Comment 121 for bug 883319

Same problem on Debian 8.

Simple solution, like in comment nr 115, but it is much better to use --scale-from instead of --scale. For example:
xrandr --output LVDS1 --fb 1920x1200 --panning 1920x1200 --scale-from 1920x1200

To switch back, set your normal resolution, for example:
xrandr --output LVDS1 --fb 1280x800 --panning 1280x800 --scale 1x1

If the size of scale--from a bit different from the size of --panning, it causes problems. So you should use --scale-from instead of --scale.

I'm not sure if --fb is necessary, it works without it, but maybe using it is more secure.