Would be easier if there were more than the very few available 220ppi displays to choose from.
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mini paired with Hauwei's new 4.5K 3:2 monitor = iMac killer?
- Thread starter tornado99
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As I understand yes, they are! Pls check the screenshot (anyway SwitchResX gives the same info on both Macs)
So I took an M1 MBA from my wife's sis for a test and did some further investigation. Here's interesting and kinda unexpected things which I've came up to:
1) There is absolutely zero difference in hdpi and non-hipdi scaling results & picture quality on MateView (and I believe on any other 4k monitor of around 27"-28") between M1 and M1 Pro (and Max obviously) in general and in terms of sharpness/blurriness in particular — they are literally the same! Thats good news for me cause now I know for sure that there is no problem with my new MBP, it's just some Apple Silicon issue. The only difference is that the M1 can't scale to more than 3008 pixels in width which we already know.
2) At the moment Apple Silicon Macs graphics drivers and scaling algorhythms are bit more demanding than Intel Mac ones in terms of scaling and resolutions — in the ideal case you should use integer hipdi (aka true retina) 2x scaling. Non-integer hidpi scaling is not bad though, but it has some peculiarity which almost equally effects the built-in and external screens (more on that pls read below)
3) The peculiarity is that in case of non-integer hidpi scaling the Apple Silicon macs provide a slightly more blurry picture when it is about white letters on black (and actually any dark) backgrounds! The white letters gain a barely noticeable shadow or black inking (you name it) which is perceived as that blur, but there is no visible difference (no shadows) in more common case of black (or grey) letters on white backgrounds! That's very surprising. I just always use dark themes everywhere in macOS that's why I noticed it. As I've already said this effects both the MateVew and the internal screens of Macbooks (I checked it attentively) but it is just more noticeable on MateView — this is no surprise because it's PPI is lower than on Macs.
For those of you who are interested I've made some pics (click to download .zip) of MateView's screen with intel vs with m1 pro to try to show these things. The pics are not very informative but they are the most I could get from 13 pro max camera with 2x zoom (pics of telegram settings) and with macro (pics of monitor resolution settings). Pls consider that some blur is caused by the shaking of iphone in my hand.
PS I ended up setting the 3008x2005 non-integer hidpi resolution for MateView for black theme with white font — the fonts are sharp and look better than on 3360x2240 and there is still good amount of space.
PPS does it look like an issue we should report of to Apple or at least create a separate thread here or on reddit?
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No screen is the "same" however calibration is pretty much when using a dual setup monitor if you are sensitive to the colours like me
A couple of new product launches that don't actually change much:
Hauwei are launching a new Mateview Standard Edition, which is exactly the same but dropping bluetooth, NFC, and wireless projection. Hopefully might be a bit cheaper.
Apple have launched their own 27 inch 5K monitor which costs the same as 5 Mateviews. It's exactly the same resolution as the LG Ultrafines, and still 16:9 so you can't view a full page of a word document all at once.
Hauwei are launching a new Mateview Standard Edition, which is exactly the same but dropping bluetooth, NFC, and wireless projection. Hopefully might be a bit cheaper.
Apple have launched their own 27 inch 5K monitor which costs the same as 5 Mateviews. It's exactly the same resolution as the LG Ultrafines, and still 16:9 so you can't view a full page of a word document all at once.
Not wishing to be pedantic, but it seems like the pricing of the Apple Studio Display is 1,499 which makes 3 x MateViews rather than 5 if the MV is priced at 499? Unless I'm missing something?
I bought mine for 499... Also it's not 1499 since you'll need to include the height adjusted to be compared properly
I love my Mateview, every day I like it more. The 4:3, the pixel clear 4k+, it's amazing
No current Mac can do more than 60Hz on external displays. ProMotion is limited to the internal ones. Edit: [I meant on external displays above 4K. All Macs appear to be doing 5K and 6K at 60 Hz].
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Wait boat for 2023! I would loveeeee 5K120hz, that's what I'm hoping to upgrade to!
I was referring to the Studio + height-adjusting stand, and the Mateview did get down to 350 euros incl cashback at one point. But now, probably closer to 3 Mateviews!
Possibly via Amazon US using their stock in Europe.
Sorry, I meant at 5K or 6K. I assume your monitor is lower than this. Perhaps things are different at 4K, but I am quite sure that no Mac can stretch to 5K 120Hz yet, and we do not yet have the cabling for it yet either.
What? Of course you can. I can display four at once on mine, at 100% zoom.
I tried viewing a full page of a word document on a 27 inch iMac (without hiding the ribbon) and it wasn't comfortable to read so I don't see why the Studio would be any different. 16:9 is simply the wrong ratio for documents, pdfs etc.
I also remember seeing a video comparing working with an excel spreadsheet between an iMac and the Mateview, the extra lines you can fit on screen at the same time is considerable.
I also remember seeing a video comparing working with an excel spreadsheet between an iMac and the Mateview, the extra lines you can fit on screen at the same time is considerable.
I watched Apple's latest event with great interest, and was slightly relieved that the Studio Display is $1499+ as I now have no buyers remorse about the Mateview. If the Apple display was well under $1000, like the previous Thunderbolt display was, I might have been tempted. But I don't believe it will be 3 x better than the Mateview (as it is 3 x as expensive.) While the built in camera is a plus, I think Apple missed a trick not including Bluetooth, it's a really great feature of the Mateview in this new world of hybrid working where I am regularly switching between work and home computers.
Well even with the shipping it's still half the price of the Apple display. Obviously nobody has seen the Apple display in person yet, so can't compare image quality until it's released. I'm sure it will be better, but will it be that much better? And I think I would struggle to go back to 16:9 now.
Oops saw your edit — correct.
TB3/4 doesn't have the bandwidth for 5K120 so it's not just a Mac issue. Hopefully we get DisplayPort 2.0 soon so we can get that sweet 5k/6k at 120Hz. Apple may well do something themselves to give extra bandwidth, as they did with the XDR.
I would struggle frankly. I mean let's not forget the Mateview has 4k+, it's so crisp, yes I'm sure 5k is better but just marginally. I would go with the Mateview
So what's the easiest way to get one of these in the US? Amazon.co.uk is sold out.