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dannyx

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 1, 2014
51
6
I want to upgrade my monitor, with 32" 2560 x 1600 / 32" 2560 x 1440 / 4k 28 inches 3840 x 2160

One of those should be :
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824260132

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824014372

The monitor i have now, is BenQ GW2760HS / res. 1920 x 1080

Do you think, the fonts, generally speaking, would look better / sharper / crisper, on 2560 x 1600 / 2560 x 1440, than 1920 x 1080 ?

I tried everything possible, on my 1080p monitor, but i don't really like the way the fonts look like. They look blurry. I googled a lot of forums, about. But still no result. I tried with the commands "defaults write -g AppleFontSmoothing -int 1" 2 /3 / 4 / as well, but the fonts still looks blurry.

Could you advice me, please ? What monitor would you recommend, to have a close / same / quality, like Retina Display ?

What about the 28 inches / 4k displays ?

I wonder how the fonts look on 4k display. I don't mean the font size, but the quality. Are they getting close to Retina Display ?

How are the fonts looking on iMac 27 inches / 2560 x 1440 / ??
Are they looking better than 1920 x 1080 monitor / Hackintosh ?
If i would have a monitor with 2560 x 1440, would the fonts looks same like iMac 27 ?

As you can see in the attached image, there are 3 displays / comparisons
1. 15 inches / 16:9 / 2880 x 1800 resolution ( MacBookPro Retina )

2. 28 inches / 16:9 / 3840 x 2160 resolution ( 4 k monitor / 28 inches )

3. 27 inches / 16:9 / 1920 x 1080 ( specs for the monitor i have now )

For the 15 inches, there is 53.921 pixels / square inch
For the 28 inches / 4k / there is 24.784 pixels / square inch
Less than the half

That's why i asked you if the 28 inches 4k monitor is getting close to the Retina quality

All i want is to improve the fonts quality. Whatever i'm doing, OS X fonts looks blurry, compared to Windows fonts.

Thanks in advance, i hope someone can give me some advices about
 

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HFoletto

macrumors member
Oct 30, 2013
58
8
Hi, how are you?

Yeah, I know the feeling. When I got my Retina MacbookPro I used my 21.5" 1080p iMac as a second display for a while, and yes, the fonts looked blurry.

Well, that was expected, because my macbook has 220ppi, and the iMac has 102ppi. That's indeed a massive difference.

If you want sharper fonts, the closer you can get nowadays is a 4k monitor, like the Dell UP2414Q. It's a 23.8", 4k, 60hz, IPS, 99% rgb monitor. It has 185ppi, that's indeed a lot.

Since the OS X 10.9.3 you can "Retinaze" (HiDPI) a higher definition monitor to look shaper. This way the 4k monitor could have the workspace of a 1080p monitor however a similar sharpness of your Retina Macbook Screen.

I almost bought this monitor, however I realized I need more space than sharpness, and a 5k (5120x2880, 1440p doubled) monitor is not an option right now, I'm looking to buy the LG 34UM95.

Edit: I would like to share this website with you, it calculates the ppi and at what distance the monitor becomes retina.
 
Last edited:

dannyx

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 1, 2014
51
6
Yes, 4k display would be the best option for me, but bigger than 24 inches
27-28 inches would be okay
I found some 4k displays with IPS but they are pretty expensive, and only 30Hz isn't a good idea, and i don't mean for gaming but for every day use
 

iLLucionist

macrumors regular
Apr 6, 2008
102
39
The Netherlands
If you talk about blurry fonts, there is also the option in the Terminal to tune down OS X's font smoothing a bit:

defaults -currentHost write -globalDomain AppleFontSmoothing -int 2

1 = minimum, 2 = medium, 3 = strong

I did this when I connect my Dell U2413, because I also found the fonts not as crisp as I wanted them. Been using medium font smoothing for over a year now and really like it.

Btw, my approach is not to get a 4K but to get a 32" with the same PPI as a 24" and a good contrast ratio, so I'm thinking about buying BenQ's BL3200PT 32" AVA monitor, but there will be also a Samsung S32D850, rumored to come out in a month or two.
 

dannyx

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 1, 2014
51
6
If you talk about blurry fonts, there is also the option in the Terminal to tune down OS X's font smoothing a bit:

defaults -currentHost write -globalDomain AppleFontSmoothing -int 2

1 = minimum, 2 = medium, 3 = strong

I did this when I connect my Dell U2413, because I also found the fonts not as crisp as I wanted them. Been using medium font smoothing for over a year now and really like it.

Btw, my approach is not to get a 4K but to get a 32" with the same PPI as a 24" and a good contrast ratio, so I'm thinking about buying BenQ's BL3200PT 32" AVA monitor, but there will be also a Samsung S32D850, rumored to come out in a month or two.
I did try with
defaults -currentHost write -globalDomain AppleFontSmoothing -int 2
1 / 2 / 3
but i don't really like the fonts
By the way :i checked the reviews about BenQ BL3200PT / Samsung S32D850
I think BenQ BL3200PT is my next monitor
I'd like to know how the OSX fonts are looking on 32 inches / 1440p, compared to 1080p / 27 inches
Are they looking better ? More crisp / clear / sharp ? What do you think ?
 

dannyx

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 1, 2014
51
6
Here is a PPI comparison between MBP Retina 15 inches vs 4K Display 28 inches
MacBook Retina Display - 226 PPI

4K display 28 inch - 157 PPI

So, what do you think ? Is 4k / 28 inches, getting close to MBP Retina 15 inches, when scaled / HiDPI ?
 

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Kashsystems

macrumors 6502
Jul 23, 2012
358
1
My only problem with 4k 28 inch displays is that at the 700 dollar price range, they are TN panels. After seeing a couple of them, it turned me off to the notion of getting one right now. But if you don't care or need an IPS screen, I would see that as a better investment if Screen Real Estate is most important to you.

As far as personal experience, I would get the Dell. But iI have yet to see that BenQ to compare the 2.
 

dannyx

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 1, 2014
51
6
I don't mind the TN display.
All i want is to have nice / clear / crisp / fonts on the OS X web browsers
They look different when browsing the internet, compared with Windows 7
 
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