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Retina Macbook Pro external display scaled resolution

M

mklnz

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 6, 2007
212
101
Auckland, New Zealand
Is there any method to run a scaled resolution on an external monitor?
I have a Dell U2711 with native resolution of 2560x1400, but the text is a tad little small for me.

I would like to run the monitor "like" 1920x1080 but with the same 2x scaling then downsized like the retina display, is this possible?
 
mklnz said:
Is there any method to run a scaled resolution on an external monitor?
I have a Dell U2711 with native resolution of 2560x1400, but the text is a tad little small for me.

I would like to run the monitor "like" 1920x1080 but with the same 2x scaling then downsized like the retina display, is this possible?
Click to expand...

I am kind of taking a guess here, but I have seen people recommend a small application called SwitchResX for getting specific with monitor resolution. Have you tried that?
 
strausd said:
I am kind of taking a guess here, but I have seen people recommend a small application called SwitchResX for getting specific with monitor resolution. Have you tried that?
Click to expand...

Switchresx can't enable hidpi mode on its own. There are ways to do it using Xcode and quartz debug but I highly doubt it will work out that well
 
mklnz said:
Is there any method to run a scaled resolution on an external monitor?
I have a Dell U2711 with native resolution of 2560x1400, but the text is a tad little small for me.

I would like to run the monitor "like" 1920x1080 but with the same 2x scaling then downsized like the retina display, is this possible?
Click to expand...

You should be able to manually set the resolution of the secondary display. Just set it to something smaller, like 1920x1200.
 
gentlefury said:
You should be able to manually set the resolution of the secondary display. Just set it to something smaller, like 1920x1200.
Click to expand...

That's different though, since the text is blurry. It won't be scaled 2x first then downscaled to 1920x1080 like the retina display on the MBP.
 
Last edited:
mklnz said:
That's different though, since the text is blurry. It won't be scaled 2x first then downscaled to 1920x1080 like the retina display on the MBP.
Click to expand...

Maybe you could do a custom resolution with a third party tool that is double the amount of pixels in X and Y and then it would have to automatically scale down to fit the display?
 
com.apple.windowserver.plist

Does anybody have the new retina macbook here? if so can you post the content of this file here /Library/Preferences/com.apple.windowserver.plist

I want to see what setting they use there maybe we can use it to modify setting for normal non-retina monitors

thnx
 
com.apple.windowserver.plist contents

Code: 
{
	"CGSInterocitorSelectMode" = 0;
	"DisplayResolutionEnabled" = YES;
	DisplayLayoutToRight = YES;
	"DisplayMainOnInternal" = YES;
	Compositor = {
		deferredUpdates = 1;
	};
	GLCompositor = {
		tileHeight = 256;
		tileWidth = 256;
	};
	DisplaySets = (
		(
			{
				Active = 1;
				DisplayProductID = 40975;
				Depth = 4;
				DisplayID = 69731264;
				DisplaySerialNumber = 0;
				PixelEncoding = "--------RRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGBBBBBBBB";
				IOFlags = 7;
				Unit = 0;
				LimitsWidth = 2880;
				IODisplayLocation = "IOService:/AppleACPIPlatformExpert/PCI0@0/AppleACPIPCI/P0P2@1/IOPCI2PCIBridge/GFX0@0/NVDA,Display-A@0/NVDA";
				OriginY = 0;
				Height = 900;
				Width = 1440;
				LimitsHeight = 1800;
				Mode = 1;
				DisplayVendorID = 1552;
				OriginX = 0;
				Resolution = 2;
			},
			{
				Active = 1;
				DisplayProductID = 1815;
				LimitsOriginX = 2880;
				"UnmirroredLimitsOriginX" = 2880;
				DisplayID = 1535231429;
				PixelEncoding = "--------RRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGBBBBBBBB";
				IOFlags = 15;
				Unit = 5;
				DisplaySerialNumber = 0;
				IODisplayLocation = "IOService:/IOResources/AVExGFX/Avatron Virtual Display@0/AVExFramebuffer@0";
				OriginY = 0;
				Height = 1536;
				Width = 2048;
				Mode = 0;
				DisplayVendorID = 1970170734;
				OriginX = 1440;
				Depth = 4;
			},
		),
		(
			{
				Active = 1;
				DisplayProductID = 40975;
				Depth = 4;
				DisplayID = 69731264;
				DisplaySerialNumber = 0;
				PixelEncoding = "--------RRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGBBBBBBBB";
				IOFlags = 7;
				Unit = 0;
				LimitsWidth = 2880;
				IODisplayLocation = "IOService:/AppleACPIPlatformExpert/PCI0@0/AppleACPIPCI/P0P2@1/IOPCI2PCIBridge/GFX0@0/NVDA,Display-A@0/NVDA";
				OriginY = 0;
				Height = 900;
				Width = 1440;
				LimitsHeight = 1800;
				Mode = 1;
				DisplayVendorID = 1552;
				OriginX = 0;
				Resolution = 2;
			},
		),
		(
			{
				Depth = 4;
				Mirrored = 0;
				IODisplayLocation = "IOService:/AppleACPIPlatformExpert/PCI0@0/AppleACPIPCI/IGPU@2/AppleIntelFramebuffer/display0/AppleBacklightDisplay";
				DisplaySerialNumber = 0;
				UnmirroredMode = 0;
				StereoBlueLineSync = NO;
				UnmirroredOriginY = 0;
				UnmirroredWidth = 1280;
				OriginX = 0;
				UnmirroredOriginX = 0;
				IsStereo = NO;
				IOFlags = 7;
				Rotation = 0;
				Height = 800;
				OriginY = 0;
				Unit = 0;
				DisplayProductID = 40135;
				DisplayID = 69677504;
				Width = 1280;
				Mode = 0;
				DisplayVendorID = 1552;
				MirrorID = 0;
				Active = 1;
				UnmirroredHeight = 800;
				"RefreshRate16.16" = 0;
			},
			{
				Depth = 4;
				Mirrored = 0;
				IODisplayLocation = "IOService:/AppleACPIPlatformExpert/PCI0@0/AppleACPIPCI/IGPU@2/AppleIntelFramebuffer/display0/AppleDisplay";
				DisplaySerialNumber = 143182;
				UnmirroredMode = 0;
				StereoBlueLineSync = NO;
				UnmirroredOriginY = -280;
				UnmirroredWidth = 1920;
				OriginX = 1280;
				UnmirroredOriginX = 1280;
				IsStereo = NO;
				IOFlags = 7;
				Rotation = 0;
				Height = 1080;
				OriginY = -280;
				Unit = 1;
				DisplayProductID = 9459;
				DisplayID = 440996749;
				Width = 1920;
				Mode = 0;
				DisplayVendorID = 1129;
				MirrorID = 0;
				Active = 1;
				UnmirroredHeight = 1080;
				"RefreshRate16.16" = 3932161;
			},
		),
		(
			{
				Depth = 4;
				Mirrored = 0;
				IODisplayLocation = "IOService:/AppleACPIPlatformExpert/PCI0@0/AppleACPIPCI/IGPU@2/AppleIntelFramebuffer/display0/AppleBacklightDisplay";
				DisplaySerialNumber = 0;
				UnmirroredMode = 0;
				StereoBlueLineSync = NO;
				UnmirroredOriginY = 0;
				UnmirroredWidth = 1280;
				OriginX = 0;
				UnmirroredOriginX = 0;
				IsStereo = NO;
				IOFlags = 7;
				Rotation = 0;
				Height = 800;
				OriginY = 0;
				Unit = 0;
				DisplayProductID = 40135;
				DisplayID = 69677504;
				Width = 1280;
				Mode = 0;
				DisplayVendorID = 1552;
				MirrorID = 0;
				Active = 1;
				UnmirroredHeight = 800;
				"RefreshRate16.16" = 0;
			},
		),
		(
			{
				Active = 1;
				DisplayProductID = 40975;
				Depth = 4;
				DisplayID = 69731264;
				DisplaySerialNumber = 0;
				PixelEncoding = "--------RRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGBBBBBBBB";
				IOFlags = 7;
				Unit = 0;
				LimitsWidth = 2880;
				IODisplayLocation = "IOService:/AppleACPIPlatformExpert/PCI0@0/AppleACPIPCI/P0P2@1/IOPCI2PCIBridge/GFX0@0/NVDA,Display-A@0/NVDA";
				OriginY = 0;
				Height = 900;
				Width = 1440;
				LimitsHeight = 1800;
				Mode = 1;
				DisplayVendorID = 1552;
				OriginX = 0;
				Resolution = 2;
			},
		),
		(
			{
				Active = 1;
				DisplayProductID = 40975;
				Depth = 4;
				DisplayID = 69731264;
				DisplaySerialNumber = 0;
				PixelEncoding = "--------RRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGBBBBBBBB";
				IOFlags = 7;
				Unit = 0;
				LimitsWidth = 2880;
				IODisplayLocation = "IOService:/AppleACPIPlatformExpert/PCI0@0/AppleACPIPCI/P0P2@1/IOPCI2PCIBridge/GFX0@0/NVDA,Display-A@0/NVDA";
				OriginY = 0;
				Height = 900;
				Width = 1440;
				LimitsHeight = 1800;
				Mode = 1;
				DisplayVendorID = 1552;
				OriginX = 0;
				Resolution = 2;
			},
			{
				Active = 1;
				DisplayProductID = 1815;
				DisplayID = 1535231429;
				DisplaySerialNumber = 0;
				PixelEncoding = "--------RRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGBBBBBBBB";
				IOFlags = 15;
				Unit = 5;
				IODisplayLocation = "IOService:/IOResources/AVExGFX/Avatron Virtual Display@0/AVExFramebuffer@0";
				OriginY = 0;
				Height = 1800;
				Width = 2880;
				UnmirroredWidth = 2880;
				UnmirroredHeight = 1800;
				Mode = 0;
				DisplayVendorID = 1970170734;
				OriginX = 1440;
				Depth = 4;
			},
		),
	);
}
 
Do you mean this?

Screen%2520Shot%25202012-07-30%2520at%252012.48.01%2520PM.png


Screen%2520Shot%25202012-07-30%2520at%252012.48.09%2520PM.png
 
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