BetterDisplay

It isn't a device, it's a software tool. It doesn't make the monitor magically 2x the resolution; it can trick macos to render onto a 5k buffer and then downscale the output to the physical display so it looks not-broken. https://github.com/waydabber/BetterDisplay I'm saying macOS is unusable on native resolutions - everything is either too small or too blurry, so a 4k display won't do me any good. 25x14 is the sweet spot for me, but I guess Apple decided I'm holding it wrong, because they want me to get a 5k display to get usable 25x14.

I use BetterDisplay and it's fantastic for tweaking resolutions and rendering on any external display that isn't Apple branded. It also has a bunch of extra features that's likely useful for any display but I'm mostly using it for custom HiDPI rez/rendering. It's actually hard to find the buy Pro page[0]. Linked from github[1]. I'm not affiliated. [0] https://betterdisplay.pro/buy [1] https://github.com/waydabber/BetterDisplay/wiki/Getting-a-Pr...

It wasn't actually that bad at the time. Check what version of macOS that old MacBook has been updated to. Apple nerfed macOS when they introduced Retina displays so that it only does gray pixel anti-aliasing when earlier they did subpixel RGB anti-aliasing. I just got Better Display[0] which works great for driving non-retina-density monitors with HiDPI resolutions that do anti-aliasing better. [0] https://betterdisplay.pro/buy [1] https://github.com/waydabber/BetterDisplay

FYI, if anyone is interested in "hacking" their EDID but doesn't want to go to these lengths, I've had success using a combination of BetterDisplay [1] and AW EDID Editor [2]. See this discussion for some tips on how to use it [3]. Obviously with BetterDisplay this solution is specific to MacOS, but it works, and you don't have to dive into hex code. You can use it to force RGB mode, force 4K60hz, etc. [1] https://github.com/waydabber/BetterDisplay [2] https://www.analogway.com/emea/products/software-tools/aw-ed... [3] https://github.com/waydabber/BetterDisplay/discussions/1473

Totally unrelated, but since we are talking about QOL tools on macOS, i thoroughly recommend BetterDisplay[0] It enables reting scaling functionality on any external monitor, regardless of the resolution or the Apple compatibility. It's great for 2k monitors that are totally hiDPI but are not deemed enough by Apple, and even for FHD secondarh displays that don't need that much display real state so you can use that real state to scale everything nicely. [0]: https://github.com/waydabber/BetterDisplay

No, HDMI 2.1 doesn't matter (yet) because there are no 8K desktop monitors (meaning 32-inch size or similar) on the market that use HDMI. The only 8K monitor has for years been the Dell UP3218K, which uses DisplayPort -- and requires two DisplayPort cables, actually, to get 7680 × 4320 at 60Hz. Apple has never supported this on any of their machines -- they just couldn't drive the monitor. (It worked, but only in 4K mode.) They quietly changed this with the M2 machines. I had a MacBook Pro M1 Max that couldn't drive this monitor at 8K. Then I found this GitHub thread[1] where it was revealed that M2 Pro can drive up to one of these 8K displays over Thunderbolt (to DisplayPort). And the M2 Ultra on a Mac Pro or Mac Studio can drive 3 of them. I don't think it is scaling, per se, but rather that Apple has never supported the full DisplayPor

OS X not only uses a lame hack to scale, it completely muddles the issue by introducing the concept of "HiDPI" UI elements. Somehow I can set my 4K monitor to use "native resolution" at 3840 x 2160, and yet the UI and fonts look fuzzy! Absolutely terrible, and a complete embarrassment for Apple imo since they are supposedly the UI kings. You only don't notice the issue because you're using a 27" 5k display, which has been "blessed" by Apple as the "correct" DPI to match native screens. For those of us with 4k screens (95% of the market), I guess we're just supposed to enjoy a subpar experience. Even X11 looks better. For me, I only closed the book on the issue after finding BetterDisplay [0]. Basically a 3rd party program that gives you complete control over resolution, display density, and a ton of other options on MacOS. It has a trial

When was this? Did you try Ubuntu 18.04 or later lts? Curious what was wrong with Wayland/Gnome and fonts. I generally replace the monospace/console font - but i do that on MacOS and windows too. Tbh I find the lack of decent (tiled) wm (as well as broken display on "low-res" (1440p/QHD) external displays) on MacOS much more frustrating. I make do with yabai, but the hoops one needs to jump through and the resulting fragile setup isn't great. Hm, now i came across this - so maybe there's a decent fix for that too? https://www.theregister.com/2021/12/03/apple_m1_drivers/ https://github.com/waydabber/BetterDisplay

Yes, BetterDisplay got DDC support on HDMI M1 soon after its dev learned that I added it in Lunar: https://github.com/waydabber/BetterDisplay/issues/1361 I’m friends with Istvan (the BetterDisplay dev) from the time he was a Lunar user, and we usually share implementation details for non-Pro features.

I've user Lunar for quite a while, then moved to MonitorControl, and am now on BetterDisplay, which notably includes DDC/CI over the M1 HDMI ports. Also its ability to fake screens of arbitrary resolutions e.g for headless machines is solid gold. https://github.com/waydabber/BetterDisplay

Does this fix your issue? When I use my wife's Air on my Dell non-retina monitor, I can either have crisp but tiny text, or big and blurry. This utility perfectly solves it for me. https://github.com/waydabber/BetterDisplay