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Monitor Sharpness issue with Mac Mini (HP Pav. 27xi)

E

exy

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 15, 2015
3
0
Hello,

I bought a HP Pavillon 27xi. I connected it via HDMI to my mid 2012 Mac Mini. I am quite disappointed with quality (especially fonts). Is it a settings issue or is that particular monitor not compatible with Mac Mini?

I would appreciate any advice or guidance.

Here are the specs:

HP Pavilion 27xi - LED monitor

Design and feature highlights
Connectivity:HDMI, DVI, VGA
Ergonomic options:25-degree back tilt
Resolution:1,920x1,080 pixels
Aspect ratio:16:9
Audio:n/a
VESA wall-mount support:No
Included video cables:DVI, VGA
Backlight:LED
Panel type:e-IPS
Screen film:Glossy
Number of presets:5
Overdrive: No
Picture options:Brightness, Contrast, Sharpness
Color controls:RGB and 3 color temperature options
Gamma control: No
Additional features:Enhance+
 
exy said:
I bought a HP Pavillon 27xi.
Resolution:1,920x1,080 pixels
Click to expand...

It's a big monitor with a low number of pixels for the size - not the sort of monitor that's going to give you good text. It's probably fine for movies and everyday web and email but it's not going to be much good for say desktop publishing.

M.
 
marclondon said:
It's a big monitor with a low number of pixels for the size - not the sort of monitor that's going to give you good text. It's probably fine for movies and everyday web and email but it's not going to be much good for say desktop publishing.

M.
Click to expand...

This was my exact experience with a 27" Asus monitor, I tried a number of things including RGB and font smoothing before I returned it. The unfortunate truth is the only way to truly make the fonts look better is to cram more pixels in there, unfortunately this isn't possible. I returned the 27" monitor and replaced it with an ultrawide (29" LG) and have been immensely happy with it.

I think the only way to approach a 27" monitor is with it being at least 1440, anything less the text is going to look blocky.
 
cyclingplatypus said:
This was my exact experience with a 27" Asus monitor, I tried a number of things including RGB and font smoothing before I returned it. The unfortunate truth is the only way to truly make the fonts look better is to cram more pixels in there, unfortunately this isn't possible. I returned the 27" monitor and replaced it with an ultrawide (29" LG) and have been immensely happy with it.

I think the only way to approach a 27" monitor is with it being at least 1440, anything less the text is going to look blocky.
Click to expand...

This....

I wish we had a sticky that basically said "DO NOT BUY 1080P 27" MONITORS"

how many of these threads do we need? My personal opinion for minimum resolution are as follows:

23" - 1920 x 1080
24" - 1920 x 1200
27" - 2560 x 1440

Now I do use two 24" 1080P's at my office, but since I didn't get a lot of say in it, I'm okay with it. They make my 23" 1080P's look so much sharper even though they are only 1" difference.

27" 1080P monitors should be abolished. Those are TV's, not monitors....
 
I've got two monitors on my Mini - one is a 24" 1920 x 1200 which is good but the other is one of the best I've had - a 22" but also with 1920 x 1200 - this is excellent for text work. (it's an Eizo).

M.
 
Connecting

I bought the oroginal display adapter instead of connecting the monitor directly via HDMI. It solved the problem. The monitor and fonts look very good.
 
exy said:
I bought the oroginal display adapter instead of connecting the monitor directly via HDMI. It solved the problem. The monitor and fonts look very good.
Click to expand...


What "oroginal display adapter" did you buy? Mini displayport to HDMI?
 
paulrbeers wrote above:
[[ I wish we had a sticky that basically said "DO NOT BUY 1080P 27" MONITORS" ]]

I strongly disagree.

My PREFERENCE is for a mid-rez 27" monitor with 1080p resolution.

But -- my eyes are older and I need larger text. Once I had better-than 20/20 vision, but those times are long gone.

It doesn't matter -how clear- "small text" is -- I simply can't see it to read it, clarity is not a factor. Even a retina display would not help.

With 1080p @ 27", I can run the display in native resolution and still use "normal point sizes" for text, and it becomes readable to me.

I realize that younger folks, looking at such a display, will protest loudly that "it's too grainy". My response to them is -- wait forty more years.
 
Fishrrman said:
paulrbeers wrote above:
[[ I wish we had a sticky that basically said "DO NOT BUY 1080P 27" MONITORS" ]]

I strongly disagree.

My PREFERENCE is for a mid-rez 27" monitor with 1080p resolution.

But -- my eyes are older and I need larger text. Once I had better-than 20/20 vision, but those times are long gone.

It doesn't matter -how clear- "small text" is -- I simply can't see it to read it, clarity is not a factor. Even a retina display would not help.

With 1080p @ 27", I can run the display in native resolution and still use "normal point sizes" for text, and it becomes readable to me.

I realize that younger folks, looking at such a display, will protest loudly that "it's too grainy". My response to them is -- wait forty more years.
Click to expand...

I empathize, but this seems like a crude solution to a simple problem. OSX is one of the best OSes for scaling visual elements. You can choose exactly how large or small you want text and other UI elements to be. A monitor with a better resolution, will allow for better scaling. There is research that backs this up too, text of set height was easier to read when it was sharper than when it was more pixelated. Meaning, on either monitor you can set the text to be a half-inch tall - but it will be easier to read for those who do not have good eyesight on the higher resolution monitor.
 
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