M1 Owners, which external display do you use? Scaling options required.

[TomOSeven]

Hi all,

I‘m looking for a display that’s actually compatible with my M1 MacBook Air.

The USB-C monitor I’m using now (BenQ 1440p, 144 hz monitor) works with everything BUT my Mac, since MacOS doesn’t give me scaling options on that monitor.

I’m sure that’s just Apple ****ing people over intentionally so they spring for more expensive 4K monitors, but I’m actually ready to take the bait because none of the Windows laptops out there are appealing to me right now.

Which monitor do you use?
Needs: full scaling options in MacOS, USB-C hub or USB-C charging at least.

Thanks!

 

[Mike Boreham]

LG 23.7 inch Ultrafine works absolutely impeccably but is expensive. No regrets. Behaves and is controlled as if it were a built in display.

Connected by Thunderbolt and has a spare TB3 port and three USB-C ports so is also a Thunderbolt Hub. Factor this into the price if you also need a TB hub.

 

[megastuff999]

Using BenQ 3200U which I have set at 1.25 scaling (around 3000 x 1700 working resolution). Has built in KVM which I love along with 4 USB ports

 

[TomOSeven]

LG 23.7 inch Ultrafine works absolutely impeccably but is expensive. No regrets. Behaves and is controlled as if it were a built in display.

Yikes, I did not expect this price. That's twice as expensive as my 27" / 1440p / 144 hz HDR400 gaming monitor with really good speakers and remote.

But the functionality you're describing is exactly what I'm looking for.

 

[TomOSeven]

Has anyone used the LG 27UN83A by any chance?

I found a review that shows the scaling options here (

) but that guy uses an Intel Mac which has a different display controller than the M1 Mac.

 

[jdb8167]

For me 4K isn’t enough at 27”. I wanted closer to Apple’s Retina scaling so I limited my possibilities to 24” 4K. The best I found for 3840x2160 in 24” was the LG 24UD58-B (23.8” diagonal). The screen is pretty good with 250 nits and 72% of NTSC—as long as you aren’t doing color work. It has 2 HDMI and 1 DisplayPort all at 60 Hz. It has no other amenities. It has a headphone jack that has audio from either HDMI or DP but that’s about it. The stand it comes with is weak. It is very wobbly and not very secure but the display has a VESA mount so I purchased an inexpensive monoprice VESA arm.

For compatibility with the M1 and Big Sur that has been more problematic though it appears that a recent update has fixed the problems. Originally I couldn’t get the display to wake from sleep using the DisplayPort connection though HDMI usually worked. Somewhere around Big Sur 11.1 I purchased a USB-C dock and that worked with DP consistently. I just tested 11.3 plugging in the DP cable directly into the MBA USB-C port and it worked waking from sleep 100%. So that problem is solved.

Other than the wake from sleep problem, the display works as advertised and is 185 DPI so it is reasonably sharp. At under $300 I’m willing to forgive some minor shortcomings.

 

[deeddawg]

Hi all,

I‘m looking for a display that’s actually compatible with my M1 MacBook Air.

The USB-C monitor I’m using now (BenQ 1440p, 144 hz monitor) works with everything BUT my Mac, since MacOS doesn’t give me scaling options on that monitor.

I’m sure that’s just Apple ****ing people over intentionally so they spring for more expensive 4K monitors, but I’m actually ready to take the bait because none of the Windows laptops out there are appealing to me right now.

Which monitor do you use?
Needs: full scaling options in MacOS, USB-C hub or USB-C charging at least.

Thanks!

I use a Dell U2717D 27" 1440p with my M1 MBP via a Caldigit TS3+.

What scaling options are you seeking that you don't have available?

Does SwitchResX not work on your computer?

 

[4sallypat]

I am old fashioned and prefer my main monitor with Apple's font pitch type as close to my Macs.

27" Apple Thunderbolt display from 2011 w/ Apple TB3-2 adapter - has the 2560x1440 resolution that looks sharp, brightness (F1/F2) controls, built in speakers, microphone, Facetime camera and easier on the eyes for all day use.

Plus the important ports on the back of the display I use: USB-A (3), Ethernet, Thunderbolt 1/2 (external SSD), and I occasionally use the Magsafe charger w/ adapter for my older Macbooks.

Sorry no USB-C passthrough...

 

[Dhock_Holiday]

I use a 3440x1440/144hz monitor, more specifically the LG 34GK950F-B. It doesn't have a USB C port but I use a USB-C to DisplayPort cable. Most gaming monitors don't have a USB-C port as FreeSync and G-Sync mostly rely on DisplayPort.

 

[mj_]

Scaling is only available on HiDPI monitors because it only makes sense on displays with very high resolutions. Your 1440p display is LowDPI and doesn't support scaling because it'd be utterly pointless.

What exactly are you trying to achieve anyway? Or maybe I'll ask the other way around: what exactly is the problem you are facing with your current monitor?

 

[TomOSeven]

What scaling options are you seeking that you don't have available?

This option to scale UI elements independent of resolution.

Some LG monitors have the same menu.

My 1440p monitor looks nice and crisp in Windows and Linux and looks blurry and terrible in MacOS, even at native resolution (which is also unusibly tiny).

 

[TomOSeven]

Scaling is only available on HiDPI monitors because it only makes sense on displays with very high resolutions. Your 1440p display is LowDPI and doesn't support scaling because it'd be utterly pointless.

What exactly are you trying to achieve anyway? Or maybe I'll ask the other way around: what exactly is the problem you are facing with your current monitor?

I'd like my 1440p monitor to actually look like a 1440p monitor, just like it does in Windows.

I don't want to reduce the resolution, I want to make UI elements larger.

 

[deeddawg]

I'd like my 1440p monitor to actually look like a 1440p monitor, just like it does in Windows.

I don't want to reduce the resolution, I want to make UI elements larger.

My 27" 1440p monitor looks great.

You cannot get the "scaling" type of controls without being on a HiDPI monitor, so you're going to need to switch to a HiDPI display or work with what you have.

If you need to scale some of the UI elements, this article gives some good tips. Unfortunately you have to tweak in a few places like desktop, general, dock-control, etc. https://www.howtogeek.com/200450/give-your-eyes-a-break-by-making-everything-in-os-x-bigger/

As for blurry fonts - adjust/disable your font smoothing. Remember you have to do a reboot for changes to take effect. https://www.macrumors.com/how-to/disable-font-smoothing-in-macos-big-sur/

Also check your monitor controls - see if there's a Sharpness setting. Adjusting that to the correct amount makes a HUGE difference on my U2717D monitor.

 

[TomOSeven]

Thanks bud, I've tried all of this. I spent at least five hours trying to work out how to get close to a good resolution, it just doesn't work. Maybe if I had Superman's eyesight and could just use native resolution, but even that looks only marginally better and not nearly as good as my cheap Windows work laptop.

That's why I'm trying to find another monitor, but the more I think about how stupid this is, the more I'm inclined to just sell the MacBook instead and use Windows.

 

[jdb8167]

Thanks bud, I've tried all of this. I spent at least five hours trying to work out how to get close to a good resolution, it just doesn't work. Maybe if I had Superman's eyesight and could just use native resolution, but even that looks only marginally better and not nearly as good as my cheap Windows work laptop.

That's why I'm trying to find another monitor, but the more I think about how stupid this is, the more I'm inclined to just sell the MacBook instead and use Windows.

It’s really not clear what you are after.

A 27” 2560x1440 monitor is going to be about 110 dpi which is normal on a Mac for a non-HiDPI display. You can scale it down. I haven’t tried it on an M1 but option-clicking the Scaled button on the y Preferences->Displays should give you more options including 1920x1080. At least it does on my Thunderbolt display which is also a 27“ 2560x1440 display.

What resolutions do you get when you option-click on the Scaled button?

If Windows works better for you, why wouldn’t you switch back?

 

[TomOSeven]

What resolutions do you get when you option-click on the Scaled button?

I do get a host of resolutions, looks pretty much the same as the picture of deeddawg's Dell.

My problem is that even the highest of those resolutions, which is already absolutely tiny, is very blurry and when I turn it down to 1080p or 2048x1152 it looks predictably worse. Fonts and UI elements get so blurry they make my eyes hurt.

In Windows you can just use the native resolution and scale everything up 125 / 150 / 175 or 200%. Without losing any resolution. Like you can do on the built-in retina display.

But even 1080p in Windows looks sharper than 1440p in MacOS.

 

[deeddawg]

Thanks bud, I've tried all of this. I spent at least five hours trying to work out how to get close to a good resolution, it just doesn't work. Maybe if I had Superman's eyesight and could just use native resolution, but even that looks only marginally better and not nearly as good as my cheap Windows work laptop.

That's why I'm trying to find another monitor, but the more I think about how stupid this is, the more I'm inclined to just sell the MacBook instead and use Windows.

No idea why your Benq monitor isn't working for you then.

My 27" 1440p Dell works great at an arm's distance with my very not-superman middle-aged eyes.

While I don't use that monitor with Windows, I do have a couple other monitors I use with my work laptop and there's not any appreciable display/font/quality differences.

Anyway, best of luck to you.

 

[Toutou]

This option to scale UI elements independent of resolution.

This is, unfortunately, not how macOS scaling works.

I don't want to reduce the resolution, I want to make UI elements larger.

That's how Windows scaling works, macOS does things differently.
What macOS does is that it renders the scaled resolution to a virtual screen that is two times the size of the "Looks like" resolution, and then displays that virtual screen directly on whatever physical screen you're using.

i.e. a 3840x2160 screen in HiDPI is equal to a 1920x1080 screen estate. macOS draws the 1920x1080 screen estate in HiDPI (x2) to a 3840x2160 buffer and displays that perfectly on your 3840x2160 physical pixels.

If you set that same screen to use the "Looks like 2304x1296" scaling (that's what it offers for my screen), macOS actually draws the new virtual 2304x1296 screen in HiDPI (x2) to a 4608x2592 buffer and displays that 4608x2592 image on your 3840x2160 physical pixels, so the virtual pixels don't exactly match the physical pixels and there's a scaling algorithm at play.

 

[vkoivula]

The scaling options seem to be absolutely horrible. This is the difference between the native resolution and the first available option. My MSI PS341WU should have the same LG panel as LG 34WK95U-W. Yet the LG models supposedly have different HiDPI modes available in macOS? According to screenshots it seems to have more resolutions available (3840x1620, 3360x1417, 3200x1350). With me sticking to lowly 3008x1269. What is this, seriously I can scale this thing in Windows properly.

So I have to really choose between these two? The one is super tiny and the other HUGE.

 

[eltoslightfoot]

The honest-to-God solution is to get a 27 inch 4k monitor. Mine is an LG model (old so no USB-C). It displays in 4k and I set the resolution to 1440p. It looks sharp and I can still see everything. It is perfect at 60 Hz.

 

[eltoslightfoot]

This is, unfortunately, not how macOS scaling works.

That's how Windows scaling works, macOS does things differently.
What macOS does is that it renders the scaled resolution to a virtual screen that is two times the size of the "Looks like" resolution, and then displays that virtual screen directly on whatever physical screen you're using.

i.e. a 3840x2160 screen in HiDPI is equal to a 1920x1080 screen estate. macOS draws the 1920x1080 screen estate in HiDPI (x2) to a 3840x2160 buffer and displays that perfectly on your 3840x2160 physical pixels.

If you set that same screen to use the "Looks like 2304x1296" scaling (that's what it offers for my screen), macOS actually draws the new virtual 2304x1296 screen in HiDPI (x2) to a 4608x2592 buffer and displays that 4608x2592 image on your 3840x2160 physical pixels, so the virtual pixels don't exactly match the physical pixels and there's a scaling algorithm at play.

This is dead-on and actually superior to the way Windows does things once you hit 4k and up. 1080p and 1440p, well Windows might have a slight edge.

 

[bobcomer]

This is dead-on and actually superior to the way Windows does things once you hit 4k and up. 1080p and 1440p, well Windows might have a slight edge.

I agree, what Apple does is superior, and most of the time, the scaling does work extremely well. That's mainly why I got back into using Macs again, I loved the scaling compared to Windows. But it's not always true, some monitors just don't work with it. I have no idea why, but I maybe it's that the monitor isn't identifying its capabilities well to MacOS.

 

[vkoivula]

So it is actually so that I have proper resolutions available on the Intel MacBook Pro. So with Intel MacBook Pro the display just works. Can select 3360x1417, 3200x1350 etc.

M1 even with SwitchResX to set a same scaled resolution that works in Intel MacBook Pro and confirming from the display menu that it is actually running native resolution. The text is just not smooth.

What hell M1?

 

[Lemon Olive]

Just get the LG UltraFine 27" 5K display. There is no point futzing around with anything else until a better display comes along.