this worked for me, perhaps it might help other suffering from blurry text.
http://ireckon.net/2013/03/force-rg...ix-the-picture-quality-of-an-external-monitor
http://ireckon.net/2013/03/force-rg...ix-the-picture-quality-of-an-external-monitor
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rMBP - Text is blurry on external display
- Thread starter yg17
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Same issue
I have the same issue with a 1920 Samsung Syncmaster.
It clearly isn't the RGB, the monitor, the font rendering but rather an issue with resolution - my macbook pro retina 15" is trying to apply the same resolution to the external monitor, rather than the monitors native res. I can't change this because the mac can't seem to detect that I have an external plugged in through the HDMI so changing the res also changes it on the laptop, also there are very limited res options for some reason.
My bro has the same issue with his 13" through that unecessary proprietary apple output to his TV.
Through our windows machines the picture looks excellent on both displays..
If I close my MBP lid then a small amount of the blur goes but resolution is still wrong (which is a bit worrying considering if it could handle two displays there should be no difference i would think!)
Q: If I buy a million dollar 27" apple IPS can anyone confirm it handles the resolution properly?
I have the same issue with a 1920 Samsung Syncmaster.
It clearly isn't the RGB, the monitor, the font rendering but rather an issue with resolution - my macbook pro retina 15" is trying to apply the same resolution to the external monitor, rather than the monitors native res. I can't change this because the mac can't seem to detect that I have an external plugged in through the HDMI so changing the res also changes it on the laptop, also there are very limited res options for some reason.
My bro has the same issue with his 13" through that unecessary proprietary apple output to his TV.
Through our windows machines the picture looks excellent on both displays..
If I close my MBP lid then a small amount of the blur goes but resolution is still wrong (which is a bit worrying considering if it could handle two displays there should be no difference i would think!)
Q: If I buy a million dollar 27" apple IPS can anyone confirm it handles the resolution properly?
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A month late perhaps, but the Mac HDMI interface provides the resolution reported by the monitor or in the monitor data base. HDMI is limited to 1080p at the highest, however (dunno about PCs, but I suspect the same) which is OK for video and photos but not great as a computer monitor. If you want full resolution you need to use Display Port or DVI.
By the way, I connected a new LG 27EA83-D IPS up and wow what a picture... goose bumps. The colors just pop out at you.
I'm not able to get the font smoothing right, however. I tried -1 -2 and -3 and -3 seems the best setting. I discovered that using the Mac OS zoom feature I can magnify text enough to make text much more readable. You can tailor zoom parameters in the accessibility system preference panel.
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A Long and Winding Road....
First saw fuzzy text issue on late 2012 rMBP with new 24" HP ZR2440w at natural resolution 1920x1200....first using mDP->DP, then Apple's HDMI->DVI adapter, lastly a Kanex mDP->DVI. No differences with any interface....still splotchy text. The monitor settings were at full Sharpness, so backed off from 5 to 4, and that did improve it. But as noted elsewhere here, OS X does not appear to support font smoothing on third-party monitors. All the above, by the way, with exactly the same results, was tried on a new late 2012 Mac mini. The final improvement was made with the Terminal font smoothing command noted in above posts (I set it all the way to 3). Thank you to ye who keep the Unix flame burning! These were my first Macs, after years of Windows, Linux and FreeBSD, and I was quickly becoming sorely disappointed spending so much money on products that couldn't seem to do even the smallest key tweaks possible in other OS's. This has alleviated my doubts somewhat, and at the same time opened up the possibilities of getting down to the metal with what Unix knowledge I still possess...thanks again!
First saw fuzzy text issue on late 2012 rMBP with new 24" HP ZR2440w at natural resolution 1920x1200....first using mDP->DP, then Apple's HDMI->DVI adapter, lastly a Kanex mDP->DVI. No differences with any interface....still splotchy text. The monitor settings were at full Sharpness, so backed off from 5 to 4, and that did improve it. But as noted elsewhere here, OS X does not appear to support font smoothing on third-party monitors. All the above, by the way, with exactly the same results, was tried on a new late 2012 Mac mini. The final improvement was made with the Terminal font smoothing command noted in above posts (I set it all the way to 3). Thank you to ye who keep the Unix flame burning! These were my first Macs, after years of Windows, Linux and FreeBSD, and I was quickly becoming sorely disappointed spending so much money on products that couldn't seem to do even the smallest key tweaks possible in other OS's. This has alleviated my doubts somewhat, and at the same time opened up the possibilities of getting down to the metal with what Unix knowledge I still possess...thanks again!
Also used this and it got better but still blurry. My monitor is a HP 22xi
EDIT: All good, I adjusted the sharpness on the monitor.
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I'm summarizing the answer because lots of people are reading this thread and missing the answers. I just got a MacBook Pro Retina and had the same problem with a horrible display on a Dell U2410. My Dell works perfectly on my PC and my old MacBook Pro.
This is what the problem looks like (from post #29)
Specifically, the anti-aliasing is all screwed up. It isn't just a font problem. If you look at pictures or other graphics, you'll see they similarly look horrible. If what you are seeing is not exactly as shown in these pictures, then the problem most people are talking about here is not the problem you are experiencing. (I.e. there are other things that affect quality of an external monitor - I'm summarizing the explicit issue shown in the pictures above).
What is happening?
Mac OS thinks the external display is a TV, causing it to use YPbPr color format. You can confirm this by looking in System Information:
Go to Apple Icon -> About this Mac -> More Info -> System Report
Click on Graphics/Displays and the nVidia GForce display chipset (650M or 750M for MacBook Pro Retina - though this issue exists with non-retina Macs as well I believe). The nVidia chipset is used to drive external displays. Look at the entry for your external monitor (e.g. Dell U2410). If it says "Television: Yes" then Mac OS is using your external display as a TV, not a normal LCD display.
You can also see this by looking at the Display Settings on your monitor (how to do that varies from LCD to LCD and not all monitors may show this information). On a Dell U2410, to go Menu -> Color Settings -> Input Color Format. It should be RGB, but when the problem occurs, it shows YPbPr.
How to fix the problem.
You need to convince Mac OS to view your external monitor not as a TV, but as a normal monitor. When Mac OS thinks my Dell is a TV, it uses the YPbPr color map and looks horrible. By making MacOS treat the monitor as a normal computer monitor, it will use the RGB color map and if you get that result, the problem should be solved.
Method 1: Don't use HDMI-HDMI. HDMI out on my rMBP to HDMI in on my display caused the problem. But, when I put an HDMI-DVI converter on my cable so that I'm going HDMI out on the Mac to DVI in on the monitor, problem solved.
I imagine if you went DisplayPort or Thunderbolt on the Mac to DVI on the display, it would similarly fix the problem. But if you go DisplayPort or Thunderbold to HDMI, the Mac will probably sense the external display as a TV and cause the problem.
Method 2: Follow the advice at irecon.net here using script to trick Mac OS into using RGB color.
Method 3: Follow the advice here, and in post #73, using a terminal command to force the defaults for the external display. This is an old solution to an old problem, but it fixes the issue being discussed here as well.
Other methods may work, but the key is getting out of TV mode.
I hope this helps reduce some of the confusion and thanks to everyone that helped me figure this out. I take no credit for finding the solution.
Regards,
Mike
This is what the problem looks like (from post #29)
Specifically, the anti-aliasing is all screwed up. It isn't just a font problem. If you look at pictures or other graphics, you'll see they similarly look horrible. If what you are seeing is not exactly as shown in these pictures, then the problem most people are talking about here is not the problem you are experiencing. (I.e. there are other things that affect quality of an external monitor - I'm summarizing the explicit issue shown in the pictures above).
What is happening?
Mac OS thinks the external display is a TV, causing it to use YPbPr color format. You can confirm this by looking in System Information:
Go to Apple Icon -> About this Mac -> More Info -> System Report
Click on Graphics/Displays and the nVidia GForce display chipset (650M or 750M for MacBook Pro Retina - though this issue exists with non-retina Macs as well I believe). The nVidia chipset is used to drive external displays. Look at the entry for your external monitor (e.g. Dell U2410). If it says "Television: Yes" then Mac OS is using your external display as a TV, not a normal LCD display.
You can also see this by looking at the Display Settings on your monitor (how to do that varies from LCD to LCD and not all monitors may show this information). On a Dell U2410, to go Menu -> Color Settings -> Input Color Format. It should be RGB, but when the problem occurs, it shows YPbPr.
How to fix the problem.
You need to convince Mac OS to view your external monitor not as a TV, but as a normal monitor. When Mac OS thinks my Dell is a TV, it uses the YPbPr color map and looks horrible. By making MacOS treat the monitor as a normal computer monitor, it will use the RGB color map and if you get that result, the problem should be solved.
Method 1: Don't use HDMI-HDMI. HDMI out on my rMBP to HDMI in on my display caused the problem. But, when I put an HDMI-DVI converter on my cable so that I'm going HDMI out on the Mac to DVI in on the monitor, problem solved.
I imagine if you went DisplayPort or Thunderbolt on the Mac to DVI on the display, it would similarly fix the problem. But if you go DisplayPort or Thunderbold to HDMI, the Mac will probably sense the external display as a TV and cause the problem.
Method 2: Follow the advice at irecon.net here using script to trick Mac OS into using RGB color.
Method 3: Follow the advice here, and in post #73, using a terminal command to force the defaults for the external display. This is an old solution to an old problem, but it fixes the issue being discussed here as well.
Other methods may work, but the key is getting out of TV mode.
I hope this helps reduce some of the confusion and thanks to everyone that helped me figure this out. I take no credit for finding the solution.
Regards,
Mike
Hi all,
rMBP late 2013 here.
I have a korean IPS panel (27", 2560x1440) and i also get the blurry text on the external monitor for example in Chrome or iTerm.
Note though that when im using the same apps in VMWare fusion linux guest the text is perfectly displayed.
Anybody else has noticed this? It is so strange that Chrome in VMWare's guest displays perfect text...
Ive tried both the AppleFontSmoothing and the Overrides solution, with no luck.
R.
rMBP late 2013 here.
I have a korean IPS panel (27", 2560x1440) and i also get the blurry text on the external monitor for example in Chrome or iTerm.
Note though that when im using the same apps in VMWare fusion linux guest the text is perfectly displayed.
Anybody else has noticed this? It is so strange that Chrome in VMWare's guest displays perfect text...
Ive tried both the AppleFontSmoothing and the Overrides solution, with no luck.
R.
Yep, good post. Can confirm switching from a HDMI>HDMI to a DVI>HDMI cable fixed it. No longer says Television in the System Info and it's definitely sharper.
Same issue here (rMBP late 2013 13", monitor DELL U2713HM).
Tried all the fixes suggested in the thread, without any success.
My monitor does not appear as a television (I don't even have the television line in system report, under display/graphics). Input is RGB, not YPbPr, it is running at max resolution. Connection is made via mDP - DP.
And of course, all looks awesome if I run a VM with Win7 on the monitor. Same with Win8, it looks great on the monitor, when hooked to another computer.
Tried all the fixes suggested in the thread, without any success.
My monitor does not appear as a television (I don't even have the television line in system report, under display/graphics). Input is RGB, not YPbPr, it is running at max resolution. Connection is made via mDP - DP.
And of course, all looks awesome if I run a VM with Win7 on the monitor. Same with Win8, it looks great on the monitor, when hooked to another computer.
Look at the Apple Community For a patch from Andreas Schwartz. It fixes the blurry text and washed out color problem.
If he use the right cable this particular fix will not be necessary. Many of us are not skilled enough to attempt that fix. I have two Dell U2713H monitors, the thunderbolt to Dell mini display-port connectors work perfectly.
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Monitor settings
This may be a bit obvious, but useful to some. My Samsung Syncmaster 2450 has a setting buried in the setup menus "Setup&Rest"/"PC/AV mode". This sets whether the display identifies itself to your computer as a TV or as a computer display.
Changing this setting made my HDMI out auto detect properly (2013 15' rMBP).
This may be a bit obvious, but useful to some. My Samsung Syncmaster 2450 has a setting buried in the setup menus "Setup&Rest"/"PC/AV mode". This sets whether the display identifies itself to your computer as a TV or as a computer display.
Changing this setting made my HDMI out auto detect properly (2013 15' rMBP).
Did you ever find a solution to this problem? I'm considering buying the same Dell and I have the same Mac as you, so I'm a bit concerned about blurry text...
Has this problem been fixed?
I just took delivery of the Dell U2713HM and everything seems fine. The text is sharp and no adjustment was required. The following cable from Amazon seems to do the trick:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/StarTech-com-Mini-DisplayPort-Adapter-Cable/dp/B002XVYZ82/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1405114183&sr=8-1&keywords=startech+mini+displayport+to+displayport
It seems like a great monitor so far, and I'm hopeful that I won't need to rely on Dell's UK 3-year warranty...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/StarTech-com-Mini-DisplayPort-Adapter-Cable/dp/B002XVYZ82/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1405114183&sr=8-1&keywords=startech+mini+displayport+to+displayport
It seems like a great monitor so far, and I'm hopeful that I won't need to rely on Dell's UK 3-year warranty...
Mid-2014 15" rMBP hooked to Dell U2415 using the mini-displayport to displayport cable that came with the monitor.
Used Andrew's modified script. Restarted laptop and the monitor.
No dice. Text is still blurry.
It does show in the window's title bar that RGB mode is being forced though: http://cl.ly/image/1k0t101K232V
Display setting screenshot: http://cl.ly/image/3M3o0b2u0m2s
Connection Type did change from TV to DisplayPort: http://cl.ly/image/0i403k3g442w
Used Andrew's modified script. Restarted laptop and the monitor.
No dice. Text is still blurry.
It does show in the window's title bar that RGB mode is being forced though: http://cl.ly/image/1k0t101K232V
Display setting screenshot: http://cl.ly/image/3M3o0b2u0m2s
Connection Type did change from TV to DisplayPort: http://cl.ly/image/0i403k3g442w
Mid-2014 15" rMBP hooked to Dell U2415 using the mini-displayport to displayport cable that came with the monitor.
Used Andrew's modified script. Restarted laptop and the monitor.
No dice. Text is still blurry.
It does show in the window's title bar that RGB mode is being forced though: http://cl.ly/image/1k0t101K232V
Display setting screenshot: http://cl.ly/image/3M3o0b2u0m2s
Connection Type did change from TV to DisplayPort: http://cl.ly/image/0i403k3g442w
hi @All,
I've got the same problems (blurry fonts, washed out colors) with my retina MBP (Mid 2015) + Dell U2410f HDMI-HDMI under OS 10.10.4. I just with Apple for an hour. It's a known issue. And they haven't got any adivce. They told me to have a look at dell.com to get the latest drivers. On the page I just get the message, that my OS is not supported:
I just tried all advices (see post #73) and got no improvement.
@srikat - your last post appearances, that we're on the same point of the problem. How did you go along withit?
Thanks
Peterchen
Thanks - does it work fine with it? no blurry fonts? Which adapter/cable do you use?
Did you try this: http://www.ireckon.net/2013/03/forc...ix-the-picture-quality-of-an-external-monitor
It worked for my U2410.
Yep I tried it. It changed totally nothing.
Are you able to post your profile from the override folder? Maybe I can try it with your Profile.
Which Cable or Adapter do you use?
Thanks
Peterchen
Did you put any fix in place or monitor-specific settings to smooth fonts on the PB278Q? I bought this monitor and have the same issues with text as described by everyone else (rMBP 15" connected via miniDisplayPort to DisplayPort cable)
I have the same issue but I think we're just comparing Retina with non-Retina.
Specifically, I noticed the font issue with "Sketch" (similar to Photoshop app). I just posted this https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7836416 .
compare:
Acer R241Y
![screen+2017-01-22+at+01.46.56.png]()
retina:
![screen+2017-01-22+at+01.47.17.png]()
Sys Info:
![screen+2017-01-22+at+02.03.30.png]()
Cable used : DVI to MiniDisplayPort.
MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2013)
El Capitan 10.11.6 (15G1217)
Specifically, I noticed the font issue with "Sketch" (similar to Photoshop app). I just posted this https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7836416 .
compare:
Acer R241Y
retina:
Sys Info:
Cable used : DVI to MiniDisplayPort.
MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2013)
El Capitan 10.11.6 (15G1217)