Maximizing Text Clarity - MacOS on ext monitor

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Hey everyone,

I’m currently daily-driving an M1 MacBook Pro connected to an LG C2 42" OLED. I’m working extremely long hours and my eyesight is really feeling the strain from blurry text. I would like to ask for help figuring out what I could do differently to improve text clarity, as this only happens on any Mac I connect, but not Windows or Linux.

Current Setup:

Host: MacBook Pro (M1).

Display: LG C2 42" (Firmware updated, Input set to PC Mode for 4:4:4 Chroma).

Connection: USB-C to HDMI 2.1 (Getting 4K @ 120Hz).

Software: can’t install anything on work laptop.

The Problem:

I’m feel like I’m fighting the “fuzziness” inherent to the combination of MacOS, big OLED in 4k (low ppi) and the way macOS handles font smoothing.

I don’t have the headspace nor expertise so all advice is welcome.

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I have the same monitor and what I do is:

  • turn off HDR (having HDR on limits available resolution+refresh combinations)
  • In the display options click advanced→show all resolutions
  • I get best results with 3200x1800 or 2560x1440. 4k has aliased text and 1080p is way too big

If you’re interested in the explanation: MacOS doesn’t have scaling like modern linux or windows. It either works in ‘high resolution’ or ‘low resolution mode’ for non-integer scaling. At high-resolution mode everything gets rendered at double the resolution (6400x3600 for 3200x1800) then downscaled to the monitor’s native resolution. In practice this gives quite smooth text but some artifacting that may be visible. Note that images/videos/etc. always get rendered at native resolution; this is just for text/ui elements and such.

The reason MacOS looks like crap on native 4k is that it doesn’t have font anti-aliasing unlike windows or linux.

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Thanks @quilt I just tired the 3200x1800 and it seems to have improved the fuzzy edges a bit! Would using the original HDMI port vs usbc–>HDMI adapter help in any way to improve this further?

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I haven’t tried but I wouldn’t think so. The adapter does use DSC (display stream compression) I believe, but that shouldn’t influence the image noticeably. I do use a desktop PC with the HDMI 2.1 port but haven’t noticed a difference with the adapter.

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Thanks!!

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Apparently you often need a third party utility to enable HiDPI mode on macs to prevent blurry text…

For sharp text you want to be using the monitor’s native resolution (3,840 x 2,160) anything else and the monitor will scale the image.

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I looked into this one, but have been blocked by the security team unfortunately. Supply chain risk is very top of mind these days. Thanks for the tip nonetheless!