MacBook Pro Retina 13 inch on external display

[mpernea]

Hello,

I am in doubt concerning this problem: if I connect my MacBook Pro Retina 13 inch to an external display of 27 inch with a resolution of 1920x1200, will the text and images and everything as a whole look as sharp and as clear as it does on my MacBook? Or is it necessary to buy an external display which has a high resolution as the MacBook?

What happens if I connect it to a 24 inch display?

And the last question, how is it recommended to connect it to the display to get the best out of it? HDMI cable or DVI?

Thanks!

 

[greenythebeast]

Hello,

I am in doubt concerning this problem: if I connect my MacBook Pro Retina 13 inch to an external display of 27 inch with a resolution of 1920x1200, will the text and images and everything as a whole look as sharp and as clear as it does on my MacBook? Or is it necessary to buy an external display which has a high resolution as the MacBook?

What happens if I connect it to a 24 inch display?

And the last question, how is it recommended to connect it to the display to get the best out of it? HDMI cable or DVI?

As for the HDMI vs DVI issue, they'll be pretty much the exact same except HDMI can carry audio and DVI can't.

Thanks!

It will definitely look worse on the large monitor. It's quite noticeable. If you want to have no obvious change in how it looks from monitor to monitor, you'll need to buy a monitor that has a similar PPI as the retina screen.

 

[mpernea]

So I take that it would probably be a better option to choose a 24" screen with 1920 x 1200 resolution than a 27" screen with the same resolution, right?

Do you have any recommendations?

Thanks!

 

[Rizzm]

Resolution and pixel density are relative to how far you sit from the display. You probably sit a lot closer to the MacBook screen than an external monitor so it won't look too bad.

I wouldn't think anyway.

 

[mpernea]

In terms of connecting the MacBook to an external display, what type of connection would you guys recommend? Is there any difference in quality between DVI and HDMI? Also, what's the thing with different versions of HDMI cables?

I don't want to buy an adaptor for DVI if it is not better quality than the HDMI, because my MacBook has a HDMI port and I also have a HDMI cable.