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27/32 Inch Screens
- Thread starter ijlakw
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I will probably be the odd man out so take this with that block of salt. I went from a 24" HD Dell monitor to a 27" 4K Dell. In all honesty, looking back I could easily live with a 24" going forward. The display on the 27" has to be scaled to 2560 x 1440 to even be usable to these old eyes. Since the money is spent I will keep the 27" but this experience has told me that 27" is the largest I need or want. YMMV
Maybe that happens but I am using second 27" display beside the 27" iMac. That gives me even more display size and options. A 32" iMac would be too large for that....
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A 4K 27" display is not a good match for a Mac because it results in a bad compromise regarding resolutions. The native resolution of 3840 x 2160 is not only for your eyes unusable and the only sharp 1:2 HiDPI resolution of 1920 x 1080 shows not enough content for a 27" display.
The only option if a native 1440p 27" display (2540 x 1440, but tack sharp compared to 4K scaling) is not sufficient for you would be a 5K 27" display....I have both because I use a second 27" 1440p display with my 5K iMac and the difference is not that big, at least much better than a scaled 4K...
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A 4K 27" display is not a good match for a Mac because it results in a bad compromise regarding resolutions. The native resolution of 3840 x 2160 is not only for your eyes unusable and the only sharp 1:2 HiDPI resolution of 1920 x 1080 shows not enough content for a 27" display.
The only option if a native 1440p 27" display (2540 x 1440, but tack sharp compared to 4K scaling) is not sufficient for you would be a 5K 27" display....I have both because I use a second 27" 1440p display with my 5K iMac and the difference is not that big, at least much better than a scaled 4K...
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Well they could make the screen bigger and bezels smaller, maybe 30” like the old Cinema Display?
I’d rather see a bigger screen in the 21.5” for the current price point, I think that size is just a tad too small.
I’d rather see a bigger screen in the 21.5” for the current price point, I think that size is just a tad too small.
I wouldn't mind a 32" iMac, although I am not sure if I could fit a 32" iMac on my current desk at home.
I agree with some other posts that if the bezel and chin were smaller, then the larger 32" wouldn't be too much bigger than the current 27".
I use two 24" monitors at work, and the split in the middle can be annoying sometimes, I think having one big monitor might be better.
I agree with some other posts that if the bezel and chin were smaller, then the larger 32" wouldn't be too much bigger than the current 27".
I use two 24" monitors at work, and the split in the middle can be annoying sometimes, I think having one big monitor might be better.
- Thank you for clarifying this in such simple terms. I am looking to add a 2nd 27" monitor to my 27" iMac (2017). I can't stretch to a 5K screen, so was looking at 4K monitor. However, following your comments I am now looking at 2540 x 1440 display. It sounds like an IPS screen would be my best option with a DP input. Do you have any recommendations at all?
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Only if you habitually view your screen from 2 inches away through a jeweller’s loupe, and think being able discern individual pixels is somehow “sharper” than seeing a bit of anti-aliasing.
“Looks like 2560x1440” on a 4K display is actually 5k downsampled to 4K, and as such contains a lot more detail than a native 2560x1440 screen. You might get a performance hit if you’re using a Mac with a weak GPU (I’d worry about the Mac Mini) but a decent GPU with its own RAM won’t struggle.
Plus, you get the flexibility of having “looks like” 1080p mode (which is full 4K with double-sized system text and icons) or 1:1 4K (if you’re using a full screen app with its own scaling, a game, 4K video etc.)
You won’t have that flexibility on a 1440p native display - anything other than native 1440p will look very rough.
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That might be a good choice if it suits your needs - but not because it will be “better” than a 4K display in scaled mode - it isn’t*.
(* unless you push the boat out on a pro 1440p display from Eizo or suchlike which may have better colour reproduction and calibration facilities - and probably a higher price tag - than a cheap 4K - but that’s probably irrelevant unless your a graphics pro who is going to run a colour-calibrated workflow and trade resolution for colour accuracy).
I am using a Lenovo ThinkVsion P27H. This is a 1440p IPS Display with USB-C connection which allows a direct connection to the USB-C port of the 2017 iMac. Compared it to several other 27“ displays and it had the best picture...
I would not expect Apple to move away from HiDPI ("Retina") displays and the only option larger than 27" I am aware of is the 34" LG 34WK95U which is 5120x2160 (compared to 5120x2880 for the iMac 5K and UltraFine 27").
Another possible option would be an 8K 31.5" panel like that used in the Dell UP3218K which would offer 4K HiDPI, but that would add thousands to the price considering the monitor alone is close to $4000 on Dell's site.
I use an ASUS ROG PG279Q 27" WQHD 1440p IPS 165Hz as the secondary monitor for my iMac 5K as well as the primary display for my Alienware gaming PC.
Another possible option would be an 8K 31.5" panel like that used in the Dell UP3218K which would offer 4K HiDPI, but that would add thousands to the price considering the monitor alone is close to $4000 on Dell's site.
I use an ASUS ROG PG279Q 27" WQHD 1440p IPS 165Hz as the secondary monitor for my iMac 5K as well as the primary display for my Alienware gaming PC.
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Dell has an "Ultrasharp 32" on the market, which is 32 inches and 8k for about $4000. While I doubt Apple would change their current format, it's nice to know that the panel is currently being manufactured (it exists) and that there is a minuscule possibility of Apple using it.
I personally wouldn't mind a 32" 8k iMac.
https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/sho...18k/apd/210-alez/monitors-monitor-accessories
I personally wouldn't mind a 32" 8k iMac.
https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/sho...18k/apd/210-alez/monitors-monitor-accessories
I have one of those too. For what I do, a 2nd screen is so much better than one huge screen -- it is nice to have one monitor displaying one app while the other monitor displays another app so you can pull information from one screen to the other easily. And the Lenovo screen was inexpensive, super sharp, light and highly adjustable.
Are you running the desktop at native 4K or scaling it down? And if native 4K how does it compare to a 27” 1440 native desktop?
Hey everyone, I'm thinking of building a Mac mini 2018 to lowest specs with the i7 6 core and upgrading RAM to 32gb. I currently own a LG 27" 4k UK650 monitor and I'm wondering if by adding something like the gigabyte gaming box with RX 580 via thunderbolt 3 eGPU would help scale the LG UI to 1440 hiDPI without any lagging. I really don't want to see stutter in youtube 4k streaming or UI elements on my LG monitor. I don't do any gaming so I don't care about that. I just want sharp text, a little more real-estate than 1080 doubled UI, and no stutter when streaming 4k.