{"id":17698,"date":"2020-02-11T10:46:26","date_gmt":"2020-02-11T09:46:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.davidbosman.fr\/en\/?p=17698"},"modified":"2023-12-07T12:16:55","modified_gmt":"2023-12-07T11:16:55","slug":"creating-a-custom-resolution-with-switchresx","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.davidbosman.fr\/en\/?p=17698","title":{"rendered":"Creating a Custom Resolution with SwitchResX"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.davidbosman.fr\/en\/?p=17684\">Yesterday<\/a>, I mentioned using SwitchResX to create custom screen resolutions when those provided by Apple are not enough to compensate for my bad eyesight. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But you don\u2019t have to have a bad eyesight to create a custom resolution. Maybe you want things on screen to be a bigger so you can see them from farther away? Or whatever. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let\u2019s just create a custom together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Don\u2019t expect to upscale your display. SwitchResX is no magical wand, there is no way to turn your 1080p display into a 4 or 5K one. It can only do 1080 or <em>lower<\/em>. Also, you can\u2019t use a screen refresh rate (the Hz thingy you will often see printed next to its resolution in product reviews) higher than what your screen is capable of\u2013<em>really<\/em>, you don\u2019t want to do that. I will show how to check these in a moment.<\/li><li>Playing with custom display resolution is not complex, but it\u2019s easy to screw up and turn your monitor to full black <em>without an easy way out<\/em>. So, take your time and if you don\u2019t feel confident enough to do it by yourself, don\u2019t do it by yourself.<\/li><li>You will need to use the Terminal to deactivate SIP \u2014<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/System_Integrity_Protection\">what the heck is SIP?<\/a>. <strong>Do not forget to turn it back on<\/strong> after you\u2019ve created your custom resolution(s). <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>You need to install <a href=\"https:\/\/www.madrau.com\/\">SwitchResX<\/a> before you can do anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I repeat: <strong>you must not use settings over what your display is physically capable of<\/strong>, or things will go wrong, and getting them back in order is no fun if you don\u2019t have a second screen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After installing SwitchResX, go to <strong>System Preferences-&gt;SwitchResX<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the left pane, select your display and click the <strong>Current Resolutions<\/strong> tab. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"822\" height=\"603\" src=\"https:\/\/www.davidbosman.fr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Screenshot-2020-02-11-at-09.52.46.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-17692\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.davidbosman.fr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Screenshot-2020-02-11-at-09.52.46.jpg 822w, https:\/\/www.davidbosman.fr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Screenshot-2020-02-11-at-09.52.46-800x587.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.davidbosman.fr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Screenshot-2020-02-11-at-09.52.46-768x563.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Don\u2019t worry about all these values. Double click its default resolution\u2013mine is 1920&#215;1200, which is not the most common.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"530\" height=\"419\" src=\"https:\/\/www.davidbosman.fr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Screenshot-2019-12-31-at-16.36.44.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-17697\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>I have no idea what all these values mean. But I know  <strong>Active Horizontal, Active Vertical<\/strong> and <strong>Scan rate<\/strong> (the one defined in Hz, the rightmost at the bottom of the screen, not the one in KHz next to it) are the values to keep in mind. Write them down somewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Calculate a new custom resolution<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Unless you want to see things distorted on your screen, your new resolution must use the same ratio as your display. It\u2019s 16:10, in my case, many displays are 16:9. Google you model if you\u2019re not sure what it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Or, like me, if you\u2019re bad with numbers use a <a href=\"https:\/\/bneijt.nl\/pr\/resolution-scale-calculator\/\">resolution scale calculator<\/a> to be on the safe side and get a list of compatible resolutions for your screen, based on its default resolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Disabling SIP<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Don\u2019t ask <em>me<\/em> why we have to disable a system security feature to tweak our displays, but that\u2019s how it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The one thing to remember, is to turn SIP back on, after you\u2019ve finished creating your resolution.<\/strong> SIP protects your Mac, so you want it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Restart your Mac, holding <strong>Cmd+R<\/strong> until you see the Apple logo. Release the keys and let it finish the boot process. <\/li><li>You\u2019re now in Recovery Mode, welcome.<\/li><li>In the menu bar, go to <strong>Utilities -&gt; Terminal<\/strong> to open a shell, and type:<br><code>csrutil disable<\/code><\/li><li>Press <strong>Enter<\/strong>. <\/li><li>It\u2019s done. You can reboot the Mac. <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Re-enabling SIP<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>After you\u2019re done playing with SwitchResX, reboot the Mac and Cmd+R again. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a Terminal window type: <code>csrutil enable<\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Press Enter and reboot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Done. SIP is re-enabled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Creating a new resolution<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Go to <strong>System Preferences-&gt;SwitchResX<\/strong>. Select your display in the left pane and click the <strong>Custom Resolutions<\/strong> tab. Here, I have two external displays connected to my laptop (whose internal display is turned off and is not showing).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"935\" height=\"603\" src=\"https:\/\/www.davidbosman.fr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Screenshot-2019-12-31-at-16.50.40.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-17696\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.davidbosman.fr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Screenshot-2019-12-31-at-16.50.40.jpg 935w, https:\/\/www.davidbosman.fr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Screenshot-2019-12-31-at-16.50.40-800x516.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.davidbosman.fr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Screenshot-2019-12-31-at-16.50.40-768x495.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Click the <strong>+<\/strong> sign below the list of resolutions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the new window, fill <strong>Horizontal<\/strong> and <strong>Vertical<\/strong> resolutions with the new value you want to use (1536 and 960, in my case). Set your max refresh rate to the Hz value you noted earlier (59,946 Hz in my case). Here is how it looks for my screen:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"532\" height=\"441\" src=\"https:\/\/www.davidbosman.fr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Screenshot-2019-12-31-at-15.59.37.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-17694\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p> Click <strong>OK<\/strong> to get back to the previous window. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cmd+S<\/strong> to save your changes and apply them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You should now be able to see your brand new resolution in the menu bar:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"714\" height=\"250\" src=\"https:\/\/www.davidbosman.fr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Screenshot-2020-02-11-at-10.03.36.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-17691\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Your list will be much more cluttered than mine as I took the time to remove all the stuff and resolutions I don\u2019t need. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Cleaning up the menu<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Go to <strong>System Preferences-&gt;SwitchResX<\/strong> and select your display in the left pane. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Click the <strong>Current Resolutions<\/strong> tab. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Either use <strong>Deactivate<\/strong> or <strong>Hide<\/strong> to remove the resolutions you don\u2019t want to see in the menu.  <strong>Cmd+S<\/strong>, to save your changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"933\" height=\"601\" src=\"https:\/\/www.davidbosman.fr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Screenshot-2019-12-31-at-17.09.35.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-17695\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.davidbosman.fr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Screenshot-2019-12-31-at-17.09.35.jpg 933w, https:\/\/www.davidbosman.fr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Screenshot-2019-12-31-at-17.09.35-800x515.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.davidbosman.fr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Screenshot-2019-12-31-at-17.09.35-768x495.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>You can also do some cleaning in the <strong>Menus<\/strong> tab to remove whatever you don\u2019t need:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"822\" height=\"603\" src=\"https:\/\/www.davidbosman.fr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Screenshot-2020-02-11-at-10.06.17.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-17693\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.davidbosman.fr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Screenshot-2020-02-11-at-10.06.17.jpg 822w, https:\/\/www.davidbosman.fr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Screenshot-2020-02-11-at-10.06.17-800x587.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.davidbosman.fr\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Screenshot-2020-02-11-at-10.06.17-768x563.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s a tedious process, if you know a faster way to do it please share it \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Wishes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>SwitchResX is a great utility. But there is one thing I\u2019d love to have: an easy way to backup\/restore all settings, custom resolutions and menus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Not that I reinstall my Mac that often, it\u2019s just a lot of work that I\u2019d rather not have to do again when\/if I need to do a fresh install.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.madrau.com\/\">SwitchResX<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yesterday, I mentioned using SwitchResX to create custom screen resolutions when those provided by Apple are not enough to compensate for my bad eyesight. But you don\u2019t have to have a bad eyesight to create a custom resolution. Maybe you want things on screen to be a bigger so you can see them from farther &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.davidbosman.fr\/en\/?p=17698\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Creating a Custom Resolution with SwitchResX&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[13,11,16,4],"class_list":["post-17698","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-accessibility","tag-apple","tag-macos","tag-tips-tricks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidbosman.fr\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17698","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidbosman.fr\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidbosman.fr\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidbosman.fr\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidbosman.fr\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17698"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidbosman.fr\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17698\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17704,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidbosman.fr\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17698\/revisions\/17704"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidbosman.fr\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidbosman.fr\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidbosman.fr\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}