MacBook Pro 16” 2021 + Asus ProArt 279CV

[monopoly]

Hi,

Have my MBP 16” (M1 Pro) and just got an Asus ProArt 279CV monitor (4k) and when trying to use it in clamshell mode the monitor is only running 1080p. I’m connected by thunderbolt and if I want it to show 4k then I have to go to scaled mode, which is obviously going to reduce performance. What’s wrong?

 

[monopoly]

 

[ponzicoinbro]

In your first screenshot you monitor is running at 4K. Your UI ’looks like’ 1080p. It shouldn’t reduce performance.

If you want the UI to look 4K choose the radio button ‘Scaled’ and then choose More Space.

 

[monopoly]

I can do that but scaled will affect performance won’t it? If I tick use default it changes to 1080p. It’s a 4k monitor.

 

[robco74]

Scaled resolutions shouldn't impact performance, especially if you just have one external display. The scaled resolutions may be a little fuzzy however.

 

[monopoly]

Just dont understand why it has to scale at all. When in clamshell mode the MacBook screen is turned off. It should just output the 4k surely?

 

[coolguy4747]

It is outputting 4k. This is Apple's clumsy way of saying everything on your screen is the same size as it would be if it was a 1080p monitor, but with crisper detail. If you watch a 4k video, it is still showing every single one of those pixels.

 

[monopoly]

If I scaled this to 2560x1440 and did video editing in dsvinci resolve, would it show the video being played the same as if it was native 4k?

 

[coolguy4747]

If you are using one of Apple's "Scaled" resolutions, it will use all of the pixels the monitor has. If you set the actual screen resolution to 2560x1440, the Mac will only "produce" 2560x1440 pixels.

 

[Fishrrman]

With a 27" 4k display, if you set it to display "true 4k", you're probably not going to like it, because everything (particularly text) will become "too small".

With "looks like 1080p" you see the image as it would be displayed on a 1080p monitor -- only much sharper, because you now have 4 pixels combining to "re-create" 1 pixel.
However, performance is not affected (or at least hardly at all).

With "looks like 1440p", the image will be scaled to look like that which you would see on a 5k iMac running in "default" mode. The image will be larger than "true 4k" but smaller than "looks like 1080p". However, there is a lot of "behind the scenes" processing power involved, so sometimes performance can be impacted when running this way.

 

[Krevnik]

I think it’s also fair to point out that while running at “looks like 1440p” will use a 5K framebuffer in the back end, and cost a bit of performance scaling down to 4K, it was primarily an issue with Intel GPUs. So I wouldn’t necessarily set expectations on the M1 based on the reports from the Intel Mac Mini, Intel Air, or Intel 13” MBP machines that only included an Intel GPU.

 

[mr_roboto]

Scaled isn't a big deal with M1. I'm pretty sure Apple has put in a hardware accelerator block to reduce both CPU and GPU overhead to zero.

In fact, the 13" M1 machines (Pro and Air) both ship from Apple defaulted to a scaled resolution. They kept the same 2560x1600 LCD panel as their Intel predecessors, or "looks like 1280x800" non-scaled, but default to "looks like 1680x1050", which is scaled. I used a M1 Air for a full year at that default res and it was awesome - no performance problems at all, everything on screen looked great.

So, @monopoly, I'd just run with whatever resolution looks good to you, scaled or not. The only real consequence is that scaled resolutions can look a little blurrier than non-scaled, but you may find that an acceptable tradeoff for fitting more information on screen.

 

[monopoly]

Cheers for all the replies. Scaled to 1440p does look better as text and UI not as small but it does drop a MASSIVE 1fps in DaVinci Resolve compared to me using the 4k scaled hahah