Best Monitor for New Mini

[jev425]

An update on my ViewSonic VP2768-4K. Tech support asked me to hook it up via DisplayPort thinking it might work at 4K even though the OSD says DP 1.1 (on or off). I bought a 4k@60Hz-rated USB C to DP cable. I get no signal at the monitor when switching to the DP input via the OSD, whether the DP 1.1 option is turned on or off.
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I had a similar issue with a Samsung monitor and with my new viewsonic monitor. What ended up working/fixing the problem was turning off the Mac mini completely(I think I also unplugged it from power), unplugging the DP cable from both the mini and monitor, wait a minute or two, then connect the DP cable to both devices, and turn everything back on

 

[Stephen.R]

while 4k feels at home on 22-24“. However unless you’re willing to spend a fortune on LG‘s Ultrafine displays or settle for low PPI displays, this is the reality: 4k at 27“

Or get either the LG or Dell 24” 4K.

 

[pfx7]

An update on my ViewSonic VP2768-4K. Tech support asked me to hook it up via DisplayPort thinking it might work at 4K even though the OSD says DP 1.1 (on or off). I bought a 4k@60Hz-rated USB C to DP cable. I get no signal at the monitor when switching to the DP input via the OSD, whether the DP 1.1 option is turned on or off.

So I'd say this monitor it not compatible with Mac via DP. HDMI seems to work well, however I'm disturbed that Viewsonic would ship out a monitor (and this is a brand new model to the market for late 2018) showing DP 1.1 only!

Tech support also asked me to update the firmware using a Windows machine if the DP @ 4k didn't work. They didn't seem to have any confidence as to what the result would be. I haven't tried that (it's not a convenient notion for me), and I may not bother before just returning the monitor.

I almost bought the VP2785-4K. The bad tech support makes me makes me glad I didn't go for it.
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Earlier in this thread there were arguments that 4K is not optimal in 27” monitors — ?

It is a subjective thing, like setting your room's thermostat. The optimum temp for one person may be horrible for another. Best thing would for a person is to buy a monitor from a place that has an easy return policy. If they like it, they keep it. If they don't, they return it or exchange it for a new one.

 

[Duncan68]

I bought an Acer G257HU. It's 25" and 2560 x 1440 (I'm scaling to 2048 x 1152 for my old eyes.).

One big disappointment is that I discovered a section of the back of the monitor where all the ports are had several scratches, that you could only see with a bright light. I know the monitor was new because it had the plastic on the glossy parts that you have to peel off.

I complained (bought it from Amazon) and they gave me a 10% refund. It took some of the sting off, but it still bothers me as it takes some of the pleasure out of owning a new toy. I'll get over it, though. I definitely didn't want to have to ship it back and wait on a replacement. The screen is perfect so far, with no dead pixels and no backlight bleed that I can see.

 

[Sarpanch]

It should be fantastic for those uses. I run it natively at 2560x1440 via the included hdmi cable and have no issue with the size of the fonts/ui elements. Very crisp and clear compared to the VS239 I was using previously. Feels like the sweet spot for 1440p w/ regard to screen real estate + PPI.

In terms of calibration, I kept it at Standard and turned down the brightness to a comfortable level. Played around a bit, but other than dropping G and B down 1% and 2% respectively, left it alone. You could not touch anything out of the box and be more than happy with it, really.

As long as you don't do any gaming, it's a pretty tough monitor to beat at this price point -- although I did get it on sale for $240 locally. Still worth it at $300 I think, but there are others in that price range worth consideration depending on your needs. If you're not using a monitor mount, you'll also really appreciate the included stand.

Last thing, a monitor that essentially has a built in USB 3.0 hub is pretty handy given the MM only has 2 such ports.

I bought the Dell U2518D monitor on sale from Best Buy earlier this year. I do light photo-editing for my personal use, and was looking for a 1440p IPS monitor and so far I have been very impressed. Originally used it with a 2012 Mini but with my 2018 Mini, the in built USB hub comes in very handy.

 

[thirdsun]

Or get either the LG or Dell 24” 4K.

Yep, the P2415Q is still on my radar, but I really don‘t like its dated, bezel-heavy appearance and the fact that it‘s rather old. Pricing is attractive however.

The Ultrafine is too expensive, hard to find (at least in europe) and due to its single Thunderbolt input too limited (I need to connect a PC as well).

I‘d like to see pricing information for the upcoming BenQ PD2720U - otherwise my current favorites are Dell P2415Q (budget option), BenQ PD2700U (reasonable option) or Eizo EV2785 (premium option) - since I need two of them those Eizos are an unlikely option though.

 

[Stephen.R]

I really don‘t like its dated, bezel-heavy appearance and the fact that it‘s rather old.

I can’t comment on the bezel issue - I don’t notice them much but I use dark mode so it all kind of blends together.

Age wise the only “downside” I see is that it doesn’t support daisy chained DP (MST) @ 4K60Hz - it forces 30Hz. I don’t think macOS supports MST for daisy chaining anyway,but it’d mean you could use a simple USB-c to DP Aadapter rather than needing two adapters or a dual DP adapter like I bought.

 

[Ploki]

Yep, the P2415Q is still on my radar, but I really don‘t like its dated, bezel-heavy appearance and the fact that it‘s rather old. Pricing is attractive however.

The Ultrafine is too expensive, hard to find (at least in europe) and due to its single Thunderbolt input too limited (I need to connect a PC as well).

I‘d like to see pricing information for the upcoming BenQ PD2720U - otherwise my current favorites are Dell P2415Q (budget option), BenQ PD2700U (reasonable option) or Eizo EV2785 (premium option) - since I need two of them those Eizos are an unlikely option though.

fwiw, the 22" LG has usb-c that can be converted to display port.
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I can’t comment on the bezel issue - I don’t notice them much but I use dark mode so it all kind of blends together.

Age wise the only “downside” I see is that it doesn’t support daisy chained DP (MST) @ 4K60Hz - it forces 30Hz. I don’t think macOS supports MST for daisy chaining anyway,but it’d mean you could use a simple USB-c to DP Aadapter rather than needing two adapters or a dual DP adapter like I bought.

I thought he P2415Q has a dp1.4 option not enabled by default, for a single cable 4K@60HZ operation

 

[thirdsun]

fwiw, the 22" LG has usb-c that can be converted to display port.
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I thought he P2415Q has a dp1.4 option not enabled by default, for a single cable 4K@60HZ operation

I think it‘s the HDMI version you can optionally bump from 1.4 to 2.0 depending on the hardware revision of your unit. See here: https://www.dell.com/support/articl...ith-hdmi-20-that-support-4k-x-2k-60hz?lang=en

 

[Ploki]

I think it‘s the HDMI version you can optionally bump from 1.4 to 2.0 depending on the hardware revision of your unit. See here: https://www.dell.com/support/articl...ith-hdmi-20-that-support-4k-x-2k-60hz?lang=en

ah okay! must've mixed them up.

 

[Stephen.R]

fwiw, the 22" LG has usb-c that can be converted to display port.
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I thought he P2415Q has a dp1.4 option not enabled by default, for a single cable 4K@60HZ operation

The dell has DP 1.2 by default which is fine for 4K@60hz. It also supports DP MST to do two displays via a single cable (daisy chaining) but this mode forces them to 30Hz. I guess it needs more bandwidth for 2 4k@60hz streams over a single cable. macOS doesn’t support this well anyway, afaik.

 

[Chiromac81]

fwiw, the 22" LG has usb-c that can be converted to display port.
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I thought he P2415Q has a dp1.4 option not enabled by default, for a single cable 4K@60HZ operation

How come a lot of people talk about/recommend/have experience with the P2415Q with the mini but the P2715Q or even the P2718Q rarely gets talked about.

If the 24 is good with this mini and the dell is a good monitor, why wouldn’t more people opt for the same monitor but in the 27 inch size? Isn’t more real estate on the same type of monitor preferred or is there a downside explaining why it’s mostly only the 24 that gets mentioned?

 

[Stephen.R]

How come a lot of people talk about/recommend/have experience with the P2415Q with the mini but the P2715Q or even the P2718Q rarely gets talked about.

If the 24 is good with this mini and the dell is a good monitor, why wouldn’t more people opt for the same monitor but in the 27 inch size? Isn’t more real estate on the same type of monitor preferred or is there a downside explaining why it’s mostly only the 24 that gets mentioned?

Because it’s the same resolution at a larger physical size, so it’s lower ppi.

Also, 2x24” is basically perfect for me - neither 1x27” or 2x27” would work as wel. 2x 24”-ish is almost gold-locks for me in terms of monitor setup.

 

[trifid]

How come a lot of people talk about/recommend/have experience with the P2415Q with the mini but the P2715Q or even the P2718Q rarely gets talked about.

If the 24 is good with this mini and the dell is a good monitor, why wouldn’t more people opt for the same monitor but in the 27 inch size? Isn’t more real estate on the same type of monitor preferred or is there a downside explaining why it’s mostly only the 24 that gets mentioned?

I own the P2715Q and also find it odd regarding the 24” talk, I use it scaled at 2304 x 1296, I find this very useful for Adobe apps to fit all the palettes.

P2715Q is great, probably one of the best value for money nowadays, but the large bezels do look pretty dated.

 

[Easttime]

I just bought the 27” U2719DC, running at its native QHD 2560 x 1440 at 60 Hz. Very happy with it. Enjoying the USB-C connectivity to my 2018 mini. It is very sleek looking to boot. Simultaneously running my work Windows laptop connected to the monitor via a mini-DP to DP cable. I have a second 27” running off the mini via HDMI. Using a Bluetooth Logitech 3 in 1 keyboard so I can go back and forth between the Apple and Windows systems with ease.

 

[thirdsun]

How come a lot of people talk about/recommend/have experience with the P2415Q with the mini but the P2715Q or even the P2718Q rarely gets talked about.

If the 24 is good with this mini and the dell is a good monitor, why wouldn’t more people opt for the same monitor but in the 27 inch size? Isn’t more real estate on the same type of monitor preferred or is there a downside explaining why it’s mostly only the 24 that gets mentioned?

As @Stephen.R explained the same resolution in a smaller frame leads to higher pixel density, which makes the 24" version stand out. It's also one of the very few monitors with those 4k at 24" attributes. Meanwhile there's no shortage of 27" 4K displays, which makes the P2715Q less remarkable.
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I own the P2715Q and also find it odd regarding the 24” talk, I use it scaled at 2304 x 1296, I find this very useful for Adobe apps to fit all the palettes.

P2715Q is great, probably one of the best value for money nowadays, but the large bezels do look pretty dated.

Again, nothing wrong with that display. It's just that there is an endless supply of very similar displays available while the smaller P2415Q offers a somewhat unique size and therefor the same resolution at higher pixel density.

 

[Ploki]

How come a lot of people talk about/recommend/have experience with the P2415Q with the mini but the P2715Q or even the P2718Q rarely gets talked about.

If the 24 is good with this mini and the dell is a good monitor, why wouldn’t more people opt for the same monitor but in the 27 inch size? Isn’t more real estate on the same type of monitor preferred or is there a downside explaining why it’s mostly only the 24 that gets mentioned?

If you don't run it at scaled resolution (which i don't want to), then 27" will just look larger and less sharp, and wont have more screen real estate.

24" is the closest non specialised to iMac/MacBook pro pixel density/sharpness

 

[Chiromac81]

If you don't run it at scaled resolution (which i don't want to), then 27" will just look larger and less sharp, and wont have more screen real estate.

24" is the closest non specialised to iMac/MacBook pro pixel density/sharpness

Thanks for the answer guys

Also, I know the percentage difference but as for real world perceived differences-if I was coming from a 2014 iMac 21.5 screen, Will the 24 inch screen seem like a little or a lot of an upgrade in size at the same distance?

Like the idea of a 24 inch 4K screen but don’t want to kick myself if the size seems like I’m using a 21.5 inch screen-want bigger for more apps open without being crowded

 

[Stephen.R]

Will the 24 inch screen seem like a little or a lot of an upgrade in size at the same distance?

It's almost exactly half-way between the 21.5" and the 27". Also - it probably depends on what resolution you run. Apple sets the 'default' (aka "Best for this Display" of the screen at 1920x1080@2x, so it would look like the same real-estate on a slightly larger canvas (and much crisper as it's "@2x"). Personally I like these displays scaled to "looks like 2560x1440", which is basically the screen real estate of Apple's default for a 5K/27" screen, but squeezed into a 24" canvas.

Please note: the non-2x scaling will affect performance. I have two of these screens - one is no problem on the Mini. 2, and it has some hiccups, even with maximum memory available (I have a BTO with i7/64GB/512GB). It's enough of an issue that I went back to trying the default res for a couple of weeks.

 

[Ploki]

Thanks for the answer guys

Also, I know the percentage difference but as for real world perceived differences-if I was coming from a 2014 iMac 21.5 screen, Will the 24 inch screen seem like a little or a lot of an upgrade in size at the same distance?

Like the idea of a 24 inch 4K screen but don’t want to kick myself if the size seems like I’m using a 21.5 inch screen-want bigger for more apps open without being crowded

get a 27" 5K then.

If you run it native, 24" and 27" 4K will look the same, and if you run scaled, performance will suffer.

 

[Chiromac81]

get a 27" 5K then.

If you run it native, 24" and 27" 4K will look the same, and if you run scaled, performance will suffer.

The above post just said that at one screen 24 4K, the performance won’t suffer

 

[Robejazz]

As @Stephen.R explained the same resolution in a smaller frame leads to higher pixel density, which makes the 24" version stand out. It's also one of the very few monitors with those 4k at 24" attributes. Meanwhile there's no shortage of 27" 4K displays, which makes the P2715Q less remarkable.
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Again, nothing wrong with that display. It's just that there is an endless supply of very similar displays available while the smaller P2415Q offers a somewhat unique size and therefor the same resolution at higher pixel density.

I think I am in the High PPI camp.... (I am not a Pro Photographer) - I like a crisp screen. I was the one you commented to about my LG 4K (The one from apple). I am struggling with what reasonably priced monitor to get that will Gove me the same experience at 27" - So many confusing choices .... Any Recommendation for me?

 

[Stephen.R]

I think I am in the High PPI camp.... (I am not a Pro Photographer) - I like a crisp screen. I was the one you commented to about my LG 4K (The one from apple). I am struggling with what reasonably priced monitor to get that will Gove me the same experience at 27" - So many confusing choices .... Any Recommendation for me?

At 27" to get the same experience as you have with your LG 4k, you need to look at the LG 5K. An alternative is a 4K 27" and non-integer scaling (i.e. you can run a 4K at "looks like 2560x1440" which is the 'default' for Macs with a 5K/27", but it's not going to be quite as crisp, and it's more of a performance hit. With one, it should be fine. If you want to run that and your existing 21", I would be surprised if a Mini will do it 'perfectly', after what I've seen with these two 4Ks.

 

[thirdsun]

I think I am in the High PPI camp.... (I am not a Pro Photographer) - I like a crisp screen. I was the one you commented to about my LG 4K (The one from apple). I am struggling with what reasonably priced monitor to get that will Gove me the same experience at 27" - So many confusing choices .... Any Recommendation for me?

Basically what @Stephen.R already said. The same experience on a 27“ screen requires 5k. Unfortunately those displays are rare and expensive. LG‘s Ultrafine 5k as well as the iMac itself are the obvious options.

Personally, I wouldn’t recommend running a non-2x scaled resolution.

Are you looking to replace your Ultrafine 4k? I think it might actually be cheaper to add a second Ultrafine 4k, maybe refurbished or second hand. Still as crisp but actually more screen real estate than a single, expensive 5k screen. If you can live with slightly less pixel density there are of course a lot of affordable to choose from: 4k / 27“ (slightly too large at 2x scaling unless your sight is limited or you’re sitting far away) or the mentioned Dell P2415Q 4k at 24“ (perfect for most people at 2x scaling). Get two of those to for increased screen real estate.

 

[Ploki]

The above post just said that at one screen 24 4K, the performance won’t suffer

Performance suffers at scaled no matter how many screens, whether it’s noticeable or not depends on the GPU
(I tried on internal mbp screen on gt650m)

Also, 24” dell will have less screen real estate at native than the imac 21,5”..