Question abour rMBP switchable graphics

i have never owned a Mac but I have been considering the Macbook Pro with the retina display for my video work. From my experience with PCs that have switchable graphics, the dedicated card can be chosen to do all the work so I can, for example, choose it to change the brightness, contrast, etc, settings in the Windows desktop (not in programs or games) instead of the integrated card. However, some laptops force the integrated graphics to control these settings even when a dedicated card is present, so even though I have the dedicated card control panel options to change the brightness, contrast, etc., I cannot override the integrated card.

My question: since the rMBP also has switchable graphics, is there an option in the OS where I can force the dedicated Nvidia card to do all the work, including the ability to control the brightness and contrast while in the desktop?

Thanks to all who can help.

 

Why do you want to make the Nvidia chip do everything? It heats up the laptop rather quickly that way

 

You're probably thinking of nvidia Optimus thats in most nvidia/intel combo laptops... everything goes through the Intel all the time, it just lets the nvidia do the work for it even if its never directly using the screen.

Macbooks don't support that... In OS X, the dynamic switching changes which GPU is directly using the screen. If any program is launched that uses certain APIs or Frameworks (like OpenGL) then it switches to the discrete GPU totally for everything while that program is running.

If you disable automatic switching, then it sticks the discrete GPU on all the time and never uses the Intel.

If you use the 3rd party software gfxCardStatus, you can force on the Intel or the discrete GPU at your choice.

If you install and run Windows instead of OS X, then you have no access to the Intel, and it runs the discrete GPU all the time.

 

Yes, I was referring to the Optimus technology - AMD has its own brand, Enduro or something like that, equally annoying, since this graphics switching has proven more troublesome to me than anything.

I'm not sure that I understand your explanation, however. As far as the Optimus technology is concerned my understanding is that graphics switching is used when needed but one GPU is used at any time, so I am not sure what you mean by "everything goes through the Intel all the time". If the system decides to use the nvidia GPU, then the Intel integrated graphics is turned off, and vice versa. I also don't understand what you mean by 'using the screen'.

Again, unclear what you mean. If the OS X supports dynamic switching then it is like the Optimus technology.

OK, so can I disable automatic switching in OS X? For example on a Windows PC I can go in the Nvidia program folder and there I can adjust the brightness, contrast and so on, but only when the Nvidia GPU is active. Can I do the same thing in OS X, that is, enable the Nvidia GPU at all times, and then adjust my color settings through Nvidia without the use of third party software and without necessarily running programs that use APIs or Frameworks?

Thank you.

 

The explanation given was a bit technical. Basically it boils down to how the GPUs are connected to the display. On a Mac, both the Intel and NVIDIA GPUs have a physical connection to the internal display. On the vast majority of Optimus/Enduro Windows-based systems, only the Intel GPU is physically connected. When needed, the GPU drivers call upon the discreet unit to activate. All rendering done on that GPU gets "routed" through the integrated one so its output can be displayed on screen.

Despite being able to disable one GPU or another via gfxcardstatus in OS X, I don't believe you can maintain separate color profiles for each.

 

I can answer your question:

No, there is no such an option in the OS, because there is no direct control over the contrast of the display. There is an option in the system preferences to force the dedicated graphics permanently on, and the dedicated graphics does all of the work when active (it drives the display and processes the graphics). If you activate this setting in system preferences, the dedicated graphics will do 100% of the work 100% of the time.

This is not the same as optimus, where the integrated card always drives the display, and the graphics card only processes graphics when active (and sends it to the integrated card). This may be why some controls are linked to the integrated graphics card on such systems.

If your question was targeted towards system behavior in Windows, then the answer is still "no" - there aren't any native OS controls that adjust contrast.

In Windows, you have no access to the integrated graphics. The dedicated graphics is used 100% of the time for everything. Obviously, this has an impact on battery life.

 

Thank you to all who responded.

To understand correctly, even if I choose the dedicated card to do all the work, I still cannot choose it to change brightness/contrast, etc. in the desktop through that card? Confused why, if, as you say, there is an option to allow the dedicated card to drive the display, why the display color settings cannot be changed through this card. Is there even an option to change the desktop color at all in OS X? Is there an Nvidia panel in the OS X, like there is one in a Windows system, which can be accessed in the control panel?

If you have a system that has Optimus/Enduro you can, at least, you are supposed to. You are supposed to have access to both, that is the point. Generally, the computer itself decides when to switch from one to another. I had an HP laptop that came with Optimus. As it shipped, I could not change the color settings from the Nvidia panel because as a default, the Intel integrated was always taking over. There was an Intel control panel icon which had its own color control settings and by default, I could chance desktop colors only from this panel. By going into the BIOS and selecting an option to force the dedicated throughout, I was able to switch the controls from the Intel to the Nvidia, thus gaining control to the Nvidia panel color settings.

I had another laptop, a VAIO that also came with Optimus. This laptop made me hate switchable graphics because for the life of me, I was not able to find an option that would turn off the integrated and allow the dedicated to take over. Even after I took the machine to a Sony store and had a technician look it over, we could not get the Nvidia control panel to control the colors. Basically, I had a laptop which apparently had a dedicated card, but because the Sony engineers decided to not give users the option to manually choose, as far as I was concerned, the only GPU that I was seeing do the work was the Intel. I guess if I were to start graphics intensive programs the dedicated would take over behind the scenes, but I wanted the Nvidia to do the work in my desktop as well, and that I could not do.

 

you can choose those settings in the system preferences > display. You cant choose contrast as people said, but you have basic tools for color calibration and brightness, there is laso F1 and F2 for quick brightness settings

 

You may have misunderstandings (as most people do) of how switchable graphics (Optimus mainly) works on Windows... but that is beside the point.

OSX doesn't have separate graphics set up per video card. If you change your settings around so the screen looks good, it stays the same for both graphics cards, you do not need to set up a different profile for each one.... as far as you are concerned, its just like having 1 GPU, it handles everything itself unless you want to disable and handle it yourself... in which case, your screen calibration, brightness, etc... do not have to be separate per card, and I doubt there is a way to do it... and not sure why you'd want to have the cards run so differently. i want my screen to look exactly the same no matter what GPU I am using.

 

You don't seem to be getting the idea. In OS X, color calibration and brightness controls are at the OS level. These settings apply to the system, they are not specific to either of the graphics cards. The color settings you choose will apply to both graphics cards as they switch dynamically. In Windows, these settings are not available at the OS level, and so they are implemented in drivers. The phenomenom you are describing depends on a model that is windows-specific. In windows, the intel graphics card is not available, so whatever graphics-card options you want to set will have to be done through the dedicated graphics card and the dedicated gpu driver.

(Again) Optimus has nothing to do with Apple laptops. They do not use optimus graphics switching. Graphics switching is handled by proprietary (Apple-specific) methods in OS X, and graphics switching is not available at all if using other operating systems. You will only have access to the dedicated graphics chip if using any operating system that is not OS X.

 

No I don't. I never owned an apple product. And you can have a better attitude.

I never said or assumed that Optimus has anything to to with Apple. I made the comparison to a system that I am familiar with so I can find out if the OS X has a similar implementation to PCs so that I can decide whether to get a Mac.

 

nope, but bluntly written text can come off that way. I only said that you don't seem to be getting it because you prefaced your statement saying that you wanted to verify that you understood it correctly. You didn't, so I let you know.

the OS X implementation isn't much like Optimus, given that we're talking about graphics switching tech. Optimus routes everything through the integrated graphics card, and Apple's graphics switching tech does not.

Best of luck.

 

FYI,

If you are using a ThinkPad W530, you have very fine grained control in both the BIOS/UEFI settings, and in Windows 7 or Windows 8. Both Intel and NVIDIA provide applications for tuning of various settings like color, hue, contrast, dynamic dimming, etc. You can also apply power profiles to the machine (GPU, CPU, etc.) depending on AC or battery power. All of that control is a work in progress and I would not rate everything perfect.

In addition, you can control which GPU is used by an application. This is desirable especially if you have an application that can use the more powerful GPU and you want to guarantee it is always used. For instance, a video encoding product that is CUDA aware.

One last thing on the W530, they changed how display connections are handled. The Intel HD 4000 drives the notebook LCD. The NVIDIA K1000M or K2000M drives all the other ports and displays. This is not an endorsement of the W530. The jury is still out on that machine.

If you want fine grained control, Optimus and the settings available in the PC world are available. If you don't want to worry about it, then the Mac and OS X will handle it for you. It's a pretty fundamental difference.

The 15" Retina MacBook Pro is a really cool machine. It appears we'll have a 13.3" version next week.

 

Thanks for the suggestion. I have a 17-inch W701 Thinkpad workstation that I got several years ago. Great IPS screen, very quiet, but has an issue with the Quadro driver where doing anything flash-related will crash the computer. Something to do with PowerMizer. This is a widely reported problem but Lenovo just shrugged its shoulders and Nvidia did nothing about it for years and they still have not fixed it. I had to use an older driver, which I still use today, or my $2K+ machine becomes a very large paperweight. After this experience with Lenovo, I don't really want to go near them again.

 

if you use gfxCardStatus (free 3rd party software), it does have an option to force change to the GPU you choose weather your on batter or plugged in.

Be warned though, your external displays run through Thunderbolt or HDMI will only use the discrete GPU... the Intel will only work for the built in screen. As soon as you try to use any external screen, it will lock on the discrete GPU. If you accidentally try to lock on the Intel only with gfxCardStatus, it can screw up and stop external displays from working.

 

Yeah, I understand. There aren't many makers you can trust today.

Adobe Flash is evil.