Display doesn't correlate with iMac screen

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Level 1

17 points

Display doesn't correlate with iMac screen

I've had this problem since I've updated to Sierra, and it persists through the latest OS updates. The display doesn't correlate well with the screen. It looks like the display moved a quarter of an inch upwards - so the top part is out of the screen. Only the bottom part of menu bar is visible, and is therefore unreadable.

On the bottom, the Doc isn't flush with the edge of the screen. There's a gap that isn't supposed to be there.

Also fonts don't look right (some lines appear thicker or have some additional pixels.

And my mouse doesn't work properly (it's as if the curser isn't hitting the right spot on the screen).

For some reason, computer screenshots don't reflect the problem, so I took these shots with my phone.

When I move the cursor up to the bar, the display moves back down to its normal position, for a bit, but the rest doesn't improve, and eventually the whole display goes out of whack again.

Resetting PRAM helps for a while, but lately the problem reoccurs very frequently and I'm not sure that PRAM does anything more than a regular restart.

Does anyone know what may be causing this and how to fix it?

Thank you so much!

iMac 27″ 5K, macOS 12.3

Posted on Mar 30, 2022 8:31 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

dialabrain

Level 10

135,899 points

Mar 30, 2022 10:12 AM in response to dndn

First, there is a space between the bottom of the Dock and the bottom of the screen. Second, from your screen shots and description it seems like you had inadvertently zoomed in slightly. Check System Preferences > Accessibility > Zoom. If you have "Use scroll gesture with modifier keys to zoom:" enabled, try zooming out. If not, enable it and try zooming out.

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Answer 2

Mar 30, 2022 8:43 AM in response to dndn

In the "Displays" section of system preferences are you set for "default for display" or "Scaled", it should probably be "Default for display".

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Answer 3

dialabrain

Level 10

135,899 points

Mar 30, 2022 10:35 AM in response to dndn

You're welcome. You may want to disable Zoom to avoid the problem again. Or now that you know how to fix it… 😎

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Answer 4

dndn Author

Level 1

17 points

Mar 30, 2022 10:28 AM in response to dialabrain

You may be right that the display is zoomed in the sense that it's larger than the screen.

That's a more accurate description than it having moved up, as I described it (I thought that there was supposed to be no gap between the doc and the screen edge because after moving the cursor up, the Doc moves down to the edge).

However, when I restart, everything looks normal - gap and all - untill it starts acting up again.

Not only that I didn't actively zoom in, I have no way of "zooming" back out...

And zoom doesn't explain the other issues that I mentioned.

Bottom line - it must be something else.

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