Another solution: In MacOS System Preferences -> Display -> Choose to show all resolution and Alt+click on the options, and try the options shown. Let me know if it works.
Only scaled option i have that works is 1080p but still not clear, especially word doc and PDFs. The text are not sharp. I used command defaults -currentHost write -g AppleFontSmoothing -int 3 which helped a little.So I am wondering if I need to buy different resolution monitor UHD or will I have the same issue? Thanks in advance.
Thank you for addressing this issue and providing a solution, this was perfect and I was just about to suffer through this until I went digging down the rabbithole and found your video. So wonderful, worked great with M1 Macbook Air!
I bought a 24-inch 2560x1440 monitor today. I initially set the resolution to 1920x1080, but found the font blurry. I didn't want to use the native 2560x1440 resolution though since it would make everything too small. After installing BetterDisplay and enabling scaled smoothing at 1920x1080, the fonts became much sharper! I was ready to return the monitor, but with BetterDisplay I can keep it. I'm really impressed with the improvement in clarity it provides.
Can you share a screnshot? I have 24-inch 1920x1080, with better display app looks a little bit better, but not sharper due to low ppi, I am plannig to buy a 24-inch 2560x1440 .
I just got Asus TUF 28" gaming monitor, with high refresh rate and used this app for HiDPI scaling, everything looks so sharp now. gone are the days when you buy 4k panel and can't use it because of need for powerful video card, on Macs its simple, just use lower resolution and scale pixel to get better image at lower resolution as if it was real 4k. in reality it is "kinda" 4K, its just for every pixel at FullHD you get 4X pixels from 4K panel, win-win.
I have been frustrated with this for 2 years since I got a 4K 28” monitor. I use my Mac and PC on the same monitor and Windows has scaled perfectly while macOS has looked really janky. This app has my Mac looking just as good as the PC. Thank you!
@@teohontech7141hi I paid for the premium for this app however only one monitor is showing sharp the other one is still blurry do you have any recommendations?
Thank you so much, I've been using my work MacBook Pro for over a year with a 1440p 27 inch monitor running it at 2048x1152 and never realised just how bad the built-in scaling is until I switched back to native 1440p where everything looks sharp but small. Now I can have 2048x1152 scaling but it looks like 1440p quality!
EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. Since I found your video, I was able to configure my 2.5K screen correctly with all my Apple devices, with clear and sharp letters, it's a pleasure to use my monitor now. I was about to return it, but I'm glad I found your video.
Lifesaver! I just bought the Kamvas Pro 16 2.5k and was disappointed that the text looked so fuzzy at a scaled resolution. I work as a professional graphic designer and blurry/fuzzy text is a no go. This app works perfectly. Thank you so much for posting this video.
Thank you very much for this video! I solved the problem after 4 months:) I asked Hidpi at the store where I bought the external monitor. I asked at apple support. No one was able to help me. Thanks!
I was a long term windows user, and this is my first Macbook Air. I was really frustrated when looking at text font's in Safari. I was pretty disappointed with the way Mac renders fonts. Feel like anti-aliasing was not properly handled. After reading through the history of Mac fonts and its obsession to render each letter to its shape (which is a madness Apple took it), I feel little disappointed. And came to the rescue BetterDisplay. Thanks to this Video and Better Display. Now, I'm pretty happy to use Mac. 🙏
Thank you so much man. I just bought a 2K monitor and got so upset with the display. I was going to return it. Now it’s still not Apple Retina display, but it’s much better, and the text is much smoother.
Wow!! This is so helpful. Thank you so much. I got my New LG Dual Up Monitor and some how I was not happy with the screen resolution on it where I was using a split screen in P{BP mode with TYPE-C and HDMI. Sadly Mac OS gives 2 different set of resolutions for these 2 input types and I was not able to find the right setting for the text and colors to look good. This app fixed everything for me. I even tweaked the colors to get deeper blacks and its so much better for the eyes now. It feels like I am using 2 large AMOLED display one below the other and the mouse and windows move seamlessly between screens. Great.
@AbhishekSrivastava_ab Which Macbook Pro version do you have? I have macbook pro 2019 version and is not working fine with my Dell SE2723DS when this app is downloaded.
I can not thank you more for this video! Initially with my 16inch portable display with resolution of 2560x1600 all was either too small or too fuzzy. Enabling Better Display I included semi native HiDPI and 2048by1280 works perfect, as it is 1.25 of original resolution. And using Better Display I can control all the brightness, volume, color etc from my mac menu!
My friend a PC user sold me his 27in gaming monitor with nVidia chip that look amazing but in my computer looked fuzzy, looked into so many videos trying to adjust the settings but no success and finally this video showed me how its done. the resolution in my new display monitor is fantastic.
I was amazed about modifying the native screen brightness of my external monitor. I don't what will be cut down after trial. But, I appreciate your indication.
My display's USB stopped working, and for some reason the HDMI was always like this. Your recommendation worked like magic!!! Only problem is now I can't get to 60hz, I'm gonna try a new cable...
On a Mac Mini M1 running Sonoma with two dual 27" 4K monitors, currently scaled at 2560x1440, we're not seeing the settings you're showing in this video. The video cuts out important parts at the 1:29 mark, so we can't tell where in the BetterDisplay settings those checkboxes are. We're not seeing anything associated with Resolution Scaling.
idk why but some of the text is still blurry to the point its unreadable for me. If i do 80% scaling on 2560x1440 I get blurry text in Google Docs on both Chrome and Safari. I'm not sure what's causing it but when I move the bar back to 100% its also a bit blurrier and need to set it back in the Settings instead - anyone encounter similar issue?
This just works! I think it is unacceptable that Apple itself does not fix this and has to resort to external applications, but this solves the problem! Thank you so much!
Just to echo what others have said here really, thank you for this, fantastic advice, and a great little app. I'm running my external display through a hub and it was forcing a non native resolution. This app solved the problem. It says I have 14 days of premium left, so I guess we will find out which features I need to pay for when the 14 days is up :)
Thanks so much, I use dual monitor setup with 1440p, and was struggling with small text appearence, where using default Mac's resolution change (changing to 1080p) was making screen look fuzzy or not sharp. Using BetterDisplay seem to retain the monitor native high resolution and still let us scale the content. Thanks for sharing.
I just came here to say thank you. I bought an ultra wide monitor and its looked like crap with my Macbook pro for the last year...now its look how I thought it would. +100000000
There isn't an option for configuration override (edit the system configuration of this display) and Resolution scaling (set up native smooth resolution scaling) or the other options you ticked. Is there a way to resolve this?
Go to Displays and in Header (Top) choose your Monitor (Not View Tab) and later you need to scroll down in System Configuration and Flexible Scaling and you can activate "Edit System Configuration" and "Smooth Scaling", but the problem is... Smooth Scaling feature is in PRO version, so I gonna buy it now and test :)
The fact that Apple doesn't fix something as fundamental as this themselves is such a joke. I really admire macOS for how stable and simple it is, but I am very sure that a proper solution to this issue wouldn't break the operating system. They're probably just using it to sell their own 5K display. Thankfully the community is doing the work for us again!
In fact, this problem is related to retina resolution, which consists of twice the number of pixels per inch. The real problem is that other brands don't make monitors with inches in combination with resolution.
@@pedrowilson8344 But compare Windows. You can set whatever scaling percentage you want and no matter what you choose it never has this issue. Apple's approach of not actually changing how the UI is rendered but just having one basic version which is then up- or downscaled makes no sense nowadays. You know you're doing bad when even Windows is doing it better...
@@pedrowilson8344 Not familiar with the term but my eyesight isn't the best and I use 4K with 180% scaling on a big OLED TV in Windows for all work and gaming purposes and it looks perfectly fine/sharp while the scaling problems in MacOS are immediately obvious for me even with much smaller displays. Can you maybe describe it a little more detailed so that I can understand what you're talking about?
@@pedrowilson8344 windows has been working fine for me at 4k 27in. I tried macos and immediately noticed the text looking fuzzy. I can't even do fractional scaling without causing much worse pixelation. It's terrible on Mac compared to windows
Can you please help me? i got mbp and feeling eyestrain and neck tension. Heard this is because of dithering and EWM. I am not sure. I could work on my last laptop for a long time, but it is not the same with mbp. Please help
This is so good, i spent $800 on a monitor and it did not work like it was supposed to so i refunded it, got another monitor for $250, and found this video, and this made my screen so much clearer.
Thank you very much! It helped me, but my macbook air 2017 13'' is not strong enough to pull HiDPI, it lags a little and the laptop warms up, but at least I'm calm, because I understand that it's not my fault and now I'm calmly working with LoDPI
Thank you so much for the video! I have a question: in the current version of Betterdisplay the settings changed vs your video, and the "Flexible scaling" option is a Pro (paying feature). My questions is, is it worth buying the app to unlock this feature, do I need this feature to improve font rendering on my display? Background: I bought a Dell (3440 x 1440) monitor, when I apply HiDPI in Betterdisplay, the largest resolution I can set is 2048 x 858 (which from comments in the thread below makes sense I guess). The font scaling definitely looks great, but I'm wondering if there is a way to get similarly good font scaling in the native resolution (3440 x 1440), or at least closer to it; i.e. after unlocking the Pro "Flexible scaling" function, I can get better font scaling closer to the native resolution, without HiDPI? Thanks a ton!
That Dell monitor will be consider low resolution if it's 27 or 32-inches. So the app will not help. It will work if your monitor is 24 inches or smaller.
Teoh, Please help. I want the font size of the display on my 16 inch mac look like 1168 x 755 but I want the crispiness of 1728 x 1117(default). How can I do it? I am not using any external moniter. I want to change things on my native display. Waiting for you reply.
Someone told me MacOS has added more UI scaling options. Can you try and let me know if it works? Go into MacOS System Preferences - Display - Show all resolution - Alt+click on the options and go through each to see if fuzzy text is still a problem.
This was an issue with 1080p displays as well, before macOS Ventura. BetterDisplay scaling seems to look the same as native macOS scaling (on 1080p displays) now. But sometimes I’m tempted to reinstall BetterDisplay just to be sure :)). So people who used external displays with a mac between 2012 and whenever Ventura came out had blurry text? yikes.
@@nkdlive unfortunately not very well. On 29” the pixel density is so slow that the screen isn’t very well. So gonna buy a 4K monitor 27” sized which one has a way more PPI
Hi, is it possible to duplicate the true tone color profile of a Macbook using this software? also lid closed? or does that depend on the sensors placed on the Mac's display which adapts to ambient light? Thank you
Thank you for the video! Unfortunately, for my 1920x1080 external display, the text seems to be the same, and or a bit worse. I wonder if it's the case for others with a 1920x1080 display?
Hi, I'm using a Mi 34" 3150x1440 screen. Even after using Better Display I could see the logo and text and blurry comparing to windows pc which I connect. Anyway to fix this?
I was planning to buy a 16" portable monitor (LG gram view 16MR70), resolution 2560 x 1600p. I read some reviews that when connecting to a macbook pro, text is not so crisp.It's possible that BetterDisplay could fix this issue?
I have an AOC 24G2U 24' 1080p with an M2 Air and couldn't achieve much with this app except brightness control which is a godsend. However "fontsmoothingadjuster" did make the fonts a bit more bearable.
Hey. Is there anyway to fix an image on 27" 1440p display? Spend almost 3 hours haha and I am thinking to return it. Tried many resolutions on better display, but still getting kinda blurred text. Thanks a lot!
1440P on 27-inch is considered low resolution so the app will not help. You can make the visual sharper by switching to 1080P workspace but the UI will be huge and is not the best way to use 1440P resolution
Hi, congratulations for the tutorial and for letting me discover this software! I have a BenQ BL2420PT monitor (it's a 23.8" WQHD 1440P) what configuration do you recommend? I can't get the same sharpness of the texts as I have on a 27" LG 4K monitor with scaling to 1080p perhaps for the dpi? in any case, adapting a resolution of 1280p from the macos system settings basically enables hidpi and even if everything is bigger it seems more defined! so I assume that it is a matter of setting the correct configuration perhaps with a larger resolution. Thank you
Your 24-inch 1440P display should can be used with the 1080P workspace with 1440 resolution. The pixels should not appear too chunky, and if so the settings may be wrong. Definitely should not use 1280P workspace because that would be the icons, text, UI will be too large.
If a use a dual monitor and one is 1440p and the other is 4k, if I use better display for my 1440p monitor, will it also affect the settings for the 4k monitor as well since it will be connected as a dual monitor setup?
I cannot download the betterdisplay software as it say not compatible with version I have. I am using macbook pro mid2014 version 10.13.6. please advise.
You mentioned that 27 4k isn't a good size for OSX - what is the best size for a 4k monitor and mac OSX is you're buying specifically for that task and you don't want to spend £1500 on an Apple Studio Display? Is there any way I can make OSX look good on a 4k monitor without resorting to using scaling or third party apps like better display? Thanks
4K 27-inch is not good for MacOS, yes. But with this app, you can not use 4K 27-inch monitors. No problem. If you don't want to use these third party apps, then go with 27-inch 1440P (pixelation noticeable). Or 4K 16 to 18-inch displays.
Perhaps I missed something, but I just got a 24"1080p monitor to use with the macM1 air and the app has not made any discernable difference that I can see. The text is still blurry/looks oversharp.
Is there any other option after purchase the program? I see the same options than I have in my mac. So no much difference (At before to buy it.) Thanks!
This is kinda weird, so my monitor has a resolution of 1920 x 1080, and in the app (the display mode) there are option of 1920 x 1080 hidpi (with the stars symbol next to it) but it wouldn't let me select it. i am now using the 1888 x 1062 hidpi because its the highest resolution it let me use and the texts are indeed less fuzzy when i use it. is there any way i can still use my default resolution while having the hidpi thing enabled or is it actually a premium feature? thanks for the vid btw!
Hello Teoh, I'm currently running macOS Sonoma 14.3.1, and am unable to shrink the user interface from the top taskbar and can't find the option to in system settings. Do you have a fix for this?
In MacOS System Preferences -> Display -> Choose to show all resolution and Alt+click on the options, and try the options shown. Let me know if it works.
it works for me...but the problem, when i disconect from external monitor, and i wanna work from my mbp m1 14", it shows 1512 x 982, when the default is 3024 x 1964.. i change to 3024x1964 and everything is very small.. i dunno what to do..
im looking to get the lg dual up monitor, which has a resolution of 2560 x 2880. I couldn't find that on the settings. Which resolution do you think would be best suited for this external monitor? thanks for your help
@@teohontech7141 I heard that native resolution makes the font seem a bit fuzzy. Would you happen to know how to get rid of the fuziness without betterdisplay app then? thanks for you help in advance!
You said scale is not well supported for 27" 4k screen and 1440p resolution. Where did you find this information? I can't find more searching about it. What would be the resolution and screen size which would suit the best for Mac os then ? Thank you very much for this video 🔥
With the BetterDisplay app, you don’t have to care about MacOS limited UI scaling options anymore. You can even buy 4K 27inch monitors. See this article bjango.com/articles/macexternaldisplays/
We need to know if all the scaling tricks cause a dip in performance. So many are looking at 27 inch monitors since there are no iMacs anymore. Lots of videos showing a performance hit when mac os tries to operate on a 4k monitor.
@@teohontech7141 people running 3d rendering apps on Macs notice significant lag when using 4k monitors due to scaling. Ive seen it on a few videos and seen it discussed around the forums. It would only be for certain running apps.
MacOS always scales for HiDPI by doubling the resolution and then averaging it back down. So trying to run HiDPI at 4k would mean the Mac is rendering an 8k screen and then bringing it back down. This does take up resources. While it's not especially noticeable most of the time, when you really need to use all the computer's resources for a task, having even a little of those resources being spent rendering extra pixels to a screen is annoying. Anecdotally, I seem to use less resources with the Better Display app than with the built-in scaling in Settings. I don't know if it's just because I found a resolution that was a bit of a sweet spot or if it's doing something tangibly different.
Hi! = ) So is it posible to get the fonts look really good in mac os and in the webbrowser with 34" 3440x1440 resolution? I tried betterdisplay but when i´m choosing Hidpi resolution its makes it lower then 3440x1440 and it looks blurry! Any idea? = ) Also is the original external file in mac os modified now? Howto to get the original stored? Thanks! = )
@@teohontech7141 i bought a 4K monitor insteed! = ) Have betterdisplay now but i can not see 2560x1440 HDIPI in the list. 2016x1134 is the HiDPI now. Howto set 2560x1440 instead? =)
The seller I bought from no longer sells this. But it's a 16-inch display with 2560 x 1600 resolution, 400 nits. It has similar specifications to the LG Gram +view external display
Thanks so much for this. Now, I think it's important to determine if this would punish the GPU performance. I mean, would it take a big toll of the GPU hijacking performance form video/3d edition software? That's what it's important to know, IMHO.
I did not notice any drop in performance. Note that the Macbooks nowadays are powerful enough to run up to 4 displays easily, at least for units where Apple allow you to do so.
Another solution: In MacOS System Preferences -> Display -> Choose to show all resolution and Alt+click on the options, and try the options shown. Let me know if it works.
This worked. Finally it has been fixed !!! Running a 4k 27inch monitor
Only scaled option i have that works is 1080p but still not clear, especially word doc and PDFs. The text are not sharp. I used command defaults -currentHost write -g AppleFontSmoothing -int 3 which helped a little.So I am wondering if I need to buy different resolution monitor UHD or will I have the same issue? Thanks in advance.
@@nazm6179 1080P is only considered sharp if you use 10-inch or smaller display. You will need a 4K display for extra sharpness.
@@nazm6179 what size and resolution display are you on?
@@nazm6179 the issue with your macbook it works fine for windows, it show crisp clear details
Thank you for addressing this issue and providing a solution, this was perfect and I was just about to suffer through this until I went digging down the rabbithole and found your video. So wonderful, worked great with M1 Macbook Air!
You are the first one on CZcams who helped me with my WQHD resolution and the shitty macOS settings. Thank you very much.
I bought a 24-inch 2560x1440 monitor today. I initially set the resolution to 1920x1080, but found the font blurry. I didn't want to use the native 2560x1440 resolution though since it would make everything too small. After installing BetterDisplay and enabling scaled smoothing at 1920x1080, the fonts became much sharper! I was ready to return the monitor, but with BetterDisplay I can keep it. I'm really impressed with the improvement in clarity it provides.
Can you share a screnshot? I have 24-inch 1920x1080, with better display app looks a little bit better, but not sharper due to low ppi, I am plannig to buy a 24-inch 2560x1440 .
@@danielmosho it's worth it
I just got Asus TUF 28" gaming monitor, with high refresh rate and used this app for HiDPI scaling, everything looks so sharp now.
gone are the days when you buy 4k panel and can't use it because of need for powerful video card, on Macs its simple, just use lower resolution and scale pixel to get better image at lower resolution as if it was real 4k.
in reality it is "kinda" 4K, its just for every pixel at FullHD you get 4X pixels from 4K panel, win-win.
@@danielmosho get 4K monitor, you will get then native FHD at HiDPI, on 2K its not as good..
@@danielmosho which setting did you use? i couldnt find any smoothing setting etc so it all looks the same lol
Dude this worked, wtf! All people on the internet are like "Get a 5K screen" but this hack makes it look great
Many like to give buying advice as if money is no issue
Exactly people are like "you need at least 4k to make it work" I will be testing this tomorrow hope it will fix my issue as well
This app is absolutely fantastic! All-in-one solution for display issues. Thank you for the video.
hi, is the app free?
I have been frustrated with this for 2 years since I got a 4K 28” monitor. I use my Mac and PC on the same monitor and Windows has scaled perfectly while macOS has looked really janky. This app has my Mac looking just as good as the PC. Thank you!
I need help. recently bought lenovo 27 inch monitor and test are not sharp.
Just spent the last hour trying to fix this. I was so mad that I almost returned my monitor to the store. This app works perfectly. Thanks 👍
hi bro is the app free?
Download the trial version and see if it works for you. It is worth paying for
is it s subscription?
how much?@@teohontech7141
@@teohontech7141hi I paid for the premium for this app however only one monitor is showing sharp the other one is still blurry do you have any recommendations?
Best video by far. To understand and resolve making display text crisp and sharp for external monitor.
You should win a noble prize for this video mate! Life saver. You just made me love my Dell monitor again!
Haha, indeed.
Thank you so much, I've been using my work MacBook Pro for over a year with a 1440p 27 inch monitor running it at 2048x1152 and never realised just how bad the built-in scaling is until I switched back to native 1440p where everything looks sharp but small. Now I can have 2048x1152 scaling but it looks like 1440p quality!
Exactly what I did!
Can you explain further please I’m a bit confused because I have LG 27” 4K monitor with MBP 14” what should I do? 😅
Thank You So much! I did not know about the resolution scaling issue in macbooks until recently. My monitor is much sharper now!
Amazing! Fixed my screen scaling problem and also the volume and screen brightness (now I can use my apple keyboard to adjust) at the same time.
Glad it helped!
EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. Since I found your video, I was able to configure my 2.5K screen correctly with all my Apple devices, with clear and sharp letters, it's a pleasure to use my monitor now. I was about to return it, but I'm glad I found your video.
Lifesaver! I just bought the Kamvas Pro 16 2.5k and was disappointed that the text looked so fuzzy at a scaled resolution. I work as a professional graphic designer and blurry/fuzzy text is a no go. This app works perfectly. Thank you so much for posting this video.
Thank you very much for this video! I solved the problem after 4 months:) I asked Hidpi at the store where I bought the external monitor. I asked at apple support. No one was able to help me. Thanks!
I was a long term windows user, and this is my first Macbook Air. I was really frustrated when looking at text font's in Safari. I was pretty disappointed with the way Mac renders fonts. Feel like anti-aliasing was not properly handled. After reading through the history of Mac fonts and its obsession to render each letter to its shape (which is a madness Apple took it), I feel little disappointed. And came to the rescue BetterDisplay. Thanks to this Video and Better Display. Now, I'm pretty happy to use Mac. 🙏
Thank you so much man. I just bought a 2K monitor and got so upset with the display. I was going to return it. Now it’s still not Apple Retina display, but it’s much better, and the text is much smoother.
Wow!! This is so helpful. Thank you so much. I got my New LG Dual Up Monitor and some how I was not happy with the screen resolution on it where I was using a split screen in P{BP mode with TYPE-C and HDMI. Sadly Mac OS gives 2 different set of resolutions for these 2 input types and I was not able to find the right setting for the text and colors to look good. This app fixed everything for me. I even tweaked the colors to get deeper blacks and its so much better for the eyes now. It feels like I am using 2 large AMOLED display one below the other and the mouse and windows move seamlessly between screens. Great.
@AbhishekSrivastava_ab Which Macbook Pro version do you have? I have macbook pro 2019 version and is not working fine with my Dell SE2723DS when this app is downloaded.
Was just a few hours of returning my monitor after you saved me. Highly appreciate this great tutorial...
I can not thank you more for this video! Initially with my 16inch portable display with resolution of 2560x1600 all was either too small or too fuzzy. Enabling Better Display I included semi native HiDPI and 2048by1280 works perfect, as it is 1.25 of original resolution. And using Better Display I can control all the brightness, volume, color etc from my mac menu!
My friend a PC user sold me his 27in gaming monitor with nVidia chip that look amazing but in my computer looked fuzzy, looked into so many videos trying to adjust the settings but no success and finally this video showed me how its done. the resolution in my new display monitor is fantastic.
Omg, Im new with Mac OS and I've been looking for this kind of solution for months!
Your video is very helpful, thanks mate!!
I was amazed about modifying the native screen brightness of my external monitor. I don't what will be cut down after trial. But, I appreciate your indication.
My display's USB stopped working, and for some reason the HDMI was always like this. Your recommendation worked like magic!!! Only problem is now I can't get to 60hz, I'm gonna try a new cable...
It's works, excellent tutorial. I was almost buying a new monitor cuz this issue.
I was looking for a solution for that and it worked finally, now i can get to work without having to deal with back pain, thank you so much!
You are a life saver. Thank you so much!
On a Mac Mini M1 running Sonoma with two dual 27" 4K monitors, currently scaled at 2560x1440, we're not seeing the settings you're showing in this video. The video cuts out important parts at the 1:29 mark, so we can't tell where in the BetterDisplay settings those checkboxes are. We're not seeing anything associated with Resolution Scaling.
idk why but some of the text is still blurry to the point its unreadable for me. If i do 80% scaling on 2560x1440 I get blurry text in Google Docs on both Chrome and Safari. I'm not sure what's causing it but when I move the bar back to 100% its also a bit blurrier and need to set it back in the Settings instead - anyone encounter similar issue?
This just works! I think it is unacceptable that Apple itself does not fix this and has to resort to external applications, but this solves the problem! Thank you so much!
Just to echo what others have said here really, thank you for this, fantastic advice, and a great little app. I'm running my external display through a hub and it was forcing a non native resolution. This app solved the problem. It says I have 14 days of premium left, so I guess we will find out which features I need to pay for when the 14 days is up :)
Do let me and others know if the main scaling feature still works after the trial ends.
Thanks so much, I use dual monitor setup with 1440p, and was struggling with small text appearence, where using default Mac's resolution change (changing to 1080p) was making screen look fuzzy or not sharp. Using BetterDisplay seem to retain the monitor native high resolution and still let us scale the content. Thanks for sharing.
1440P is not considered a high-res monitor unless your display is 15-inches or smaller, so using this app will not help.
I just came here to say thank you. I bought an ultra wide monitor and its looked like crap with my Macbook pro for the last year...now its look how I thought it would. +100000000
Thanks for this comment, I really want an ultra wide, but the scaling is what's been holding me back. cheers mate
@@manaceschavez7165 Glad I could help...I regretted buying my ultra wide monitor until I found this video. Enjoy your new monitor!
There isn't an option for configuration override (edit the system configuration of this display) and Resolution scaling (set up native smooth resolution scaling) or the other options you ticked. Is there a way to resolve this?
Go to Displays and in Header (Top) choose your Monitor (Not View Tab) and later you need to scroll down in System Configuration and Flexible Scaling and you can activate "Edit System Configuration" and "Smooth Scaling", but the problem is... Smooth Scaling feature is in PRO version, so I gonna buy it now and test :)
This was very helpful. Thank you!
The fact that Apple doesn't fix something as fundamental as this themselves is such a joke. I really admire macOS for how stable and simple it is, but I am very sure that a proper solution to this issue wouldn't break the operating system. They're probably just using it to sell their own 5K display. Thankfully the community is doing the work for us again!
In fact, this problem is related to retina resolution, which consists of twice the number of pixels per inch. The real problem is that other brands don't make monitors with inches in combination with resolution.
@@pedrowilson8344
But compare Windows. You can set whatever scaling percentage you want and no matter what you choose it never has this issue. Apple's approach of not actually changing how the UI is rendered but just having one basic version which is then up- or downscaled makes no sense nowadays. You know you're doing bad when even Windows is doing it better...
@@ledooni But on the other hand, Windows still doesn't work well with 4k resolution and Hidpi
@@pedrowilson8344 Not familiar with the term but my eyesight isn't the best and I use 4K with 180% scaling on a big OLED TV in Windows for all work and gaming purposes and it looks perfectly fine/sharp while the scaling problems in MacOS are immediately obvious for me even with much smaller displays. Can you maybe describe it a little more detailed so that I can understand what you're talking about?
@@pedrowilson8344 windows has been working fine for me at 4k 27in. I tried macos and immediately noticed the text looking fuzzy. I can't even do fractional scaling without causing much worse pixelation. It's terrible on Mac compared to windows
Can you please help me?
i got mbp and feeling eyestrain and neck tension. Heard this is because of dithering and EWM. I am not sure. I could work on my last laptop for a long time, but it is not the same with mbp.
Please help
Thank you for your quick response.
This is so good, i spent $800 on a monitor and it did not work like it was supposed to so i refunded it, got another monitor for $250, and found this video, and this made my screen so much clearer.
Does it worth to buy pro version just to enable smooth scaling? My monitor looks already fine .
Wow, thanks for this. I have an LG Ultragear and was getting annoyed at the fuzzy text.
Thank you very much! It helped me, but my macbook air 2017 13'' is not strong enough to pull HiDPI, it lags a little and the laptop warms up, but at least I'm calm, because I understand that it's not my fault and now I'm calmly working with LoDPI
Great video!!!!!
Thank you very much for your help !!!!
Did you notice any Mac performance issues with this app when scalling? I'm considering Dell's U32219Q to go with MBP 2017
Many thanks.
This is what I want to know too.
You are a legend!
Thank you so much! 👌
Thank you so much for the video! I have a question: in the current version of Betterdisplay the settings changed vs your video, and the "Flexible scaling" option is a Pro (paying feature). My questions is, is it worth buying the app to unlock this feature, do I need this feature to improve font rendering on my display?
Background: I bought a Dell (3440 x 1440) monitor, when I apply HiDPI in Betterdisplay, the largest resolution I can set is 2048 x 858 (which from comments in the thread below makes sense I guess). The font scaling definitely looks great, but I'm wondering if there is a way to get similarly good font scaling in the native resolution (3440 x 1440), or at least closer to it; i.e. after unlocking the Pro "Flexible scaling" function, I can get better font scaling closer to the native resolution, without HiDPI?
Thanks a ton!
That Dell monitor will be consider low resolution if it's 27 or 32-inches. So the app will not help.
It will work if your monitor is 24 inches or smaller.
Thank you @@teohontech7141 !
Your the bestt bro! thanks it works :)
outstanding guidance! Thank you!
Perfect app, work so well, thanks a lot
Which monitor are you using?
Just after starting the App, i have no Icons on my Desktop and i cant switch between Desktops.
Teoh, Please help.
I want the font size of the display on my 16 inch mac look like 1168 x 755 but I want the crispiness of 1728 x 1117(default).
How can I do it?
I am not using any external moniter. I want to change things on my native display.
Waiting for you reply.
Just install the trial and follow the instructions on their website, and you can choose from the resolutions available
i have fuzzy text in my 90* rotation, is this can be fixed? when i enabled HDR it gets fixed
I’ve been looking for a app like this for ten years! Ten years! I’m grabbing a licence immediately!
Someone told me MacOS has added more UI scaling options. Can you try and let me know if it works? Go into MacOS System Preferences - Display - Show all resolution - Alt+click on the options and go through each to see if fuzzy text is still a problem.
2:55 The UI is adjusted together with the resolution displayed.
Can I use this to fix the tiny ui when using the native 1440 of the Kamvas Pro 16 2.5k? If so what settings to use?
You can. As for which settings, you can just use the resolution slider to go through all the options until you see one that you like.
This was an issue with 1080p displays as well, before macOS Ventura. BetterDisplay scaling seems to look the same as native macOS scaling (on 1080p displays) now. But sometimes I’m tempted to reinstall BetterDisplay just to be sure :)). So people who used external displays with a mac between 2012 and whenever Ventura came out had blurry text? yikes.
I have a 1080p display. Planning to buy a mini m2. Are you sure the Ventura solved the display problem?
@@harishg1771 Hi, not! I just got my Mini M2 yesterday and my ultrawide 1080p monitor is blurry, gonna test out BetterDisplay today.
@@MrDeadmaus10 how did it work out
@@nkdlive unfortunately not very well. On 29” the pixel density is so slow that the screen isn’t very well.
So gonna buy a 4K monitor 27” sized which one has a way more PPI
@@MrDeadmaus10 thinking the same. what do you think about samsung LS27A800NMWXXL
Hi, is it possible to duplicate the true tone color profile of a Macbook using this software? also lid closed? or does that depend on the sensors placed on the Mac's display which adapts to ambient light? Thank you
This software does not colour calibrate, it only changes resolution and scaling
idk why but i can't set 1920х1080 HiDPi only 1920x1079 HiDPi bit it worse than 1920х1080 LoDPi
Hello! do you know if there's a workaround to enable 10bit color depth on a compatible external display connected via a macbook m1?
Not sure about that
Thank you for the video! Unfortunately, for my 1920x1080 external display, the text seems to be the same, and or a bit worse. I wonder if it's the case for others with a 1920x1080 display?
1080P is considered low resolution so this software won't work
Hi, I'm using a Mi 34" 3150x1440 screen. Even after using Better Display I could see the logo and text and blurry comparing to windows pc which I connect. Anyway to fix this?
34-inch with 3150 x 1440 resolution will have pixelation, and that cannot be fixed by software.
I have installed the better display 2, will it still let me use the app after free trail?
Theo, what are the external monitor and stand you're using in this video?
Thanks so much for this!
I was planning to buy a 16" portable monitor (LG gram view 16MR70), resolution 2560 x 1600p. I read some reviews that when connecting to a macbook pro, text is not so crisp.It's possible that BetterDisplay could fix this issue?
You'll need BetterDisplay to work with LG Gram View
Excellent solution, i worried about my second monitor!
I have an AOC 24G2U 24' 1080p with an M2 Air and couldn't achieve much with this app except brightness control which is a godsend. However "fontsmoothingadjuster" did make the fonts a bit more bearable.
1080P is considered low res either 24 inch so the app cannot turn it to high res
Hey. Is there anyway to fix an image on 27" 1440p display? Spend almost 3 hours haha and I am thinking to return it. Tried many resolutions on better display, but still getting kinda blurred text. Thanks a lot!
1440P on 27-inch is considered low resolution so the app will not help.
You can make the visual sharper by switching to 1080P workspace but the UI will be huge and is not the best way to use 1440P resolution
Hi, congratulations for the tutorial and for letting me discover this software! I have a BenQ BL2420PT monitor (it's a 23.8" WQHD 1440P) what configuration do you recommend? I can't get the same sharpness of the texts as I have on a 27" LG 4K monitor with scaling to 1080p perhaps for the dpi? in any case, adapting a resolution of 1280p from the macos system settings basically enables hidpi and even if everything is bigger it seems more defined! so I assume that it is a matter of setting the correct configuration perhaps with a larger resolution. Thank you
Your 24-inch 1440P display should can be used with the 1080P workspace with 1440 resolution. The pixels should not appear too chunky, and if so the settings may be wrong.
Definitely should not use 1280P workspace because that would be the icons, text, UI will be too large.
@@teohontech7141 I'm using a resolution of 2048x1152 by enabling the HIDPI high resolution option
@@domenico086 That should look good if it's 2048 x 1152 workspace using the 1440P resolution.
If a use a dual monitor and one is 1440p and the other is 4k, if I use better display for my 1440p monitor, will it also affect the settings for the 4k monitor as well since it will be connected as a dual monitor setup?
You can customise settings for each individual display separately
I cannot download the betterdisplay software as it say not compatible with version I have. I am using macbook pro mid2014 version 10.13.6. please advise.
Try the new method mentioned in the pinned comment at the top
You mentioned that 27 4k isn't a good size for OSX - what is the best size for a 4k monitor and mac OSX is you're buying specifically for that task and you don't want to spend £1500 on an Apple Studio Display? Is there any way I can make OSX look good on a 4k monitor without resorting to using scaling or third party apps like better display? Thanks
4K 27-inch is not good for MacOS, yes. But with this app, you can not use 4K 27-inch monitors. No problem.
If you don't want to use these third party apps, then go with 27-inch 1440P (pixelation noticeable). Or 4K 16 to 18-inch displays.
You're a legend!
Perhaps I missed something, but I just got a 24"1080p monitor to use with the macM1 air and the app has not made any discernable difference that I can see. The text is still blurry/looks oversharp.
24 inch 1080P displays will have noticeable pixelation. That's not something that can be fixed with this app.
@@teohontech7141 Thanx for the info. :)
@@bereneicesephton8132 Same situation here, extremely disappointing.
same here! and i cant return the monitor
@@malooskitty9124 I ended up spending 700$ on a new monitor just to make it work, unfortunately.
Thanks !! this video helps a lot
Great video! What monitor stand are you using?
www.lululook.com/products/tablet-stand-holder?rfsn=6999625.5cb85f
Is there any other option after purchase the program? I see the same options than I have in my mac. So no much difference (At before to buy it.) Thanks!
I am not sure because I don’t have the trial version as mine is paid. So just use the free trial version first to test and see if it works for you.
Not to be overdramatic but this video saved my life
you saved us, big thank you
This is kinda weird, so my monitor has a resolution of 1920 x 1080, and in the app (the display mode) there are option of 1920 x 1080 hidpi (with the stars symbol next to it) but it wouldn't let me select it. i am now using the 1888 x 1062 hidpi because its the highest resolution it let me use and the texts are indeed less fuzzy when i use it. is there any way i can still use my default resolution while having the hidpi thing enabled or is it actually a premium feature? thanks for the vid btw!
1080P is not considered high resolution unless your display is 10 inch or smaller. So this app will not help much.
Gonna try this !!😊 thank you
So this fixes the Huion Kamvas 16 2.5k resolution and Icon scaling issue correct?
Yes
Thanks, Teoh!
My M2 MBP has a screen flickering issue when displaying dark gray colors, seems a software thing, would you happen to know how to fix it? 😢
Turn off True Tone
Hello Teoh, I'm currently running macOS Sonoma 14.3.1, and am unable to shrink the user interface from the top taskbar and can't find the option to in system settings. Do you have a fix for this?
In MacOS System Preferences -> Display -> Choose to show all resolution and Alt+click on the options, and try the options shown. Let me know if it works.
it works for me...but the problem, when i disconect from external monitor, and i wanna work from my mbp m1 14", it shows 1512 x 982, when the default is 3024 x 1964.. i change to 3024x1964 and everything is very small.. i dunno what to do..
You should be able to choose resolution for each display separately.
At external monitor yes.. i can choose resolution without problem..but while i use my mbp m1 14 now im using 1513 x 982 ,😭
Is it better to buy a 27" 1440p monitor with Better Display or should I buy a 27" 4k and run scaled 1440p? I have the M3 Pro macbook pro btw.
1440P on 27-inch is considered low resolution and BetterDisplay will not help. You need at least 4K.
im looking to get the lg dual up monitor, which has a resolution of 2560 x 2880. I couldn't find that on the settings. Which resolution do you think would be best suited for this external monitor? thanks for your help
That monitor is best use at native resolution. The BetterDisplay app will not help
@@teohontech7141 I heard that native resolution makes the font seem a bit fuzzy. Would you happen to know how to get rid of the fuziness without betterdisplay app then? thanks for you help in advance!
@@WimpyKid4567 That monitor size and resolution is considered low resolution, and cannot improve with software/apps
Will this work with 27'' QHD Monitors? I have DELL SE2723DS.
No. Because 27-inch 1440P is considered a low res monitor.
You said scale is not well supported for 27" 4k screen and 1440p resolution. Where did you find this information? I can't find more searching about it. What would be the resolution and screen size which would suit the best for Mac os then ? Thank you very much for this video 🔥
With the BetterDisplay app, you don’t have to care about MacOS limited UI scaling options anymore. You can even buy 4K 27inch monitors.
See this article
bjango.com/articles/macexternaldisplays/
@@teohontech7141 thanks you very much for the link. This article is perfect 🙏🏻
May I have the links for your monitor and stand?
www.parkablogs.com/content/review-benks-infinity-basic-tablet-stand
www.parkablogs.com/content/generic-16-inch-25k-ips-lcd-display-us-150
We need to know if all the scaling tricks cause a dip in performance. So many are looking at 27 inch monitors since there are no iMacs anymore. Lots of videos showing a performance hit when mac os tries to operate on a 4k monitor.
I personally did not notice performance dip. What kind of performance dip are you talking about?
Most Macs from 2018 onwards run 4K easily
@@teohontech7141 people running 3d rendering apps on Macs notice significant lag when using 4k monitors due to scaling. Ive seen it on a few videos and seen it discussed around the forums. It would only be for certain running apps.
MacOS always scales for HiDPI by doubling the resolution and then averaging it back down. So trying to run HiDPI at 4k would mean the Mac is rendering an 8k screen and then bringing it back down. This does take up resources. While it's not especially noticeable most of the time, when you really need to use all the computer's resources for a task, having even a little of those resources being spent rendering extra pixels to a screen is annoying.
Anecdotally, I seem to use less resources with the Better Display app than with the built-in scaling in Settings. I don't know if it's just because I found a resolution that was a bit of a sweet spot or if it's doing something tangibly different.
Hi! = )
So is it posible to get the fonts look really good in mac os and in the webbrowser with 34" 3440x1440 resolution? I tried betterdisplay but when i´m choosing Hidpi resolution its makes it lower then 3440x1440 and it looks blurry! Any idea? = ) Also is the original external file in mac os modified now? Howto to get the original stored? Thanks! = )
3440 x 1440 on 34-inch is considered a low res monitor so this app will not work.
@@teohontech7141 i bought a 4K monitor insteed! = ) Have betterdisplay now but i can not see 2560x1440 HDIPI in the list. 2016x1134 is the HiDPI now. Howto set 2560x1440 instead? =)
@@andersw2274 The updated BetterDisplay app now uses a slider so you have to slide to the resolution/scaling you want
@@teohontech7141 yes but the 2560x1440 in Hi DPI mode is not there. Only LO mode. Benq 27” 4k monitor
what is the external monitor you were using in this video? I’d love to get my hands on one for a portable setup
The seller I bought from no longer sells this. But it's a 16-inch display with 2560 x 1600 resolution, 400 nits. It has similar specifications to the LG Gram +view external display
Wonderful. Thank you.
Thanks so much for this. Now, I think it's important to determine if this would punish the GPU performance. I mean, would it take a big toll of the GPU hijacking performance form video/3d edition software? That's what it's important to know, IMHO.
I did not notice any drop in performance. Note that the Macbooks nowadays are powerful enough to run up to 4 displays easily, at least for units where Apple allow you to do so.
Something that just works in windows, but with mac os you need to buy an app?
Perfect! Thanks A LOT. However I still wonder if there are any downsides of doing this? Any idea?
I can't think of any downsides
@@teohontech7141 Thanks!
Hi! Thanks for this! Do you know if it will work with 5120x1440p (32:9) monitors? Thanks!
Not sure about that.
Ok thanks@@teohontech7141 ! If I tried it, I'll update here what I find.