What display for mini?

[fightnchkn]

Hey guys,

I know this is a rather heavily covered topic, but I have a specific question concerning monitor resolution. Im looking to upgrade my older 20" iMac with an external screen (I plan on upgrading to a mini soon but i want a screen first) I want to use between a 24" to a 27", and Ill be sitting around 20 inches away from the monitor. The resolution will be 1920 x 1080. Will the 27" monitor look ok at this resolution(or will it look too pixelated) from this distance? Would it be be better to go with the 24? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

[animatedude]

Hey guys,

I know this is a rather heavily covered topic, but I have a specific question concerning monitor resolution. Im looking to upgrade my older 20" iMac with an external screen (I plan on upgrading to a mini soon but i want a screen first) I want to use between a 24" to a 27", and Ill be sitting around 20 inches away from the monitor. The resolution will be 1920 x 1080. Will the 27" monitor look ok at this resolution(or will it look too pixelated) from this distance? Would it be be better to go with the 24? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

trust me,get the 24'' now since it's still available.i just got it along with the new mac Mini and i love it.27'' is too wide too big and 16:9 belong to TVs not monitors.

 

[dolphin842]

Any non-native resolution on an LCD will look pixelated. If you have to use 1920x1080, then the 24" might not work because the aspect ratio of the display is 16:10, not 16:9. Perhaps someone can double-check this, but I think that OS X will stretch the 16:9 image to fit the 16:10 display, which wouldn't look too good. However, if the 24" can display 1920x1080 pixel-for-pixel (i.e. with black bars on the top and bottom), that would work.

A 27" display is really big and if it's too close you can run into field-of-vision problems (i.e. moving your head more often to look at different parts of the screen), though it's less of a problem if you don't wear glasses.

Have you considered getting a smaller 1080p-native display and moving it closer? Dell makes a nice 23" display with the same quality IPS technology in it, for example. You wouldn't have to worry about stretching/pixelation in that case. Also, if you're OK with the quality of your iMac's TN-based monitor, there are plenty of 24" 1080p LCDs out there that use the much more common TN-based panels.

 

[animatedude]

Any non-native resolution on an LCD will look pixelated. If you have to use 1920x1080, then the 24" might not work because the aspect ratio of the display is 16:10, not 16:9. Perhaps someone can double-check this, but I think that OS X will stretch the 16:9 image to fit the 16:10 display, which wouldn't look too good. However, if the 24" can display 1920x1080 pixel-for-pixel (i.e. with black bars on the top and bottom), that would work.

A 27" display is really big and if it's too close you can run into field-of-vision problems (i.e. moving your head more often to look at different parts of the screen), though it's less of a problem if you don't wear glasses.

Have you considered getting a smaller 1080p-native display and moving it closer? Dell makes a nice 23" display with the same quality IPS technology in it, for example. You wouldn't have to worry about stretching/pixelation in that case. Also, if you're OK with the quality of your iMac's TN-based monitor, there are plenty of 24" 1080p LCDs out there that use the much more common TN-based panels.

i just checked there's no 1920x1080 option,the best option is 1920x1200 which i'm using right now.

 

[dolphin842]

Indeed, that would be the native resolution for the 24" and work just fine.

Only other thing to keep in mind is the glossiness of the screen. If your current 20" iMac is the aluminum model and you like the glossy, then the 24" will be pretty much the same. If you're currently using an older white iMac though, make sure to check out the 24" beforehand to make sure the reflections aren't too distracting.

 

[fightnchkn]

Thanks for all the replies. I've been thinking about this a fair amount and I think Ive decided to go smaller, but run dual monitors. I really dislike glossy screens and its been one of the main reasons I want to get away from the iMac. I was thinking of going with two 21-23 inch monitors with a 1920 x 1080 resolution to run with a new mac mini. 1920 x 1080 would be native for the mini right? Any recommendation on cheaper monitors with a matte display? Thanks for the help.

 

[Giuly]

Thanks for all the replies. I've been thinking about this a fair amount and I think Ive decided to go smaller, but run dual monitors. I really dislike glossy screens and its been one of the main reasons I want to get away from the iMac. I was thinking of going with two 21-23 inch monitors with a 1920 x 1080 resolution to run with a new mac mini. 1920 x 1080 would be native for the mini right? Any recommendation on cheaper monitors with a matte display? Thanks for the help.

The Mini has no native resolution:

System Preferences -> Display, pick one. (If you plug in a suitable display, this would even show 2560x1440 and that kind of stuff)

The display is what has a native resolution, the numbers of pixels that assemble the display = it's native resolution. The CinemaView 24 looks nice, btw.
Also, the 27" displays run at 2560x1440.

Cheap matte displays? Acer, Hannspree and Hanns.G.
Just pick one.

 

[dolphin842]

Thanks for all the replies. I've been thinking about this a fair amount and I think Ive decided to go smaller, but run dual monitors. I really dislike glossy screens and its been one of the main reasons I want to get away from the iMac.

Yeah, if you don't like glossy, stay away from the Apple displays. I just returned a 27" iMac last week because I couldn't see anything except reflections.

As Giuly says, there are lots of cheap LCDs to choose from if you want to stick with the TN panels. If the viewing angles on your iMac bother you though, you might want to consider getting an IPS panel. Here's a link to the Dell monitor I mentioned earlier. It's around $320 retail, but if you hang around the Dell Outlet long enough, you can get one refurbished for $250. They come with a 3-year zero-dead pixel warranty as well.

 

[mangrove]

Most of the above suggestions are solid. Just wanted to add that HP also has a newer S-IPS series of LCD matte monitors with 3 year warranty included. You can extend them to 5 years. I think I remember they come in like from 22" up to 30".

There are some threads in here on these.

 

[Baby Mac]

I've got identical Dell 2405FPW (24", circa 2005) displays for home and office, running nicely at 1920x1200. They are not glossy at all. I have not researched new monitors since. Widescreen is great for having multiple windows up at the same time, side-by-side, on one monitor.