Alternative to iMac or Cinema Display?

[Sverkel]

Right now I have an iMac but i'm considering to replace it with a MacBook Air. But I won't have to lose the feeling of an iMac and my thought was to buy a good display of the same size (27 "or larger) but i'm a little unsure what to look for. I've tried to buy a Philips 27" with the same resolution as my iMac but when I connected my girlfriend's MacBook Air to the DVI cable the picture was not as good as on my iMac. It was not nearly as sharp on my iMac and have doubts about it maybe due to the reflective screen on my iMac?

Can anyone tell me what I should go for if I need a display that is not inferior to my iMac but do not cost the same as a Cinema Display?

 

[robgendreau]

There are tons of IPS displays at 2560x1440 out there that use essentially the same display panel as your iMac. I got one from Monoprice that is fantastic.

The price differences usually have to do with connections, and controls. Some have anti-glare coatings; some don't. What you wanna look at is entirely subjective, but you should be able to get something as good as that iMac display (but not a retina iMac).

 

[RedCroissant]

Right now I have an iMac but i'm considering to replace it with a MacBook Air. But I won't have to lose the feeling of an iMac and my thought was to buy a good display of the same size (27 "or larger) but i'm a little unsure what to look for. I've tried to buy a Philips 27" with the same resolution as my iMac but when I connected my girlfriend's MacBook Air to the DVI cable the picture was not as good as on my iMac. It was not nearly as sharp on my iMac and have doubts about it maybe due to the reflective screen on my iMac?

Can anyone tell me what I should go for if I need a display that is not inferior to my iMac but do not cost the same as a Cinema Display?

Which iMac do you own now? The reason I ask is because there are a few iMacs that can be used as an external display as well by Display port devices (which a macbook Air would be).

 

[Sverkel]

@robgendreau... The Phillips screen I got was that some res. but the image looked unsharp, I think due to the anti-reflective screen, is that possible? Also what is it the IPS display does that the others don't?

Will I be able to use the 11" MacBook Air with an 4K display or will that be useless? What res. does the 11" MacBook Air support?

I can see that the 11" MacBook Air supports res. up to 1366 x 768 but does that mean that if I hook it up to a 4K display then I will only get the 1366 x 768 res. on the 4K display or will OS X take over and go for the highest res.?

@RedCroissant... My iMac is from the end of 2009 (the first one with all metal design) but i'm not interested to use my iMac as a display, I would like to sell it and use that money to buy the new screen and the MacBook Air, not all at once but it would be a nice contribution