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ivnj

macrumors 65816
Dec 8, 2006
1,495
101
Isnt that more dependent on the computer and graphics or monitor being used for that matter than the OS. If the computer does not support it then the OS is irrelevant.
 

nesl247

macrumors member
Jun 14, 2008
87
34
Florida
@ivnj In this case no. The problem is that macOS does not properly detect the resolution on these monitors, requiring the use of apps like SwitchResX. The hardware supports it 100%, it's just that macOS doesn't natively support the resolution.
 

vaugha

macrumors 6502a
Nov 3, 2011
611
206
I have a 3840*1600 38" that I use w/ my 2019 mbp 15" w/ no issues in catalina. I see no reason why it would not be supported in big sur.
 

loug116

macrumors member
Aug 30, 2012
49
36
I have an LG 49” ultra wide curved, I haven’t been able to check it since updating, but can check in a few days.

it never worked at the full native resolution on my 13” MacBook Pro (but worked fine in boot camp).

I’ll let you know 👍
 
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Pagemakers

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Mar 28, 2008
2,879
1,185
Manchester UK
Isnt that more dependent on the computer and graphics or monitor being used for that matter than the OS. If the computer does not support it then the OS is irrelevant.
You’re probably right and I should have been more specific.

I have the latest Mac mini and a 49” ultra wide monitor running at 5120x1440 and Catalina doesn’t support this resolution natively.
 

loug116

macrumors member
Aug 30, 2012
49
36
@Pagemakers I've had a chance to check, I can confirm that my 5120x1440 49" display finally works at full resolution! This is big news as it's never worked on my MacBook Pro 13" the whole time I've had the display. I could never even get it to work with SwitchResX (but worked fine in Windows via Bootcamp).

For reference, the display model is 49WL95C-W on Big Sur Beta 1.
 

Pagemakers

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Mar 28, 2008
2,879
1,185
Manchester UK
That is brilliant news. Thanks for taking the time to reply.

I’ve got the Samsung 49RG90 which runs in exactly the same resolution as your LG.
 

XNorth

macrumors 6502
Feb 23, 2018
300
464
United States
Does Big Sur natively support ultra wide screen resolutions such as 5120x1440?

it’s no different than Catalina. Works fine supporting ultra wide native 5120x2160 in DisplayPort 1.2. But Big Sur has NOT improved external display HDR mode. It is still not optimized, the contrast is still washed out, and on my LG 34" 5K2K, HDR still lowers the max resolution to 3840 x 2160. Come on, Apple. What the hell? 👎 :mad:
 
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[AUT] Thomas

macrumors 6502a
Mar 13, 2016
808
1,040
Graz [Austria]
Let me just throw this in here:

Resolution support is most likely not the issue... Incompatibility of the screen is often related to HDMI/Displayport Standard, Bandwidth (!), Drivers, Refresh rate.

For example: My mac mini 2011 runs a 3440x1440 perfectly fine over HDMI, although only 30 Hz due to bandwidth constraints. If, however, such a screen insists on 60Hz input or the GPU/driver is not willing to output 30Hz to that screen it will not work.
As such, in the majority of cases the issue is software related and the failure is lack of options when negotiating settings between screen and gpu/driver. That said I hope we get rid of intel rather sooner than later because their GPU software is already bad in Windows, but in OSX its lacking even basics (Displayport MST so to speak).
 
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auero

macrumors 65816
Sep 15, 2006
1,386
114
Does text render better/worse with an ultrawide? I heard font smoothing was removed from the settings.

Has anyone also tested HiDPI mode for 1080/1440 displays?
 
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h9826790

macrumors P6
Apr 3, 2014
16,656
8,587
Hong Kong
Does text render better/worse with an ultrawide? I heard font smoothing was removed from the settings.

Has anyone also tested HiDPI mode for 1080/1440 displays?
Not sure if font smoothing removed or not. My personal feeling is that Big Sur's system font is clearer on my 3840x1080 ultrawide monitor. But I believe that's due to font change, not rendering method changed.

e.g. My GB5 result use the same font regardless OS version. And I can't see any difference in the GB result's font clarity.
RadeonBoost.png
 

darkarw

macrumors 6502
Oct 3, 2014
267
64
You’re probably right and I should have been more specific.

I have the latest Mac mini and a 49” ultra-wide monitor running at 5120x1440 and Catalina doesn’t support this resolution natively.

Are you using a DisplayPort adapter for your connection to your ultrawide monitor? When I first bought my ultrawide monitor and running Catalina I couldn't get it to work. Then I contacted Apple support and found out that they only way that my MacBook Pro would support the resolution natively was if I plugged the monitor into the HDMI port on the computer instead of using the DisplayPort adapter on the other side of the mac. I hope that this is helpful.
 

Pagemakers

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Mar 28, 2008
2,879
1,185
Manchester UK
I’ve bought almost every cable known to man and still I don’t get 5120x1440 from the latest Mac Mini.

Currently I’m running it as 2 monitors and not as a single monitor.

DP or HDMI give me the same results. I’ve not tried on Big Sur yet.
 

loug116

macrumors member
Aug 30, 2012
49
36
@Pagemakers I think I have the same issue as you, and as I mentioned earlier in the thread, Big Sur is the first time I've been able to get my ultra wide running at 5120x1440 on my MacBook Pro 13".

I also tried all cables on previous versions of macOS and just settled on using a lower resolution. I also did the 2 monitor hack.... But finally, in Big Sur, it works perfectly and fonts look great on the external display (not fuzzy like it was before).
 

joevt

macrumors 604
Jun 21, 2012
6,938
4,239
I hope it’s not just specific to the MBP. Can any Mac Mini users confirm we now have native 5120x1440 resolution.
No luck with my i3 Mac mini 2018 (but works in Windows).

One person says Big Sur adds > 4096 width support to MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2018). Other success was with MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2019, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports).

If you test Big Sur with > 4096 width timing on Intel graphics, then please post results at https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/intel-graphics-and-5120x1440-testing-in-big-sur.2244174/
I want to narrow down where the support was added or not added (not just driver, but also ig-platform-id).
 

RobotDot

macrumors newbie
Aug 16, 2020
14
1
I can verify it works natively with HDR (*my monitor only support HDR 400:philips brilliance 499ph9 49")on my 2018 Mac mini
3.2 i7
16 memory
 

Pagemakers

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Mar 28, 2008
2,879
1,185
Manchester UK
Pleased to say 5120x1440 is now supported on my Mac Mini 2020 and a single cable to my Samsung C49RG90 ultra-wide monitor in Big Sur.
 

joevt

macrumors 604
Jun 21, 2012
6,938
4,239
No luck with my i3 Mac mini 2018 (but works in Windows).

One person says Big Sur adds > 4096 width support to MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2018). Other success was with MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2019, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports).

If you test Big Sur with > 4096 width timing on Intel graphics, then please post results at https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/intel-graphics-and-5120x1440-testing-in-big-sur.2244174/
I want to narrow down where the support was added or not added (not just driver, but also ig-platform-id).
Problem with my i3 Mac mini 2018 was with the monitor.
Turns out that while Big Sur added support for 5K width timings for Kaby Lake and Coffee Lake CPUs, it will not enable that feature for displays that do not have an EDID timing of wider than 4K. My 4K display can accept timings up to 8K wide.
This info is in the thread at
 

Togun

macrumors newbie
Nov 25, 2020
12
2
With Mac mini M1 big sur does not detect 5120*1440 only 3840*1080. LG On screen control does not detect a monitor.
SwichtresX does get the screen to 5120*1440 but cannot use the split screen control.
HDR becomes really weird and has to be disabled

Any advice?
 

Pagemakers

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Mar 28, 2008
2,879
1,185
Manchester UK
With Mac mini M1 big sur does not detect 5120*1440 only 3840*1080. LG On screen control does not detect a monitor.
SwichtresX does get the screen to 5120*1440 but cannot use the split screen control.
HDR becomes really weird and has to be disabled

Any advice?
If you’re connecting by DisplayPort try changing it from version 1.4 to 1.2. That fixed it for me on my Samsung 49”

PS. Also set the refresh to 60.
 
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kylew1212

macrumors 6502
Oct 17, 2017
354
327
Huntsville, AL
Hey, I realize this is now an older thread, but what’s it like running an ultra wide on Mac?
Can I do side by side apps natively?

ultrawide seems to be the way to go, but I haven’t purchased one yet. I have two 1080p and the text is blurry and gives me a headache. I have a 2015 MBP 13”, runninternet Big Sur 11.2.

thanks for your help!
 
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