1 monitor setup: 32" 4K or Ultrawide?

[CookieFlow]

Hi,

So I finally got my mac Mini "2020".

I'm looking to get a monitor but can't really decide between a 34" 3440*1440 ultrawide (maybe I'll consider a 38" UW) or a 32" 4K.

On paper a 4K screen has more screen space but that would really depend if you need scaling or not.
I know I am perfectly comfortable with 34" UW at native resolution. And I had a 27" 4K which needed scaling because the text was too small.

-Is it reasonable to run a 32" 4K at native resolution or will everything be way too small?
-If you need scaling, what will be the actual usable screen space compared to a 3440*1440 UW?


What I do the most is a splitscreen either dual browser tabs or Visual Studio Code/Xcode + a browser tab.
A reasonable amount of content watching, some photo editing and the occasional gaming.

I was pretty set on a UW, but now I'm having doubts.
Mainly because I'm not sure I want a TV in my new place, and this may be my only screen.
The black bars on the sides during any video content is very annoying. Also I may get a PS5 which would be problematic with a UW.


Any advice would be appreciated.
Also if you have recommendations for monitors (having USB-C power of at least 50W is a huge bonus)

For now for the UW I'm looking at the samsung C34 which is about 650e.
For my 32" 4K I was looking at Samsung Space Monitor / BenQ EW3270U on a budget around 400e. Or debating if worth splurging to a Dell 3219Q for about 800e.





Thanks !

 

[Juicy Box]

I am a fan of the ultra-wide.

I am currently using a curved 30" ultra-wide to use with a Late 2011 17" MBP, and I love the size and dimension of it.

This is it:

SCEPTRE C305B-200UN 30" 200Hz LED Curved Gaming Monitor - Newegg.com

Buy SCEPTRE C305B-200UN 30" UltraWide HD 2560 x 1080 2K Resolution 200Hz 3 x HDMI, DisplayPort Built-In Speakers FreeSync Technology Backcover Anti-Glare LED Backlit Curved Gaming Monitor with fast shipping and top-rated customer service. Once you know, you Newegg!

www.newegg.com

While I think the quality of the display isn't as nice as my 27" Late 2012 iMac's display, I really enjoy both the size and it being ultra-wide.

 

[halfcamerageek]

Is it reasonable to run a 32" 4K at native resolution or will everything be way too small?

A 32 inch 4K monitor would have a little higher PPI than the 34 inch 1440P ultrawide you're used to: 137PPI vs. 110PPI. I think it's still legible if you have good eyesight, but it's definitely on the small side. You can work around it by using a larger font on your editor. It would be amazing for watching videos, though.

The Dell 3219Q is an IPS monitor while the BenQ EW3270U uses a VA panel. Generally speaking, IPS has better color accuracy and specially viewing angles for photography. That Dell is much, much better than your other options for photography. I recently wrote about choosing a monitor for photo editing and while that Dell is not among my recommendations, a lot of information there still applies.

I'm not a fan of using uneven, non-integer scaled resolutions. I feel it introduces some aliasing artifacts and they're pretty much visible in fine text of photo details.

Hope that helps.

 

[CookieFlow]

A 32 inch 4K monitor would have a little higher PPI than the 34 inch 1440P ultrawide you're used to: 137PPI vs. 110PPI. I think it's still legible if you have good eyesight, but it's definitely on the small side. You can work around it by using a larger font on your editor. It would be amazing for watching videos, though.

The Dell 3219Q is an IPS monitor while the BenQ EW3270U uses a VA panel. Generally speaking, IPS has better color accuracy and specially viewing angles for photography. That Dell is much, much better than your other options for photography. I recently wrote about choosing a monitor for photo editing and while that Dell is not among my recommendations, a lot of information there still applies.

I'm not a fan of using uneven, non-integer scaled resolutions. I feel it introduces some aliasing artifacts and they're pretty much visible in fine text of photo details.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for the info.

While I understand that 4K has more pixels, I'm mostly curious if after scaling up you end up having actual less usable space than a 3440*1440, which would reduce the benefits of the 4k ? I think running native 4k without scaling might be a bit too small on a 32".

I'll read your article but I will say I'm not a pixel peeper or anything. Photography is just something I do on holidays.
I had VA and IPS. Honestly I think I prefer VA for the better contrast and better blacks. Viewing angle is never a problem since I'm sitting in front of the panel.

I personally love Dell's for their 0 dead pixel warranty, internal powersupply and overall slim and sharp design.
I'm just a bit unsure if I want to spend 1k vs only 400$ for the BenQ.
Mainly because 4K high refresh are apparently coming at the end of the year/early next year which would probably drastically lower the price of the premium 60HZ.

 

[halfcamerageek]

If photography is not the main use case, I agree with you: a VA panel monitor wouldn't be a problem and the darker blacks help a lot for watching videos. It's hard to justify a more expensive monitor and some of the advantages of the Dell, like wide gamut, may not even be noticeable for your use case. BenQ is a good brand and that model looks like an excellent value.

Regarding the scaling, I have a 27" 4K here and did some tests. MacOS offers a few scaling options for this resolution: 3360 x 1890, 3008 x 1692, 2560 x 1440 and 1920 x 1080. I'm using 1440p and that's ideal for a 27" screen, but I think you could get away with a higher resolution for a 32 inch one. You can calculate PPI easily here and do some comparisons with your current monitor. For example, 32 inch at 3360 x 1890 = 120PPI, 3008 x 1692 = 108PPI, which is about the same as the 34 inch 1440P ultrawide. By using one of those scaled resolutions, you'd lose width and gain a little bit of height compared to the ultrawide.

One way to simulate the actual sizes of the elements is to grab a screenshot of your current screen and reduce it by the PPI ratio between that and the new monitor. For example: current monitor is 110PPI, new one is 130PPI, so everything will be 18% smaller. Grab that screenshot, resize it 18% smaller and show at 100% on your current monitor to get an idea if everything will still be legible.

 

[AAtte]

32” 4k is perfect, no need for any scaling. I run it 100% and no problem what so ever. I have LG 32UL950. It’s great!