Magnification Performance Regression In KDE Plasma 6.7

[Chase Laird]

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

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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.

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

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


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