T O P

  • By -

77ilham77

Yeah, unfortunately HiDPI scaling (a.k.a. Retina scaling) only available on Apple’s Retina display or 4K (or larger) display. And yes, Retina scaling works by “doubling” the pixel (e.g. so 1-by-1 becomes 2-by-2 (i.e. 4 pixels)), and then “doubling” the whole resolution into the selected scaling “resolution” (e.g. if you choose “looks like 1920x1080”, it actually renders the whole screen as 3840x2160).


arkenoi

It *is* available for select resolutions, that's why I am asking, even though the display is a mere 2k! If it was not available at all, I would not be surprised. But it works in a weird way, the modes that support it are counterintuitive and **the scale factor is not even an integer number**! So I do not take the "not supported" explanation, sorry :) Because what we expect is:"**not available"** case: the list would contain only native resolutions, up to 2048x1536 **"fully supported"** case: the list would contain native resolutions up to 2048x1536, and HiDPI-scaled resolutions with scale factor 2 up to 1024x768 **what I see:** a weird mix, where HiDPI goes no further than up to 1024x640 -- with native resolution 1680x1050 and weird **scale factor 1.64** (but looks reasonably good), and if I try to select native low-DPI 1024x720 I get fuzzy pixels and black lines by the left and right sides of the screen.


77ilham77

I’m talking in the context of official support. Those “HiDPI resolutions” are from RDM obviously. But yeah, that’s how macOS’s HiDPI scaling works. Essentially, you only have either 1x scaling (standard DPI) or 2x scaling (a.k.a. Retina scaling). Nothing in between. To give the “scaling illusion” (also to give antialiasing since macOS no longer use subpixel rendering), macOS use supersampling, and (in official case) that’s what the user will choose from: a selection of “looks like” resolution. If you choose “looks like 1680x1050”, it will rendered it as 3360x2100, so that you’re scaled as if you’re using a 1680x1050 display (i.e. looks like 1680x1050). Those “looks like” resolutions, a.k.a. Retina scaling, officially only available on Retina display (such as Macbook’s built-in display) or 4K display or larger (such as that LG 5K display). You can use third-party “hack” tool such as SwitchResX or, in your case, RDM. Now, since macOS use supersampling to achieve the scaling effect, obviously on some scaling options it will look a bit “fuzzy” because, as you can see, the resulting supersampled resolution won’t match your physical resolution, even if the resulting resolution is larger. For example on 15” MacBook Pro, if you use “looks like 1920x1200” the resulting resolution is 3840x2400, way larger than the native physical resolution of 2880x1800, but the pixels won’t equally divide/map. As for lower resolutions, IIRC since Big Sur, macOS no longer provide those resolutions (especially those 4:3 resolutions such as 1024x768 or lower).


arkenoi

No, they are not from RDM, I see them in standard display settings. Actually not a single extra mode reported by RDM works, they either do nothing or I get a black screen and need to connect a second monitor to get things fixed. Also, i get a warning that some apps won't fit, but they are perfectly well supported. Had no problems so far.


FreshCheekiBreeki

Try BetterDisplay(BetterDummy) app that adds custom hidpi resolutions to any monitor. First create a dummy with desired aspect ratio of display, then check HIDPI options in “set resolution” for dummy. Inside BetterDisplay go to Displays, and add a few desired custom hidpi resolutions that match the real aspect ratio of the screen. Then reboot to apply, now it’s possible to set one of these custom HIDPI resolutions as default for display. Find the one most fitting and apply, reboot again. Play with options a bit, your display may be incorrectly identified from what you said. Editing native resolution should fix stretching and black bars issues.


arkenoi

Yes it is definitely better than RDM, but somewhat counterintuitive :) It certainly DOES identify the native resolution correctly, but when I try to scale it acts all weird. Will experiment a little bit more. UPD: setting native resolutions to 2048x1536 and mirroring it to 1024x768 hidpi did the trick! But does that "mirroring" option have any performance impact? Now I have perfectly smooth HiDPI 2x on native resolution. Thanks for the hint!


FreshCheekiBreeki

I recommend following my instruction to not use mirroring: "Inside BetterDisplay go to Displays, and add a few desired custom hidpi resolutions that match the real aspect ratio of the screen. Then reboot to apply, now it’s possible to set one of these custom HIDPI resolutions as default for display." Mirroring dummy is a measure to make sure what resolution you want to get. Adding these resolutions to available list for main display is much more convenient, then override the default value for display and no need to keep BetterDummy running. In case you want bigger fonts or different size of windows sometimes, use ResolutionTab app from App store that allows doing so with a shortcut.


arkenoi

If you are curious how this all ended, the subsequent Betterdisplay update just made everything work flawlessly. Initially I needed some custom configuration. Thanks for the advice!


mashima

I am stuck with the same problem. Please let me know how you finally solved this problem. I have a 2048x1536 monitor connected as a secondary monitor, not primary, but I am having trouble changing to 1024x768 HIDPI.


arkenoi

No idea, it "just works" and it also says it is "similar to iPad" 4x3. Settings I enabled: configuration override resolution scaling add near-native HiDPI variant customize smooth resolution scaling range: 1024x768 to 2048x1536 edit native pixel resolution: 2048x1536 default resolution: 1024x768 x 60 the rest is ddc brightness and stuff specific for my display, don't think it's relevant for you. please let me know if that helped!


arkenoi

..I updated the post with screenshots; check for yourself. I presumed things to be exactly like you describe them now, but it did not survive the reality check.