Do You Use a Dell U2913WM Monitor?

How to force RGB in Mac OS X and get rid of YCbCr

I have used this solution with my Dell U2913WM and let the script create the override folder for my monitor from scratch:

1. Download the patch-edid.rb script from this forum thread http://embdev.net/topic/284710#new and put it in your home directory (use "save as").
2. Connect only the external monitor(s) in question (I closed my MacBook lid, for example). The script will create the override files from scratch for any connected monitor.
3. Switch your Dell Monitor from YCbCr to RGB - it will look horribly greenish now, but don’t worry, we’ll solve this in a minute.
4. Type “ruby patch-edid.rb” in Terminal and let it do its 'magic'.
5. A new folder will be created in your home directory. Move it into the “/System/Library/Displays/Overrides” folder. You will probably be asked to put in your administrator password. And, in case the Finder tells you that you are overwriting an existing folder, I recommend backing that one up first (meaning before you put in the one that has been newly created).
6. Restart your computer, enjoy your 'new' monitor.

To undo the changes, either delete the folder you had copied to the Overrides folder (if it didn’t already exist) or replace it with the folder you had backed up.

BTW, there is no need whatsoever to use a different cable between your MacBook Pro and the Dell - just use the one that comes with the Dell package. Don't buy expensive cables for nothing 😉

Credit for this solution does not go to me but to the guys who wrote the script.

Hello,

Do you know if the U2713HM Full HD 2560x1440 and the U2913WM Full HD 2560x1080 are compatible with a MacBook Pro?

Do you know if all the options for Dell Display Manager, in special Easy Arrange and Auto Mode work for a Mac Book Pro Retina with OSX Mavericks?

Using my Dell U2913WM with a MacBook Pro 8,3 and the AMD Radeon HD 6770M discrete card is flawless - and much better indeed when using the RGB-script from above. If you refer to the Dell Display Manager that lets you select zones that windows snap and expand to as you drag them: that software is PC-only and according what Dell says in various places on the internet will remain such. I am neither using Bootcamp nor Parallels so I can't tell you about emulation on a MPB. For me the selling point was to be able to calibrate colory precisely and that the display supports more than 99 percent sRGB color space at a delta-E of less than 5. Cheers!

FYI, I initially had a similar issue as the original post: new Dell U2913WM, Mac Pro (4.1) on Snow Lep. I used my own DVI cable (old, used) and had odd blurry edges on fonts at 2560x1080. I read a few of these posts, and switched to the DVI cable that was in the Dell display box, and now all is beautify and crisp at 2560x1080.

Clearly, the cable you use/choose matters.

Hi, having the same issue - have Mac Pro 2013 and this monitor, using HDMI cable, set Sharpness to 0 which helped a bit, but I wonder if it can be even better by trying out different cables

It worked fine at the highest resolution with my Mac Pro 3.06 GHz Intel Xeon 12-core computer, but then developed inconsistent blurriness in the image detail.

So it worked fine and then started to deteriorate? Sounds very much like a bad monitor or bad cable connection. If reconnecting the cable does not help and your tech support is too stupid about Macs and insists on testing this under Windows, well install Windows and see what happens. You can download Windows installation images for free and use it without activation for a while. To test it, you can install it on an external USB drive. The process should not take much longer than an hour and you will know. Certainly better than spending a lot of effort trying to troubleshoot what is most likely a problem with the monitor.

+1 for this whole post.

I started with an HDMI cable and had horrible quality.

Display cable to mini-display/lightning port. Great quality.

As for this U2913WM. This is my 2nd. The first I had to send back for random power-offs. That was with a surface pro 3 in a docking station.

That was a very quick death, started that behavior in the first 12 hours of use.

I hope this helps many of DELL 2913WM users having problems to get the monitor work with its maximum resolution of 2560 x 1080 px.

Running the combination of this monitor with an late 2009 MacBook Pro under OSX 10.6.8 without problems I recently decided to switch to Mavericks... Everything looked good at first but after connecting the DELL monitor via Mini Display Port cable (as before) the monitor kept black and goes to the energy saving mode. I tried desperately many of the hints of this board thread but nothing helped (including the adaptor hint DVI → Dual Link DVI which always making me only able to see maximum of 1920 px in width)

Suddenly I had the inspiration to set the Monitor back to the Factory Settings (via the On Screen Menu → “Other Setting” → “Factory Reset” → Reset All Setting) and voila, it worked again as before!

I guess not only the connected computer “detects” the monitor, it seems to me that the reverse is also true. The Mini DP Specification contains a kind of “negotiation” between both devices and the monitor detected a difference to the older configuration, which let the monitor software decide to not accept the incoming signal. OK It’s only a presumption but the behaviour acknowledges it impressively ;-) ...

My graphics, photographic images and folders are stretched horizontally coming from my MacBook Pro (retina13", 2015, 31. GHz Intel and running Yosemite) when viewed on my new Dell Ultra-sharp U2913WM widescreen monitor. Do I need a different cable, some adjustment I can not locate, or is this monitor just not compatible with my mac? I am using this connector below.

TNP Mini DisplayPort to HDMI 4K / DVI / VGA Adapter Mini DP/mDP/Thunderbolt Port Compatible 1080P 4K 2K UHD High Resolution Video Audio AV HDTV (Male to Female) Active Converter Cord White (from Amazon)

Thank you.

I solved it - wrong cable - though Dell could make it a lot easier for mac users to figure this one out rather than trial and error ...

Thanks so much for your post! I did it and it work!!! Woohoo!!!!!!