Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Enable HiDPI Resolutions on macOS

    , ,   6 comments 

Enable HiDPI Resolutions on macOS

Works on OS X El Capitan 10.11+

Enabling HiDPI resolutions allows your display to run at full resolution but render the images at a smaller one. In a sense, it works like the Retina displays by scaling windows and programs to appear larger than normal. It is essentially the same as the scaling option in Windows, and it default in OS X Retina Displays. If you happen to 1440p or 4K screen, this can come in handy. This works at any resolution, but isn't useful below those resolutions.

BEFORE YOU START: Disable SIP (System Integrity Protection) on macOS

Method 1: Terminal

If you don't want to download anything and understand how to use Terminal, it is very simple. Open Terminal from Launchpad or Spotlight and copy the following command into it and press enter:

sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.windowserver.plist DisplayResolutionEnabled -bool true
 Method 2: Quartz Debug

Quartz Debug gives you many more features, such as an FPS counter and other visual modifiers. You can try it out by downloading the file from Google Drive. This option is for people who would rather be able to disable and reenable it at ease.

Download - QuartzDebug.zip


There you have it! HiDPI is enabled!
Share This:    Facebook Twitter Google

6 comments:

  1. UnknownApril 10, 2016 at 4:43 PM

    does sip have to be disabled? the command isn't working for me

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Grant FitzsimmonsApril 10, 2016 at 5:14 PM

      Not for me, but it could be different depending on your situation. Download Quartz Debug here:

      https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6Wo4l8m6sAWME5LcXVEMlEyeFU/view?usp=sharing

      And from that try enabling the HiDPI resolutions. Good luck!

      Delete
  2. UnknownJune 8, 2016 at 7:19 PM

    Not working for me. Using Quartz I have the HIDPi enable but they don't show in resolution option. Pressing the "option" key I have more resolution option but no HIDPI.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Grant FitzsimmonsJune 9, 2016 at 10:07 AM

      Do you have an HD display? I would try Quartz Debug next.

      Delete
  3. rssfrncsAugust 2, 2016 at 12:46 PM

    i've tried all methods to no avail. i even have quickres installed and that shows hidpi options but wont allow me to select them... any ideas?

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownAugust 13, 2016 at 7:36 PM

    Julian - What resolution is your display? For my 4K display it's the non-HiDPI resolutions that are tagged. See http://imgur.com/a/MjUPG for screenshots.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)