Separate articles that explore this topic in more detail.
- Set up a fully scalable HiDPI desktop
Choose a comfortable desktop size without being limited to the few scaled resolutions macOS shows by default.
- Increase desktop brightness on an XDR or HDR display
Use brightness upscaling to make ordinary desktop content brighter than the display's usual SDR range.
- Enable Night Shift for a television
macOS may classify your television or HDMI-connected monitor as a TV and prevent Night Shift from working on it.
- Reduce PWM and temporal dithering
This tutorial covers two ways to reduce changes in light output: keep hardware brightness above a chosen minimum, or turn off GPU dithering where supported.
- Set up a flipped screen for a DIY teleprompter
Flip a virtual desktop before sending it to your teleprompter display, so text reads correctly through the reflecting glass.
- Rotate Sidecar into portrait orientation
Use a portrait virtual desktop streamed to your Sidecar iPad for a taller workspace.
- Use the working part of a damaged screen
Place a smaller virtual desktop inside a display's usable area when damaged pixels occupy an edge.
- Make external monitors follow your MacBook’s automatic brightness
Make external monitors follow detected changes to your MacBook’s built-in brightness, including automatic adjustments by macOS.
- Keep your monitor arrangement and main display consistent after wake
Protect a multi-monitor arrangement and preferred main display across supported wake, reconnect and resolution changes.
- Create one-key Work and Evening display presets
Create repeatable macOS Shortcuts that apply named Work and Evening settings to several monitors.
- Switch all your monitors between a Mac and PC with one shortcut
Create separate Mac and PC Shortcuts with verified per-monitor input destinations and a tested return plan.
- Use external monitors with your MacBook open and its built-in screen disconnected
Use the MacBook keyboard and trackpad while supported external monitors provide the active desktops.
- Find a sharp HiDPI setup without sacrificing more refresh rate than necessary
Compare complete display modes to find a working balance between HiDPI desktop size, refresh rate and HDR.
- Configure a desk with both native and DisplayLink monitors
Identify each video path, choose desktop sizes and preserve a useful layout across native and DisplayLink monitors.
- Give a headless Mac a comfortable virtual desktop for remote access
Create a readable virtual desktop on a headless Mac and check access through Apple Screen Sharing.
- Match brightness across different monitors
Compare percentage and calculated nits synchronization to match brightness across different monitors.
- Fix an output-range mismatch and keep a working color mode
Match the monitor’s input range, compare supported color formats and protect a physically checked result.
- Make text and interface elements a similar size across different displays
Configure UI Scale Matching so different displays use suitable modes with similar physical interface size.
- Get reliable hardware brightness and volume through your dock
Establish which hardware brightness and volume commands work through your dock and configure suitable controllers.
- Create a dedicated 16:9 desktop for recording and screen sharing
Create a separate 16:9 virtual desktop for recording or sharing while keeping the ordinary workspace available.
- Keep a desktop available while a KVM switches away from your Mac
Keep a virtual desktop connected while a KVM removes the physical monitor, then restore its presentation when the monitor returns.
- Switch between laptop-only, home-desk, and office-desk setups
Combine explicit display connection presets with suitable layout and synchronization groups for different workplaces.
- Restore brightness and display settings reliably after wake
Diagnose lost display settings after wake and apply targeted restoration or recovery where it is supported.
- Use your Mac keyboard to control a TV’s volume, power, and input
Configure a supported TV controller and use verified keyboard actions for volume, power and input selection.
- Make volume keys follow the device you are actually listening to
Make volume and mute keys follow your monitor audio output and headphones using separate listening and destination settings.
- Build an Elgato Stream Deck control panel for your display setup
Assign tested brightness, input and display-mode requests to separate Elgato Stream Deck hotkeys, with explicit return choices.
- Run desk setup actions automatically when a monitor connects
Request a tested hardware brightness setting when your remembered desk monitor reconnects, using one explicitly targeted script.
- Schedule daytime and evening brightness across your monitors
Schedule tested daytime and evening brightness settings with explicit BetterDisplay actions and macOS Shortcuts time triggers.
- Keep a chosen app window visible while working elsewhere
Use selected-content streaming to keep a live copy of a chosen app window above your other work.
- Build a floating dashboard from several live screen regions
Arrange independent cropped PIP views of useful source regions into a compact live dashboard.
- Present a desktop and freeze the audience’s view while preparing the next step
Rehearse Pause, Unpause, Hide and Stop on a separate audience-display stream, with physical result checks and targeted cleanup.
- Show two virtual desktops on one ultrawide or portrait monitor
Show two independent virtual desktops through positioned PIP views on one physical monitor.
- Control your monitor setup from Home Assistant
Request a verified hardware-brightness setting from Home Assistant through BetterDisplay’s authenticated HTTP interface.
- Display pixel art or a low-resolution game with crisp enlarged pixels
Enlarge a verified LoDPI source with nearest-neighbor sampling and compare whole-number and fractional output sizes.
- Apply a custom 3D LUT to a display or a live preview
Import a sample LUT with a warm color effect, apply it to a whole display or a live preview, and compare the result with the filter off.
- Fix mute and unmute on an external display
Get reliable mute and unmute behavior from your display’s speakers by choosing a method the display understands.