Katsunami]

Thanks for the suggestions. When I'm home later today I'll see what I can do.

It could be that it was always this slow, but that it's now more apparent because I've got much more information on screen; I now have everything, including custom columns visible.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

Thanks for the suggestions. When I'm home later today I'll see what I can do.

It could be that it was always this slow, but that it's now more apparent because I've got much more information on screen; I now have everything, including custom columns visible.

I will soon be able to test Calibre on a setup similar to yours. I have on order (from Amazon) a new 2560x1440 resolution monitor. I am getting an ASUS PB278Q 27-Inch WQHD LED-lit Professional Graphics Monitor.

http://www.amazon.com/PB278Q-27-Inch...3973620&sr=8-1

I do have a 1600x1200 monitor and Calibre is not too slow.

[Katsunami]

To be honest, I forgot about this thread.

Today I have tested several settings regarding DPI and resolution.

It comes down to this: the more data you make calibre display, by setting the highest resolution of 2560x1440 at 100% DPI (which is a huge working space), the slower it becomes when updating the GUI during a resize. If you have coloring or other visual enhancements in your columns (which I do, marking read books red), it becomes worse.

Ah well; I'm not resizing too much anyway.

[JSWolf]

I'll keep you appraised what happens after I get my monitor and get it setup.

[Katsunami]

Nice looking monitor.

I've considered that one too, but I'm partial to Eizo... Just as I'm partial to Asus for mainboards and graphics cards, Intel for cpu's, and nVidia for gpu's. Nowadays I build a huge, high end computer, using slightly older tech (because it got updated already, with new firmware, drivers and revisions) of manufacturers I like and then I don't touch it for 5-7 years apart for some extra memory or a new graphics card.

My old monitor (the S1931) has just entered his 8th year, counting 13,000 hours. My computer just started his 7th year. It will probably be replaced at the earliest convenience.

[JSWolf]

I'm not sure if I'll want to replace my graphics card or not. I'll know once I get the new monitor. The one I have is fine for running at 1600x1200. I did look up the specs and it does say it runs at the higher resolution that the new monitor will run.

When I was looking at that Asus monitor, Amazon was the cheapest price by far. Less then $500 is a good price.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I'm not sure if I'll want to replace my graphics card or not. I'll know once I get the new monitor. The one I have is fine for running at 1600x1200. I did look up the specs and it does say it runs at the higher resolution that the new monitor will run.

The one thing you need to keep in mind, at least when using DVI, is that both the card and the cable you use support Dual Link DVI. This is required for such a high resolution.

This is a normal DVI cable:



A Dual Link cable does not have that 'hole' in the middle; it's fully covered by pins. AFAIK, DisplayPort is dual link by design. I don't know about HDMI.

[JSWolf]

I have my new monitor running at 2560x1440 at 100% size. So what is it about Calibre's interface is slow so I can try to test it?