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I recently bought a MacStudio with 512GB of RAM and connected it to a LG 5k2k monitor. For some reason there was no way to change the font size (they removed th

by storus 9mo ago

I recently bought a MacStudio with 512GB of RAM and connected it to a LG 5k2k monitor. For some reason there was no way to change the font size (they removed the text size "Larger Text ... More Space" continuum from the Display section of settings) so I ended up with either super small or super large fonts without anything in-between. In the end I had to install some 3rd party software and mix my own scaled resolution with acceptable font size. This has never been a problem on Linux in the past 10 years, all I needed to do at worst when it wasn't done out of the box was to set scale somewhere and that was it.

QuercusMax 9mo ago
BetterDisplay has solved a ton of problems like this for me; when MacOS gets confused about non apple monitors, BetterDisplay knows how to fix things.
chrisweekly 9mo ago
Curious what software; I've used "SwitchResX" in the past and it met all my needs...
- storus 9mo ago
  It was BetterDisplay. Thanks for the hint, will take a look at SwitchResX as well. BetterDisplay looks too complicated for what I need it to do (just switch the screen to 2560x1080 scaled).
Saline9515 9mo ago
I bought a MacStudio 2 months ago, on Sequoia you go to "display" and should see the various resolutions. If not, "advanced">"show resolutions as a list">"show all resolutions".
- storus 9mo ago
  Unfortunately, resolutions offered were weird. Native is 5120x2160 but that wasn't offered and scaled resolutions were weird. I guess macOS didn't read monitor's information properly or something. I wasted a few hours frantically trying to figure out how to connect a $12k computer to a 4-year old monitor which should have been a breeze but for some reason wasn't. The same monitor worked fine on Linux or Windows.
  - mrkstu 9mo ago
    Pick up a copy of BetterDisplay. Absolutely useful for monitors with non-standard resolutions.
    - bpye 9mo ago
      macOS is the only operating system where you need to use third party software to make this work.
      - ArmadilloGang 9mo ago
        Truth. Third party software for trackpad. Third party software for mouse. Third party software for window management. Third party software for Spotlight replacement. Third party software to support a second external display. The third party software is really good, but come on, Apple, take a hint.
        mrkstu 9mo ago
        This is partly because of the culture of hacking the GUI started back in the 80s with original Mac OS. Extending the OS beyond base capabilities is fun, but Apple also is usually selling an 'as is' experience like a high end chef. You can add ketchup to your stake, but they aren't going to do it for you. And, as I said, I really only needed the software once I got an (ultra)ultrawide monitor, and it could be the info it is sending is also non-standard in some way.
        seec 9mo ago
        That's basically the problem of today's Apple, and it won't get fixed because they have an incentive to let the 3rd parties fix those problems (they win both by taking a cut of software sales in the app store and selling more Macs while costing less dev money). I doubt anything is going to get fixed, and Apple's hardware crown isn't as strong as before. But they like selling "services," so...
  - FireBeyond 9mo ago
    I feel like this has something to do with Apple fucking with DP 1.4 for the ProDisplay XDR. My 2019 Mac Pro with Catalina could happily drive 2 4K monitors in HDR @ 144 Hz. People wondered how Apple got the math to work to drive the ProDisplay. Big Sur? Not any more. 95Hz for 4K SDR, 60Hz for 4K HDR. Not the cables, not the monitors. Indeed, "downgrading" the monitors advertised support to DP 1.2 gave better options, 120Hz SDR, 75Hz HDR. And it was never fixed, not in Big Sur, Monterey or Ventura, when I had switched monitors. Hundreds of reports, hundreds of video/monitor combinations.
stephenr 9mo ago
AFAIK the smallest 5K2K is 34", with a PPI of 163. I don't believe that is treated as "HiDPI" by macOS, is it?
- storus 9mo ago
  It should be, its size is somewhat similar to a 31" 4k I have next to it just the ultra-wide adds those extra inches.
jjtheblunt 9mo ago
it's not removed : you have to hold Option when choosing resolutions, and the panel changes to show myriad options. i think that's what you're describing, anyway.
- storus 9mo ago
  I tried Option of course, that dumped tons of options at me but none of them were about font scaling.
  - jjtheblunt 9mo ago
    i think (no proof, just experimenting on my 5k2k LG) that the various resolutions imply differing scalings. my eyes are really fortunately good so i just run at 5k2k and it's sharp (because i use larger fonts, app by app, so somewhat manually set scalings).

by storus 9mo ago

QuercusMax 9mo ago

BetterDisplay has solved a ton of problems like this for me; when MacOS gets confused about non apple monitors, BetterDisplay knows how to fix things.

chrisweekly 9mo ago

Curious what software; I've used "SwitchResX" in the past and it met all my needs...

storus 9mo ago
It was BetterDisplay. Thanks for the hint, will take a look at SwitchResX as well. BetterDisplay looks too complicated for what I need it to do (just switch the screen to 2560x1080 scaled).

Saline9515 9mo ago

I bought a MacStudio 2 months ago, on Sequoia you go to "display" and should see the various resolutions. If not, "advanced">"show resolutions as a list">"show all resolutions".

storus 9mo ago
Unfortunately, resolutions offered were weird. Native is 5120x2160 but that wasn't offered and scaled resolutions were weird. I guess macOS didn't read monitor's information properly or something. I wasted a few hours frantically trying to figure out how to connect a $12k computer to a 4-year old monitor which should have been a breeze but for some reason wasn't. The same monitor worked fine on Linux or Windows.
- mrkstu 9mo ago
  Pick up a copy of BetterDisplay. Absolutely useful for monitors with non-standard resolutions.
  - bpye 9mo ago
    macOS is the only operating system where you need to use third party software to make this work.
    - ArmadilloGang 9mo ago
      Truth. Third party software for trackpad. Third party software for mouse. Third party software for window management. Third party software for Spotlight replacement. Third party software to support a second external display. The third party software is really good, but come on, Apple, take a hint.
      - mrkstu 9mo ago
        This is partly because of the culture of hacking the GUI started back in the 80s with original Mac OS. Extending the OS beyond base capabilities is fun, but Apple also is usually selling an 'as is' experience like a high end chef. You can add ketchup to your stake, but they aren't going to do it for you. And, as I said, I really only needed the software once I got an (ultra)ultrawide monitor, and it could be the info it is sending is also non-standard in some way.
      - seec 9mo ago
        That's basically the problem of today's Apple, and it won't get fixed because they have an incentive to let the 3rd parties fix those problems (they win both by taking a cut of software sales in the app store and selling more Macs while costing less dev money). I doubt anything is going to get fixed, and Apple's hardware crown isn't as strong as before. But they like selling "services," so...
- FireBeyond 9mo ago
  I feel like this has something to do with Apple fucking with DP 1.4 for the ProDisplay XDR. My 2019 Mac Pro with Catalina could happily drive 2 4K monitors in HDR @ 144 Hz. People wondered how Apple got the math to work to drive the ProDisplay. Big Sur? Not any more. 95Hz for 4K SDR, 60Hz for 4K HDR. Not the cables, not the monitors. Indeed, "downgrading" the monitors advertised support to DP 1.2 gave better options, 120Hz SDR, 75Hz HDR. And it was never fixed, not in Big Sur, Monterey or Ventura, when I had switched monitors. Hundreds of reports, hundreds of video/monitor combinations.

stephenr 9mo ago

AFAIK the smallest 5K2K is 34", with a PPI of 163. I don't believe that is treated as "HiDPI" by macOS, is it?

storus 9mo ago
It should be, its size is somewhat similar to a 31" 4k I have next to it just the ultra-wide adds those extra inches.

jjtheblunt 9mo ago

it's not removed : you have to hold Option when choosing resolutions, and the panel changes to show myriad options. i think that's what you're describing, anyway.

storus 9mo ago
I tried Option of course, that dumped tons of options at me but none of them were about font scaling.
- jjtheblunt 9mo ago
  i think (no proof, just experimenting on my 5k2k LG) that the various resolutions imply differing scalings. my eyes are really fortunately good so i just run at 5k2k and it's sharp (because i use larger fonts, app by app, so somewhat manually set scalings).