Resolved 4k Display Confusion...

[scarrab666]

Howdy All,

I just got myself an LG 27UD88 with USB C...

Its a lovely machine, and connecting my MacBook (12" early 2015) is really nice...

However...

For the life of me I can't work out how to get it to full 4K resolution without my icons/text going Teeny tiny!

Is there a way to display in 4K without Icons, menus and dock going super small (much like how it displays in 1080) or is it a case of being one or t'other?

Basically I want 4K but want to keep the size of everything the same.

 

[kepler20b]

in display settings select scaled resolutions

 

[scarrab666]

in display settings select scaled resolutions

Hi kepler, and thank you for your reply; I've set the scaled resolution, but sadly this is where the problem arises...

Scaled at the 'normal' (as in my normal size) only displays at:
'Larger Text' = 1920 x 1080 @ 60Hz (1080p)
Whereas
'More Space' = 3840 x 2160 @ 60 Hz (which is 4k) gives me the teeny tiny effect...

I'm looking for scaled to display the 'Larger Text' at 3840 x 2160 @ 60 Hz (is that possible?)

 

[Admiral]

Yes. Scaled resolutions always use the 4K display's full 3840 x 2160, even though it appears to be a different resolution. Think of your Macbook itself. Its panel is 2304 x 1440, but most people use it at a scaled resolution which has the appearance of a lower resolution (in my case, I like the "more space" setting that looks like 1440 x 900). The extra pixels are used to give a smooth appearance.

I have an LG UD68 4K monitor, and keep it at an apparent resolution of 2560 x 1440. Sadly I have as yet been unsuccessful getting it to give a 60Hz refresh rate with my 2016 Macbook because apparently the patch does not yet work with Mac OS X Sierra 10.12.2. It works great with my other computers, though, and looks wonderful. It's a great monitor for US$399. Hope springs eternal for a solution for this 2016 Macbook. Maybe I should spring for a DisplayPort adapter instead of using HDMI with the Apple USB-C dongle.

Do you not get any scaled resolution options other than 1920 x 1080 or 3840 x 2160?

 

[andy9l]

I use my Early-2015 MacBook with a 27UD88 with the scaling setting in System Prefs. set to "Looks like 2560x1440", or "More space". It's the second from left, just after the default.

This still runs all 4K pixels at 60Hz, but scales the UI accordingly. It is much, much sharper than any native 2560x1440 monitor. This is how HiDPI works on any screen, in any OS.

I have an LG UD68 4K monitor, and keep it at an apparent resolution of 2560 x 1440. Sadly I have as yet been unsuccessful getting it to give a 60Hz refresh rate with my 2016 Macbook because apparently the patch does not yet work with Mac OS X Sierra 10.12.2. It works great with my other computers, though, and looks wonderful. It's a great monitor for US$399. Hope springs eternal for a solution for this 2016 Macbook. Maybe I should spring for a DisplayPort adapter instead of using HDMI with the Apple USB-C dongle.

The Apple adapter is HDMI 1.4. It cannot do 4K at 60Hz. You need a different adapter to use your monitor at 60Hz since it doesn't have USB-C.

 

[scarrab666]

I use my Early-2015 MacBook with a 27UD88 with the scaling setting in System Prefs. set to "Looks like 2560x1440", or "More space". It's the second from left, just after the default.

This still runs all 4K pixels at 60Hz, but scales the UI accordingly. It is much, much sharper than any native 2560x1440 monitor. This is how HiDPI works on any screen, in any OS.



The Apple adapter is HDMI 1.4. It cannot do 4K at 60Hz. You need a different adapter to use your monitor at 60Hz since it doesn't have USB-C.

Thanking you both... Out of curiosity, if one were to watch a 4k movie in 'fullscreen' (lets say Netflix) would it be in 'true' 4k? Still a little confused, but thanks for enlightenment!

 

[andy9l]

Thanking you both... Out of curiosity, if one were to watch a 4k movie in 'fullscreen' (lets say Netflix) would it be in 'true' 4k? Still a little confused, but thanks for enlightenment!

Yes, most apps are aware of scaling - certainly all Apple apps and modern browsers. If you watch a 4K YouTube video it will indeed display in full 4K at full screen.

Think of it this way:

The 5K iMac runs by default scaled to 2560x1440 but has 5120x2880 pixels
The iPhone 7 runs by default scaled to 375x667 but has 750x1334 pixels.
The iPad Pro runs by default scaled to 1366x1024 but has 2732x2048 pixels.

When I say 'scaled' I simply mean the UI is being displayed at 2x its native size. Otherwise everything would be incredibly tiny, with the issue only magnifying on smaller screens.

With 4K, 2x scaling is 1920x1080 (since most 4K displays are 3840x2160). The issue is, 1920x1080 looks silly on a 27" screen. As such, we need to adjust the 2x scaling so it's a bit less than 2.

2560 is 33% less than 3840
1440 is 33% less than 2160

This means 2560x1440 can scale proportionally from a native 3840x2160 resolution, but still utilise all of the pixels. Since this scaling is being done by macOS, it can relay the fact that this is happening to apps like iMovie, Photos, Safari or Photoshop.

Therefore whenever one of these "retina-ready" apps wants to display an image or video, it can remove the scaling for just that image or video - you therefore get a lovely 1-to-1 pixel mapping for your videos.

As such:

- a 1080p movie in Quicktime will fill exactly one quarter of your screen at full resolution
- a 4K movie will be run at native 4K in full screen
- an 8MP photo will look super sharp and fill almost the entire screen at full resolution
- icons and images on websites (that are coded/designed correctly) will be super crisp
- text will always be super sharp unless an app is not retina-ready (very rare nowadays)

tl;dr - only the UI is scaled (but remains sharp), other images/videos smartly utilise the full potential of your HiDPI display, thanks to macOS and your respective app developers.

 

[scarrab666]

Yes, most apps are aware of scaling - certainly all Apple apps and modern browsers. If you watch a 4K YouTube video it will indeed display in full 4K at full screen.

Think of it this way:

The 5K iMac runs by default scaled to 2560x1440 but has 5120x2880 pixels
The iPhone 7 runs by default scaled to 375x667 but has 750x1334 pixels.
The iPad Pro runs by default scaled to 1366x1024 but has 2732x2048 pixels.

When I say 'scaled' I simply mean the UI is being displayed at 2x its native size. Otherwise everything would be incredibly tiny, with the issue only magnifying on smaller screens.

With 4K, 2x scaling is 1920x1080 (since most 4K displays are 3840x2160). The issue is, 1920x1080 looks silly on a 27" screen. As such, we need to adjust the 2x scaling so it's a bit less than 2.

2560 is 33% less than 3840
1440 is 33% less than 2160

This means 2560x1440 can scale proportionally from a native 3840x2160 resolution, but still utilise all of the pixels. Since this scaling is being done by macOS, it can relay the fact that this is happening to apps like iMovie, Photos, Safari or Photoshop.

Therefore whenever one of these "retina-ready" apps wants to display an image or video, it can remove the scaling for just that image or video - you therefore get a lovely 1-to-1 pixel mapping for your videos.

As such:

- a 1080p movie in Quicktime will fill exactly one quarter of your screen at full resolution
- a 4K movie will be run at native 4K in full screen
- an 8MP photo will look super sharp and fill almost the entire screen at full resolution
- icons and images on websites (that are coded/designed correctly) will be super crisp
- text will always be super sharp unless an app is not retina-ready (very rare nowadays)

tl;dr - only the UI is scaled (but remains sharp), other images/videos smartly utilise the full potential of your HiDPI display, thanks to macOS and your respective app developers.

Andy, this is a perfect reply; and makes sense to me now... I must admit the Monitor is nice, but dunno if its worth the price. From my initial thoughts on the monitor I reckon I'll not make the investment into a 4k TV just yet (though again it is nice!).

 

[andy9l]

Andy, this is a perfect reply; and makes sense to me now... I must admit the Monitor is nice, but dunno if its worth the price. From my initial thoughts on the monitor I reckon I'll not make the investment into a 4k TV just yet (though again it is nice!).

Glad it helped.

I use my 27UD88 with both my MacBook and a newly built Windows gaming rig. I get 4K gaming and near-retina macOS through one good-looking monitor that truly "just works". I love it.

I've been very impressed with both of my LG products - a 43" 4K Smart TV and this monitor.

I watched The Grand Tour via Amazon Prime TV app in 4K on the TV - some scenes really did amaze me, but looking at Jeremy Clarkson in 4K isn't worth any money at all!

 

[Admiral]

The Apple adapter is HDMI 1.4. It cannot do 4K at 60Hz. You need a different adapter to use your monitor at 60Hz since it doesn't have USB-C.

That's unfortunate. It means I should have plumped for the UD88. Nuts. Oh well, I guess I wait for a Thunderbolt 3 monitor to be released and then plug the UD68 into an HDMI 2.0 or DisplayPort on the dock I'll end up buying, and connect the Thunderbolt 3 MacBook Pro or 2017 Retina MacBook I'll end up buying. Or, if I'm really lucky, the as-yet unreleased Thunderbolt 3 monitor will be a dock and have those ports to connect an additional monitor.

The system we really want is always coming Real Soon Now™, isn't it?

 

[Dunbar]

I will say that Windows 10 is better than Mac OSX when it comes to scaling UI elements on a 4k monitor. I use both OS's connected to my 4K monitor and Windows lets you adjust how much you want to blow the UI elements up. With OSX you can't fine tune the size of the UI elements to your desired preference.

 

[kvcsmark]

Yes. Scaled resolutions always use the 4K display's full 3840 x 2160, even though it appears to be a different resolution. Think of your Macbook itself. Its panel is 2304 x 1440, but most people use it at a scaled resolution which has the appearance of a lower resolution (in my case, I like the "more space" setting that looks like 1440 x 900). The extra pixels are used to give a smooth appearance.

I have an LG UD68 4K monitor, and keep it at an apparent resolution of 2560 x 1440. Sadly I have as yet been unsuccessful getting it to give a 60Hz refresh rate with my 2016 Macbook because apparently the patch does not yet work with Mac OS X Sierra 10.12.2. It works great with my other computers, though, and looks wonderful. It's a great monitor for US$399. Hope springs eternal for a solution for this 2016 Macbook. Maybe I should spring for a DisplayPort adapter instead of using HDMI with the Apple USB-C dongle.

Do you not get any scaled resolution options other than 1920 x 1080 or 3840 x 2160?

Hello Admiral!
I'm trying to get 2560x1440 resolution on my LG 27UK850 4K monitor but I only have those two resolutions you mentioned (1920 x 1080 or 3840 x 2160)
Do you have any idea, how can i get the 2k or 3k res out of it? I'm using the HDMI cabel which was in the box for the monitor. Since I'm using a Late 2015 MBP (i7 2,8 ghz) my only other option is to use a minidisplay-displayport cable. Do you think it would help? What cable do you use for your monitor? Thanks

 

[mbar]

Hello Admiral!
I'm trying to get 2560x1440 resolution on my LG 27UK850 4K monitor but I only have those two resolutions you mentioned (1920 x 1080 or 3840 x 2160)
Do you have any idea, how can i get the 2k or 3k res out of it? I'm using the HDMI cabel which was in the box for the monitor. Since I'm using a Late 2015 MBP (i7 2,8 ghz) my only other option is to use a minidisplay-displayport cable. Do you think it would help? What cable do you use for your monitor? Thanks

I have exactly your configuration: MBP 2015 and LG 27UK850 monitor. The mini display port to displayport cable or adapter will let you select the scaling just like for the retina lcd. One of the options is "Looks like 2560x1440" which is about the same size as the retina display and it's perfect.

 

[kvcsmark]

I have exactly your configuration: MBP 2015 and LG 27UK850 monitor. The mini display port to displayport cable or adapter will let you select the scaling just like for the retina lcd. One of the options is "Looks like 2560x1440" which is about the same size as the retina display and it's perfect.

Thanks for your answer! Yesterday I've already bought the mini display-port to display-port cable and the scaling option works with it. One more thing: Do you experience any lag using any of the scaling option with the monitor? I realized when I choose the standard settings 1920x1080 there is no lag, but when i'm using 2560x1440, watching videos full screen (Youtube, Netflix, etc.) the MBP can't handle it (which is quite interesting, since it's one of the strongest configuration) there is a horrible lag while playing any videos. I have read other forums where several ppl have the same issue.

 

[mbar]

I don't notice any lag on youtube at 1080p. Don't have netflix to check.
My MBP is mid2015, 2.5GHz i7, 16GB RAM, AMD Radeon R9 M370X 2048 MB + Intel Iris Pro

 

[kvcsmark]

I don't notice any lag on youtube at 1080p. Don't have netflix to check.
My MBP is mid2015, 2.5GHz i7, 16GB RAM, AMD Radeon R9 M370X 2048 MB + Intel Iris Pro

Thanks for the info! I keep searching then... since you don't have the same problem with your configuration, there must be a solution.

 

[sittingstill]

Does anyone know what might cause the Retina mode "scaled resolutions" to not be available? I am connecting a 2015 15" Macbook Pro Retina to a 4k tv via HDMI, and the scaled resolutions do not appear, just "3840x2160 (low resolution)" and "1080p" (which is actually 1080p and not 2160p scaled to 'look like' 1080p). Option clicking provides additional non-native resolutions below 1080p, but the Retina scaling mode and "more / less / looks like" slider and options do not appear

 

[mbar]

I'm using DisplayPort with scaling at "looks like 2580x1440" and notice that the macbook runs much hotter, 63ºC at idle, instead of about 40ºC when unconnected to the external display. Is this normal?

 

[andy9l]

I'm using DisplayPort with scaling at "looks like 2580x1440" and notice that the macbook runs much hotter, 63ºC at idle, instead of about 40ºC when unconnected to the external display. Is this normal?

Yes.

Your Mac is running two retina displays when connected, or you’re in clam shell mode which is worse for cooling.

It’s also presumably more intensive to scale than to run native resolutions (constantly having to recalculate before drawing the UI) - especially when it’s not perfect @2x @3x etc.. You’re running @1.5x, for example.

 

[tsyned]

Howdy All,

I just got myself an LG 27UD88 with USB C...

Its a lovely machine, and connecting my MacBook (12" early 2015) is really nice...

However...

For the life of me I can't work out how to get it to full 4K resolution without my icons/text going Teeny tiny!

Is there a way to display in 4K without Icons, menus and dock going super small (much like how it displays in 1080) or is it a case of being one or t'other?

Basically I want 4K but want to keep the size of everything the same.

We just got an AOC U2777PQU 4k screen and had the issue where you could choose to scale from the drop down menu and set a resolution but you could not use the 4k res and have larger text with the nice retina sliding scale like on the iMac Pro main monitor. After many hours of looking through forums I noticed something on the Apple site about HDMI 1.4 support. On the new monitor, using its buttons, I changed the HDMI version from 2.0 to 1.4 and magically it now works PERFECTLY!

 

[ascender]

Does anyone know what might cause the Retina mode "scaled resolutions" to not be available? I am connecting a 2015 15" Macbook Pro Retina to a 4k tv via HDMI, and the scaled resolutions do not appear, just "3840x2160 (low resolution)" and "1080p" (which is actually 1080p and not 2160p scaled to 'look like' 1080p). Option clicking provides additional non-native resolutions below 1080p, but the Retina scaling mode and "more / less / looks like" slider and options do not appear

Did you ever manage to resolve this?

I've got the same issue today which wasn't there on an old laptop - connecting the LG 27UD88 to a 2018 MBP over USB-C.

 

[andy9l]

Did you ever manage to resolve this?

I've got the same issue today which wasn't there on an old laptop - connecting the LG 27UD88 to a 2018 MBP over USB-C.

Had this issue once several months ago with my 27UD88.

I just turned it off, unplugged the screen from the mains (seemed to be key), turned off the MBP then booted everything back up. Worked fine ever since. Not sure what triggered it. Give it a go.

 

[ascender]

Had this issue once several months ago with my 27UD88.

I just turned it off, unplugged the screen from the mains (seemed to be key), turned off the MBP then booted everything back up. Worked fine ever since. Not sure what triggered it. Give it a go.

That worked a treat, thanks for the incredibly quick reply and fix!

You're right, looks like unplugging it from the mains power was the (strange) thing which made the difference as I'd done everything else.

 

[ascender]

Hmm, this is happening quite frequently - usually after the laptop is removed and plugged back in to the monitor. I wonder if its a USB-C anomaly as much as anything.

 

[ascender]

I've finally narrowed it down to the DisplayPort setting in the screen. I have to connect the screen, turn DisplayPort off, then back on for the correct refresh rate and scaling options to appear.

Any ideas what I could try next? I might start a fresh topic as I can't be the only one with similar issues? Unless its a faulty monitor obviously.