Remote Exam: Display Resolution, Size, and Visibility

[PetrCihlar]

Red Hat remote exams are conducted online, typically from candidates' own computers at home. The exam environment is optimized for Full HD resolution, which is 1920 x 1080 pixels. To ensure the best exam experience, there are specific requirements, tips, and recommendations to follow:

Starting with a reminder: Only ONE monitor and ONE keyboard are allowed. Wireless keyboards and mice are prohibited, and candidates must use an external camera for all certification exams (e.g., EX200, EX280). Internal cameras are insufficient, as proctors need to have a side view.

Some candidates choose to take the exam using their laptop's display, while others connect a larger external monitor, close their laptop's lid, and use an external keyboard. Some even opt for a desktop computer. Nowadays, displays typically come with various resolutions: HD (1366 × 768), Full HD (1920 × 1080), Quad HD, 4K UHD (3840 × 2160)

If your display resolution is smaller than FULL HD, the exam desktop is downsampled to fit your screen. This leads to smaller elements and makes the text less readable. Additionally, some information or buttons may fall outside the visible area. Conversely, if you use a resolution higher than FULL HD, the exam desktop does not upscale to enhance readability; instead, it remains in its designed FULL HD resolution, leaving a large gray frame around it.

Focusing your eyes for long hours can lead to headaches, slow you down, and decrease your performance during the exam. It is best to use an external monitor with native FULL HD resolution and an appropriate size. If you have a monitor with a higher resolution, be sure to check your display settings while booting from the exam USB live environment and adjust the resolution to FULL HD.

If you cannot use a Full HD monitor and your laptop's resolution is lower, there are still options available:

Familiarize yourself with the Fedora Accessibility settings and enable Desktop Zoom or set up the Magnifier

In the exam environment, be sure to remember the keyboard shortcuts for increasing/decreasing text size in Firefox or a terminal emulator (e.g., pressing CTRL +/-). Keep in mind that these shortcuts may vary depending on the keyboard layout or language settings chosen. Additionally, shortcuts that are commonly used in desktop or graphical user interface (GUI) environments like GNOME may not function in the console.

In the console, you can use the command `setfont -d` to double the text size, and `setfont` to revert to the original size. Please note that these commands are only effective in the console and will not work in a terminal emulator within a desktop environment

You can contact technical support before the exam starts. If you experience any visibility issues during the exam, please notify your proctor immediately.

I hope this helps. Regards

Updated 2024/12/4 ref. REKBP003

[kgfathur]

Thank you @PetrCihlar, finally find this information.

I had an exam last week, and using 2560x1440 monitor. The exam content (Workstation console area) is not fit  to the screen.

The exam shown like this (the proportion may not be accurate, I don't check the VM console resolution during the exam):

I ask the proctor, but they said that to change screen resolution I need to restart the system, reboot using usb, etc, and it's take time. So I continue the exam with shrinked screen. and as you mention, "Focusing your eyes for long hours can lead to headaches, slow you down, and decrease your performance during the exam"  it's 4 hours of exam.

My Question @PetrCihlar:

Is it confirmed that the Workstation console area will fit to 1920x1080 during the exam?

Because today, I tested to access RHLS/GLS VM Console, it's show VM console screen resolution with just 1600x900 as the default

When pressing Ctrl + (+) to zoom in the host browser, it's zoom in the VM browser instead of zoom in the host browser (I guess it also happened on exam VM console).

Since the exam environment like firefox in kiosk mode, we cannot zoom in from the setting button like this like on the RHLS VM Console:

[PetrCihlar]

Hello
Thanks for the feedback and the work you did preparing the response. Yes, I was told everything was optimized for FULL HD. You can set your resolution lower; it will work. The image will just be downsampled, so it will be a bit blurry. But usable.
You are mistaken, thinking the reboot will steal your time. In case you need to reboot and change the resolution (this is true), the time will not be lost, but the proctor will add it to your exam. So I see no issue in starting in FULL HD, using the setfond -d command in the terminal console if needed to double the font size or reboot to change the resolution, and getting the time back from the proctor.
Regards