Setting screen resolution on Windows 10 - powershell

Question

I'm trying to set the screen resolution via script (Powershell).
I found the cmdlet Set-DisplayResolution, which should work on Server 2012/R2 and 8/8.1 (where it won't work), and it also didn't work on Windows 10 PS 5.0.
I also had a look at
Add-Type -AssemblyName System.Windows.Forms
[System.Windows.Forms.Screen]::AllScreens
and
[System.Windows.Forms.Screen]::PrimaryScreen
but it showed weird output:
BitsPerPixel : 32
Bounds : {X=0,Y=0,Width=2000,Height=1333}
DeviceName : \\.\DISPLAY1
Primary : True
WorkingArea : {X=0,Y=0,Width=2000,Height=1293}
I am running a 3000x2000 resolution. Even after I changed my display to 1920x1080 the output stays the same.
After a longer search I found this script, which does the job using win32 API. Is there a more handy way for doing this, as this Set-DisplayResolution just running on Windows 10 Installation?
I also would like to set the UI scaling of Windows 10 (like 150%).
And for sure, i would like to know, why the AllScreens and PrimaryScreen methods of [System.Windows.Forms.Screen] aren't functioning properly.

Answer 1

Refer below script to change display resolution on Windows 10. PowerShell server core does not supported on windows 10. You can use below script
Important : you can provide display resolution at end of the script
currently it is set as Set-ScreenResolution -Width 1920 -Height 1080. You can change these values. Copy this complete script and save as Set-ScreenResolution.ps1 and execute using PowerShell. Make sure you Run powershell as admin
Function Set-ScreenResolution {
<#
.Synopsis
Sets the Screen Resolution of the primary monitor
.Description
Uses Pinvoke and ChangeDisplaySettings Win32API to make the change
.Example
Set-ScreenResolution -Width 1024 -Height 768
#>
param (
[Parameter(Mandatory=$true,
Position = 0)]
[int]
$Width,
[Parameter(Mandatory=$true,
Position = 1)]
[int]
$Height
)
$pinvokeCode = #"
using System;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
namespace Resolution
{
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
public struct DEVMODE1
{
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.ByValTStr, SizeConst = 32)]
public string dmDeviceName;
public short dmSpecVersion;
public short dmDriverVersion;
public short dmSize;
public short dmDriverExtra;
public int dmFields;
public short dmOrientation;
public short dmPaperSize;
public short dmPaperLength;
public short dmPaperWidth;
public short dmScale;
public short dmCopies;
public short dmDefaultSource;
public short dmPrintQuality;
public short dmColor;
public short dmDuplex;
public short dmYResolution;
public short dmTTOption;
public short dmCollate;
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.ByValTStr, SizeConst = 32)]
public string dmFormName;
public short dmLogPixels;
public short dmBitsPerPel;
public int dmPelsWidth;
public int dmPelsHeight;
public int dmDisplayFlags;
public int dmDisplayFrequency;
public int dmICMMethod;
public int dmICMIntent;
public int dmMediaType;
public int dmDitherType;
public int dmReserved1;
public int dmReserved2;
public int dmPanningWidth;
public int dmPanningHeight;
};
class User_32
{
[DllImport("user32.dll")]
public static extern int EnumDisplaySettings(string deviceName, int modeNum, ref DEVMODE1 devMode);
[DllImport("user32.dll")]
public static extern int ChangeDisplaySettings(ref DEVMODE1 devMode, int flags);
public const int ENUM_CURRENT_SETTINGS = -1;
public const int CDS_UPDATEREGISTRY = 0x01;
public const int CDS_TEST = 0x02;
public const int DISP_CHANGE_SUCCESSFUL = 0;
public const int DISP_CHANGE_RESTART = 1;
public const int DISP_CHANGE_FAILED = -1;
}
public class PrmaryScreenResolution
{
static public string ChangeResolution(int width, int height)
{
DEVMODE1 dm = GetDevMode1();
if (0 != User_32.EnumDisplaySettings(null, User_32.ENUM_CURRENT_SETTINGS, ref dm))
{
dm.dmPelsWidth = width;
dm.dmPelsHeight = height;
int iRet = User_32.ChangeDisplaySettings(ref dm, User_32.CDS_TEST);
if (iRet == User_32.DISP_CHANGE_FAILED)
{
return "Unable To Process Your Request. Sorry For This Inconvenience.";
}
else
{
iRet = User_32.ChangeDisplaySettings(ref dm, User_32.CDS_UPDATEREGISTRY);
switch (iRet)
{
case User_32.DISP_CHANGE_SUCCESSFUL:
{
return "Success";
}
case User_32.DISP_CHANGE_RESTART:
{
return "You Need To Reboot For The Change To Happen.\n If You Feel Any Problem After Rebooting Your Machine\nThen Try To Change Resolution In Safe Mode.";
}
default:
{
return "Failed To Change The Resolution";
}
}
}
}
else
{
return "Failed To Change The Resolution.";
}
}
private static DEVMODE1 GetDevMode1()
{
DEVMODE1 dm = new DEVMODE1();
dm.dmDeviceName = new String(new char[32]);
dm.dmFormName = new String(new char[32]);
dm.dmSize = (short)Marshal.SizeOf(dm);
return dm;
}
}
}
"#
Add-Type $pinvokeCode -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
[Resolution.PrmaryScreenResolution]::ChangeResolution($width,$height)
}
Set-ScreenResolution -Width 1920 -Height 1080

Answer 2

Sorry to tell, but it's not possible with powershell:
[System.Windows.Forms.Screen] - the namespace says all you need to understand: This namespace refers to the display area for the application you've coded as an windows form (Usefull, if you have to change the windows-size within your application)
The Cmdlet Set-Displayresolution only works on Windows Server 2016 Core (or any other Core-Server in the future). It is documented on Technet : https://technet.microsoft.com/de-de/library/jj603036(v=wps.630).aspx
The workaround to use Win32-API, that you found earlier, looks like the best solution you could get.

Answer 3

A bit late, but depending on how you need the resolution set you could use AHK (scripting language). This would require a script opening the display settings dialog and sending clicks or keystrokes to it. If you're interested I can give more information
Update:
First, you have to have AutoHotKey installed on your computer (this is straightforward enough to just Google). Next, use a script to send keyboard input to the control panel display settings. It might look something like this:
#NoEnv ; Recommended for performance and compatibility with future AutoHotkey releases.
; #Warn ; Enable warnings to assist with detecting common errors.
SendMode Input ; Recommended for new scripts due to its superior speed and reliability.
SetWorkingDir %A_ScriptDir% ; Ensures a consistent starting directory.
#SingleInstance, force
detecthiddenwindows, on
; Use command prompt to open display settings
Run, %comspec% \k,,hide, cmd_pid
WinWait, ahk_pid %cmd_pid%
ControlSend, , control desk.cpl`n, ahk_pid %cmd_pid%
; Wait for display settings to open
WinWaitActive, Settings
sleep, 2000
; Send the appropriate key strokes to the settings menu to change the resolution
Send,{Tab 3}
sleep 100
Send,{Enter}
sleep 100
; Change this as needed to move to the desired display settings
Send,{Down 2}
sleep 100
Send,{Enter}
return