v5.0.5

This Release Candidate of BetterDisplay 5 brings selected-content streaming, expanded display arrangement tools, advanced compositor filters, custom 3D LUT support, HDMI-CEC control, a built-in console, richer display reporting and automation, a new sidebar layout, refined app menu and OSD presentation, and a major expansion in localization. It fully supports macOS 27 Golden Gate and includes numerous performance and usability improvements.

BetterDisplay 5 supports Apple Silicon and Intel Macs running macOS 26 or later. Users running an earlier version of macOS should continue using BetterDisplay 4.

BetterDisplay 5 is a free upgrade for Pro licenses purchased after January 1, 2025.

• Updating through the built-in updater preserves an already completed activation with an older Pro license, but displays an outdated-license notice. A current license removes the notice.
• An outdated license cannot activate a new or deactivated BetterDisplay 5 installation.
• Free features remain available without a Pro license, as before.

More information: Outdated Pro License FAQ

Highlights

• Advanced image adjustments. Expanded compositor filters add sharpening, geometry, and advanced color adjustments, with improved rendering performance. Additional adjustments can be synchronized across display groups and controlled through the CLI and macOS Shortcuts.
• Custom 3D LUT support. Import custom 3D LUTs for color correction and apply them through display image adjustments or PIP/stream video filters.
• Picture-in-picture for individual windows. Stream a selected window or group of windows into a PIP window, with filtering and presentation options—including keeping content visible above other windows, even when the source app has no built-in PIP feature.
• HDMI-CEC TV control. Control volume, mute, power, and input selection on compatible HDMI connections. CLI commands also make these controls available for scripts and automation.
• A major expansion in localization. BetterDisplay now includes 38 language and regional variants, with many newly added translations and extensive improvements to existing ones. Right-to-left interface support brings a more natural experience to Arabic, Hebrew, and Persian users.
• A new sidebar layout. An optional Control Center-style sidebar provides an alternative to the standard app menu, offering another way to keep display controls within reach.
• A refreshed, faster app menu. Updated Liquid Glass styling, smoother animations, and optimized loading bring the interface closer to modern macOS. Right-clicking the menu bar icon opens a quick-action menu for Settings, display commands, and other common tasks.
• More capable display arrangement tools. Arrange displays visually from the app menu, with on-screen guides, current-layout indicators, and completion feedback. Grid snapping remains available alongside the new visual arrangement mode.
• More flexible display groups. Apply all group protections manually or automatically when group configuration changes, and trigger UI scale matching directly from a display’s menu. The Groups menu is now consistently available under Tools.
• Easier display connection management. Connect or disconnect displays directly from Settings, or hold Shift while toggling a display’s connection to switch between that display and all others. Improved detection and recovery handle soft-disconnected displays and exclusive virtual-screen configurations more reliably.
• A built-in console and expanded automation. Access CLI features directly inside BetterDisplay, with a keyboard shortcut, console commands, and optional app log output. Run custom commands when individual displays connect, disconnect, sleep, or wake.
• More control over PIP and streaming. Set a target frame rate for individual streams, automate selected-content streaming through the CLI, and use an experimental option to prevent the cursor from entering a stream target display. Compositor rendering also improves Video Filter Window performance.
• Improved external device controllers. LG webOS connection and MAC address discovery improvements help with compatibility and Wake-on-LAN reliability. Samsung Tizen controllers gain a manual MAC address override, and external controller configuration is easier to reach from Device Control.
• Richer display information and diagnostics. Inspect additional connection, bandwidth, compression, and tiling information, export display details, and access dedicated EDID, DPCD, DSC, HDMI-CEC, and Apple brightness reports through the CLI.
• Improved brightness tools. Read ambient light levels per display on supported hardware, override brightness ranges in nits for built-in Apple displays, and benefit from more reliable brightness syncing after automatic brightness changes on wake.
• Refined on-screen controls and interaction. Updated OSD styling, placement, and animations match macOS 26 and 27 more closely, alongside a Traditional OSD option. Slider improvements include scroll and swipe adjustment, snapping to highlighted values, and convenient OSD controls. Touch interaction is also improved on macOS 27.
• Simpler Settings and system configuration. Dedicated configuration sheets make Settings easier to navigate, while modern privilege authorization supports Touch ID for system file access. Clearer reset options explain the scope of NVRAM changes and let you reset display system settings without resetting NVRAM.

Beyond these highlights, this release includes numerous additional enhancements, performance optimizations, stability and compatibility improvements, and bug fixes across display management, streaming, brightness control, and the app interface.

View the detailed list of enhancements and bug fixes

Included Localizations

Arabic, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, English (British), Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Norwegian Bokmål, Persian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese.

Contributors: @afkeceli, @aldoraibi, @AndryTi, @andrwmai, @BingoKingo, @brzenio, @cfuentea, @chihuahua-experience, @cristianritco, @dimaitre, @dotWee, @DrRoglaa, @dvanzoerlandt, @elislays08, @enormous-rat, @giulianopires, @gpnunes75, @HaiBliss, @hshsilver, @hw0603, @ibrayd, @jacktechstudio, @JulyIghor, @Kcraft059, @MapleLeaf14, @marcinkardas, @maximsenterprise, @MazlumSerbest, @mickimnet, @mikevic18, @MonolitheMedia, @moriLiu, @MStankiewiczOfficial, @niklasbogensperger, @old-cookie, @PatrykM13, @pavlik000-collab, @PuzzledUser, @SakiPapa, @shindgewongxj, @skantek, @sm-moshi, @stonkol, @sup3rb3ar, @yeager, @waydabber. AI was used for updating some of the localizations.