Scaling on external monitors

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Level 1

20 points

Scaling on external monitors

I've just got a Macbook (2018), but the resolution is too small to use, so I connected it to an external monitor (BenQ GW2765). Unfortunately, the text is still very small. If I change the resolution to 1080p, the text becomes bigger but is very blurry, presumably because I'm not using the monitor at it's native resolution. Increasing font size helps a bit but I can't do it for all UI elements.

As things stand the laptop is unusable (I have trouble with small text following a head injury). I'd be grateful for any advice.

Would a different monitor make any difference? I can pick up a 4k monitor if scaling works better...

MacBook Pro TouchBar and Touch ID, macOS High Sierra (10.13.6)

Posted on Aug 15, 2018 5:18 PM

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Answer 1

i_rina

Community Specialist

Aug 16, 2018 1:04 PM in response to mg262

Hello, mg262.

It's my understanding that if you adjust the resolution to a smaller size, the text is blurry and makes the MacBook Pro unusable for you. I have an article that would be a great start for this issue, check it out: Get help with video issues on external displays connected to your Mac

If an image appears fuzzy or blurry

If images or text on your display appear pixelated or blurry, check these things.

Check your display resolution

Make sure your display resolution in System Preferences is set to its default. If you're using a resolution that's scaled, the image might be magnified to fit the display. This can cause the image to look blurry in some apps.

From the Apple menu, choose System Preferences.

Click the Displays icon.

Select Default for display.

If you use a monitor or an HDTV connected with an HDMI cable, you might see a difference in video quality if your display is set to television mode. Check your display for a "monitor mode" setting to get the best video quality.

If you have the ability to try different monitor that would be a great troubleshooting step to take.

Let me know if this helps.

Cheers!

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Answer 2

mg262 Author

Level 1

20 points

Aug 16, 2018 10:18 PM in response to i_rina

Hi,

unfortunately, that doesn't help. As I said in the original question, when I use the default resolution (the monitor's native resolution of 2560 by 1440), the text is far too small for me to read. On Windows there's an option to increase all UI elements which I can use to compensate for this effect, but on a Mac you can only drop the resolution. Which makes everything blurry.

Best wishes,

Mohan

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