EVE/Dough Spectrum Monitor: Available Scaling Options

[modeseven]

Hi,

I recently purchased a Plugable "USB Dual 4K Display Adapter, with HDMI and Displayport" (USBC-6950U) adapter.

See the device here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I'm currently running macOS Monterey 12.5.1 on an M2 Macbook Air.

The scaling modes offered are not the same as the native macOS options, and in fact, I can't get the scaling I want/need on this 27" monitor. When the 4K Eve Spectrum display is connected through the Displaylink driver, none of the modes offered through the utility match my preferred option in macOS when the display is connected directly by USB-C.

For details of the display, see here:

https://www.dough.tech/products/spectrum-4k-144hz

My monitor is the 4K/144hz variant, ES07D03.

I also don't get offered the highest 144hz refresh option through the Displaylink driver, although that is not a big deal for me at all; I really don't mind that I only get offered refresh options from 60hz to 120hz.

I have attached some screenshots to demonstrate. Right now, I have to run at a resolution where the native text size is way too small and somewhat blurry. I am forced to use the shift-plus keyboard shortcut to resize text in the apps I use on that screen, which is not ideal, as some applications (such as Apple Mail) don't rescale all the text, only certain content fields, so the list of mailboxes is display in very small characters.

Can anybody from Display link comment on whether this plans to be addressed in a future software update? I think there are a lot of macOS users out there who are going to struggle to get the right text readability they want with displays like mine.

I am impressed so far with the quality of the macOS driver software and overall performance, but this does adversely affect my opinion of the product as it stands right now.

Thanks in advance,

- Matt

[rboerner]

A quick note, the screenshots you provided are very small. As a result, the information from two of the four screenshots is not legible.

That said and to the best of my knowledge, the source of the resolution/scaling behavior is a limitation of macOS on Macs that have an Apple processor (M1, M1 Pro, M1 Max, or M2), in that macOS is not enabling HiDPI mode for the Eve display connected to the Plugable adapter. This behavior apparently does not occur when using Macs with an Intel processor.

Again to the best of my knowledge, this can happen in a number of different scenarios, even when products not based on DisplayLink technology are in use.

Some posters in this forum have reported success using the application 'BetterDisplay' (formerly known as BetterDummy) to create a 'dummy' mirror display to work around the issue --> https://github.com/waydabber/BetterDisplay

Keep in mind that your results may vary, and that 'BetterDisplay' is a 3rd-party application which is not supported by DisplayLink or to the best of my knowledge by Plugable.

NOTE - You mention the inability to use 144Hz refresh rates via the adapter. According to the specifications Plugable provides for the adapter --> https://plugable.com/products/usbc-6...specifications the maximum refresh rate supported is 60Hz.

[modeseven]

I think the screenshots were mangled when uploaded, perhaps because they were taken on a retina display; sorry about that. I've grabbed BetterDisplay and I will try and coax my second external display into playing ball later this week, once I return home as I'm travelling right now. I'll post the results back on this thread so other forum members can benefit from the feedback.

[modeseven]

Yep, BetterDisplay has done the job. I've managed to get the missing display scaling options working with my adapter and screen. However, I think we need Apple to step up and address the issues with their driver and associated controls on the Mx hardware.