# BetterDisplay

31 Hacker News commenters recommended BetterDisplay and 4 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 10 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Fixes macOS external monitor scaling and resolution problems, with a free tier. Caveat: some users still get fuzzy fonts or no HiDPI on M5 Macs.

## Why people recommend it

- Fixes macOS scaling and HiDPI problems (5 comments): "macOS multi monitor support and scaling is a constant thorn in my side that was marginally improved by paying for Better Display." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46568781)) "BetterDisplay fixes this by using an integer multiple of intended GUI scaling resolution before projecting it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46564992)) "having a virtual 5K frame buffer downscaled to 2K yields perfectly enjoyable results" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47573230))
- Unlocks non-standard external monitor resolutions (4 comments): "Allowing resolutions outside of macs limitations setting in BD is what did the trick." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47569959)) "There are third party tools like BetterDisplay that unlock it as an option" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47574383)) "Absolutely useful for monitors with non-standard resolutions." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46583847))
- Fixes dithering and display negotiation bugs (4 comments): "The TV is unusable without BetterDisplay because the apple default negotiation preference." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47571145)) "For the first one (and all other screen-related bugs) you can use BetterDisplay to fix it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47000799)) "A fix I found online is to disable GPU dithering using the Better Display app." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46980490))
- Cheap, worth paying for (3 comments): "BetterDisplay is $15 or so and it changes the equation from ’horrible’ to ‘good enough’." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46086146)) "where I needed to pay for Better Display to reach the bar of "tolerable"" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46585092)) "I'm a happy customer of BetterDisplay just to make it bearable" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45821056))

## What people warn about

- Costs money to fix issues (2 comments): "I even had to pay actual money for a third party application (BetterDisplay) to fix some of the issues." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47425458)) "where I needed to pay for Better Display to reach the bar of "tolerable"" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46585092))
- Fuzzy fonts or no HiDPI (2 comments): "Unfortunately BetterDisplay cannot set HiDPI @ 4K on the M5 machines - that was the first thing I tried." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47570741)) "I tried all combinations with BetterDisplay but kept getting fuzzy fonts" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47570982))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Lunar](https://hackerapproved.com/p/lunar.md): 12 recommend
- [Vivid](https://hackerapproved.com/p/vivid.md): 5 recommend

## Where to get it

- [Visit the official site](https://betterdisplay.pro/)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "BetterDisplay", https://hackerapproved.com/p/betterdisplay/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).