Can't get required DPI and screen resolution on 13" MacBook Pro Retina

Hi guys, hope you can help...

Got a new MBPr 13" yesterday and upgraded to Parallels 8.0.183454 (Dec 12) to support it. Installed Boot Camp and Win 7 Pro 64 bit without a hitch, got all the drivers from Apple Support.

In Boot Camp I have my resolution and DPI exactly as I want it: 2560 x 1600 (the 13"s max) and 150% DPI Font Scaling - looks great.

I then installed Parallels, told it to use the Boot Camp partition and let it install Parallels Tools. All went fine, but I cannot get it to use the same settings as my native Boot Camp when running in Mountain Lion full screen.

This is my experience with the settings in Hardware/Video (I've spent the last 3 hours experimenting):

1) If I use "Scaled" it turns on XP Style Custom Styling, which makes fonts look terrible, so that's a no-no.
2) If I use "Best for Retina" it uses 2880 x 1800 and 199% DPI. Take a note of the resolution - that is the max. resolution of a 15" MBPr not a 13" - it copes somehow, but looks fuzzy, plus if I override the DPI it forgets it with each suspend/restart - so that's a no-no on both counts.
3) If I use "More Space" I can set my own DPI and it's remembered but, again, it uses 2880 x 1800 - the 15 inch MBPr max resolution, so it loses clarity, so I have to reset the resolution with every suspend/restart.

Is this a bug, why is it upscaling to a resolution beyond that of my hardware, and how do I get Parallels to use my choice of resolution and DPI (2560 x 1600 and 150% DPI) and just stick with it between reboots and suspends?

This is driving me mad!

Thanks for any help,

Matt

 

Are you saying that when you start your VM in full screen mode with Best for retina or More space setting Windows resolution becomes 2880x1800? Given that this happens on 13" rMBP this is indeed weird. Can you generate a Problem report via Parallels Help menu (right after booting your VM) and post report ID here?

 

Thanks Serv. Yep, that's exactly what I'm saying. Problem ID is: 22560806

 

Ah... your OS X is running at 1440x900 points. You did switched to More space setting in OS X Display settings, didn't you?
Retina enabled applications always use point resolution times two, and OS X does all the work to resample that to native panel resolution. This is why full screen Windows in Parallels is set to 2880x1800.
When you set Windows to 2560x1600, this introduces one more up-scaling step in Parallels to fill 2880x1800 window surface. Neither scaling step is free, so this works at double cost in terms of GPU use and quality.

 

OK, I pretty much get what you're saying. Thanks for the help.

So what settings would be needed in OSx + Parallels to ensure that full screen Parallels VM is 2560 x 1600 and 150% DPI Font Scaling with every restart/suspend?

 

If OS X display is set to Best for retina and VM is set to More space Windows will use 2560x1600 and you'll be able to adjust DPI manually to 150%.
Alternatively, if you only use Windows in full screen, you can set VM Configuration > Options > Full screen > Scale to fit screen to Keep ratio. With this setting Parallels will not readjust Windows resolution and 2560x1600 will stick even if OS X is set to more space. However, this mode is not optimal from performance and image quality standpoint.

 

Thanks Serv, that worked. Great support.