Strange outlines/visual artefacts in UI elements when using a scaled resolution

[undefBehav]

Hey there! So I've got my new 14-inch MacBook Pro with the new M2 Max chip recently, however I've noticed something rather odd with the way the display scaling works. Whenever I set a scaled resolution that is not natively supported by some display (be it an external 4K monitor that I hook my MBP up to, or the built-in display of the device itself), I get this strange outlines in the UI as if the image has been compressed by a lossy compression algorithm before being rendered on the screen (see the screenshots). These artefacts persist through any intermediate resolution that is not the default resolution, nor any other resolution that is an integer multiple of the default resolution that is natively supported in macOS. The artefacts are most visible when there's a sharp change in contrast in the image, like a text rendered on a dark background. This has sadly never been an issue with my work laptop, which is a 16-inch 2019 MBP with an Intel processor.

Switching to the HDR mode when hooked up to a 4K monitor, or using the app BetterDisplay, seems to help reduce these visual imperfections, but I'd hope a $3.1K laptop didn't require any silly workarounds to get it to display stuff on the screen properly.

Troubleshooting online for solutions didn't help much either, as I have been unable to come across something even remotely resembling the problem that I have. So I was hoping to get your guys opinion on this as to what could be causing it, or if it might be that the device itself is faulty. Please let me know if any of you have had something like this with your device, and if you've been able to resolve it. Thanks!

P.s. For reference, I added some photos that illustrate the problem I'm having with the new 14-inch, and how it renders properly with the old 16-inch Intel MBP. The monitor I'm using is a 27-inch LG 27UP850-W.


The image displayed by the 14-inch M2 Max MBP on a 4K monitor at 3008x1692


(Mostly) the same image displayed by the 16-inch Intel MBP on the same 4K monitor at 3008x1692

 

[Basic75]

Is that 3008x1692 native or "looks like" pixel-doubled and is it the same on both machines?

 

[CloudsNeverDie]

The new MacBook Air M2 15" has these artifacts too on its native LCD at the default scaling (1710x1107). They disappear if you set the resolution to the native resolution divided by an exact power of two, for example 1440x932 on the MBA's native 2880x1864 display.

They look like sharpening artifacts from some kind of post-processing filter applied to the entire image. You can almost see them with the naked eye, and definitely with a magnifying glass or phone camera on zoom.

The M2 MacBook Pro 14" doesn't have these artifacts by default because the default scaling (1512x982) is exactly half the native resolution (3024x1964).

I really don't like them - the white halos make the image look fuzzy to my eyes, and you get fake black borders around brighter shapes too. Bad enough that I was considering returning the MBA until I figured out this was fixable by changing the resolution, rather than caused by some underlying LCD driver sharpening which couldn't be turned off. Sadly though, with the 2:1 scaling, the MBA's 15" screen effectively offers less real estate than the MBP 14" screen due to the lower pixel density.