Blurry Text On Dell UltraSharp U3014

The problem is in the monitor, not the Mac. I think the root cause is that the monitor / Mac connection is in "TV mode" - note that it says "NTSC" on the refresh rate.

However, a quick fix for the blurry text problem is to crank the monitor sharpness *down to 0* in the OSD.

I am seeing this problem on all the Dell U3014s that our new hires are getting at work, while the older Dell U3011s all work fine.

Not that I've been able to discover. If you figure it out, let me know.

I had the exact same problem. I bought the dual-link DVI adapter from apple and now i have my U3014 hooked up via DVI cable, now it is no longer in TV mode (NTSC) The fonts are also noticably smoother and generally more readable.

The problem is the mac is incorrectly trying to use the YCbCr space instead of RGB to drive the monitor (confirm in monitor settings by going to OSM->Menu->Color Settings and checking "Input Color Format".

This post describes a fix: http://ireckon.net/2013/03/force-rgb-mode-in-mac-os-x-to-fix-the-picture-quality -of-an-external-monitor/comment-page-1#comments

I ran the ruby script and added the folder to /System/Library/Displays/Overrides, and now text is showing up fine, even at 50 sharpness. Color space is also showing "RGB" now.

THANK YOU sir! You and the guy that wrote the script saved me $109, because that is what it costs for a Dual link DVI adaptor since that was the only way I could get the Mac to output in RGB mode. Now I can use my existing Display Port cable.

Sorry wffurr this is wrong, the problem is indeed the Mac. Please see ippy04's answer below.

Untill I stumbled on that solution, i was using a dual link DVI adaptor to force the mac to output RGB mode, now I no longer need that adaptor.

The solution is in his answer. I will paste it here for convenience:

"

The problem is the mac is incorrectly trying to use the YCbCr space instead of RGB to drive the monitor (confirm in monitor settings by going to OSM->Menu->Color Settings and checking "Input Color Format".

This post describes a fix: http://ireckon.net/2013/03/force-rgb-mode-in-mac-os-x-to-fix-the-picture-quality -of-an-external-monitor/comment-page-1#comments

I ran the ruby script and added the folder to /System/Library/Displays/Overrides, and now text is showing up fine, even at 50 sharpness. Color space is also showing "RGB" now.

"

Don't apologize - glad someone found the actual problem! Hopefully Apple includes this in their next OS X patch and fixes it for everyone. If Chrono_Trigger came back to the thread - he could select the correct answer.

no sweat, I'm just getting really annoyed with Apple lately. They won me over from PC with their nice hardware designs.

But lately with them increasingly locking in to propritary hardware like the new MacbookPro (inability for user to replace RAM/Hard drive/Batery), and now this with preferential treatment of Monitors that are from apple, is really turning me off. I am seriously reconsidering the possibility of me ever owning another Apple computer in the future. :-(

PS, Apple, are you listening? Stop being such a communist and play nice with the rest of the world.

I think you mean Nazi. Communists are all about sharing things - whether you want to share or not.

Yea, you are right, wffur. technically 🙂 but i grew up in Communist Romania in the 80's and it sure didn't seem that way 🙂 , it was more like a dictatorship.

Does Mavericks have the problem fixed with working with the Dell UltraSharp U3014 30 inch monitor?

No - I upgraded to mavericks and needed to re-run the ruby script I mentioned in my previous post to fix.

Wow. I have been dealing with this problem for months with a 30" Dell U3014 and I didn't bother with support. Thanks for the link to script to workaround this issue.

Apple has had plenty of time to work this issue out so I suspect they have little interest in making a Dell or other display work properly with their hardware. I'd hoped that the Mavericks release would solve it but no.

Again, thanks for the link to the script. It worked perfectly.