Display situation

Despite the convenience of retina-displays on laptop(s), I prefer working with my head-up than down, and in a comfortable seating position when working longer. So it is a shame to find that my LG 24MD4KL-B 4k monitor1 of three years has died.

I am now sans one, and using the spare 21″ low-res monitor. Windows is fine on this, but not macOS, which does not do sub-pixel anti-aliasing, and this makes text blurry on non-retina screens. To make this usable is via HiDPI resolution, which halves screen size, e.g., from 1,920×1,080 to 960×540. This is forcing me to use apps full-screen.

Full screen apps in workspaces.
Full screen apps in workspaces. Switch via Ctrl + → or ←
MTerminal view (in HiDPi) on a non-retina monitor.
Terminal view (in HiDPI) on BenQ GW2283, a non-retina monitor.

Apple is pumping great Macs out at affordable prices, e.g., the mini starts at A$999. Yet, there is no equivalent in the displays it sells. So for now, there is only regret.

Update (Jun 4): BetterDisplay fixes the blurry macOS on non-retina displays.2 With this I gain 140% screen size from 960×540 to 1,344×756 in simulated HiDPI. As bonus, it enables both brightness and volume control directly via the keyboard for this BenQ GW2283. Gaining all functions (like the wasted LG monitor3), except for the extra ports on the back, is great value.

  1. A single Thunderbolt-3 cable delivered (a) display + brightness control (via the mac keyboard), (b) power, (c) sound + volume control (also via the mac keyboard), and even (c) a USB-C dock-like functionality (for peripherals) via the four USB-C ports on the back. ↩

  2. I remember donating back in the day when it was called BetterDummy (I am listed under Additional notable contributors), and had no hesitation in paying again via the app this week. (Thank you, Istvan Toth.) ↩

  3. Quoting Alex@NorthridgeFix: “In this video, we’re going to be working on an LG 5k Ultrafine 27 inch monitor. We have seven of them in the shop and we get them in the shop may be twice or three times a week. While the monitor may be awesome, amazing colors, amazing brightness, amazing details, amazing resolution, the monitor is not built to last. People are paying 1,300 dollars for the monitor, and just after one year, one year two months, one year six months, even two years, the board is failing.“ Adding LG to the list of companies I will henceforth not buy anything from. ↩