How to get apple's scaled OS X features on external display

[Miltz]

I have a new rMBP 13" and I have it connected to a Dell 27" monitor with a Default resolution of 2560x1440. The problem is when I use only the external it defaults to 2560x1440 and everything is too small, especially in photoshop and other programs. Now when I used mirrored mode it actually scales the display very nicely and the 27" monitor is usable again(without any loss of image quality), but when I close the lid, it goes back to native 2560x1440. So since I don't know OS X like the back of my hand yet, how can I get OS X to use it's scaled features on my external dell display without having to leave my lid open on my laptop and use both displays. I'm sure it's a easy fix. Thanks guys and girls.

 

[glenthompson]

I have a new rMBP 13" and I have it connected to a Dell 27" monitor with a Default resolution of 2560x1440. The problem is when I use only the external it defaults to 2560x1440 and everything is too small, especially in photoshop and other programs. Now when I used mirrored mode it actually scales the display very nicely and the 27" monitor is usable again(without any loss of image quality), but when I close the lid, it goes back to native 2560x1440. So since I don't know OS X like the back of my hand yet, how can I get OS X to use it's scaled features on my external dell display without having to leave my lid open on my laptop and use both displays. I'm sure it's a easy fix. Thanks guys and girls.

Have you gone into System Preferences -> Display and tried the options there? On my Apple Cinema Display I can choose between default resolution or scaled with a number of options.

 

[Miltz]

Have you gone into System Preferences -> Display and tried the options there? On my Apple Cinema Display I can choose between default resolution or scaled with a number of options.

Yes I have... Those options just lower the resolution and heavily degrade image quality, on the other hand when I use mirrored mode the lower resolution uses apples scaling technology and the images on the external monitor look great...

 

[ByDesign]

If I understand your question I may be able to help. If you have both screens displaying at the same time select displays option and then on the drop down selection of which screen to display the best resolution pick your external monitor. This gives you more control over your external monitors display options even if you put it in clamshell mode. I had to do this to maintain 60 Hz in clamshell mode on my '15 rMBP and ASUS 4k monitor over Thunderbolt/Displayport.

I'm away from my Home Office or I'd double check but here is a thread I started that was similar but different.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1871930/

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Then once you put it in clamshell then you should be able to go into your monitor settings and adjust.

 

[Miltz]

If I understand your question I may be able to help. If you have both screens displaying at the same time select displays option and then on the drop down selection of which screen to display the best resolution pick your external monitor. This gives you more control over your external monitors display options even if you put it in clamshell mode. I had to do this to maintain 60 Hz in clamshell mode on my '15 rMBP and ASUS 4k monitor over Thunderbolt/Displayport.

I'm away from my Home Office or I'd double check but here is a thread I started that was similar but different.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1871930/

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Then once you put it in clamshell then you should be able to go into your monitor settings and adjust.

Thanks for the tip, but that doesn't work when it comes to scaling the resolution. The only options I have are 1080i and 720P which isn't what I'm looking for. The same way apple scales the retina to a lower resolution to make everything on screen larger is the same I want to do on my external Display. It does it when I'm using mirrored mode, with the laptop display open, but not in clamshell mode. My refresh rate is fine.

 

[davidlv]

Thanks for the tip, but that doesn't work when it comes to scaling the resolution. The only options I have are 1080i and 720P which isn't what I'm looking for. The same way apple scales the retina to a lower resolution to make everything on screen larger is the same I want to do on my external Display. It does it when I'm using mirrored mode, with the laptop display open, but not in clamshell mode. My refresh rate is fine.

Have you tried holding down the option key when you click "Scaling"?
Should give you more options than just 1080i and 720P. I don't have the same hardware, so I am not sure that will work, but give it a try.

 

[leman]

You need a 4K monitor. The HiDPI resolution modes are a bit 'magical' in a way that the OS has heuristics to determine whether they make sense — and Apple's definition of 'making sense' might differ from yours or mine This depends on the monitor native resolution and (possibly) its size and (as it seems) your GPU.

When we got our first 4K display, I tried it out with my server Mac Pro. It automatically offered me to run it in 1080p configuration which was rendered in all the HiDPI magic. Higher resolutions were using traditional (non-HiDPI) scaling, which was obviously fuzzier. However, on my bosses Mac Pro (with higher-end GPU), the same monitor also supports 1440p resolution as HiDPI.

On the other side, you can probably hack HiDPi support by using a third party tool like SwitchResX.

 

[v1597psh]

Use SwitchResX app

 

[jbarley]

Use SwitchResX app

As suggested by Leman almost 2 years ago...