i don't understand the built in display monitor resolutions ....

[TrancyGoose]

Can anyone help me?

So M1 Macbook pro built in display resolutions is: 2560x1600.

So this is what I am getting from my Displays setting:

I am running the Secondary BenQ Monitor at the 2K setting, cause anything scaled to more space is way to small, and default is ugly big.

But for built in Display, i have:

Looks like: 1024x640
Looks like: 1280x800
Looks like: 1440x900
Looks like: 1680x1050

Everything is Looks like, but in sizes not even Full HD. Yet picture is really crisp and everything is good.
So i don't get what is the 2560x1600 resolution mean, if I don't actually get in options?

On the External BenQ monitor I get all kind's of resolutions 1920x1080, 2K, some 3008x1692 and the regular 4K that makes everything crazy small.

Can anyone explain this to me?

 

[meson]

2560x1600 means that there are 2560 horizontal pixels and 1600 vertical pixels in the display. The pixels are very small. When you use 'Looks Like' 1280x800, your display is using 4 built-in pixels to display one image pixel. The other resolutions use different scaling factors, but the machine essentially renders the image in full resolution or higher and then calculates adjustments to make the image appear sharp and clean.

The scaled resolutions do something similar on your external, but because the pixels are physically larger, things may not look as good as they do on the built-in display.

 

[LuisN]

You can use a program like SwitchResX to display additional resolutions.

SwitchResX - The Most Versatile Tool For Controlling Screen Resolutions On Your Mac

 

[TrancyGoose]

2560x1600 means that there are 2560 horizontal pixels and 1600 vertical pixels in the display. The pixels are very small. When you use 'Looks Like' 1280x800, your display is using 4 built-in pixels to display one image pixel. The other resolutions use different scaling factors, but the machine essentially renders the image in full resolution or higher and then calculates adjustments to make the image appear sharp and clean.

The scaled resolutions do something similar on your external, but because the pixels are physically larger, things may not look as good as they do on the built-in display.

Thank you for the explanation.

So in other words, 2560x1600 is never actually displayed, i would imagine it would make everything extremely small on the screen, so Mac OS adjusts these to the "Looks like" resolutions?
Sorry, I got confused, and thought that if 2560x1600 was missing, something is maybe wrong with my MacBook.

 

[LuisN]

Even with SwitchResX 2560x1600 is not a recommended resolution. Text is crispier in 2880x1800 although tiny but you can experiment with resolutions.

My MBPro 15" @ 2880x1800

 

[LuisN]

Not good for my eyes (I'm 62) but readable

 

[Amethyst1]

Even with SwitchResX 2560x1600 is not a recommended resolution. Text is crispier in 2880x1800

This is because a 15" Retina MBP has a 2880×1800 screen. Setting it to 2560×1600 causes upscaling, and thus, blurriness.
A 13" Retina MBA/MBP has a 2560×1600 screen, though.

So in other words, 2560x1600 is never actually displayed, i would imagine it would make everything extremely small on the screen, so Mac OS adjusts these to the "Looks like" resolutions?

The screen is always driven at its native resolution. But that would make everything tiny, so what macOS does is... it displays everything (UI elements, texts) using so-called "HiDPI assets" which are twice as wide and twice as tall (i.e. it scales them to 200%) so that at the default setting, you get the same real estate as on a 1280×800 screen but everything is a lot sharper.

If you select a "looks like" resolution that is not 1280×800, macOS creates a framebuffer that is twice as wide and twice as tall as the selected resolution, e.g. 3360×2100 if you select 1680×1050. It then displays everything using the same (scaled to 200%) HiDPI assets. This framebuffer is then downscaled to your display's actual resolution before it's displayed. This downscaling of a larger framebuffer to a display with a physically lower resolution makes everything on the screen appear smaller. You can verify this by taking a screenshot. Its dimensions will be twice as wide and twice as tall as the selected "looks like" mode.

 

[TrancyGoose]

This is because a 15" Retina MBP has a 2880×1800 screen. Setting it to 2560×1600 causes upscaling, and thus, blurriness.
A 13" Retina MBA/MBP has a 2560×1600 screen, though.


The screen is always driven at its native resolution. But that would make everything tiny, so what macOS does is... it displays everything (UI elements, texts) using so-called "HiDPI assets" which are twice as wide and twice as tall (i.e. it scales them to 200%) so that at the default setting, you get the same real estate as on a 1280×800 screen but everything is a lot sharper.

If you select a "looks like" resolution that is not 1280×800, macOS creates a framebuffer that is twice as wide and twice as tall as the selected resolution, e.g. 3360×2100 if you select 1680×1050. It then displays everything using the same (scaled to 200%) HiDPI assets. This framebuffer is then downscaled to your display's actual resolution before it's displayed. This downscaling of a larger framebuffer to a display with a physically lower resolution makes everything on the screen appear smaller. You can verify this by taking a screenshot. Its dimensions will be twice as wide and twice as tall as the selected "looks like" mode.

Thank you, understood. But what is the default resolution look like? Also in scaled there is default option with no "Looks Like" explanation.

 

[Amethyst1]

But what is the default resolution look like?

"Default" means "looks like 1440×900" on that MacBook Pro IIRC. If you take a screenshot, its dimensions should be 2880×1800.