Fuzzy text with LG 38WN95C-W + Base 14" MBP M1 Pro

[tomre]

I've tried hooking up my 38WN95C-W to my new Macbook pro 14", but I can't seem to get a clear picture. I've tried several different solutions as they've been offered for various ultrawides but I'm kind of at a loss at this point.

Next to the macbook I also have an iMac which drives the monitor just fine. I've attached an example below to illustrate the point

Monitor using the 2019 iMac 27"

Monitor using the new Macbook pro 14" M1 Pro

It's not super noticeable, but it's really irking me that it's just slightly blurry and makes coding an absolute headache, which is the whole reason I bought this thing.

Hope someone can point me in the right direction!

Thanks

 

[joevt]

First you need to verify that both the MacBook Pro 14 inch and the 2019 iMac are using the same resolution:

What resolution and refresh rate is selected in macOS?

Is HDR disabled?

Does the display show the current resolution and timing in an onscreen menu?

Does SwitchResX show the timing info for the current resolution? Go to the Current Resolutions tab for the display in SwitchResX. Find the currently selected resolution. Double click it. Does it show pixel clock, active pixels, etc.?

Does the script at https://gist.github.com/joevt/e862b0088ef58b9144877d01401bcee8 work with the new MacBook Pro? It was made for the original M1 - it might need to be updated for the M1 Max and M1 Pro.

 

[tomre]

Selected resolution 3840x1600 (same as on the iMac when I check "scaled")

HDR is disabled, not even an option in the mac os selection.


These are the values from SwitchResX

M1

iMac

When I set the refresh rate on the M1 to also 75hz the values are the same

This is the output of the script:

disp0: -> 3024x1964@120.000Hz 259.201kHz 804.56MHz h(8 32 40 +) v(102 8 86 +) (preferred) 3024x1964@60.000Hz 259.201kHz 804.56MHz h(8 32 40 +) v(102 8 86 +) (promoted) 3024x1964@48.000Hz 259.201kHz 804.56MHz h(8 32 40 +) v(102 8 86 +) (promoted) 3024x1964@59.940Hz 258.941kHz 803.75MHz h(8 32 40 +) v(102 8 86 +) (promoted) 3024x1964@47.952Hz 258.941kHz 803.75MHz h(8 32 40 +) v(102 8 86 +) (promoted) 3024x1964@50.000Hz 259.200kHz 804.56MHz h(8 32 40 +) v(534 8 86 +) (promoted) dispext0: ... removed for brevity 3840x1600@59.994Hz 98.750kHz 395.00MHz h(48 32 80 +) v(3 10 33 -) (promoted) 3840x1600@119.982Hz 203.250kHz 813.00MHz h(48 32 80 +) v(3 10 81 -) (preferred) -> 3840x1600@143.998Hz 246.812kHz 987.25MHz h(48 32 80 +) v(3 10 101 -) (promoted)

Thanks for the response!

 

[joevt]

Selected resolution 3840x1600 (same as on the iMac when I check "scaled")

HDR is disabled, not even an option in the mac os selection.


These are the values from SwitchResX

M1
View attachment 1907273

iMac
View attachment 1907279

When I set the refresh rate on the M1 to also 75hz the values are the same

This is the output of the script:

disp0: -> 3024x1964@120.000Hz 259.201kHz 804.56MHz h(8 32 40 +) v(102 8 86 +) (preferred) 3024x1964@60.000Hz 259.201kHz 804.56MHz h(8 32 40 +) v(102 8 86 +) (promoted) 3024x1964@48.000Hz 259.201kHz 804.56MHz h(8 32 40 +) v(102 8 86 +) (promoted) 3024x1964@59.940Hz 258.941kHz 803.75MHz h(8 32 40 +) v(102 8 86 +) (promoted) 3024x1964@47.952Hz 258.941kHz 803.75MHz h(8 32 40 +) v(102 8 86 +) (promoted) 3024x1964@50.000Hz 259.200kHz 804.56MHz h(8 32 40 +) v(534 8 86 +) (promoted) dispext0: ... removed for brevity 3840x1600@59.994Hz 98.750kHz 395.00MHz h(48 32 80 +) v(3 10 33 -) (promoted) 3840x1600@119.982Hz 203.250kHz 813.00MHz h(48 32 80 +) v(3 10 81 -) (preferred) -> 3840x1600@143.998Hz 246.812kHz 987.25MHz h(48 32 80 +) v(3 10 101 -) (promoted)

You are using a 7680x3200 scaled mode on the iMac and M1.
This means the GPU in the iMac and M1 need to scale the image down to 3840x1600. They may be using slightly different scaling algorithms.
You should try some test patterns with vertical and horizontal lines and checkerboard patterns. See how they are scaled when rendered at 100% (one pixel per line). Use the zoom feature of Accessibility preferences panel to verify that the test pattern is being rendered with one pixel per line (disable "Smooth Images" so that each zoomed pixel is a single discrete color). A series of single pixel wide black and white lines should output as gray when scaled down from 7680x3200 to 3840x3200. See if there is a difference in quality in this scaled down output between the iMac and M1.

Then, use a 3840x1600 non-scaled mode on the iMac and M1. They should appear identical since the GPUs are not doing extra scaling. There will be less blur since text is not being scaled down.

 

[waydabber]

M1 and Intel scaling algorithms definitely differ, I noticed it as well when I switched. M1 seems to apply some kind of extra sharpening effect on scaled output which might be annoying to some and more pronounced on some color combinations and creates a mild halo around contrasting items (the effect is most noticeable when you invert the screen for example in Accessibility). I am not sure this is the same thing @tomre refers to.

 

[tomre]

You are using a 7680x3200 scaled mode on the iMac and M1.
This means the GPU in the iMac and M1 need to scale the image down to 3840x1600. They may be using slightly different scaling algorithms.
You should try some test patterns with vertical and horizontal lines and checkerboard patterns. See how they are scaled when rendered at 100% (one pixel per line). Use the zoom feature of Accessibility preferences panel to verify that the test pattern is being rendered with one pixel per line (disable "Smooth Images" so that each zoomed pixel is a single discrete color). A series of single pixel wide black and white lines should output as gray when scaled down from 7680x3200 to 3840x3200. See if there is a difference in quality in this scaled down output between the iMac and M1.

Then, use a 3840x1600 non-scaled mode on the iMac and M1. They should appear identical since the GPUs are not doing extra scaling. There will be less blur since text is not being scaled down.

These are some in-depth tests! Really appreciated. Thanks for your extensive explanations.

After doing some testing and taking into account stevemr123's response about the scaling algorithms I've decided to play a little more with the font smoothing (turning it completely off) and not using the hidpi resolution

This seems to be workable. I'm still pretty sure that the whole scaled resolutions are broken at the moment so I hope Apple will address this at some point.

Thanks a bunch for your responses.

 

[KakuM1]

Hi,

I was wondering if you can provide any positive update in this regard? I also have the LG 38WN95C-W and was using it with the Mac Pro 2013 with no issues. I now got the Mac Book Pro 14 M1 Pro and when connected to the Thunderbolt input on the LG 38WN95C-W, the image is terrible. It´s like you described: Fuzzy text. Resolution is 3860x1600 on 144hz. I also tried the setting:

- Disabled font font smoothing
- Changed in SwitchResX to 3840x1600, 144hz without HiDPI

I used the Thunderbolt Cable included from LG Monitor and also another Thunderbolt 3 cable.
Issue remains.

Any ideas or solutions?

Again, if used with Mac Pro 2013 or even MacBook Pro from 2016, no issues. Issue is just with the MacPro mit M1 Pro.

 

[tomre]

Hi,

I was wondering if you can provide any positive update in this regard? I also have the LG 38WN95C-W and was using it with the Mac Pro 2013 with no issues. I now got the Mac Book Pro 14 M1 Pro and when connected to the Thunderbolt input on the LG 38WN95C-W, the image is terrible. It´s like you described: Fuzzy text. Resolution is 3860x1600 on 144hz. I also tried the setting:

- Disabled font font smoothing
- Changed in SwitchResX to 3840x1600, 144hz without HiDPI

I used the Thunderbolt Cable included from LG Monitor and also another Thunderbolt 3 cable.
Issue remains.

Any ideas or solutions?

Again, if used with Mac Pro 2013 or even MacBook Pro from 2016, no issues. Issue is just with the MacPro mit M1 Pro.

I wish I could give you better news man. im currently considering just selling the monitor and getting a higher PPI one, though I must admit it’s a bitter pill to swallow.

Not many people are talking about this but it seems like such an obvious problem. It’s been here since the new m1 chips though so I don’t expect any change soon.

One thing that can help is turning off True Tone and playing around with the font smoothing. That’s as far as I got. Calibrating and playing with your monitor settings can alleviate the problem but there is just no way to get a proper display here.

 

[KakuM1]

That is very sad to hear but thanks so much for your swift reply.
Can you maybe share your settings that you currently use with this Monitor:

- font smoothing?
- True Tone Off
- Monitor Settings?

Did you change or downloaded any profile for the monitor?

 

[tomre]

Font smoothing: default
True Tone: off
Auto calibrated monitor profile

But really: I just use it portable now, no monitor attached as reading text just gives me an incredible headache.

 

[KakuM1]

Font smoothing: default
True Tone: off
Auto calibrated monitor profile

But really: I just use it portable now, no monitor attached as reading text just gives me an incredible headache.

Ok thanks.

Yes that is my problem, after a few minutes my eyes hurt and I´m getting a headache. Never that anything like this before. I guess I will return the Mac then and move back to my 2013 one lol.

 

[Zorast]

I wish I could give you better news man. im currently considering just selling the monitor and getting a higher PPI one, though I must admit it’s a bitter pill to swallow.

Not many people are talking about this but it seems like such an obvious problem. It’s been here since the new m1 chips though so I don’t expect any change soon.

One thing that can help is turning off True Tone and playing around with the font smoothing. That’s as far as I got. Calibrating and playing with your monitor settings can alleviate the problem but there is just no way to get a proper display here.

Have this in Mind :

Pro Display XDR on my 16" MacBook Pro M1 Max

Gooood afternoon everyone, I made a similar post regarding this topic when the XDR first came out and I was driving it with my 16" MacBook Pro (Intel i9). You can see that post here. To summarize that post, I was upgrading to the XDR from my trusty 27" LG UltraFine 5K displays which to my...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[KakuM1]

Hi,

Thanks for referring to the post but I'm not sure if a solution has been mentioned?

What I tried in SwitchResX:

- I selected 3840x1600, 144hz without HiDPI
- Disabled Font smoothing
- True Tone: off

But still not usable.

In the thread you are referring to it talks about better dummy.
What is the solution here if I wan to run in 3840x1600 on my LG? I would also be happy wit 60hz as long as the text is usable.

Did I miss something?

 

[Zorast]

wrong post..

 

[Zorast]

Hi,

Thanks for referring to the post but I'm not sure if a solution has been mentioned?

What I tried in SwitchResX:

- I selected 3840x1600, 144hz without HiDPI
- Disabled Font smoothing
- True Tone: off

But still not usable.

In the thread you are referring to it talks about better dummy.
What is the solution here if I wan to run in 3840x1600 on my LG? I would also be happy wit 60hz as long as the text is usable.

Did I miss something?

My opinion was that have in Mind, with another Display with Higher Resolution u get another problems.

 

[Amethyst1]

Thanks for referring to the post but I'm not sure if a solution has been mentioned?

I've replied to you in the other thread where you posted. But this is just a workaround and may not produce results that are acceptable to you. The only proper solution is to buy a monitor with a higher PPI (the higher the better, with around 220 ppi being ideal for macOS). If you want an ultrawide, LG and MSI have a 34" with a 5120×2160 resolution. They are the only 34" ultrawides to get the HiDPI modes, and thus “acceptable” text rendering on macOS out of the box.

 

[MischievousKid]

Hey, any luck with the fuzzy fonts? Amazing monitor you got there, it's a shame...

Just got my new MacBook Pro 16" M1 Pro to have the same issue as yours.

DELL U3818DW same thing. Tried playing around with font scaling, BetterDummy, tried forcing RGB profile.

Haven't found a working solution yet.

 

[KakuM1]

I have returned the Mac Book. Found no solution that I was happy with.

 

[Wando64]

Does this nonsense happen with the M1 Mac Mini as well?

I have an LG 24UD58-B (184 ppi) and I don’t really want to change that.
I have cancelled the MBP order some time ago as I figured I’d be better served with a Mini (waiting for the new one) coupled with my existing 2015 MBP.

 

[KakuM1]

I don’t think so. I’m waiting for the new M1 Mac Mini. I think the main issue is the GPU and new procedure of led brgtness apple is using in there new mac books to keep such long battery level.

 

[Wando64]

I don’t think so. I’m waiting for the new M1 Mac Mini. I think the main issue is the GPU and new procedure of led brgtness apple is using in there new mac books to keep such long battery level.

Let's hope so.
I haven't seen many complaints from current M1 Mini owners.

 

[MischievousKid]

Submitted this as a bug to Apple. Looks like I'll have to sell my 38" ultrawide for DELL U2720Q. Wasn't expecting this crap when I paid 3600€ for my new laptop.

 

[MischievousKid]

As a reminder to everyone who has this issue: contact Apple via the feedback form https://www.apple.com/feedback/. According to the Apple Care Senior person - this is the only metric that is actively monitored/watched to improve their products. The form literally takes one minute to fill out. Thank you all!

 

[sickcode]

Hi,

I read a post on reddit that turning off "SUPER RESOLUTION+" on the monitor fixed the issue of jagged text. Has anyone tried that?

 

[slo_addy]

I have the same exact monitor, MacBook, and issue. I ended up dropping the display refresh rate down from 144Hz to 120Hz. It made things look MUCH better. I was comparing it against a 2019 intel MBP while testing this.