MACBOOK PRO DISPLAY: high resolution = text way too small!

scisco · #1 January 29th, 2008, 09:51 AM

I just got a MacBook Pro with a 15.4" screen.
The display's resolution is very high, but this means everything on the screen is tiny and I have some eye problems.

I've tried a lower resolution but this makes things bigger but less sharp.
I've tried the universal access zoom option, but this only zooms in on a portion of the screen and you can't visualise the whole desktop at once.

Is there any way to enlarge EVERYTHING without losing sharpness or portions of the display?

Seems like a simple task, but so far I haven't found a solution! HELP!

arri · #2 February 6th, 2008, 12:32 AM

Using the developer tool "Quartz Debug" you can zoom-in the entire OSX interface.
(also zoom-out btw..)

This is not the same as the accessibility zoom-function.
Here everything just gets larger, but you'll still see the entire desktop.
One advatage is that fonts are still smooth and crips, but at the same time the interface starts to shows inconsitencies, so i wonder if it's not just easier to reduce the screen resolution?

To try 'Quartz Debug' you'll need to either install the entire developer tools, or use some tool to just extract Quartz Debug from the intsall-package..
And otherwise i could email it to you, asuming apple won't sue me..

In Quartz Debug the function is called 'Show User Interface Resolution' which you'll find in the Tools menu.

Remember that most apps won't show any difference until they're restarted.

.a

andychrist · #3 February 6th, 2008, 05:08 AM

Have you tried just enlarging the text?

scisco · #4 February 6th, 2008, 05:37 AM

yes, i've tried enlarging text.
but this only works on text (not images) and only on some applications.

for instance menus and toolbar can't be enlarged.

Quartz Debug could be an option, although it sounds rather complicated and it doesn't solve the problem 100%.

i still find it hard to believe there's no easier user.-frienly solution to this problem (i'm not the only one to consider this a problem by the way!).

andychrist · #5 February 6th, 2008, 06:00 AM

Ah, from your title, = text way too small!, I got the impression that small text size was your real problem. I agree, high resolution does make text too small in the menus. It's for that reason I've held off buying a new Mac: I'm still waiting for OS X to offer resolution independence.

scisco · #6 February 6th, 2008, 06:11 AM

Everything's too small - text especially.

Any news on resolution independence?

Mr McSquint · #7 July 27th, 2008, 08:52 PM

Ah.. so glad to hear I'm not the only one suffering from a recent and sudden degeneration of my "i-sight". I have been the proud owner of a simply wonderful G4 Powerbook for the past 4 years (Screen res of 1440 x 900 = PERFECT!) and decided to upgrade recently for purely performance reasons. Ordered a MBP 17" with the upgraded "Hi Res" option 1920 x 1200 as it seemed like good value, and I stupidly thought it would just make the images sharper. Trade off?? I cant see how good things look as I cant see anything!!! This is a pretty serious issue as I do graphic design work (Adobe CS3 suite) and the palettes are so small I develop a squint headache within 30 minutes use. Likewise I too have maxed out all the text, viewer settings, etc and look like I'm faced with the endless "fuzzies" of reducing the overall screen res, or fumbling forever with that cumbersome old peoples' "universal access" thingy, and I'm not that old yet! (no offence intended to the elderly). Hope Apple / someone can come up with a sure fix or people will start sueing for premature eye wrinkles. PLEASE HELP! (Squints and tears)

Mr McSquint · #8 July 28th, 2008, 02:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scisco

I just got a MacBook Pro with a 15.4" screen.
The display's resolution is very high, but this means everything on the screen is tiny and I have some eye problems.

I've tried a lower resolution but this makes things bigger but less sharp.
I've tried the universal access zoom option, but this only zooms in on a portion of the screen and you can't visualise the whole desktop at once.

Is there any way to enlarge EVERYTHING without losing sharpness or portions of the display?

Seems like a simple task, but so far I haven't found a solution! HELP!

Hi Mr Scisco - Latest find.... I don't know if it will help, but I just found a harmless little helper app called TinkerTool. It allows additional modification of sys prefs including system font sizes. VERY easy to use, safe, and it seems to work on some menu items in increasing font sizes. Good luck.