windows 7 - External monitors and Bootcamp on a Retina Display MacBook Pro (aka, resolution issues and pixel density)

08
2014-07
  • jordanryle

    I am attempting to use an external Acer monitor (1920x1080 max res.) with my OS X Mavericks Retina display (2880x1800). In Windows 7 (through Bootcamp), the OS looks great on the Retina display of my MacBook Pro, but on the external monitor, everything is scaled up. I understand that this is because of the high pixel density on the Mac, where essentially each pixel is represented by 4 pixels (or so I'm told), but I could not find a way to compensate for it on the monitor.

    Now, when I run Windows 7 on OSX through Parallels and put in full screen on the external monitor, it works perfectly, and opening up the Screen Resolution window in Windows shows that the resolution of the monitor is 3840x2160, to compensate for the high pixel density on the Mac side.

    How can I essentially fake this high resolution in Bootcamp so I get the same effect as I do in Parallels? I have found nothing useful on the Internet, but if it has been already solved somewhere, I would greatly appreciate a link.

    And for those wondering why I am using both Bootcamp and Parallels, I use some very memory-sucking programs (Solidworks, AutoCAD) that just don't run as well in Parallels with a shared memory as they do in Bootcamp with all memory for Windows.

    Thanks you very much in advance, Jordan

    • Answers
    Know someone who can answer? Share a link to this question via email, Google+, Twitter, or Facebook.

    Related Question

    osx - Can't display at full resolution on an external monitor from my MacBook
  • Alec Gorge

    I have a 24" Asus V246H and a new MacBook ($999 one). I am trying to display to display to my Asus at 1080p via VGA. So I boot up with the lid closed and the external monitor plugged in. Everything boots up fine, but the resolution is really low. So I go in and change the resolution to be 1920x1080. My monitor then has a blue box on it that says "OUT OF RANGE". Lower resolutions like 1024x768 work, but 1680x1050 doesn't.

    If I try mirroring my displays, the entire external monitor AND the entire laptop screen is completely garbled. I can make out some colors, but it is completely unusable.

    I am suspecting that it simply won't work via VGA, but I don't want to buy another adapter, and my PC is using the DVI port.

    Any solutions?


    • Related Answers
  • Scott Jackson

    I had trouble getting my MacBook to output video to an external display as well. I had roughly the same thing happen with a DVI connection, so I don't think the VGA connection is what's causing the problem.

    Try this:

    1. Put the MacBook to sleep.
    2. Plug the external display adapter (Mini DisplayPort to VGA) into the MacBook.
    3. Insert a USB device into the MacBook (a mouse, a flash drive, whatever.)

    The MacBook should wake up and output video to the external display at the native resolution of the external display. At least, that's what happens with mine.

  • Momo79

    Try this freeware app for Mac

    Display Maestro 1.1.2

    http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/system_disk_utilities/displaymaestro.html