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User profile for user: Thunderclutch
Thunderclutch Author
User level: Level 1
76 points

BenQ PD2500Q fuzzy text on Macs

Hi – I have just bought a (new) Benq PD2500Q monitor.


I bought it for my wife who is now working from home and has been struggling with the blurry text on her DELL P2418D QHD monitor, used with a 2017 15” MacBook Pro. As I discovered, Dell does not claim its monitors will work with Macs. After researching the well-known (albeit new to me) fuzzy text issue online all my attempts to solve the problem – e.g. by applying the ruby-edid patch method for forcing RGB mode and various different leads – failed.


So I bought the Benq PD2500Q because it was reviewed as an excellent monitor for the MacBook Pro and the specifications clearly state “Mac compatible – Yes” (https://www.benq.com/en-us/monitor/designer/pd2500q/specifications.html).


I was therefore extremely disappointed to discover it has the exact same fuzzy text problem we have with the DELL.


I have tried the Benq with a 2017 15” MacBook Pro; an early 2015 13” MacBook Pro and my 2018 Mac mini. All run macOS 10.14.6 with the latest updates.


In all cases the text is unacceptably fuzzy. Firstly, the monitor seems to be recognised as a TV since e.g. 1080p and other video resolutions appear in the list of available scalings. Setting the display manually to sRGB or the M-book ("MacBook Pro setting) makes no difference at all.


After using the ruby-edid patch method (outlined here: https://spin.atomicobject.com/2018/08/24/macbook-pro-external-monitor-display-problem/) the available resolutions no longer include video resolutions and show 1920 x 1080 which was previously missing.


I was even further disappointed when I tried the Benq on our old Compaq PC desktop PC running Windows 10. While that will drive my LG 27UK850 UHD monitor perfectly at 2560 x 1440 with very sharp text, on the Benq I could only get 1920 x 1080 resolution, even after installing the supplied Benq driver, and text was almost as fuzzy as on the Macs.


Anyone else with this problem an/or a solution?


MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 10.14

Posted on Aug 21, 2020 5:44 PM

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User profile for user: Thunderclutch
Thunderclutch Author
User level: Level 1
76 points

Posted on Sep 2, 2020 4:31 PM

After much searching, encountering much nonsense (e.g. Apple renders fonts so perfectly they only look good on Retina screens) I finally found the solution - kudos to the serious Geek who figured out how to solve it.


Each individual monitor has a configuration file. 


They are organised by manufacturer (folders) and model (plist files without plist extension) located here:


Macintosh HD⁩ ▸ ⁨System⁩ ▸ ⁨Library⁩ ▸ ⁨Displays⁩ ▸ ⁨Contents⁩ ▸ ⁨Resources⁩ ▸ ⁨Overrides⁩


I don’t know if these are generated by Apple or the display manufacturers.


For various reasons these no longer play well from Mojave onwards.


To get clean text the display must be in Apple’s “HiDPI” mode for the selected resolution.


And there are gotchas: to get a nice 1920 x 1080 resolution, it needs to be configured as double that, 3840 x 2160.


So to fix that you need to customise the configuration file for you monitor.


Thankfully a wonderful geek has made a tool so you can generate a new config file.


But as well, the available display resolutions that you see under System Prefs | Displays do not show all the available resolutions. You can often see more by holding down <Option> while clicking <Scaled> but even then many may be missing.


So to fix that, you need a free tool called RDM which pops a button in the menu bar that shows all possible resolutions and also identifies those that are HiDPI and will and give the best possible text rendering.


The process once you’ve done it is actually straightforward. There are a few tricks to identify the file you need to modify and then to replace it you have to run commands in Recovery Mode, including disabling then re-enabling System Integrity Protection. 


The guy who figured it out (very clear explanation): Force HiDPI Resolutions for Dell U2515H Monitor  

Display configuration file generator tool he created: PropertyList Parser and Generator

RDM app (just save it in Applications folder): RDM

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User profile for user: Thunderclutch
Thunderclutch Author
User level: Level 1
76 points

Sep 2, 2020 4:31 PM in response to Thunderclutch

After much searching, encountering much nonsense (e.g. Apple renders fonts so perfectly they only look good on Retina screens) I finally found the solution - kudos to the serious Geek who figured out how to solve it.


Each individual monitor has a configuration file. 


They are organised by manufacturer (folders) and model (plist files without plist extension) located here:


Macintosh HD⁩ ▸ ⁨System⁩ ▸ ⁨Library⁩ ▸ ⁨Displays⁩ ▸ ⁨Contents⁩ ▸ ⁨Resources⁩ ▸ ⁨Overrides⁩


I don’t know if these are generated by Apple or the display manufacturers.


For various reasons these no longer play well from Mojave onwards.


To get clean text the display must be in Apple’s “HiDPI” mode for the selected resolution.


And there are gotchas: to get a nice 1920 x 1080 resolution, it needs to be configured as double that, 3840 x 2160.


So to fix that you need to customise the configuration file for you monitor.


Thankfully a wonderful geek has made a tool so you can generate a new config file.


But as well, the available display resolutions that you see under System Prefs | Displays do not show all the available resolutions. You can often see more by holding down <Option> while clicking <Scaled> but even then many may be missing.


So to fix that, you need a free tool called RDM which pops a button in the menu bar that shows all possible resolutions and also identifies those that are HiDPI and will and give the best possible text rendering.


The process once you’ve done it is actually straightforward. There are a few tricks to identify the file you need to modify and then to replace it you have to run commands in Recovery Mode, including disabling then re-enabling System Integrity Protection. 


The guy who figured it out (very clear explanation): Force HiDPI Resolutions for Dell U2515H Monitor  

Display configuration file generator tool he created: PropertyList Parser and Generator

RDM app (just save it in Applications folder): RDM

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BenQ PD2500Q fuzzy text on Macs

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