DisplayMagician vs Magpie

DisplayMagician applies display and sound setups when a Windows shortcut opens a game or application, and can restore earlier settings after it closes. Users can save display profiles, including wallpapers, and assign audio profiles or devices to shortcuts. Shortcuts can also start or stop helper programs around an application’s launch. Listed launchers include Steam, Ubisoft Uplay, Origin, Epic Games, and GOG.com; shortcuts can be launched from the desktop, notification tray, context menu, hotkey, joystick, or game controller. Display support includes NVIDIA Surround, AMD Eyefinity, Intel Combined Displays, cloned and extended displays, HDR, rotated screens, and refresh rates. USB and wireless display devices are supported, as are SuperDisplay and Spacedesk, including Android tablets used as displays. A field-of-view calculator is included for matching games to a sim-rig layout. DisplayMagician is free and supports per-game profiles and game library scanning. It requires 64-bit Windows 10 version 1809 or later, or 64-bit Windows 11, plus .NET 10.0, included in the installer bundle.

Magpie is a free Windows tool for scaling windowed or fullscreen content with built-in algorithms and filters. These include Anime4K, FSR, CRT shaders, and other effects. Effects can be combined, most have adjustable parameters, and users familiar with HLSL can add effects. The WinUI-based interface supports light and dark themes, and the tool supports multiple monitors. Release notes describe a screenshot hotkey that defaults to Alt+Shift+S, with customizable filenames, and SGSR, a lightweight upscaling algorithm designed for 3D content. The FAQ says frame generation is not planned because Magpie focuses on visual quality and post-processing, which can add latency when used for frame generation. Magpie requires Windows 10 version 1903 or later, or Windows 11, and DirectX feature level 11. It is licensed under GPLv3, and downloads are linked from GitHub Releases. The repository says it has no SECURITY.md file and no published security advisories. Magpie is associated with a maker founded in 2021.