# Slicer and video projector issue

**URL:** <https://discourse.slicer.org/t/slicer-and-video-projector-issue/13935>\
**Category:** Support\
**Created:** [October 8, 2020, 2:12pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/slicer-and-video-projector-issue/13935 "2020-10-08T14:12:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 10\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![PaoloZaffino](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/paolozaffino/32/81052_2.png) [@PaoloZaffino](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/PaoloZaffino)\
**Post date:** [October 8, 2020, 2:12pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/slicer-and-video-projector-issue/13935/1 "2020-10-08T14:12:59Z")

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Hi all,  
maybe it is not a proper “slicer related” question/issue, but maybe you can help me.

I connected my laptop (arch Linux/gnome) to a video projector to show something in Slicer.  
In order to make the Slicer windows more visible, I edited the resolution of the video projector.

Now, the problem is that if I connect the laptop on a second screen I see Slicer zoomed, even if it is not the video projector!  
The even stranger thing is that this happens only with my office second monitor…on my home screen this does not happen!

I tried to use another Slicer nightly version but nothing changes.  
Any tips for fixing the problem?

Thanks a lot!  
Paolo

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**Author:** ![lassoan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/lassoan/32/13_2.png) [@lassoan](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/lassoan)\
**Post date:** [October 8, 2020, 6:25pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/slicer-and-video-projector-issue/13935/2 "2020-10-08T18:25:24Z")

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Can you post a screenshot of how Slicer is zoomed in? Are the fonts larger, too, or just the application window does not fit on the screen?

How is it with latest Slicer Stable Release?

You can also adjust these environment variables to customize application scaling: [https://slicer.readthedocs.io/en/latest/developer\_guide/build\_instructions/overview.html#runtime-environment-variables](https://slicer.readthedocs.io/en/latest/developer_guide/build_instructions/overview.html#runtime-environment-variables)

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**Author:** ![lassoan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/lassoan/32/13_2.png) [@lassoan](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/lassoan)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 2020, 2:55am UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/slicer-and-video-projector-issue/13935/3 "2020-10-10T02:55:00Z")

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Does erasing Slicer.ini fix the issue?

Other users reported issues with automatic restoring of window position after disconnecting a screen. We could try to apply additional checks for window restore (see [here](https://bugreports.qt.io/browse/QTBUG-77385)), which may help.

We could also check if a specific key is held down during startup (e.g., Shift key is depressed, using `QGuiApplication::queryKeyboardModifiers()`), and if yes, then do not restore previously saved window position. Would we want this? (@pieper, @cpinter, @jcfr)

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**Author:** ![pieper](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/pieper/32/8_2.png) [@pieper](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/pieper)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 2020, 12:56pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/slicer-and-video-projector-issue/13935/4 "2020-10-10T12:56:48Z")

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Holding shift during startup to bypass previous settings sounds harmless in general and maybe super useful on special occasions.

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**Author:** ![lassoan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/lassoan/32/13_2.png) [@lassoan](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/lassoan)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 2020, 2:30pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/slicer-and-video-projector-issue/13935/5 "2020-10-10T14:30:23Z")

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Would you bypass all settings or just skip restoring the window position?

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**Author:** ![pieper](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/pieper/32/8_2.png) [@pieper](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/pieper)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 2020, 2:39pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/slicer-and-video-projector-issue/13935/6 "2020-10-10T14:39:19Z")

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It seems there could be other settings that would break things at startup, so a general way to bypass would be handy. But maybe the window position issue is so common it deserves a dedicated solution? I don’t know because this does not happen for me.

Actually wouldn’t running with the `--disable-settings --keep-temporary-settings` options fix the problem?

From `Slicer --help`

```auto
  --disable-settings Start application ignoring user settings and using new temporary settings.
  --keep-temporary-settings Indicate whether temporary settings should be maintained.

```

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![lassoan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/lassoan/32/13_2.png) [@lassoan](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/lassoan)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 2020, 2:52pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/slicer-and-video-projector-issue/13935/7 "2020-10-10T14:52:25Z")

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Yes, disable+keep settings does the same, but finding the Slicer executable, starting a terminal at that location, and copy-pasting a command there is too hard for many users.

Maybe we could add a shortcut that would launch Slicer with these options (not too hard to set it up in the Windows installer but I don’t know if it is available on Mac and Linux).

We could also provide a “Slicer maintanance tool” (maybe as a separate download), which would allow cleaning up Slicer.ini and version-specific Slicer-NNN.ini files, cleaning up Slicer installations, find/view logs, etc.

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**Author:** ![PaoloZaffino](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/paolozaffino/32/81052_2.png) [@PaoloZaffino](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/PaoloZaffino)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 2020, 3:04pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/slicer-and-video-projector-issue/13935/8 "2020-10-10T15:04:10Z")

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Thanks for the tips.  
The screen is in my office (at home with a different second screen it is ok), so I’ll be able to run the tests in the next days.  
I’ll update you asap!

Paolo

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![pieper](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/pieper/32/8_2.png) [@pieper](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/pieper)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 2020, 3:23pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/slicer-and-video-projector-issue/13935/9 "2020-10-10T15:23:02Z")

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Yes, a diagnostic tool / mode would make sense. It’s easy to bundle a shell script with linux. For mac we’d probably need a second app - instructions to open the terminal would probably be easier.

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**Author:** ![PaoloZaffino](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/paolozaffino/32/81052_2.png) [@PaoloZaffino](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/PaoloZaffino)\
**Post date:** [October 20, 2020, 11:16am UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/slicer-and-video-projector-issue/13935/10 "2020-10-20T11:16:23Z")

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Hi all,  
I ran the test, the options suggested didn’t fix the problem.

I attach a screenshot.

 ![Slicer_screenshot](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/slicer/original/3X/b/b/bb3715983a419f4de01acf22e5635f43249ed8b4.png)

Thank you.

Paolo
