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HDMI cable fuzzy text Dell monitor

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plonk7

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 11, 2018
4
0
Canada
Just got a brand new Mac Mini with this spec:

3.6 GHz Intel Core i3
8 GB 2667 MHz DDR4
Intel UHD Graphics 630 1536 MB

and a Dell 27 Monitor S2719H offering Full HD (1080p) 1920 x 1080 at 60 Hz because it was on sale and it looked like the best bang for my limited buck.

connecting with HDMI cable that came with monitor.

I have fuzzy text. I am a neophyte and know next to nothing. Searched the forum and saw there is talk of this issue but couldn't find what the answer to solve it was. Spoke to Apple support who said the solution is a USB-C digital AV multi-port adapter.

Before I shell out $40+ for the adaptor, are there any suggestions of what I could do set up wise? I fiddled with the various display settings randomly hoping to solve it but no luck.

Thanks in advance
 
There's nothing wrong with using an HDMI cable and the adapter will accomplish nothing except waste a port.

The problem here is that you have good eyesight. The monitor is too big for the image (1920x1080) on the screen. Hook up your mini to a 24" monitor and I bet that you'll see a big difference.

As @jean512's OSX Daily link suggests, try turning off font smoothing.

But I think that the basic issue is the size of the monitor.
 
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Haha! Ok, that explains it then. So I need at least 2560x1440 to get nice sharp text then?
 
plonk7 said:
Thanks, Jean. I tried that but I think it is a question of the resolution not being high enough. I thought 1920 would be enough on the 27" but it seems not.
Click to expand...

It's the fact that, at that resolution, on that monitor size, the pixels are physically too far apart to present a sharp image. That is really more of a television intended to be viewed at a distance.

You can get a monitor with the same resolution but with smaller / closer pixels, as mentioned, a 24" monitor like Dell's U2414M, and you'll notice a big difference.

Or you can spend a little more for a UHD / 4K display (again, around 24-25" is the sweet spot for desktop use) and you'll see a HUGE difference. Dell's P2415Q is excellent, I use two myself. And then you can connect them with DisplayPort which will support the higher resolution.

A 4K display at 27" or higher will not be as sharp - again, that starts to be a television intended for viewing at 10' away. There are 5K displays around that size that have a lot more pixels to fill in that space, but they're pricey, and you can typically only hook up one to a Mac as it maxes out the graphics card.
 
JayKay514 said:
It's the fact that, at that resolution, on that monitor size, the pixels are physically too far apart to present a sharp image. That is really more of a television intended to be viewed at a distance.

You can get a monitor with the same resolution but with smaller / closer pixels, as mentioned, a 24" monitor like Dell's U2414M, and you'll notice a big difference.

Or you can spend a little more for a UHD / 4K display (again, around 24-25" is the sweet spot for desktop use) and you'll see a HUGE difference. Dell's P2415Q is excellent, I use two myself. And then you can connect them with DisplayPort which will support the higher resolution.

A 4K display at 27" or higher will not be as sharp - again, that starts to be a television intended for viewing at 10' away. There are 5K displays around that size that have a lot more pixels to fill in that space, but they're pricey, and you can typically only hook up one to a Mac as it maxes out the graphics card.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that. I am just trying to replicate what I have on my 4 year old iMac 27" - hence I bought a 27" monitor. The text on the iMac is lovely and sharp (at 2560 resolution which I hadn't checked before buying this Dell monitor) so that is what I would like to replicate.
 
JayKay514 said:
A 4K display at 27" or higher will not be as sharp - again, that starts to be a television intended for viewing at 10' away.
Click to expand...

Where do these ideas come from?

Eizo, HP Dream Color, Flanders Scientific, Panasonic, Asus, etc. all make 31"-32" 4K monitors that are used for high-end professional image editing and colour grading. They range in price from about US$2000 to tens of thousands. To take one example, the Eizo, a highly regarded industry standard, is $6000.

It's news to me that all these monitors, including my Asus ProArt 32" 4k monitor (photo below), are essentially unsharp televisions that should be viewed from a distance of 10'.

Screenshot 2018-12-11 at 2.18.45 PM.png
 
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Dr. Stealth said:
Or... His Reading Glasses are too strong.... :D (That has actually happened to me.)
Click to expand...

By the time this thread is over there will be 25 lectures ... err, posts ... on pixel density, scaling and the inability of the Mac mini to push around pixels unless one purchases an external GPU.

Plus a dozen posts proving scientifically that a 31"-32" 4K monitor is by definition pretty much the same thing as a discounted television from Walmart.

:)
 
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IF your vision is still "right on" -- you might find text 1080p on a 27" to be "fuzzy" around the edges. But I have "70 year old eyes", so it's fine for me.

A 4k display at 27" would "clean this right up", and give you "retina-like" sharpness.

OR... you might try 1440p on a 27" -- smaller pixels, smaller text. Probably less "fuzziness".

One thing to try right now:
Go to the "general" pref pane (system preferences).
At the bottom, there is a checkbox that turns font smoothing on/off.
Whatever the current setting is, TRY THE OTHER ONE.
Does that make a difference?
 
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