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helloapple1

macrumors 6502
Jan 20, 2020
486
313
Hello,

For anyone still having problems with the ypbpr vs rgb probem.
I managed to get it stay on RGB. I tested restarting the computer, shutting down and opening again, disconnecting the usb-c cable that connects the computer to the monitor and connecting again, then waking from sleep. All worked.

I'm on 12.0 Beta (21A5284e). Display is a 4k Dell P2721Q connected with a USB-C to USB-C cable to a M1 Macbook Air baseline.

Search for DDC/CI option in the OSD of your monitor and turn it off. Let me know if that works for any of you!

Thanks!

P.S. If you want to replicate close to my own situation, before doing the procedure with the OSD I opened the lid of my Macbook and from Display Settings I changed to Mirror on the settings for my external display. Then I switched the color to P3 and back to the display's default color profile, and after that I did the OSD thing.

Seems like MacOS 12 Monterey fixed the issue for you so it stays on RGB.

Anyone else who upgraded to MacOS 12 can confirm this as well?
 
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guitarguy316

macrumors 6502
Sep 5, 2010
375
67
What’s the best way to get the sharpest text/fonts using a 4K monitor?

I haven’t checked in months but I assume we should still disable font smoothing?
 

Shelll

macrumors member
Apr 24, 2011
35
5
Guys, so I don't understand about connection cable, is there some difference between type_c-dp and hdmi-hdmi cable? I have MM M1 and 27" 1440p, hdmi-hdmi connection. Already tried all font smoothing options (but colours looks great)
 

0906742

Cancelled
Apr 11, 2018
2,313
613
Guys, so I don't understand about connection cable, is there some difference between type_c-dp and hdmi-hdmi cable? I have MM M1 and 27" 1440p, hdmi-hdmi connection. Already tried all font smoothing options (but colours looks great)
It is 99% sure it won't make difference because problem is 1440p monitor and that MacOS does not support HiDPI font for under 4K displays.
 

xraydoc

Contributor
Oct 9, 2005
11,018
5,483
192.168.1.1
What’s the best way to get the sharpest text/fonts using a 4K monitor?

I haven’t checked in months but I assume we should still disable font smoothing?
On a 4K display, unless you have superhuman eyesight, leave it all at default settings and choose the “looks-like” setting best for your situation.

The issue with some 4K displays is that macOS will output YPrPb display mode instead of RGB. Depending on the monitor, you may or may not see any difference (comes down to color depth and calibration).

On non-HiDPI monitors, it makes more of a difference in some situations.
 

guitarguy316

macrumors 6502
Sep 5, 2010
375
67
On a 4K display, unless you have superhuman eyesight, leave it all at default settings and choose the “looks-like” setting best for your situation.

The issue with some 4K displays is that macOS will output YPrPb display mode instead of RGB. Depending on the monitor, you may or may not see any difference (comes down to color depth and calibration).

On non-HiDPI monitors, it makes more of a difference in some situations.
What do you mean looks like? One of the default scaled settings or manual scaling?
 

guitarguy316

macrumors 6502
Sep 5, 2010
375
67
Choose any of the HiDPI selections. Do not use a non-HiDPI setting unless you’re selecting native 3840x2160 (but be prepared for microscopic UI elements).
How do you know which ones are HiDPI? Is it just the 5 basic scaling options? If I do the custom resolution trick those aren’t HiDPI?
 

xraydoc

Contributor
Oct 9, 2005
11,018
5,483
192.168.1.1
How do you know which ones are HiDPI? Is it just the 5 basic scaling options? If I do the custom resolution trick those aren’t HiDPI?
The basic ones will be HiDPI if you're using a HiDPI monitor (4K+). If you look at the option-click offerings, the HiDPI ones will be labelled with "(HiDPI)".
 

jabbr

macrumors 6502
Apr 15, 2012
378
289
so are there literally no good 4K monitor options that will reliably work in RGB mode with M1? The display market seems absolutely horrible right now.
 

mr.cameronluke

macrumors newbie
Aug 5, 2021
2
0
I recently bought a m1 air and LG 35inch monitor, a I'm getting those really cloudy tones, is there any way to fix this?
 

GenRen

macrumors newbie
Aug 5, 2021
8
3
Hello. I have been reading your forum for a long time. A lot of useful information, thank you very much. I want to buy a Gigabyte AORUS FI32U monitor for mac mini M1. It seems to me perfect, 32 UHD IPS 144Gz. But there are doubts that it will work correctly HiDPI with such Gz (at least more than 100Gz).
How do you think?
This monitor is out this month.
 

helloapple1

macrumors 6502
Jan 20, 2020
486
313
I was having issues with my Dell S2721QS from flickering when connected to my M1 MacBook Air and after tinkering found a solution. Hope this helps anyone who experienced the same.

The goal is to make the screen color "RGB", but it's standard set to "YBRGB".

1. Connect the M1 Macbook to the monitor first by HDMI (by dongle). It will show "YBRGB" by default. Change the monitor resolution settings to what you want first through the Mac settings.
2. Through the Dell monitor, change "YBRGB" to "RGB". The Dell monitor colors will look strange, that's ok.
3. Turn off the monitor. Unplug the HDMI dongle from the Mac.
4. Within 10 seconds plug in the USB-C to DisplayPort.
5. Turn on the Dell monitor and check the monitor settings that it's still on "RGB".

This has seemed to work for me. It seems it's tricking the monitor into staying on RGB.
 

Donza

macrumors regular
Nov 14, 2006
201
97
Finland
Is this a trap to get me on Monterey beta-train? ?
Screenshot 2021-08-31 at 19.41.36.png
 
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yalej

macrumors member
Mar 6, 2021
38
17
I have a Dell 34” widescreen U3419, and I recently swapped the usb-c cable that came with the monitor for the Apple Thunderbolt 3 cable (I just wanted a shorter cable). I noticed a visible (to me) improvement in the text sharpness, particularly some smaller fonts. By no means is this HiDPI/Retina quality, but it is better.
 
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caubeyeudoi

macrumors newbie
Aug 31, 2021
1
0
I was having issues with my Dell S2721QS from flickering when connected to my M1 MacBook Air and after tinkering found a solution. Hope this helps anyone who experienced the same.

The goal is to make the screen color "RGB", but it's standard set to "YBRGB".

1. Connect the M1 Macbook to the monitor first by HDMI (by dongle). It will show "YBRGB" by default. Change the monitor resolution settings to what you want first through the Mac settings.
2. Through the Dell monitor, change "YBRGB" to "RGB". The Dell monitor colors will look strange, that's ok.
3. Turn off the monitor. Unplug the HDMI dongle from the Mac.
4. Within 10 seconds plug in the USB-C to DisplayPort.
5. Turn on the Dell monitor and check the monitor settings that it's still on "RGB".

This has seemed to work for me. It seems it's tricking the monitor into staying on RGB.
Thanks for your guide. I use Macbook Pro M1 with Dell P2721Q, my OSD already has both RGB and YPbPr to select.

Default selected is YPbPr, I could not see any bad about font or image when using original YPbPr.
But when I want to select RGB for "standard" using of everyone, my screen color look strange.

I follow your guide to do reach main target is make the screen color RGB, but with different cables:
1. Connect the Macbook Pro M1 to the monitor by USB-C to DisplayPort.
2. Through the OSD, change from "YPbPr" into "RGB". The color will look strange.
3. Turn off the monitor. Unplug the USB-C to DisplayPort from the Mac.
4. Plug in USB-C to USB-C with supplied by Dell monitor into Macbook Pro M1.
5. Turn on the Dell Monitor and check monitor settings that it's still on "RGB" and with true color.

Thanks for your guide. I hope this post will help anyone having this issue.
 
Last edited:

0906742

Cancelled
Apr 11, 2018
2,313
613
Can confirm now that this was bullcrap... Nothing is fixed in Monterey regarding RGB mode detection. It still defaults to YPbPr if I for example change display orientation. Luckily plist editing still works.
Glad to hear plist editing works in Monterey too because I read somewhere in this forum someone saying plist format was changed in Monterey and was not working anymore and that got me worried.
 

yalej

macrumors member
Mar 6, 2021
38
17
Hi,

Does anybody have news about Apple MacBook Air M1 with a Mi Curved Gaming-Monitor 34"?
The colors look like sh**, and the font is also not that good. I've tried so far:

As far as I can tell, any monitor that has 3440x1440 native resolution (ultra wide) is going to look crappy on a M1 mac because it cannot be set to have any HiDPI resolution (i.e. the pixel doubling that Mac's use to achieve retina resolutions). I haven't seen a way to make it significantly better (I am in the same boat as you). Just the way it is sadly.
 
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