Work Around for display height issue on netbooks which have a height under 768.

lanceomni · #1 08-13-2009, 10:17 PM

I came across this article on Macworld.com which talks about the AppleDisplayScaleFactor variable. By setting this variable to say .80 the next time you open an application it will scale to this percentage. The article explains how to set this for particular applications which do not allow you to scale the app to a usable form.

I did a search and see its old news over on insanelymac but this is the first i have heard of it so im passing it along.

Check the article out: http://www.macworld.com/article/142173/2009/08/scaleapps.html

Here is the syntax:
this sets the scale to 78%:

Code:

defaults write NSGlobalDomain AppleDisplayScaleFactor .78

this sets the scale back to 100%

Code:

defaults write NSGlobalDomain AppleDisplayScaleFactor 1

Here is a per application method:

Code:

defaults write com.apple.iTunes AppleDisplayScaleFactor .78

Just find the plist for your application as you would for any other tinkering.

Imkantus · #2 08-19-2009, 11:19 PM

Sadly it's not very practicable on tasks like browsing the web, due to the loss of image sharpness...

Anyway this is a trick which might become usefull sometimes.

Normal:

AppleDisplayScaleFactor .78

lanceomni · #3 08-20-2009, 01:46 PM

I used Automator to create 5 settings (80%, 85%, 90%, 95%, %100) which Ive added to Finder. Im able to right click on the desktop and then select from these 5 settings without having to open Terminal. I use it only for times when applications utilize elements below 600px.

I do notice an occasional application crash while using this, Ill have to start writing them down.

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