Why does any figure having "units" set to "normalized" pop up at a different location after the screen resolution is changed ?

The following steps demonstrate this issue:

1. Execute the following commands in MATLAB

      set(0,'defaultfigureunits','normalized');

      set(0,'defaultfigureposition',[0.2 0.2 0.7 0.7]);

      figure

      get(0,'screensize')

The GET command reflects the current resolution for the display.

2. Now change the display setting to something other than before. For this, click on the desktop->properties->settings

3. Use the FIGURE command again in the MATLAB command prompt. The figure pops up at different location even though the units for the root are set to normalized.

4. Verify the SCREENSIZE property using the GET commad as

       get(0,'screensize')

You will still see the old resolution display settings.

Answer 1

[MathWorks Support Team]

The reason for this behavior, is that the resolution for the display is reflected in the SCREENSIZE property of the root; and if you change the resolution when MATLAB is already running, this property does not get updated for that particular session of MATLAB. You need to start a new session of MATLAB to see the SCREENSIZE property of the root being updated to the new settings. If you run your code in the new session of MATLAB, you should be able to get the figure at the same relative position.

You can verify this by using the GET command as follows:

get(0,'screensize')

Since the SCREENSIZE property is read-only, you cannot use the SET command to set it to some default value.