For month I’ve been trying to get this to work and I finally found a solution, which is a lot easier than I initially thought it would be.
Problem: If you want to connect remotely to a Linux desktop (running thinlinc server) via thinlinc client, it has often been impossible to get the remote desktop working at the native resolution of a 4K display (3840×2160). In my case the highest possible resolution to choose from in the remote systems’ display settings was 1920×1080, resulting in a blurred linux desktop. While thinlinc still offered a superior remote desktop experience to all tools tested, the blurred display kept bugging me. My aim was to get the sharpest and most responsive Cendio ThinLinc sessions on high-resolution displays possible.
NB. The following workaround also helped me solve display resolution problems with other remote desktop clients (e.g. NoMachine).
Solution on Windows 11 and macOS with 4K external display and Mac retina display
(might also work on other high-resolution displays)
- jump to macOS display settings
Step 1 – Set display scaling of the display(s) you want to use for your remote connection to 100% prior to initiating the remote connection
On Windows:
Right-click on Windows-Desktop and choose: “Display settings”. Scroll down to scaling and make sure that your system does not use “custom scaling”. Choose 100% from the drop-down menu. Alternatively, you can navigate to Windows Settings > System > Display settings to find the same menu.
(Screenshots are from a German version of Windows 11)
![](https://i0.wp.com/langui.ch/wp/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/image-1024x892.png?resize=625%2C544&ssl=1)
NB: If you are using more than one display, make sure to adjust scaling to 100% on all screens you intend to use for your remote connection. Also make sure that there is no “custom scaling” enabled.
On macOS:
On macOS, display scaling can be set under: System Preferences/Displays:
Choose the setting labelled “More Space” for native retina display’s resolution.
![](https://i0.wp.com/langui.ch/wp/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/image-4-1024x909.png?resize=625%2C555&ssl=1)
NB: If you are using more than one display, make sure to adjust scaling to 100% on all screens you intend to use for your remote connection.
Step 2 – Now, start thinlinc client and connect to your remote linux desktop:
(Don’t be discouraged by the tiny icons and font size, you can switch back to your normal scaling as soon as your thinlinc session is over.)
![](https://i0.wp.com/langui.ch/wp/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/image-1.png?resize=625%2C564&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/langui.ch/wp/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/image-2.png?resize=494%2C303&ssl=1)
Step 3 – On the remote system, you now have the opportunity to choose your native display resolution and adjust scaling to a more convenient factor:
![](https://i0.wp.com/langui.ch/wp/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/image-3-1024x601.png?resize=625%2C367&ssl=1)
Related external posts:
- Cendio Thinlinc Community forum: https://community.thinlinc.com/t/match-resolution-to-client-so-there-s-no-scaling/1038
- TigerVNC github: https://github.com/TigerVNC/tigervnc/issues/878
- NoMachine Forum – Lower-res remote down-scaling for Retina