Poor display performance using Fusion on a high-resolution monitor

Autodesk Support

Jan 21, 2025

Products and versions covered

Issue:

Users reported that when running Fusion on a system with a high-resolution screen, various display performance issues occur:

User Interface Scaling is off (Text or Icons are too large or small).
Dialog boxes are out of place or incorrectly sized.
Display flashing.
3D Model in the workspace appears all black or white.
3D models are missing and modeling tools don't appear after clicking them.
Resolution is too low so toolbar icons are small, or text is blurry.
Menu selection in design workspace with mouse is too slow.

Environment:

High-resolution display or 4k/5k resolutions.
(Also occurred in 8k (7680x4320) resolutions)

Solution:

Revise the display scaling

Fusion uses system settings for both Windows and macOS. It is possible to reduce or disable scaling at the application level (for Fusion only) or change the settings for the workstation. Fusion runs best at 100% scaling, but if a monitor requires a higher scaling percentage, the following may help:

Note: To modify display scaling settings Admin rights may need to be accessed.

Windows:

Right-click the desktop icon for Fusion.
Select Properties.
Select the Compatibility tab in the dialogue that appears.
Click Change High DPI Settings.
Deselect Override high DPI scaling behavior.

To change DPI settings in compatibility in Fusion properties

Note - HighDPIScaling can also be found in Preferences >> Preview Features >> General >> HighDPIScaling (Windows Only).

High DPI scaling in preferences in windows

Note - On Windows 7, select Disable Display Scaling on High DPI Settings.

MacOS:

On MacOS, there is a Fusion preference to use high-resolution graphics. Verify that this is checked.

Note: If the Retina display does not exist, the Open in Low-Resolution option does not appear in macOS.

Right-click the Fusion icon in the Dock.
Select Show in Finder from the Options flyout menu.
Right-click the "Autodesk Fusion 360.app" file. The desktop shortcut file shows a small arrow.
Right-click the Autodesk Fusion 360 file.

Select Get Info.
In the General panel, check Open in Low Resolution.

Graphics Driver Preferences in Fusion

If changing the scale does not work, change the Graphics Driver settings in preferences:

Go to the Preferences dialog box in Fusion.

In the General panel, locate the drop-down menu for Graphics Driver.
Specify a driver version to match your needs:

Windows:

DirectX 9 - most stable

DirectX 11 - newer and faster

macOS:

OpenGL - most stable
OpenGL Core - newer and faster

If the model window quality is low, but the UI is scaling correctly

Verify that 'ambient occlusion' is turned on.

If these options are dimmed, verify that 'limit effects to optimize performance' is deselected. To access this dialog:
1. Go to the Help menu (? Icon) at the top-right of the Fusion 360 window.
2. Select 'Support and Diagnostics' >> 'Graphics Diagnostic'.
3. Deselect 'Limit effects to optimize performance'.

Reconnect Monitor

Unplug and reconnect the monitor.

Products:

Fusion;

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