Why do I get a java.lang.​OutOfMemor​yError exception when resizing my figure?

Whenever I try to increase the size of my figure, the figure contents do not increase accordingly, and I get the following error.  Why is this happening?

Exception in thread "AWT-EventQueue-0" java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space at java.awt.image.DataBufferInt.<init>(Unknown Source) at java.awt.image.Raster.createPackedRaster(Unknown Source) at java.awt.image.DirectColorModel.createCompatibleWritableRaster(Unknown Source) at java.awt.GraphicsConfiguration.createCompatibleImage(Unknown Source) at java.awt.GraphicsConfiguration.createCompatibleImage(Unknown Source) at sun.awt.image.SunVolatileImage.getBackupImage(Unknown Source) at sun.awt.image.VolatileSurfaceManager.getBackupSurface(Unknown Source) at sun.awt.image.VolatileSurfaceManager.initialize(Unknown Source) at sun.awt.image.SunVolatileImage.<init>(Unknown Source) at sun.awt.image.SunVolatileImage.<init>(Unknown Source) at java.awt.GraphicsConfiguration.createCompatibleVolatileImage(Unknown Source) at java.awt.GraphicsConfiguration.createCompatibleVolatileImage(Unknown Source) at javax.swing.RepaintManager.getVolatileOffscreenBuffer(Unknown Source) at javax.swing.RepaintManager$PaintManager.paint(Unknown Source) at javax.swing.RepaintManager.paint(Unknown Source) at javax.swing.JComponent.paint(Unknown Source) at java.awt.GraphicsCallback$PaintCallback.run(Unknown Source) at sun.awt.SunGraphicsCallback.runOneComponent(Unknown Source) at sun.awt.SunGraphicsCallback.runComponents(Unknown Source) at java.awt.Container.paint(Unknown Source) at java.awt.Window.paint(Unknown Source) at javax.swing.RepaintManager$3.run(Unknown Source) at javax.swing.RepaintManager$3.run(Unknown Source) at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method) at java.security.ProtectionDomain$1.doIntersectionPrivilege(Unknown Source) at javax.swing.RepaintManager.paintDirtyRegions(Unknown Source) at javax.swing.RepaintManager.paintDirtyRegions(Unknown Source) at javax.swing.RepaintManager.prePaintDirtyRegions(Unknown Source) at javax.swing.RepaintManager.access$1100(Unknown Source) at javax.swing.RepaintManager$ProcessingRunnable.run(Unknown Source) at java.awt.event.InvocationEvent.dispatch(Unknown Source) at java.awt.EventQueue.dispatchEventImpl(Unknown Source)

Answer 1

[MathWorks Support Team]

This error means MATLAB is running out of Java Heap memory.  To work around this issue simply increase the Java Heap using the following documentation link:

https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/matlab_external/java-heap-memory-preferences.html

This issue can occur when using a computer screen with many pixels (e.g. very high resolution screen).  The reason for this is that MATLAB must allocate enough memory in the Java Heap to account for all the pixels a figure takes.  As such, when there are a lot of pixels, the amount of memory necessary is higher.  While MATLAB's default heap size is sufficient in most cases, in cases where the total number of pixels is high (e.g. very high resolution screens, multiple screens, etc.) a larger heap size may be necessary.