Magnification Performance Regression In KDE Plasma 6.7

[Nate Graham]

[dropping the KDE e.V. board and the kde-community, since this is a 
technical matter]

Hello Chase,

Can you see if it helps to disable the "Sharpen screen content while 
zoomed in" checkbox on the zoom settings page?

If that helps, please submit a bug report at 
https://bugs.kde.org/enter_bug.cgi?product=kwin&component=effects-various 
saying that the upscaling filter exhibits performance problems. Tag it 
with the "regression" keyword.

If it doesn't help, submit a bug report there anyway describing the 
problem itself.

Thanks!

Nate



On 7/20/26 12:46 PM, Chase Laird wrote:
> Hello Nate,
> 
> I hope you've been doing well.
> 
> I wanted to report an issue I've been experiencing with KDE Plasma's 
> magnification feature. I'm not sure how widespread this problem is, so 
> I'll include my system details to help define the scope.
> 
> On my system, enabling magnification has recently introduced significant 
> display lag on both the internal and external displays, with the issue 
> being especially noticeable on external monitors. The lag is most 
> apparent during animation-heavy tasks, such as panning zoom, scrolling 
> webpages, or swiping between virtual desktops. The virtual desktop 
> transition, in particular, appears almost to be in slow motion, making 
> the desktop feel sluggish and disrupting what was previously an 
> exceptionally smooth and responsive experience.
> 
> I'm not certain what introduced this regression, but I suspect it may be 
> related to a Plasma update from within the past month. My system is 
> running Arch Linux on a Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 9310. Notably, the lag only 
> exists during magnification, but otherwise animations are smooth and 
> fluid as to be expected.
> 
> KDE Plasma is my preferred desktop environment, and because I rely 
> heavily on magnification in my daily workflow, this regression has had a 
> significant impact on my overall experience. To rule out local 
> configuration issues, I performed a clean installation of Arch Linux and 
> KDE Plasma. Even on a fresh installation, before making any 
> customizations, I encountered the same magnification-related lag.
> 
> If possible, I would greatly appreciate your help investigating this 
> issue so the underlying cause can be identified and resolved. I'm happy 
> to provide logs, perform testing, or supply any additional information 
> that might help narrow down the source of the regression.
> *
> *
> *System Information*
> 
>   *
>     /Operating System: Arch Linux/
>   *
>     /KDE Plasma: 6.7.3/
>   *
>     /KDE Frameworks: 6.28.0/
>   *
>     /Qt: 6.11.1/
>   *
>     /Kernel: 7.1.4-zen1-1-zen/
>   *
>     /Display Server: Wayland/
>   *
>     /CPU: 11th Gen Intel Core i5-1135G7/
>   *
>     /GPU: Intel Iris Xe Graphics (Mesa)/
>   *
>     /OpenGL Renderer: Mesa Intel(R) Iris(R) Xe Graphics (TGL GT2)/
>   *
>     /Memory: 16 GB RAM/
>   *
>     /Hardware: Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 9310/
> 
> /
> ​Kooha-2026-07-20-13-37-54.webm <https://1drv.ms/v/c/30af511c444f423a/ 
> IQCTbIGmkzx-QYqITFr_BtU9AR6CJ0ChvuhPTc0WvO_n2zg>​/
> /​Kooha-2026-07-20-13-32-10.webm <https://1drv.ms/v/c/30af511c444f423a/ 
> IQCvyJvicyx-SZ4o2iG-Pi2IAfwav7W_BxRECs3oOWJEOU0>​/
> /​Kooha-2026-07-20-13-34-35.webm <https://1drv.ms/v/c/30af511c444f423a/ 
> IQDQX-dLPU1HQ6q1luQqU7cpAQKMQ0V4WrvQa-CdktfAnQ0>​/
> 
> Kind regards,
> 
> Chase Laird
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *From:* Nate Graham <nate at kde.org>
> *Sent:* Saturday, June 21, 2025 7:48 AM
> *To:* Chase Laird <chase.laird at live.com>
> *Cc:* kde-community at kde.org <kde-community at kde.org>; plasma- 
> devel at kde.org <plasma-devel at kde.org>; kde-ev-board at kde.org <kde-ev- 
> board at kde.org>
> *Subject:* Re: Appreciation and Feedback on Accessibility Improvements 
> in KDE Plasma 6.4
> Hello Chase,
> 
> Thank you so much for the kind words! We have indeed been putting a lot
> of focus into accessibility lately, so I'm really happy to hear that
> Plasma 6.4 has been a notable improvement!
> 
> If you're looking to get involved, there's actually a somewhat large and
> important accessibility initiative that you could definitely help out
> with. We're making a push to get all KDE software compliant with EU
> Directive 2019/882; see
> https://invent.kde.org/teams/accessibility/collaboration/-/issues/30 
> <https://invent.kde.org/teams/accessibility/collaboration/-/issues/30>.
> 
> There are opportunities for development work, but a big part is just
> using the software with a critical eye to find what's non-compliant and
> write it down.
> 
> You can see the work-in-progress effort for Plasma itself here:
> https://invent.kde.org/plasma/plasma-desktop/-/issues/149 <https:// 
> invent.kde.org/plasma/plasma-desktop/-/issues/149>
> 
> Thanks again!
> 
> -- 
> Nate Graham
> KDE e.V. Board of Directors
> 
> 
> On 6/20/25 7:25 PM, Chase Laird wrote:
>> Dear KDE Team,
>> 
>> 
>> I hope this message finds you well.
>> 
>> 
>> I am writing to share my heartfelt appreciation and detailed feedback 
>> regarding the recent KDE Plasma 6.4 release. As a visually impaired 
>> user, computing poses unique challenges—particularly regarding effective 
>> magnification and accessibility features. Over the years, I have 
>> extensively used macOS, Windows, and numerous Linux distributions / 
>> desktop environments, each offering varying degrees of success in 
>> accessibility accommodations.
>> 
>> 
>> With this experience in mind, I want to commend your team for 
>> prioritizing accessibility in KDE Plasma. Unfortunately, many desktop 
>> environments treat accessibility as an afterthought, often implementing 
>> it in ways that inadvertently introduce more usability issues than they 
>> resolve. For instance, using GNOME’s built-in magnification resulted in 
>> severe screen tearing and a cumbersome experience across my multi- 
>> monitor setup.
>> 
>> 
>> However, upon migrating to KDE Plasma on my Arch Linux system, my 
>> experience has dramatically improved. Initially, I set up magnification 
>> using Fusuma gestures (three-finger swipe up/down for zoom control). 
>> Imagine my delight upon discovering that KDE Plasma 6.4 now integrates 
>> gesture-based magnification directly into the OS. This thoughtful 
>> feature alone has significantly enhanced my daily computing experience, 
>> and I am genuinely impressed by the smoothness, stability, and 
>> intuitiveness of your implementation.
>> 
>> 
>> Given the profound impact KDE Plasma’s accessibility features have had 
>> on me personally, I am eager to contribute back to the KDE community. If 
>> there are opportunities or initiatives within the KDE team dedicated to 
>> accessibility testing, feedback, or development, I would greatly 
>> appreciate the chance to offer my insights and assistance.
>> 
>> 
>> Thank you again for your clear commitment to making Linux a more 
>> inclusive platform. You have effectively ended my days of distro and DE 
>> hopping, and for that, I am deeply grateful.
>> 
>> 
>> Warm regards,
>> 
>> 
>> Chase Laird
> 
>