Adding/Using HiDPI custom resolutions

[Altimax98]

or any panel


1080p30 HiDPI is actually 4K30 and 1080p60 HiDPI is 4K60 so you have to stay with 1080p30 HiDPI.

HiDPI resolutions use a frame buffer that is twice as wide and tall so that it can draw text and icons and other stuff at four times the resolution.

Thanks for the reply. I’ve been digging into it tonight and found that I can use SwitchResX to tune my Pixel Pitch to bear tolerances for my cable/monitor/MacBook and got HiDPI @ 1696x954 @42hz w/295 Pixel Pitch which is absolutely usable.

 

[joevt]

Thanks for the reply. I’ve been digging into it tonight and found that I can use SwitchResX to tune my Pixel Pitch to bear tolerances for my cable/monitor/MacBook and got HiDPI @ 1696x954 @42hz w/295 Pixel Pitch which is absolutely usable.

I think that's 3392x1908@42Hz=290.3MHz (using CVT-RB timing)? I think you should be able to get closer to the DisplayPort 1.1 four lane max of 360MHz (8bpc color). The 10bpc max is 288MHz but you probably don't need that.

 

[Altimax98]

I think that's 3392x1908@42Hz=290.3MHz (using CVT-RB timing)? I think you should be able to get closer to the DisplayPort 1.1 four lane max of 360MHz (8bpc color). The 10bpc max is 288MHz but you probably don't need that.

I’m currently using the CVT timing, should I be using RB?

Also how do you change the color bits? I haven’t seen it anywhere. It shows ‘Millions of Colors’ in the pulldown on the top bar.

I ordered a better DP cable because that could be causing some of my issues as well

 

[joevt]

I’m currently using the CVT timing, should I be using RB?

Also how do you change the color bits? I haven’t seen it anywhere. It shows ‘Millions of Colors’ in the pulldown on the top bar.

I ordered a better DP cable because that could be causing some of my issues as well

What was the pixel clock setting using CVT? In my SwitchResX, I see 378.38 MHz using CVT. That's greater than the DisplayPort 1.1 max of 360MHz. Maybe your GeForce GT 650M supports DisplayPort 1.2 though, but it's connected to a Thunderbolt 1 controller which only supports DisplayPort 1.1. But if it allowed DisplayPort 1.2 up to 10 Gbps, then the max would be 417MHz.

RB stands for reduced blank. Most current digital displays support it. Reduced blank means less bandwidth is wasted on the blanking periods (horizontal and vertical) so you can use it to get slightly higher refresh rate or resolution. GTF and CVT are mostly for analog CRT displays which I guess required more time during the blanking period to move the raster to the top of the CRT or to the next scan line.

Maybe your GPU doesn't have a Billions of Colors option.

I think your computer is limited to DisplayPort 1.1. There is very little difference between a DisplayPort 1.1 cable and a DisplayPort 1.4 cable. There is no difference that will stop you from creating a higher bandwidth resolution. The problem with lower quality cables is that they might have a chance to cause errors in the digital DisplayPort signal which may cause the display to flicker or display garbage.

 

[bluepr0]

I had to re install macOS Mojave (latest version) to testing something and I got the resolution work I did reset. Basically I have a 4k display and I was running at 1920x1080@2x HIDPI.

Now, FOR THE LOVE OF ME I'm unable to get it back. I've freaking tried everything, it's driving me completely nuts. In fact if I boot from my backup drive I get it correctly.

So this is all what I did:
sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.windowserver DisplayResolutionEnabled -bool YES
sudo defaults delete /Library/Preferences/com.apple.windowserver DisplayResolutionDisabled
sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.CoreDisplay multiRefreshRateScaledModes -bool true
defaults write com.apple.CoreDisplay appleMultiRefreshRateScaledModes -bool true
sudo cp ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.CoreDisplay.plist /Library/Preferences

I tried also with the plist generated on the website and the same. I'm able to see 1920x1080 HIDPI but when I select it, it's not at HIDPI.

 

[bluepr0]

As you can see here, on RDM and SwitchresX it shows that 1920x1080 HIDPI is selected, but it's not. The display is not running at 4k but at 2560x1440@60hz (checked it on its OSD)

@joevt if you got any time... any ideas on what's going on here?

 

[joevt]

I tried also with the plist generated on the website and the same. I'm able to see 1920x1080 HIDPI but when I select it, it's not at HIDPI.

All your screen shots are HiDPI.

As you can see here, on RDM and SwitchresX it shows that 1920x1080 HIDPI is selected, but it's not. The display is not running at 4k but at 2560x1440@60hz (checked it on its OSD)
@joevt if you got any time... any ideas on what's going on here?

Double click the 1920x1080 HiDPI resolution to view the timing information : to see if it's using 2560x1440 or 3840x2160. Do the same for the 3840x2160 resolution. Post screen shots.

Maybe your display is running at 2 lane DisplayPort 1.2 or 4 lane DisplayPort 1.1.

Run the following command and post the results:

/System/Library/Extensions/AppleGraphicsControl.kext/Contents/MacOS/AGDCDiagnose -a > "AGDCDiagnose_a.txt" 2>&1

It will report the EDID of the display (unlike SwitchResX, it reports the EDID of both ports of a dual DisplayPort display like the Dell UP3218K or Dell UP2715K or Apple Pro Display XDR or LG UltraFine 5K). It also reports the DisplayPort DPCD registers which indicate the number of DisplayPort lanes and speed supported and currently used.

 

[bluepr0]

All your screen shots are HiDPI.


Double click the 1920x1080 HiDPI resolution to view the timing information : to see if it's using 2560x1440 or 3840x2160. Do the same for the 3840x2160 resolution. Post screen shots.

Maybe your display is running at 2 lane DisplayPort 1.2 or 4 lane DisplayPort 1.1.

Run the following command and post the results:

/System/Library/Extensions/AppleGraphicsControl.kext/Contents/MacOS/AGDCDiagnose -a > "AGDCDiagnose_a.txt" 2>&1

It will report the EDID of the display (unlike SwitchResX, it reports the EDID of both ports of a dual DisplayPort display like the Dell UP3218K or Dell UP2715K or Apple Pro Display XDR or LG UltraFine 5K). It also reports the DisplayPort DPCD registers which indicate the number of DisplayPort lanes and speed supported and currently used.

Thanks a lot!
Yes the screenshots looks at the right resolution but the actual display is working at 2560x1440 (as shown in the OSD of the display). No matter what resolution I set, the display always runs at 2560x1440. Its like if the base resolution was in fact 2560x1440 instead of the 4K of the display. Also shows 241 clock on any resolution

 

[joevt]

Yes the screenshots looks at the right resolution but the actual display is working at 2560x1440 (as shown in the OSD of the display). No matter what resolution I set, the display always runs at 2560x1440. Its like if the base resolution was in fact 2560x1440 instead of the 4K of the display. Also shows 241 clock on any resolution

The screenshot showing frequency range indicates a max pixel clock of 320 MHz. That is way too low for 4K 60Hz. The AGDCDiagnose_a.txt file has the following:

  Reg: 000100: 14 : LINK_BW_SET: HBR2
  Reg: 000101: 82 : LANE_COUNT_SET: LANE_COUNT_SET 2, ENHANCED_FRAME_EN: 1

How is the display connected?

This is two lanes of DisplayPort 1.2. You need four lanes of DisplayPort 1.2 to get 4K 60 Hz. Are you connecting using a USB-C hub? USB-C hubs are usually limited to two lanes of DisplayPort (4K 30Hz) because two of the lanes are used for USB 3.x signals (send and receive). Use a Thunderbolt dock if you want to connect 4K 60Hz displays.

If you're not connecting with a USB-C dock, then maybe there's a problem with the cable.

 

[bluepr0]

The screenshot showing frequency range indicates a max pixel clock of 320 MHz. That is way too low for 4K 60Hz. The AGDCDiagnose_a.txt file has the following:

  Reg: 000100: 14 : LINK_BW_SET: HBR2
  Reg: 000101: 82 : LANE_COUNT_SET: LANE_COUNT_SET 2, ENHANCED_FRAME_EN: 1

How is the display connected?

This is two lanes of DisplayPort 1.2. You need four lanes of DisplayPort 1.2 to get 4K 60 Hz. Are you connecting using a USB-C hub? USB-C hubs are usually limited to two lanes of DisplayPort (4K 30Hz) because two of the lanes are used for USB 3.x signals (send and receive). Use a Thunderbolt dock if you want to connect 4K 60Hz displays.

If you're not connecting with a USB-C dock, then maybe there's a problem with the cable.

It's connected DP to DP. I don't think it's a hardware problem, as I said if I restart on my backup drive I get full 4k as it was working, before I reinstalled macOS (Didn't erase the disk, just reinstalled on top of the existing installation)