Macs and dpi issues

[nlel1975]

I'm running my Mac mini M4 at 3008 x 1692 120 Hz on my Dell 4K monitor. It looks sharper than my Windows 11 machine on the same monitor at 3840 x 2160 with 150% scaling. The only issue I had was that at 240 Hz the monitor wouldn't come out of standby properly so had to set it to 120 Hz.

Might be a throwback to the days of non Apple monitors not working on Mac OS properly.

 

[nlel1975]

There's a reason why the Mac looks sharper than the Windows 11 machine this is the Mac at 3008 x 1692...

Here is the Windows 11 machine running at 3840 x 2160 with 150% Scaling...

This website will tell you what resolution you are running and is where I got my info...

https://www.whatismyip.com/screen-resolution/

So the Mac is actually running at a higher resolution, that is why it looks sharper.

 

[Steveocee]

I installed BetterDisplay the other night and it dropped my resolution by a line or 2 but the difference is night and day now. Text is so much clearer.

It’ll do until I bite the bullet and get an Apple display.

 

[nlel1975]

I installed BetterDisplay the other night and it dropped my resolution by a loner 2 but the difference is night and day now. Text is so much clearer.

I presume this is a typo as it makes no sense. What point are you trying to make?

 

[Steveocee]

I presume this is a typo as it makes no sense. What point are you trying to make?

*** by a line or 2.

 

[nlel1975]

*** by a line or 2.

The 3008 x 1692 resolution is known as HiDPI here's more information about it...

https://www.genspark.ai/spark/understanding-macos-3008x1692-hidpi-resolution/

 

[a66as]

I tried it a month back and my macbook connected to my 32 inch 4k didn't look that sharp as my windows laptop, has the recent macos update improved it or something?

 

[GMac11]

I tried it a month back and my macbook connected to my 32 inch 4k didn't look that sharp as my windows laptop

It won’t do. Windows can scale natively to 4k whereas macOS cannot.

 

[nlel1975]

I tried it a month back and my macbook connected to my 32 inch 4k didn't look that sharp as my windows laptop, has the recent macos update improved it or something?

Maybe its my monitor, were you definitely running 3008 x 1692 on your 32" 4K? Could you try again and see?

 

[nlel1975]

It won’t do. Windows can scale natively to 4k whereas macOS cannot.

On my Windows 11 machine according to https://www.whatismyip.com/screen-resolution/ 3840 x 2160 scaled to 150% as is recommended is actually 2560 x 1440.

 

[a66as]

Maybe its my monitor, were you definitely running 3008 x 1692 on your 32" 4K? Could you try again and see?

I'll try it again during the week to see how it looks, does yours look slightly blurry at all?

 

[nlel1975]

I'll try it again during the week to see how it looks, does yours look slightly blurry at all?

No it looks great, make sure you are running 3008 x 1692

 

[andshrew]

I'll try it again during the week to see how it looks, does yours look slightly blurry at all?

Nothing will have changed in the month since you tried, but what resolution were you previously running at? Assuming you're talking about an M series MacBook, it should look sharp/clear at 3840x2160 (ie. native) and 1920x1080 (HiDPI). But the issue is usually that the first is too small to read, and the second is too big.

I had the problem with a 1440p screen. Native 2560x1440 is nice and clear but too small to comfortably read. The only HiDPI option I get is 1280x720, which again is nice and clear but the amount of screen space you now have is horrible. Picking any of the other non-HiDPI resolution options look terrible and blurry, like you'd expect when running at a non-native resolution.

I've just tried this BetterDisplay app and it seems to be a game changer. I can now pick from a variety of HiDPI resolutions up to 2048x1152. Relative to Windows the text is not perfectly sharp, but it's a substantial improvement over the standard choices as I now have much more acceptable screen real estate available while retaining (at least for me) good enough image sharpness.

 

[Raymond Lin]

Nothing will have changed in the month since you tried, but what resolution were you previously running at? Assuming you're talking about an M series MacBook, it should look sharp/clear at 3840x2160 (ie. native) and 1920x1080 (HiDPI). But the issue is usually that the first is too small to read, and the second is too big.

I had the problem with a 1440p screen. Native 2560x1440 is nice and clear but too small to comfortably read. The only HiDPI option I get is 1280x720, which again is nice and clear but the amount of screen space you now have is horrible. Picking any of the other non-HiDPI resolution options look terrible and blurry, like you'd expect when running at a non-native resolution.

I've just tried this BetterDisplay app and it seems to be a game changer. I can now pick from a variety of HiDPI resolutions up to 2048x1152. Relative to Windows the text is not perfectly sharp, but it's a substantial improvement over the standard choices as I now have much more acceptable screen real estate available while retaining (at least for me) good enough image sharpness.

Interesting, I need to remember to download this app.

 

[Gangster]

This is the way. BetterDisplay set to 'smooth scaling', 'add near-native hiDPI resolution', and resolution at 2880x1620 (150% interface scale) looks great on my UHD QD-OLED monitor.

BetterDisplay is well worth the price IMHO.

So thats a 4k monitor, right?

 

[eurokage]

So thats a 4k monitor, right?

Yes.

 

[Gangster]

Yes.

Sorry if this sounds stupid, but what advantage do you have selecting the 2880x1620 versus the one that is standard in the mac settings (3008x1692)?

 

[nlel1975]

Sorry if this sounds stupid, but what advantage do you have selecting the 2880x1620 versus the one that is standard in the mac settings (3008x1692)?

I presume he doesn’t have that option for some reason. I’m sure if he did he’d be using it.

 

[eldergeek]

I'm going to sound really dumb for this, but could someone post a screenshot highlighting what they mean by scaling issues? i only ask because i have my mac set to a 4k resolution and everything looks fine, so I'm curious what everyone else has an issue with.

 

[Raymond Lin]

I'm going to sound really dumb for this, but could someone post a screenshot highlighting what they mean by scaling issues? i only ask because i have my mac set to a 4k resolution and everything looks fine, so I'm curious what everyone else has an issue with.

Screenshot won't show it? it's how it is shown on the display in person.