Fonts on 4K Dell g3223q

[Rozovici]

Hello,

I just bought a 32inch 4K monitor for my 14inch Macbook Pro as I was trying to go for the best option that has at least 120Hz refresh rate and will give me sharp fonts.

My slight disappointment is related to the sharpness of the fonts. I can't say they are blurry, but I don't find them sharp either. From my perspective, the fonts have a very slight glow.

I played around with the monitor's contrast and sharpness options but without any luck. Eventually, I stuck with the default 75% contrast and 50% sharpness.

Also, I found this article: Article, but I can't say it made a noticeable difference.

I would appreciate any help from others in my situation that found workarounds, solutions, or any slight improvements to the overall text experience on 4K monitors.

Many thanks!

 

[brooklyn360]

did you get help? how's the monitor working for you so far?

 

[Rozovici]

did you get help? how's the monitor working for you so far?

I learned to like it a lot, actually.

Went with the basic settings and now I can't feel the difference anymore.

IMO it was a great buy.

 

[NGHTCRWLR]

Hi @Rozovici,

I have the same Dell G3223Q with an M1 Mac mini. When you connect at high frame rates like 4K/120 or 144 from your Mac, on the Dell Display, in the Display section of the OSD is it using RGB or YCbCr for input colour format?

Mine uses RGB until I go over 60hz then YCbCr takes over and text clarity takes a dive because of it using chroma 4:2:2.

Just wondering if it's different for you possibly either because of your different Mac or a different cable. Thanks for any info from your own experience.

 

[matteuk]

Hi @Rozovici,

I have the same Dell G3223Q with an M1 Mac mini. When you connect at high frame rates like 4K/120 or 144 from your Mac, on the Dell Display, in the Display section of the OSD is it using RGB or YCbCr for input colour format?

Mine uses RGB until I go over 60hz then YCbCr takes over and text clarity takes a dive because of it using chroma 4:2:2.

Just wondering if it's different for you possibly either because of your different Mac or a different cable. Thanks for any info from your own experience.

Hi I have this monitor and a MacBook Pro M1 Max I’m having the exact same problem. Whenever I go over 60hz it switches to YCBCR and I hate that. I’ve tried two different usb c to 1.4DP CABLES.

I really need to know if the monitor is just not capable of over 60hz 4K in RGB 4.4.4. Or maybe it’s my MacBook? I don’t know. Anyone know? Anyone have this monitor and a PC with a graphics card that can test if it works?

Please get back to me and let me know how you guys got on

 

[NGHTCRWLR]

Hi I have this monitor and a MacBook Pro M1 Max I’m having the exact same problem. Whenever I go over 60hz it switches to YCBCR and I hate that. I’ve tried two different usb c to 1.4DP CABLES.

I really need to know if the monitor is just not capable of over 60hz 4K in RGB 4.4.4. Or maybe it’s my MacBook? I don’t know. Anyone know? Anyone have this monitor and a PC with a graphics card that can test if it works?

Please get back to me and let me know how you guys got on

Hey mate. So it seems to be a limitation of either macOS or this Dell monitor with Mac. Don't have a different brand high refresh rate monitor to test with. But I have done extensive testing with this Dell, works perfectly with Windows, but yes, over 60 on Mac stuck to YCbCR.

Only workaround I've found is there is a USB-C to HDMI 2.1 Cable Matters adapter that Cable Matters developed special firmware for to get it to work with Mac at up to 120hz 4K RGB. It takes some extra steps to change the firmware, but after that no ongoing fuss. There is also an Anker adapter that people have had the same success with.

I have been using that for a bit over a month now and am happy with it while holding onto a small bit of hope that future macOS versions improve native DisplayPort behaviour and/or will make sure my next Mac has HDMI 2.1.

 

[sevenarth]

Hey mate. So it seems to be a limitation of either macOS or this Dell monitor with Mac. Don't have a different brand high refresh rate monitor to test with. But I have done extensive testing with this Dell, works perfectly with Windows, but yes, over 60 on Mac stuck to YCbCR.

Only workaround I've found is there is a USB-C to HDMI 2.1 Cable Matters adapter that Cable Matters developed special firmware for to get it to work with Mac at up to 120hz 4K RGB. It takes some extra steps to change the firmware, but after that no ongoing fuss. There is also an Anker adapter that people have had the same success with.

I have been using that for a bit over a month now and am happy with it while holding onto a small bit of hope that future macOS versions improve native DisplayPort behaviour and/or will make sure my next Mac has HDMI 2.1.

Hi pal,

I have just got the same monitor and, well, same issue as everybody else with DisplayPort unfortunately. So I went ahead to get that CableMatters adapter, updated the firmware and… well when I set 120Hz with BetterDisplay the monitor goes “Scanning for signal” and then goes in standby while the mac recognises it as plugged in. Experienced any of the sort? The firmware update clearly went well as it works great with my LG C1 with the same HDMI cable…

I should say that I expected to receive the new adapter with VMM7100 but I received the old one with a VMM6100 instead. But according to that famous post here on the forum they should both work fine, except the custom EDID for the older chip. And honestly I do prefer the old one as it offers RGB 10-bit and HDR, unlike the newer one – or so they claim.

 

[NGHTCRWLR]

So a couple tidbits that may help...

• Of note, the 7100 now does 10-bit HDR from an updated firmware from maybe a month ago. So they have feature parity now. Neither does VRR. But the 7100 doesn't require a forced EDID profile to work, so a win.
• Most people are using this adapter with TVs that cap out at 120hz, so they avoid this issue: The Dell being a 144hz monitor will report this and the Mac will connect to the USB-C adapter as DisplayPort 144hz. The HDMI side of the adapter cannot handle this, so it will black screen.
  • I got around this in two ways: I have a second monitor which I used to access BetterDisplay and lock the Dell to 4K 120hz.
  • I can Remote Manage my Mac and bring up its screen from a VNC app on my phone. Did the same thing to lock BetterDisplay to 120hz.
  • If you don't have BetterDisplay, you could just change the refresh rate in Mac Settings Display, however, the problem is likely to come back. I have used BetterDisplay to lock in this setting and override it as the default for the Dell monitor and have never had an issue since.
• This adapter can be super finicky with HDMI cables, so it is worth trying a different one if all else fails, but I agree if it's working with your LG, it's unlikely to be the issue.

 

[sevenarth]

So a couple tidbits that may help...

• Of note, the 7100 now does 10-bit HDR from an updated firmware from maybe a month ago. So they have feature parity now. Neither does VRR. But the 7100 doesn't require a forced EDID profile to work, so a win.
• Most people are using this adapter with TVs that cap out at 120hz, so they avoid this issue: The Dell being a 144hz monitor will report this and the Mac will connect to the USB-C adapter as DisplayPort 144hz. The HDMI side of the adapter cannot handle this, so it will black screen.
  • I got around this in two ways: I have a second monitor which I used to access BetterDisplay and lock the Dell to 4K 120hz.
  • I can Remote Manage my Mac and bring up its screen from a VNC app on my phone. Did the same thing to lock BetterDisplay to 120hz.
  • If you don't have BetterDisplay, you could just change the refresh rate in Mac Settings Display, however, the problem is likely to come back. I have used BetterDisplay to lock in this setting and override it as the default for the Dell monitor and have never had an issue since.
• This adapter can be super finicky with HDMI cables, so it is worth trying a different one if all else fails, but I agree if it's working with your LG, it's unlikely to be the issue.

Thank you so much for your thorough reply! First of all, great to hear that the 7100 is now fully capable whilst being PnP! As for the rest, yep, I did try 120Hz not 144Hz, and I have a MacBook so I kept using the internal display whenever the external one was bugging out. Great advice though!

In the meantime I found somebody with my same exact setup that had the same exact issue in the tutorial thread, and indeed solved it with a 7100. I have more developments though as explained here.

 

[bkkcanuck8]

. deleted . thought I was answering something else.

 

[class2000]

Thank you so much for your thorough reply! First of all, great to hear that the 7100 is now fully capable whilst being PnP! As for the rest, yep, I did try 120Hz not 144Hz, and I have a MacBook so I kept using the internal display whenever the external one was bugging out. Great advice though!

In the meantime I found somebody with my same exact setup that had the same exact issue in the tutorial thread, and indeed solved it with a 7100. I have more developments though as explained here.

Did it work in the end with the cable matters adapter? I'm planning to run the same setup on Macos. Also, how do you find the sharpness of the display, I know macos has some weird scaling issues