Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Big Sur - Force RGB mode for displays

Status
The first post of this thread is a WikiPost and can be edited by anyone with the appropiate permissions. Your edits will be public.
5

5883662

Cancelled
Original poster
Jan 20, 2010
232
178
Some users might be aware that there has been a great fix using a Ruby script to create a new EDID for your display. This is to fix an issue with some displays and Mac OS whereby it sees the display as a TV screen and is not using RGB mode for it, resulting in a very bad display quality (washed out, fuzzy, pixelated, etc).

The 'old' trick with using the Ruby script and placing the files in .../System/Library/Displays/Contents/Resources/Overrides/ doesn't work any longer, even with SIP disabled as the file system is now mounted read-only. You can mount it read-write but that's a very long-winded and potentially lethal solution.

The easy fix:

  1. download the ruby script: https://gist.github.com/adaugherity/7435890
  2. in terminal, run the script with 'ruby' followed by the script location/name
  3. it will create a folder in your home directory (something like 'DisplayVendorID-XXXX...)
  4. in /Library/ create following new folders: Displays/Contents/Resources/Overrides/
  5. copy the whole folder from step 3 (located in your home folder) to the Overrides folder you created in step 4
  6. reboot
Credits go to: https://www.mathewinkson.com/2013/0...ix-the-picture-quality-of-an-external-monitor for the original solution/follow ups, https://gist.github.com/adaugherity for the forked Ruby patch and https://www.reddit.com/r/MacOSBeta/comments/ipk1yn for revealing that you have to change the place of the EDID folder to /Library instead of /System/Library

I hope this helps anyone with this problem.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Yurk, Neodym, Mistercharlie and 1 other person
H

happyhippo1337

macrumors 6502
Jul 3, 2013
260
142
Awesome thx. However after using this, I have no option to select more than 60 HZ on my external display. How would I fix this?
 
danlivas

danlivas

macrumors newbie
May 13, 2019
6
0
Works, but supports a maximum of 1080p screen resolution on a Samsung MU9000 4K TV. Used to work with 4K resolutions in Catalina. Any help?
 
Last edited:
5

5883662

Cancelled
Original poster
Jan 20, 2010
232
178
danlivas said:
Works, but supports a maximum of 1080p screen resolution on a Samsung MU9000 4K TV. Used to work with 4K resolutions in Catalina. Any help?
Click to expand...
Not sure, I've got an Acer B276HUL and running it at native 2560 × 1440px. Check if you can chose different resolutions under System Preferences, Displays; then hold alt/option and click on 'scaled'. Doing this usually shows more available resolutions.
 
I

IrmaN

macrumors member
Oct 12, 2009
35
0
Hi, I have the same problem with a monitor. Just got the new MacMini M1 and connected it to my Samsung LC34J791 Wide monitor. And almost fell of the chair as to how bad the picture looks.
So I wanna try this. BUT when I run the script in terminal it says: "No display data found! Are any external displays connected?" If I write yes or y then a lots of "y"'s are shown in terminal and nothing happens. Any idea as to what I can do?
PS. The MacMini is connected to the monitor with a thunderbolt cable
 
JolleC

JolleC

macrumors newbie
Nov 30, 2020
2
1
Lund, Sweden
IrmaN said:
Hi, I have the same problem with a monitor. Just got the new MacMini M1 and connected it to my Samsung LC34J791 Wide monitor. And almost fell of the chair as to how bad the picture looks.
So I wanna try this. BUT when I run the script in terminal it says: "No display data found! Are any external displays connected?" If I write yes or y then a lots of "y"'s are shown in terminal and nothing happens. Any idea as to what I can do?
PS. The MacMini is connected to the monitor with a thunderbolt cable
Click to expand...
Have the same issue. Came a bit further than you. Turns out that the data returned by the ioreg call done in the script differs when executed on our new macs. Can't tell if this is due to a change in Big Sur or caused by the MacMini itself. Anyway, the script can't be used on M1 computers, as far as I can tell. I did however manage to connect the monitor to my old computer, run the script there, move the resulting folder to the new computer and place in the, by me, created directories /Library/Displays/Contents/Resources/Overrides.
After a restart the text blurriness is gone.
Try that if you have another computer around.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 5883662
JolleC

JolleC

macrumors newbie
Nov 30, 2020
2
1
Lund, Sweden
jelu77 said:
Any update on this? Would really like to have RGB on my Dell U2720Q with Mac Mini M1
Click to expand...
Well, the update would be that either you educate yourself on how to get the right information out of the ioreg data and convert it to a usable EDID, or you run the script on another computer and move the resulting EDID folder/file to the proper location on your new MacMini.
The latter worked for me. But... the computer now sends RGB... still looks crappy. Crappy in a different way though. I caved in and ordered a new monitor yesterday. Hopefully have it before end of week.
 
J

jelu77

macrumors member
Dec 1, 2020
40
13
Thailand
Thanks, I will try that. Just amazed Apple didn't fix this issue after several years. Good luck with your new monitor, hope it works.
 
Last edited:
M

malindi07

macrumors newbie
Dec 7, 2020
1
0
c:v said:
Some users might be aware that there has been a great fix using a Ruby script to create a new EDID for your display. This is to fix an issue with some displays and Mac OS whereby it sees the display as a TV screen and is not using RGB mode for it, resulting in a very bad display quality (washed out, fuzzy, pixelated, etc).

The 'old' trick with using the Ruby script and placing the files in .../System/Library/Displays/Contents/Resources/Overrides/ doesn't work any longer, even with SIP disabled as the file system is now mounted read-only. You can mount it read-write but that's a very long-winded and potentially lethal solution.

The easy fix:

  1. download the ruby script: https://gist.github.com/adaugherity/7435890
  2. in terminal, run the script with 'ruby' followed by the script location/name
  3. it will create a folder in your home directory (something like 'DisplayVendorID-XXXX...)
  4. in /Library/ create following new folders: Displays/Contents/Resources/Overrides/
  5. copy the whole folder from step 3 (located in your home folder) to the Overrides folder you created in step 4
  6. reboot
Credits go to: https://www.mathewinkson.com/2013/0...ix-the-picture-quality-of-an-external-monitor for the original solution/follow ups, https://gist.github.com/adaugherity for the forked Ruby patch and https://www.reddit.com/r/MacOSBeta/comments/ipk1yn for revealing that you have to change the place of the EDID folder to /Library instead of /System/Library

I hope this helps anyone with this problem.
Click to expand...
Hi there - this is unfortunately not working, as the Displays/Contents/Resources/Overrides/ is read-only. I tried to execute this solution, but it didn't work either: https://spin.atomicobject.com/2018/08/24/macbook-pro-external-monitor-display-problem/ - can you please help?
 
S

sammyproctor

macrumors newbie
Dec 9, 2020
1
0
Hi - please could someone give me a hand with this? I'm a total beginner with Terminal etc. and have got to step 3 but after hours of googling and trying different combinations I can't copy the new file into Overrides from the Home folder. Please could someone copy and paste their script so that I can see where I might be going wrong?

Thanks so much.
 
Bcjohnson44

Bcjohnson44

macrumors newbie
Dec 8, 2020
2
1
sammyproctor said:
Hi - please could someone give me a hand with this? I'm a total beginner with Terminal etc. and have got to step 3 but after hours of googling and trying different combinations I can't copy the new file into Overrides from the Home folder. Please could someone copy and paste their script so that I can see where I might be going wrong?

Thanks so much.
Click to expand...

tell application "Finder"


activate


set position of Finder window 1 to {1471, 125}


set target of Finder window 1 to startup disk


set target of Finder window 1 to folder "Library" of startup disk


set target of Finder window 1 to folder "Displays" of folder "Library" of startup disk


set target of Finder window 1 to folder "Contents" of folder "Displays" of folder "Library" of startup disk


set target of Finder window 1 to folder "Resources" of folder "Contents" of folder "Displays" of folder "Library" of startup disk


set target of Finder window 1 to folder "Overrides" of folder "Resources" of folder "Contents" of folder "Displays" of folder "Library" of startup disk


set target of Finder window 1 to folder "DisplayVendorID-4c2d" of folder "Overrides" of folder "Resources" of folder "Contents" of folder "Displays" of folder "Library" of startup disk


open document file "DisplayProductID-701e.plist" of folder "DisplayVendorID-4c2d" of folder "Overrides" of folder "Resources" of folder "Contents" of folder "Displays" of folder "Library" of startup disk


end tell




Hopefully that helps. I just ran my script from opening finder to the locaiton of the file. What issues are you running into? I might be able to help. I'm a newbie with xcode, terminal and script writer, so there is no telling.
 
D

danslecarton

macrumors newbie
Oct 18, 2020
14
2
Did anyone find a solution to this for M1 Macs yet?
JolleC said:
Have the same issue. Came a bit further than you. Turns out that the data returned by the ioreg call done in the script differs when executed on our new macs. Can't tell if this is due to a change in Big Sur or caused by the MacMini itself. Anyway, the script can't be used on M1 computers, as far as I can tell. I did however manage to connect the monitor to my old computer, run the script there, move the resulting folder to the new computer and place in the, by me, created directories /Library/Displays/Contents/Resources/Overrides.
After a restart the text blurriness is gone.
Try that if you have another computer around.
Click to expand...
I also connected the display to my old MacBook and generated the folder/file. Then I copied it to '/Library/Displays/Contents/Resources/Overrides' on my M1 MacBook and rebooted but nothing changed really.
Font is still blurry at some points and my monitor is still set to YPbPr.
Any other tips?
 
Neodym

Neodym

macrumors 68020
Jul 5, 2002
2,447
1,076
sammyproctor said:
Hi - please could someone give me a hand with this? I'm a total beginner with Terminal etc. and have got to step 3 but after hours of googling and trying different combinations I can't copy the new file into Overrides from the Home folder. Please could someone copy and paste their script so that I can see where I might be going wrong?

Thanks so much.
Click to expand...
  1. Open Terminal
  2. ruby [path-to-script]
  3. cd /library
  4. mkdir -p Displays/Contents/Resources/Overrides/ ("-p" = path option: this creates all subfolders at once)
  5. Use two finder windows to drag-and-drop the newly created folder from step 2 to the Overrides directory
Thanks to the OP for posting this fix!
 
  • Like
Reactions: 5883662
juanchobb

juanchobb

macrumors newbie
Dec 20, 2020
2
0
Anyone knows how to disable this? It only deactivated 75htz for me without enhancing anything else.
 
Tim Gummer

Tim Gummer

macrumors newbie
May 1, 2021
1
2
I seem to have success with myy M1 MBk Air and Panasonic 4k TV, by creating the EDID in an intel 2016 13″ Mbk Pro and copying over to the M1 Air.

I say “seem” bcos there are a lot of internal (Panasonic Viera 40″ 4k TV) settings that will also affect things and i had to tweak those a bit to get close to something like the Air’s internal screen. BUT this is way way better than the heavily posterized, really hard on the eyes picture i was getting prior. So i’m very happy for now. But this has taken me about 6 weeks of persistent research and experiments to even get to the “force RGB” solutoin and then resolve. AFTER having had to get to grips with the mac > TB3 > DP > HDMI chain required to get 4k/60fps. Given the number of monitors and displays that have this issue, why apple, is there not a “Force RGB checkbox in the displays settings, or at least the calib ration wizardy thing?
 
  • Like
Reactions: 5883662 and Neodym
Neodym

Neodym

macrumors 68020
Jul 5, 2002
2,447
1,076
Tim Gummer said:
why apple, is there not a “Force RGB checkbox in the displays settings […]?
Click to expand...
THIS!

Apple’s automate-everything approach is nice and all, but when it’s not working as intended, it’d be nice to have an easy way to override the automation routines!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Yurk and 5883662
Y

Yurk

macrumors member
Apr 30, 2019
75
90
Is there a guide on how to force RGB mode on MacOS Monterey? I have a Sony PVM Α250 OLED monitor connected via HDMI and an adapter to a 2019 16" Intel MacBook Pro, and I only get 444 YCbCR output which looks horrible.
 
getheo

getheo

macrumors regular
Jul 3, 2011
107
19
How can I revert this? Is it enough to delete the new Overrides folder?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom