iMac 27 1280 x 720 Resolution in Sonoma

[UndergroundLare]

Hello,

I am shopping for a 2020 iMac 27 with the 5K screen for my dad. He needs a big screen and large text.

Can someone on the forum please check to see if their 2020 iMac 27" has "1280x720" listed as one of the display options in their System Settings?

Could you please reply back to the thread and post a screen shot of your desktop running at this resolution? The screen shot will help me get a sense of scale to determine if the user interface will be good for him at the 1280x720 setting (this is essentially 5120-by-2880 resolution, at 4x magnification).

How to check resolution options in MacOS Sonoma 14.3:

• Open System Settings > Displays > Click "Advanced..."
• Turn on Toggle Switch to "Show resolutions as list"
• Press "Done"
• See if the 1280 x 720 option is available, and select it
• Observe that your now shows everything really big (2x larger than the default setting of 2560 x 1440)
• Make sure there is no personally identifiable or sensitive information showing if you plan to take a screenshot
• Take screenshot if able (Shift + Cmd + 3)

Thanks for your help!

Note: I am aware that MacOS has other methods available to increase UI and text size within Accessibility > Text > Text Size. I want to begin by finding an optimal resolution and scaling. After setting the scaling, I will fine tune the text size by using the accessibility settings. The reason I am taking this approach is to try to keep the user interface as proportional as possible. The proportions can look a bit odd when making large changes to the text size alone.

 

[wilberforce]

Here you go. On a 2020 iMac on Sonoma

 

[UndergroundLare]

Here you go. On a 2020 iMac on Sonoma

Thank you very much!

In hopes that my research is of benefit to anyone in the future - I wrote a quick guide to optimizing a Mac to display large text.


Background:

There have been many discussions online about how to best optimize the display resolution on a Mac. Modern Macs with retina displays generally ship with a default display setting that scales the user interface at 2x. A good example of this is the 27" 5k iMac. Prior to the introduction of retina displays, the native resolution on a 27" iMac was 2560x1440. The retina display doubles the native resolution of the screen to 5120x2880. The pixel count in the height and width dimensions are doubled - which results in 4x the quantity of pixels on the screen. These newer screens have a very high pixel density which would ordinarily make the user interface appear very small. By default, MacOS scales everything at a multiple of 2x. This makes everything appear the same size we have grown accustom to over the years. The benefit is everything now looks sharper to the eye.

The best clarity is achieved when the user interface is scaled by a whole number (1x, 2x, 4x, etc). This provides a "pixel perfect" result where each pixel that is drawn in the operating system will map perfectly to a pixel on the physical display. A quick way to check is to take the native display resolution and divide it by the setting you intend to choose in macOS (5120 divided by 2560 = 2x).

Most of the reviews and recommendations online are well suited for those doing professional or creative work with young eyes or good glasses. A 27" iMac with the 5K screen set at the default scaling of 2x tends to work well for this population. The default settings of a 27" 5K iMac are listed below:

Screen size: 27"
Native Resolution: 5120x2880
What to select in macOS: 2560x1440 (default, scaled at 2x)


Recommendations for Large Text

The recommendations that follow are for those who prefer large text and are willing to sacrifice the available space on their screen to achieve it. The following recommendations are scaled at whole numbers in order to maintain a "pixel perfect" result.

Large Text and UI
Screen size: 27"
Native Resolution: 3840 x 2160
What to select in macOS: 1920 x 1080 (scaled at 2x)

Note: This setting results in larger text while still preserving some screen space. It is not possible to achieve pixel perfect results with these settings on a 5K iMac.
Ideal setup: Mac Mini, Macbook Air, or Macbook Pro paired with a non-apple, 4K display.

Largest Text and UI
Screen size: 27"
Native Resolution: 5120x2880
What to select in macOS: 1280 x 720 (scaled at 4x)

Note: This resolution results the largest text but can make the screen feel crowded. It is not possible to achieve pixel perfect results with these settings on a 4K display.
Ideal setup: 27" iMac 5K, or any stand alone Mac paired with a 5K display.

Final Touches

After choosing the optimal display and resolution settings for your use case, the user interface can be further optimized by navigating to System Settings > Accessibility > Text > Text Size, and Menu bar size.

 

[wilberforce]

The best clarity is achieved when the user interface is scaled by a whole number (1x, 2x, 4x, etc). This provides a "pixel perfect" result where each pixel that is drawn in the operating system will map perfectly to a pixel on the physical display.

The sounds logical and rational, but is not actually correct. Basically, vector graphics like text are not drawn then scaled, they are scaled then drawn (at full 5120x2880 resolution)