Any way to make fuzzy text on Dell 24" crisper?

[silverlakerCA]

A local thrift shop find was the $25 purchase of a Dell 24” E4217H monitor. I’ve rigged it as my second monitor.
What I don’t like is the text is fuzzy, especially when looking at the Dell 27” P2721Q next to it.

Is there any way to make the 24” monitor text resolution crisper, using any application?
Or am I stuck with the fuzzy text.

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[Amethyst1]

Is there any way to make the 24” monitor text resolution crisper, using any application?
Or am I stuck with the fuzzy text.

This is a "Full HD" monitor. You're pretty much stuck with fuzzy text. If you want crisp text on macOS, you need a "4K" or higher-resolution monitor.

 

[theMarble]

A 24" 1080p monitor has a PPI (Pixels per Inch) of around 92ppi. Compare that to your 27" 1440p screen which is around 109ppi, and a MacBook Pro Retina display hovers anywhere from 220ppi to 250ppi (approx). The lower the PPI your screen is, the more pixellated it looks since the pixels are larger, making it less crisp.

The only ways to fix it is either to:

1. Use an app like BetterDisplay to force the display into 2x Hi-DPI mode, which will get you a PPI of around 184, but the screen resolution is cut in half to 960x540, which is near unusable.

2. The only other option, which Amethyst1 pointed out is to sell (or put aside) your 24" monitor and buy a monitor with a 109+ PPI. You can use PPI calcuators to check the PPI of any given screen size + resolution. I would suggest getting an IPS screen if you can, they are frankly are the only screens apart from OLED, QLED and miniLED that don't like crap. (looking at you TN...)

When I went from a Dell U2417H (24" 1080p) to my current 27" Thunderbolt Display, the noticeable difference between my external display and 15" Retina display got a lot closer, despite the difference in PPI being only 17ppi, far away from the 218ppi of the MacBook.

 

[Amethyst1]

Compare that to your 27" 1440p screen which is around 109ppi, [...]

The P2721Q is a "4K" screen with 163 ppi.

1. Use an app like BetterDisplay to force the display into 2x Hi-DPI mode, which will get you a PPI of around 184, but the screen resolution is cut in half to 960x540, which is near unusable.

You can also use a higher-than-native HiDPI mode, such as 1600×900, resulting in more real estate.

2. The only other option, which Amethyst1 pointed out is to sell (or put aside) your 24" monitor and buy a monitor with a 109+ PPI.

I'd go as far as to say if you're going to buy another monitor, don't bother with less-than-"4K" resolution. HiDPI modes are only available on a "4K" or higher-resolution monitor OOTB. Text rendering is vastly improved in HiDPI modes compared to non-HiDPI ones. There's quite a difference between a 27" 2560×1440 monitor using non-HiDPI and a 27" "4K" monitor using HiDPI.

 

[theMarble]

The P2721Q is a "4K" screen with 163 ppi.

Ahh! Didn't realise that Dell made 4K monitors in the P series, thought they were limited to the UltraSharp's.

 

[Amethyst1]

Ahh! Didn't realise that Dell made 4K monitors in the P series, thought they were limited to the UltraSharp's.

Dell has made "4K" P screens since the P2815Q.