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Jusched Author

Level 1

22 points

M1 Macbook Pro - External Monitor Blurry Text

I have recently bought an M1 macbook pro which says it supports 6K, however my monitor is 1920x1080 with IPS, the image quality on the external monitor is horrendous. When I connect my windows laptop, the text and images are very crisp. But whenever I connect my mac, the text is blurry and the image quality is low.

I have checked both the screen resolution on the system preferences. Its correct. My HDMI cable is brand new and I tested this on 2 different external monitors. I even bought another gaming monitor to see if the problem is on the external monitor. The result is the same.

It must be something to do with the software on the mac. How do I fix this issue?

Does the issue be fixed if I buy a 4K/2K monitor?

Or does apple have a list of specific external monitors that support the retine and projects the video as crisp as it should be?

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 11.1

Posted on Dec 24, 2020 4:33 PM

Top-ranking reply

sfromgi

Level 1

96 points

Posted on Mar 3, 2021 3:59 AM

It turns out the problem is that M1 is incorrectly using YPbPR mode instead of RGB mode, making the monitors text blurred and colours off. There is no known solution, other than to go through a DVI or dual link DVI cable if your monitor has DVI. IF your monitor has HDMI or display port there is no fix for this issue, and workarounds which functioned on the intel macs dont work on M1 macs. See https://gist.github.com/adaugherity/7435890

I strongly recommend using the apple feedback app on your machine with the monitor attached. The more people who report this bug the more likely Apple are to fix it. Unless its a deliberate move to sell more apple displays of course.

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73 replies

mfuchs13

Level 1

4 points

Aug 13, 2021 9:10 AM in response to Community User

Thanks.

What a ridiculous service...instead of a 4k monitor I will simply buy another windows laptop.

Did apple at any point realize that people working at home (which isn't a bad idea during a pandemic) maybe want a bigger display and not everyone is having a 4k screen?

Crossing my finger they'll realize at some point what they're doing here and fix it!

Aug 30, 2021 2:31 PM in response to Timmy1229

This is only a potential Issue for 2K displays. Larger than 2K are are considered HiDPI already they are run by default at their maximum resolution and TEXT ONLY can be scaled for extra readability.

smaller than 2K should look fine at native resolutions.

Aug 31, 2021 1:27 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

I see. I have heard that 4k screen can use HiDpi natively, but I never had a chance to verify it.

Also, the screen size is a problem to me. The monitor size is a problem too. 24" is still kinda too big for me and there isn't any 22" 4k display on the market and 24" 4k is quite expensive and rare.

I use a external display to prevent neck soreness.

but anyways, I fixed it. the result isn't as good as retina display but acceptable.

Thanks.

Feb 16, 2021 1:07 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Shows as UHD resolutionAnd that also gives a feel for the fuzzy text.

Jan 7, 2021 8:13 PM in response to onlythebrave86

Has anyone found any solutions to this? I connect to a mantiz thunderbolt 3 and now I can not use any external monitors. Truly need a solution

JakubJ86

Level 1

14 points

Feb 10, 2021 11:49 PM in response to mackeykevin

Has anyone found any solutions to this? I have the same problem with my Samsung LS24H850QFUXEN monitor connected to MacBook Air M1.

Feb 16, 2021 9:25 AM in response to kirkster501

You can think of all DisplayPort cables as active. There is not so much a conversion as an extraction of the DisplayPort signals out of the full ThunderBolt signals.