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HiDPI not working correctly

ilikecorn500

ilikecorn500

macrumors member
Original poster
May 16, 2011
62
0
Hello people, I read today that I can enable HiDPI mode on a Mac that isn't retina. This allows me to get full resolution on my HDTV, which is plugged into my Mac, but still be able to see the UI elements. Unfortunately, I enabled it, and the resolution "960x540 (HiDPI)" does not work. All it does when I click it is make the computer freeze for a few seconds, then change back to the previous resolution. The only other option is "800x450 (HiDPI)", and that is too small a resolution. I currently have the resolution set to 1024x576, but I'd like to get full resolution on my TV.

Any help is appreciated. :)
 
You don't need HiDPI on your telly. Just set it to your TV set's native resolution (1920x1080 or 1280x720 depending which telly you do have).
You set the resolution for all active monitors in Displays Preferences.
 
priitv8 said:
You don't need HiDPI on your telly. Just set it to your TV set's native resolution (1920x1080 or 1280x720 depending which telly you do have).
You set the resolution for all active monitors in Displays Preferences.
Click to expand...

I understand that I don't need HiDPI. What I said though, is that I would like it so that I can have the TV display its native resolution, but have the UI elements act like the resolution is set lower. That's one of the main ideas of having HiDPI on a non-retina Mac. For example, I'd like it set at about 1024x576 (HiDPI), so that the resolution is actually 2048x1152, but everything looks the same as if it was actually 1024x576.
 
Tried it on my retina as well and I can confirm that switching on the 960x540 (HiDPI) has no effect whatsoever on my Bravia TV.
That's weird, because for example 960x600 (HiDPI) does indeed enter the 1920x1200 mode but due to being more square than 16:9 this desktop gets squeezed vertically onto 1080 pixels (factor 0.9), maintaining aspect ratio (1728x1080 effectively). Thus the picture has black bars on left and right.
 
My Philips TV in in "PC mode" has 1:1 pixel mapping and works perfectly with hiDPI tweak.
 
Fzang said:
My Philips TV in in "PC mode" has 1:1 pixel mapping and works perfectly with hiDPI tweak.
Click to expand...
My TV has also 1:1 pixel mapping, but the problem is that on the MacBook side no resolution switch happens, when I select the 960x540 (HiDPI) mode.
On a 1920x1080 screen this should use 4 physical pixels to display one logical pixel, just as on the Retina display.
 
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