waydabber/BetterDisplay

About

BetterDisplay is a truly wonderful tool! It lets you convert your displays to fully scalable screens, manage display configuration overrides, allows brightness and color control, provides XDR/HDR brightness upscaling (extra brightness beyond 100% for compatible displays with Apple Silicon Macs), full dimming to black, helps you create and manage virtual screens (dummies) for your Mac, create Picture in Picture windows of your displays and gives you a host of other features to manage your display's settings easily from the menu bar.

Screenshot shows a v2.x pre-release version running on macOS Sonoma.

Features

• NEW: Full macOS Sonoma (Beta) compatibility with the v2.x pre-release. The v2.x version will be a free update for those who purchase v1.x. Pre-releases are available on the Releases page.
• BetterDisplay is the only app currently with DDC control for all modern Macs (full DDC support for M2 and M2 Pro/Max, M1 built-in HDMI, and 2018 mini built-in HDMI) - DDC features are completely free for personal users without limitation.
• EDID override support for both Intel and Apple Silicon Macs! *
• Disconnect and reconnect displays (removing them from the display layout and adding them back) on Apple Silicon (macOS Ventura or newer required) and Intel (all macOS version supported - on Intel the feature is considered experimental and can cause issues)! *
• Option to auto-disconnect built-in screen upon connecting an external display - requires Apple Silicon (note: set up under Settings/Advanced). *
• Convert your internal and natively connected external displays to smoothly-scaled HiDPI displays using native smooth scaling (displays with notch, HDR, HDCP, high refresh rate fully supported)! *
• Reach the full brightness potential of your XDR or HDR display - XDR brightness upscale to 1600 nits, external HDR display brightness upscale also supported. This feature requires an Apple Silicon Mac. *
• Change the display's brightness, volume and colors via software and hardware (DDC) control via sliders and native or custom keyboard shortcuts!
• Change display inputs via DDC on supported displays.
• Create custom HiDPI resolutions for real displays manually and redefine certain system display parameters!
• Create any number of virtual screens (dummies) with varying aspect ratios.
• Enable Night Shift for your TV!
• Change the resolution easily with a slider!
• Define favorite resolutions and reach them via the app menu, resolution slider or keyboard shortcuts. *
• Protect display configuration, forbid auto-switch to VRR etc. *
• Use headless Macs (servers) with any resolution and HiDPI mode for remote access.
• Create Picture in Picture window for any real display or virtual screen (dummy). *
• Redirect your display's contents (real or virtual) to an other screen via streaming. *
• If you are using a big TV up close, use the bottom half of your TV as a wide screen display (off-center streaming). *
• Scale Sidecar resolutions and portrait SideCar support (via virtual screen full screen streaming). *
• Better quality zooming (System Preferences»Accessibility»Zoom) or High Quality screenshots even on 1080p displays
• Easily change the resolution of your real displays and virtual screens via a slider (or submenu) from the menubar.
• Quickly accessible refresh rate and screen rotation menu.
• Simplify creating mirrored sets. *
• Easily move around displays relative to each other using the app menu.
• Quickly designate a display to be main display.
• Associate virtual screens (dummies) with displays for auto connect/disconnect.
• Keyboard shortcuts for brightness and audio control.
• Advanced keyboard shortcuts support. *
• Custom virtual screens(dummies) (resolution, orientation, naming etc). *
• Create a virtual screen optimized for a real display. *
• Export display EDID and show detailed display information (Intel and Apple Silicon).

... and more is coming! :)

Note: features marked with an asterisk (*) require a Pro license. Some features may be available in the latest pre-release version only.

Getting a Pro license to unlock all features of the app

You can support development and unlock all features of the app by purchasing a Pro license for $15 / €15 (+ Sales Tax or VAT may apply). You can also get Pro inside the app - just navigate to Settings (gear icon) > Pro and click on Buy BetterDisplay Pro.

More information on purchasing Pro & payment methods

Please note that even if you don't buy the app, you can still use many of the features for free (if you are a non-business user). A 14-day trial is also available to fully evaulate BetterDisplay Pro before purchase.

If you are using the free functionalities of the app, please don't forget to star the GitHub page and spread the word about the app! :)

For more information on licensing, trial, prices and refund, please read the License Terms & Conditions and Refund Policy!

Installation

1. Download the latest version
2. Open the DMG file and move the app to Applications folder on your Mac as instructed.
3. Start the app.
4. Use the app menu bar item to interact with the app.

Using the app

A new User's Guide is under construction to explain all the features. Some useful guides are already available covering some of the more popular features of the app. More to come - please stay tuned!

Until the Wiki/Guide is complete, you can search for answers under Discussions and the BetterDisplay Discord channel (it has an extensive history, most questions have been asked and answered several times over).

Compatibility

• The latest stable version of the app is compatible with all Apple Silicon and Intel Macs running macOS Ventura, Monterey, Big Sur, Catalina and Mojave. The (currently pre-release) v2.x version requires macOS Monterey 12.4 or higher and is recommended with macOS Sonoma betas.
• XDR/HDR upscaling requires an Apple XDR display (built-in or external) or a natively connected HDR display (VESA DisplayHDR 600 or higher recommended) and an Apple Silicon Mac.
• The display connect/disconnect feature requires an Apple Silicon Mac running at least macOS Ventura or Intel (all macOS versions supported - on Intel the feature is considered experimental and does cause issues on some configurations). External display sleep/suspend on disconnect is available only on Apple Silicon (on Intel, dimming or DDC backlight off is available for third party displays and backlight off for Apple and built-in displays).
• Native smooth scaling requires macOS Monterey 12.4 (or newer) and natively connected displays on Apple Silicon. For Intel there is no such limitation.
• Maximum native smooth scaling resolutions depend on the GPU capabilities and the display's resolution (horizontal width limit is 6144 pixels for M1/M2, 7680 pixels for M1/M2 Pro/Max/Ultra).
• External display hardware backlight control and volume control require DDC capable, natively connected display or an Apple display. Some docks and dongles may not support DDC. All built-in ports of all Macs that can run the app are supported for DDC communication.
• The app is compatible with headless Macs to create custom virtual screen (dummy) resolutions for remote access.

Privacy

For information about data handled by the app and privacy, please read the app's Privacy Policy!

Discord channel

You can join the discussion on the BetterDisplay Discord channel. If you have any issues or questions, don't hesitate to ask!

Thanks to those who backed the project in its Open Source phase

I am thankful for each of you who contributed to the project in its initial open source phase. I'd like to express my gratitude by providing you with a coupon code so you can get a Pro license for no additional cost. If you'd like to receive a code, please contact me at Discord by sending a private message with the screenshot of the confirmation you received from Open Collective. I'll respond with a coupon code to get the app for free!