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usagora

macrumors 601
Nov 17, 2017
4,869
4,456
I'm sure it would be ok, but a 4k one can be had for less than $100 more. Here's the one I use with my M1 Air, and it's great! Yes, it's smaller, but still large (same size as the largest iMacs).


EDIT:

Actually, here's a 32" 4k for only $300, only a few dollars more than my 27" (I feel cheated now, lol!):

 
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jdb8167

macrumors 601
Nov 17, 2008
4,859
4,599
I'm sure it would be ok, but a 4k one can be had for less than $100 more. Here's the one I use with my M1 Air, and it's great! Yes, it's smaller, but still large (same size as the largest iMacs).


EDIT:

Actually, here's a 32" 4k for only $300, only a few dollars more than my 27" (I feel cheated now, lol!):

Bigger isn’t necessarily better. You would be going from 163 dpi to 138 dpi with that change.
 

usagora

macrumors 601
Nov 17, 2017
4,869
4,456
Bigger isn’t necessarily better. You would be going from 163 dpi to 138 dpi with that change.

True, it's a trade-off, but for the OP's purposes, that's still 50% sharper than the one he was asking about (which would only be 92 dpi) if he's set on getting a 32" display.
 
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Amethyst1

macrumors G3
Oct 28, 2015
9,816
12,238
Is this any good for a M1 base model?

I’m afraid it’s going to be a disappointment. Text rendering is awful on external QHD (2560×1440) monitors in macOS. You really need a “4K” (3840×2160) or higher resolution external monitor for any sort of decent text rendering.
 
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sierrablue

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 21, 2021
107
50
Thanks for all the input. I will go with 32 inch 4k. My budget is $300-$400. Any other recommendations beside the Samsung mentioned or is that my best option?
 

sierrablue

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 21, 2021
107
50
I ended up buying a
LG

LG 27” IPS 4K UHD Monitor with VESA Display HDR 400​

Model:27UP600-W.AUS
SKU:6451083

The fonts are too small to read for me. If I choose larger texts in the attached file, do I lose 4k resolution?
 

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sierrablue

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 21, 2021
107
50
No. The monitor is always driven at full "4K" resolution. Here's an explanation what these scaling options actually do. :)
Thanks, I just read all three pages of the explanation and I still do not understand. Would you be able to give me a brief explanation? I know my 27 inch 4k with the large text looks so much clearer than a 32 inch 2k at native resolution on my M1 MacBook Air. Also the 32 inch was too big for my desk and was hurting my neck looking back and forth from end to end.
 

Amethyst1

macrumors G3
Oct 28, 2015
9,816
12,238
Thanks, I just read all three pages of the explanation and I still do not understand. Would you be able to give me a brief explanation?
Your monitor has a native resolution of 3840×2160 pixels. It is always driven at that resolution by macOS.

macOS has only two sizes for UI elements (buttons, icons, windows etc.) and text: 100% ("non-HiDPI") and 200% ("HiDPI").
If you use 100%, things will be quite small on a 27" "4K" monitor.
If you use 200%, everything will be twice as tall and twice as wide compared to 100%, so everything looks like on a 27" 1920×1080 monitor, but a lot nicer and sharper. Selecting the "looks like 1920×1080" option gives you just that.

But what if you want a size in between, say, 150% so that everything looks like on a 27" 2560×1440 monitor? How does macOS do it if the only sizes it has are... 100% and 200%?

The trick is... macOS draws a framebuffer (you can think of that as a "virtual" monitor you cannot see) which is twice as tall and twice as wide as the resolution you select, so if you select "looks like 2560×1440", the framebuffer's size is 5120×2880 pixels (2560×2 × 1440×2).
On this framebuffer, everything is drawn at 200% size (it's always at 200%) so it "looks like 2560×1440", but a lot sharper. That 5120×2880-pixel framebuffer is too large to fit on your monitor (which only has 3840×2160 pixels) though, which means macOS has to shrink the framebuffer for it to fit onto your monitor.
And the shrinking is what makes the UI elements and text appear smaller compared to the "looks like 1920×1080" setting. (The actual size of the UI elements and text does not change!) It also makes them (slightly) blurry, which some people notice and dislike.
 
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sierrablue

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 21, 2021
107
50
Your monitor has a native resolution of 3840×2160 pixels. It is always driven at that resolution by macOS.

macOS has only two sizes for UI elements (buttons, icons, windows etc.) and text: 100% ("non-HiDPI") and 200% ("HiDPI").
If you use 100%, things will be quite small on a 27" "4K" monitor.
If you use 200%, everything will be twice as tall and twice as wide compared to 100%, so everything looks like on a 27" 1920×1080 monitor, but a lot nicer and sharper. Selecting the "looks like 1920×1080" option gives you just that.

But what if you want a size in between, say, 150% so that everything looks like on a 27" 2560×1440 monitor? How does macOS do it if the only sizes it has are... 100% and 200%?

The trick is... macOS draws a framebuffer (you can think of that as a "virtual" monitor you cannot see) which is twice as tall and twice as wide as the resolution you select, so if you select "looks like 2560×1440", the framebuffer's size is 5120×2880 pixels (2560×2 × 1440×2).
On this framebuffer, everything is drawn at 200% size (it's always at 200%) so it "looks like 2560×1440", but a lot sharper. That 5120×2880-pixel framebuffer is too large to fit on your monitor (which only has 3840×2160 pixels) though, which means macOS has to shrink the framebuffer for it to fit onto your monitor.
And the shrinking is what makes the UI elements and text appear smaller compared to the "looks like 1920×1080" setting. (The actual size of the UI elements and text does not change!) It also makes them (slightly) blurry, which some people notice and dislike.
Thanks again. I have it set to 1920x1080 and the text is large and crisp to my eyes. I am coming from a 5 year old 1080p monitor.
 

Amethyst1

macrumors G3
Oct 28, 2015
9,816
12,238
Is there any advantage to using thunderbolt to DP instead of HDMI for my 4K LG?
As long as both the Mac and monitor can do HDMI 2.0, you'll get "4K" at 60 Hz no problem. HDMI can be problematic on macOS though, so I'd always use DisplayPort if possible.
 

sierrablue

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 21, 2021
107
50
As long as both the Mac and monitor can do HDMI 2.0, you'll get "4K" at 60 Hz no problem. HDMI can be problematic on macOS though, so I'd always use DisplayPort if possible.

Thanks. What would cause the display to momentarily go black? HDMI? It happened on two monitors.
 

Amethyst1

macrumors G3
Oct 28, 2015
9,816
12,238
What would cause the display to momentarily go black? HDMI? It happened on two monitors.
First thing I'd try with this kind of issue is, indeed, connecting via DisplayPort. So you need a USB-C to DisplayPort cable (unless you have a dock/hub with a DisplayPort output).
 
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