32" 4K monitor

[Chuckeee]

Surprise nobody mentioned the BetterDisplay app. It does a significantly better job of screen scaling than MacOS. It is nice to pay the $15 to register it but the screen scaling enhancements are available in the unregistered freeware version.

BetterDisplay/README.md at landing · waydabber/BetterDisplay

Unlock your displays on your Mac! Flexible HiDPI scaling, XDR/HDR extra brightness, virtual screens, DDC control, extra dimming, PIP/streaming, EDID override and lots more! - waydabber/BetterDisplay

github.com

 

[snipper]

Being a fan of large monitors, I just read the whole thread, hoping to learn something new as it is quite a complex subject. Didn't know about the BetterDisplay app btw, thanks @Chuckeee.

I used to have the 2008 Dell 30", but it finally broke early this year. My other monitor is a slightly curved 40"/ 4K Philips Brilliance BDM4037UW that – unfortunately – is also no longer produced for years.

It may not be a populair opinion, but the post-Mojave subpixel anti-aliasing has, imho, als an advantage, being that black on white text looks less colored. Looking at a black and white text, each pixel is either white, gray or black. Looking at a blue text on white, each pixel is blue, white or some color right in-between those colors.

I learned to be a graphic designer in the nineties and worked and lurked behind the screens in different roles ever since. I still think my 40" Philips looks great (sitting at 30" distance) and there is nothing wrong with my eyesight (when I'm wearing my computer glasses).

I've just gone over from Mojave, straight to Ventura. The reason is that I wanted to keep using my old (and once-bought / owned forever) Adobe apps on my Mac Pro 2008. It is really getting long in the tooth now after 15 years. Anyway what I mean is: The change didn't bother me. If anything, text looks slightly more even.

I'm curious for 6K and 8K screens to come down in price, but for now the are, imho, not really worth it for me. I do hope the 6K come down in price a bit more before my current monitor dies.

 

[Sharky II]

Surprise nobody mentioned the BetterDisplay app. It does a significantly better job of screen scaling than MacOS. It is nice to pay the $15 to register it but the screen scaling enhancements are available in the unregistered freeware version.

BetterDisplay/README.md at landing · waydabber/BetterDisplay

Unlock your displays on your Mac! Flexible HiDPI scaling, XDR/HDR extra brightness, virtual screens, DDC control, extra dimming, PIP/streaming, EDID override and lots more! - waydabber/BetterDisplay

github.com

Could you elaborate on smooth scaling with this app please?

Does MacOS allow it full control of the machine? If so, does it look better @ 1440p equivalent on a 4K screen? Does it do without needing to upscale to 4K?

I have a 30” ACD and just bought a second hand 4K 32” screen which should be here tomorrow.

 

[Chuckeee]

Could you elaborate on smooth scaling with this app please?

Does MacOS allow it full control of the machine? If so, does it look better @ 1440p equivalent on a 4K screen? Does it do without needing to upscale to 4K?

I have a 30” ACD and just bought a second hand 4K 32” screen which should be here tomorrow.

I believe MacOS does allow BetterDisplays full access, but that is solely my impression. It is based on my subjective experience examining sharpness of text.

It is a free app to try and it is a small download. The best approach would be to try it yourself. If you like it keep it, if you don’t then just toss it.

 

[Sharky II]

Very interesting. Seems too good to be true - what's the catch!? Added CPU/GPU usage?

And why wouldn't Apple implement this themselves?

I'll give it a go, thanks.

 

[brudiaz]

It will function normally at the "looks like" resolution you choose. So yes, a 4K video will work fine.


What 28" 4K monitor are you talking about?

32" 4K monitor (138 ppi) is roughly "Retina" at 25" or greater.
28" 4K monitor (157 ppi) is roughly "Retina" at 22" or greater.
27" 4K monitor (163 ppi) is roughly "Retina" at 21" or greater.
24" 4K monitor (184 ppi) is roughly "Retina" at 19" or greater.
27" 5K monitor (218 ppi) is roughly "Retina" at 16" or greater.

Why is this important? Because what is usually accepted for ergonomic seating distance is greater than 20", although some may sit slightly closer. If you check the numbers above, you'll see that the best is Apple's 27" 5K monitor, but in the context of ergonomic seating distance, 24" 4K is great too, and 27" 4K is pretty decent too. I eventually settled on a 28.2" 4K+ monitor (at 3840x2560 which is higher than 4K vertically - details in my sig), but that works out to the exactly same ppi as 27" 4K (3840x2160).

In contrast, 32" 4K is not very good in this regard. I personally sit at around 20-25" and I found the 32" 4K sub-par for text quality. (I bought a 32" 4K Asus ProArt monitor but was very unimpressed, both for text quality and because of light bleed at the edges.)


? M1 and late model Intel Mac minis will output 4Kp60 just fine over HDMI. There are some monitor incompatibilities with certain older monitor firmwares for stuff like wake from sleep, etc. though with M1.

What do you have plugged into your two 2 USB-C ports? I use a Plugable Thunderbolt 4 / USB4 hub with my M1, and my USB-C monitor is connected through that.

View attachment 2240345

Hi! I have a Mac air M1 2020 and i just recently purchased the Samsug M8. I would want some helps in regards with the connection. I dont know if thudnerbolt is enogh (as i think the monitor doesnt support it) or do i need the displayport - usbc cable throgh a hub/adapter?

 

[Harry Haller]

Have a 32” 4K LG for the PC.
Run at 4K with graphics apps.
At 1440 gaming.

5K on the 27” iMac doing graphics
and 1440 for text stuff.