display resolution UHD & QHD for mac mini 2018

[D.T.]

Which screen/monitor do u have ?

Posted above:

I just got my "UltraSharp 25 USB-C Monitor: U2520D" today, and my gosh the display is incredible!

@polax75 That almost looks like some kind of underscan[?] I'd say spelunk around in the monitor settings (on the display itself), see if you see some kind of sizing, over/under-scan controls you can adjust.

Maybe something in this menu? Assuming you have a PD2500Q ...

 

[vigyan]

Either keep it 4k or keep it Full HD , basicaly scaling is best when done in integer value only. half of your native resolution. with 32inch 4k is fine. with 27inch 2k is best. check my video for demo

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I finaly bought a QHD 25 inche (benq) for my mac mini. plugged with hdmi. the text looks preety small. I have a good sight. and need to scale it......1080p looks better. so 25 inches qhd without scalling it is not the best. but the images looks good without scalling. a movie 2k without scalling looks very sharp and good. with the scalling the image looks ok. I don t know what it is the best option for 25 Inches. maybe the scalling is needed anyway !
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what do you think? what is the best resolution for a 25 monitor? 4k?

you can always adjust the text size. in your icons, website text, folders, etc. benq displays are brilliant usually in color

 

[polax75]

Either keep it 4k or keep it Full HD , basicaly scaling is best when done in integer value only. half of your native resolution. with 32inch 4k is fine. with 27inch 2k is best. check my video for demo

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you can always adjust the text size. in your icons, website text, folders, etc. benq displays are brilliant usually in color

thanks for your video
32inche is too big for me .2. I really wanted to get a 27 inches screen.
if it is 4k resolution with 27 inches. with native resolution , everything would be too small as you said on your video.
I am wondering if i reduce the resolution with scalling into 2k. 2560*1440. would be look right? or scalling to HD is the only way to go ? are you sure about the retina looks? if you reduce the size to HD. doesn t make it look retina if your screen doesn t support retina. what do u think?

 

[Fishrrman]

You DO NOT want "scaling" with the Mac Mini video output.
You just... don't.

 

[polax75]

You DO NOT want "scaling" with the Mac Mini video output.
You just... don't.

is it that bad? I didn t want to scale the first place but checking options here

 

[DeltaMac]

The ultimate decision is with you. You can try scaling, or use native settings for your BenQ display.
You are the one that needs to be happy here, no one else.
Use the settings that look best to you, and fit how you use your Mac.

What are you doing about your edge-to-edge question?
Can you set your display for native resolution? Your BenQ would be 2560 x 1440
If you can't get there, and you still have the black edge borders, try a different connection (not HMDI)
I would suggest USB-C/Thunderbolt3 (on the mini) to DisplayPort (on your BenQ)
Something like this - https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07RGDJX1G/
That may give you the edge-to-edge image that you should be seeing.

 

[vigyan]

thanks for your video
32inche is too big for me .2. I really wanted to get a 27 inches screen.
if it is 4k resolution with 27 inches. with native resolution , everything would be too small as you said on your video.
I am wondering if i reduce the resolution with scalling into 2k. 2560*1440. would be look right? or scalling to HD is the only way to go ? are you sure about the retina looks? if you reduce the size to HD. doesn t make it look retina if your screen doesn t support retina. what do u think?

4k can be smoothly scaled to Full HD only. forget 2560x1440 unless you buy LG ultra fine 5k display. there is nothing such as supporting retina. its a HiDpi method used by OS at software level. nothing to do with hardware. some people might claim that only certain ppi is retina but if you see over the years apple has constantly reduced that ppi depending on the device they market having retina.
non integer scaling is very hard and heavy on the machine. unless you have egpu Blackmagic pro and you want to constantly dedicate some of its prowess on just rendering your display to strained numbers. as when you push a 4k display to do 2560x1440 in Mac OS. then it first renders everything on 5k then shows you the results. which is definitely not right.
here I am attaching a screen shot from my machine when trying to force such uneven scaling.

 

[Sturman]

I run 2 Dell U2518D displays, they're QHD/2560×1440 and they look terrific, running them at native resolution. Since these are 25" displays, the PPI gets enough of an increase that's it's pretty noticeable over a 1920x1080 of the same size, or a QHD at 27". I find these size and resolution a pretty outstanding mix of: screen real estate, pixel density, price, as well as, being a good match for the Mini in terms of graphic processing (i.e., everything is perky).

I use this machine for general / personal computing, development/design, running VMs / containers.

Oh, FWIW, I'm running both of them off the TB3/USB-C ports via USB-C_to_mDP adapters, and the mDP_to_DP cables supplied from Dell.
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Oh yeah, I'd also say, that I prefer having two displays vs. one larger one, I kind of like splitting things up across physical monitors, and for some tasks, I like being to go full screen (a VM, remote session, etc.), while having another display still fully available. I also being able to position them independently, I keep them turned slightly in so I'm looking at them more straight on (if that makes sense [?]).

Hahaha, and this might sound silly, but I also like being able to see between them, vs. being behind a wall-o-display.

Hi,
Based on your comments, you may be able to give me some advice on a dual monitor set-up.

I have a 2018 Mac mini with a Dell P2419HC FHD IPS monitor. As an amateur sports photographer I want to take advantage of Photo Mechanic and Lightroom's dual screen capabilities by adding a second monitor.

Due to economic and space considerations I need to stay with 24" IPS monitors. Looking at either the Dell U2419HC (FHD) or Dell P2421D (QHD). My question is - will the Mac mini be OK with two different resolution screens or do I need to stick with 2 x FHD monitors? It will be mainly be photos with some text on the second monitor. QHD gives more real estate whereas U series FHD better colour capabilities.

 

[AlphaCentauri]

I have a 27" 4K monitor and the text looks fantastic. The text is crisp and sharp.

I have LG 34” 5K2K (5120x2160) and I run it as Retina (2560x1080). That is 163ppi but as I sit a bit further from the screen, the text size is perfect and everything is sharp. 27” 4K is also 163ppi so for some people this is just good enough - really depends on age, eyesight and distance from screen.

 

[joevt]

I have a 2018 Mac mini with a Dell P2419HC FHD IPS monitor. As an amateur sports photographer I want to take advantage of Photo Mechanic and Lightroom's dual screen capabilities by adding a second monitor.

Due to economic and space considerations I need to stay with 24" IPS monitors. Looking at either the Dell U2419HC (FHD) or Dell P2421D (QHD). My question is - will the Mac mini be OK with two different resolution screens or do I need to stick with 2 x FHD monitors? It will be mainly be photos with some text on the second monitor. QHD gives more real estate whereas U series FHD better colour capabilities.

You can connect 3 displays (two from USB-C/Thunderbolt (DisplayPort 1.2), one from HDMI (HDMI 2.0)) of any size (up to UHD) to the Mac mini 2018. If you want more than that, then connect an eGPU.

 

[D.T.]

Hi,
Based on your comments, you may be able to give me some advice on a dual monitor set-up.

I have a 2018 Mac mini with a Dell P2419HC FHD IPS monitor. As an amateur sports photographer I want to take advantage of Photo Mechanic and Lightroom's dual screen capabilities by adding a second monitor.

Due to economic and space considerations I need to stay with 24" IPS monitors. Looking at either the Dell U2419HC (FHD) or Dell P2421D (QHD). My question is - will the Mac mini be OK with two different resolution screens or do I need to stick with 2 x FHD monitors? It will be mainly be photos with some text on the second monitor. QHD gives more real estate whereas U series FHD better colour capabilities.

You can pretty much "mix and match", different spec displays, you can even run two of the same displays at different resolutions. At some point on a '12 Mini I had a FHD, and an old 1680x1050 res 23", and it worked just fine.

I do like the resolution / PPI bump from FHD to QHD, while it's not dramatic as going to 4K, it's noticeable on text, smaller UI elements, and generally they're not too much more than FHD.

 

[Fishrrman]

Sturman --
Re post 33 above...

Instead of two 24" displays, have you given any thought to going with ONE 32" 1440p (QHD) display instead...?

 

[Boyd01]

I have a 32" BenQ 1440p screen and love it. But I don't see how that addresses what @Sturman wants, "to take advantage of Photo Mechanic and Lightroom's dual screen capabilities".