jefbak
Level 1 (12 points)
iPhone

Q: System fonts and text unreadable (too small) at 4K (28" monitor)

I've installed an acer model B286HK 28" high resolution 4K screen to use with my mac pro. The native resolution is 3840x2160. At that default text in menus, desktop, finder and applications is too small to read. I have tried the recommendations from using the zoom accessibility settings and split view, to increasing font sizes in Finder windows and browsers, but those are not turning out to be workable solutions - just bandaids at best.

 

In Display preferences, if I switch from default for display, to Scaled, all the alternative resolutions have (low resolution) listed next to them.  Can  someone tell me what that means? It appears for resolutions both higher and lower than the native (screen grab attached). When I try the alternate resolutions, the smoothness of the fonts and graphics does seem to deteriorate.

 

Is it possible to split the display into two separate screens at the OS level (not just in supported apps)?

 

I'm running OS X 10.11 with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 video card.

 

4kdisplayoptions.jpg

Posted on Oct 14, 2015 7:17 AM

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jefbak

Q: System fonts and text unreadable (too small) at 4K (28" monitor)

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  • Helpful answers

  • by jefbak,

    jefbak jefbak Oct 14, 2015 7:44 AM in response to jefbak
    Level 1 (12 points)
    iPhone
    Oct 14, 2015 7:44 AM in response to jefbak

    So there is a bit of hidden feature where you start out with Default for display in Peferences, and then hold dow the Alt key and then choose the Scaled option and all the display options will appear. I don't see any HiDPI options but others did appear without the (low resolution) indicator. I'm trying those options now to see if there is any difference.

     

    4kdisplayoptions-2.jpg

  • by Luis Sequeira1,Helpful

    Luis Sequeira1 Luis Sequeira1 Oct 14, 2015 1:29 PM in response to jefbak
    Level 6 (11,753 points)
    Oct 14, 2015 1:29 PM in response to jefbak

    Your display should be able to work in HiDPI mode. This would work similarly to how the "Retina" displays work.

     

    See this article on how to enable it: http://www.tekrevue.com/tip/hidpi-mode-os-x/

     

    After that, you should be able to set your display to something like 1920x1080 (HiDPI) - this would make your display nominally 1920x1080 but render all text and graphics in glorious retina mode.

  • by jefbak,

    jefbak jefbak Oct 15, 2015 6:19 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1
    Level 1 (12 points)
    iPhone
    Oct 15, 2015 6:19 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

    Thanks Luis, I tried the terminal command from the link you sent. Additional resolutions do show up, but HiDPI does not. I do get a 1080P option at the bottom the list, but it looked awful when I tried it. I also looked for any Acer firmware or driver updates but there are none on the Acer site.

     

    The tekrevue link post also mentioned a few third party display utility apps, which might help. At least I could quickly switch between 4K for video editing to lower resolutions for other work that way.

     

    Or get a second non-4K monitor...

     

    I hope Apple will add native display spiltview (not in app only) options in the future for high resolution monitors. My monitor would have to be in the 40-50 inch range to be readable as things currently stand. Who knows, maybe Apple thinks we will all be using super big monitors in the near future.

  • by Luis Sequeira1,

    Luis Sequeira1 Luis Sequeira1 Oct 15, 2015 6:22 AM in response to jefbak
    Level 6 (11,753 points)
    Oct 15, 2015 6:22 AM in response to jefbak

    Just another thing you might try: hold down the option key when pressing the "scaled" radio button, and see if it offers any more resolution options.

  • by Adam F,

    Adam F Adam F May 9, 2016 12:52 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1
    Level 2 (426 points)
    May 9, 2016 12:52 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

    This seems to be completely unresolved. I just purchased an AOC 28" 4K monitor. The 4K images are beautiful on it, but the failure of EL Capitan to let me scale up the menus and fonts like you can on the iMac display is ridiculous. I get 3840x2160 (lower resolution) and everything else is just scaled down.

    Why have I just been running into one problem after another on the Mac platform in the past few years. This is the type of stuff that lured me away from Windows.