Dumb questions about resolution

[Nykolaz]

I tried to read some stuff about scaling and resolutions to find some answers but I don't really understand...so here is my problem:

- I have a MacBook air, which has a native resolution of 2560 x1600.
- I used Easyres to set my display resolution to 2560x1600, which made everything look really small, with images and texts still sharp enough. So I attempted to set it lower, to 2048 x 1280, which gave me the perfect size, but everything became sort of fuzzy and my wallpaper became blurry!
-Why is that? Both resolutions has the same ratio of 16:10, so why does one look crappy?
- Is there any way to make 2048 look better?

 

[joevt]

Was it 2048x1280 or "Looks like 2048x1280"?

 

[Nykolaz]

Was it 2048x1280 or "Looks like 2048x1280"?

It's 2048x1280

 

[appltech]

The answer is simple: scaling. Take an icon of size, say, 10x10 pixels. The higher the resolution the smaller the icon gets (because the screen size is wixed, but the total number of pixels increases). The same goes for background picture - the size of it is the same, but the number of pixel decreases and you see those artifacts. The size of a single pixels is always the same though. That's as simple as I can explain.
Anyway, I suggest using the native 2560 x1600 resolution. If the icons/text on the desktop are too small, you can change that by Control-clicking on the background image, selecting "Show view options" and adjusting the settings. Also, you can use Zoom, that in System Preferences > Accessibility > Zoom > Enable hover text. That's for starters.
Using any non-native resolution will always mess up everything.

 

[joevt]

It's 2048x1280

Then create a 4096x2560 scaled resolution using SwitchResX. Type Command-S to save. Then click the "Activate Immediately" button (if the display flips 180° then set Rotation to Standard). That will automatically create a 2048x1280 HiDPI option that you can select from the Current Resolutions tab of the display in SwitchResX.

 

[Nykolaz]

Aw, it doesn't support that function on my model. I guess it's not that bad, except for the occasional visual tearing on icons.
Thanks for the advice anyway🤠

Then create a 4096x2560 scaled resolution using SwitchResX. Type Command-S to save. Then click the "Activate Immediately" button (if the display flips 180° then set Rotation to Standard). That will automatically create a 2048x1280 HiDPI option that you can select from the Current Resolutions tab of the display in SwitchResX.

 

[Nykolaz]

The answer is simple: scaling. Take an icon of size, say, 10x10 pixels. The higher the resolution the smaller the icon gets (because the screen size is wixed, but the total number of pixels increases). The same goes for background picture - the size of it is the same, but the number of pixel decreases and you see those artifacts. The size of a single pixels is always the same though. That's as simple as I can explain.
Anyway, I suggest using the native 2560 x1600 resolution. If the icons/text on the desktop are too small, you can change that by Control-clicking on the background image, selecting "Show view options" and adjusting the settings. Also, you can use Zoom, that in System Preferences > Accessibility > Zoom > Enable hover text. That's for starters.
Using any non-native resolution will always mess up everything.

i actually tried that for a while and got kind of used to it, but later I switched back to a larger scaling and realized how unreadable it has been with some apps and contents... I guess I'll just switch back and forth between the two resolutions when I have certain needs, it's not much of a hassle anyway. Thanks😛

 

[joevt]

Aw, it doesn't support that function on my model. I guess it's not that bad, except for the occasional visual tearing on icons.
Thanks for the advice anyway🤠

What model do you have? Do you have an M1 MacBook Air? I don't know how to make custom timings and scaled modes on M1 Macs.

 

[Nykolaz]

What model do you have? Do you have an M1 MacBook Air? I don't know how to make custom timings and scaled modes on M1 Macs.

Yes, it's M1. Hopefully in the future someone will have figured it out.