MBP Retina + 4K Monitor vs 5K iMac

[imacspert]

I don't really understand what the difference in image quality would be. Is it that the 5K iMac would be sharper or that the text would be bigger? Or would both setups provide a similar visual experience?

Sorry for the ignorance and appreciate your help!

 

[EndlessBuffoonery]

I don't really understand what the difference in image quality would be. Is it that the 5K iMac would be sharper or that the text would be bigger? Or would both setups provide a similar visual experience?

Sorry for the ignorance and appreciate your help!

4K and 5K refer to the total number of pixels used in the display (i.e. 4K is 3840 pixels horizontally and 2160 vertically while 5K has 5120 pixels horizontally and 2880 pixels vertically). So if you have two displays that are the same size (say a 27" 4K vs 27" 5K, that means the display is packing more pixels into the same area and everything should look sharper. Keep in mind that this depends on the size of the display. A 23" display with 4K has 192 pixels/inch while a 32" 5K display has 184 pixels per inch. So in that case, the 23" would look sharper.

 

[imacspert]

Thank you. Will my MBP be able to do 4K at 60Hz via the USB-C connection?