Monitor upgrade

Discussion in 'Mac Accessories' started by dannyx, Jul 1, 2014.

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  1. dannyx, Jul 1, 2014

    dannyx macrumors newbie

    Joined:
    Jul 1, 2014
    #1
    I want to upgrade my monitor, with 32" 2560 x 1600 / 32" 2560 x 1440 / 4k 28 inches 3840 x 2160

    One of those should be :
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824260132

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824014372

    The monitor i have now, is BenQ GW2760HS / res. 1920 x 1080

    Do you think, the fonts, generally speaking, would look better / sharper / crisper, on 2560 x 1600 / 2560 x 1440, than 1920 x 1080 ?

    I tried everything possible, on my 1080p monitor, but i don't really like the way the fonts look like. They look blurry. I googled a lot of forums, about. But still no result. I tried with the commands "defaults write -g AppleFontSmoothing -int 1" 2 /3 / 4 / as well, but the fonts still looks blurry.

    Could you advice me, please ? What monitor would you recommend, to have a close / same / quality, like Retina Display ?

    What about the 28 inches / 4k displays ?

    I wonder how the fonts look on 4k display. I don't mean the font size, but the quality. Are they getting close to Retina Display ?

    How are the fonts looking on iMac 27 inches / 2560 x 1440 / ??
    Are they looking better than 1920 x 1080 monitor / Hackintosh ?
    If i would have a monitor with 2560 x 1440, would the fonts looks same like iMac 27 ?

    As you can see in the attached image, there are 3 displays / comparisons
    1. 15 inches / 16:9 / 2880 x 1800 resolution ( MacBookPro Retina )

    2. 28 inches / 16:9 / 3840 x 2160 resolution ( 4 k monitor / 28 inches )

    3. 27 inches / 16:9 / 1920 x 1080 ( specs for the monitor i have now )

    For the 15 inches, there is 53.921 pixels / square inch
    For the 28 inches / 4k / there is 24.784 pixels / square inch
    Less than the half

    That's why i asked you if the 28 inches 4k monitor is getting close to the Retina quality

    All i want is to improve the fonts quality. Whatever i'm doing, OS X fonts looks blurry, compared to Windows fonts.

    Thanks in advance, i hope someone can give me some advices about
     

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  2. HFoletto, Jul 2, 2014
    Last edited: Jul 2, 2014

    HFoletto macrumors member

    Joined:
    Oct 30, 2013
    #2
    Hi, how are you?

    Yeah, I know the feeling. When I got my Retina MacbookPro I used my 21.5" 1080p iMac as a second display for a while, and yes, the fonts looked blurry.

    Well, that was expected, because my macbook has 220ppi, and the iMac has 102ppi. That's indeed a massive difference.

    If you want sharper fonts, the closer you can get nowadays is a 4k monitor, like the Dell UP2414Q. It's a 23.8", 4k, 60hz, IPS, 99% rgb monitor. It has 185ppi, that's indeed a lot.

    Since the OS X 10.9.3 you can "Retinaze" (HiDPI) a higher definition monitor to look shaper. This way the 4k monitor could have the workspace of a 1080p monitor however a similar sharpness of your Retina Macbook Screen.

    I almost bought this monitor, however I realized I need more space than sharpness, and a 5k (5120x2880, 1440p doubled) monitor is not an option right now, I'm looking to buy the LG 34UM95.

    Edit: I would like to share this website with you, it calculates the ppi and at what distance the monitor becomes retina.
     
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  3. dannyx, Jul 3, 2014

    dannyx thread starter macrumors newbie

    Joined:
    Jul 1, 2014
    #3
    Yes, 4k display would be the best option for me, but bigger than 24 inches
    27-28 inches would be okay
    I found some 4k displays with IPS but they are pretty expensive, and only 30Hz isn't a good idea, and i don't mean for gaming but for every day use
     
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  4. iLLucionist, Jul 3, 2014

    iLLucionist macrumors regular

    Joined:
    Apr 6, 2008
    Location:
    The Netherlands
    #4
    If you talk about blurry fonts, there is also the option in the Terminal to tune down OS X's font smoothing a bit:

    defaults -currentHost write -globalDomain AppleFontSmoothing -int 2

    1 = minimum, 2 = medium, 3 = strong

    I did this when I connect my Dell U2413, because I also found the fonts not as crisp as I wanted them. Been using medium font smoothing for over a year now and really like it.

    Btw, my approach is not to get a 4K but to get a 32" with the same PPI as a 24" and a good contrast ratio, so I'm thinking about buying BenQ's BL3200PT 32" AVA monitor, but there will be also a Samsung S32D850, rumored to come out in a month or two.
     
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  5. dannyx, Jul 3, 2014

    dannyx thread starter macrumors newbie

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    Jul 1, 2014
    #5
    I did try with
    defaults -currentHost write -globalDomain AppleFontSmoothing -int 2
    1 / 2 / 3
    but i don't really like the fonts
    By the way :i checked the reviews about BenQ BL3200PT / Samsung S32D850
    I think BenQ BL3200PT is my next monitor
    I'd like to know how the OSX fonts are looking on 32 inches / 1440p, compared to 1080p / 27 inches
    Are they looking better ? More crisp / clear / sharp ? What do you think ?
     
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  6. dannyx, Jul 5, 2014

    dannyx thread starter macrumors newbie

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    Jul 1, 2014
    #6
    Here is a PPI comparison between MBP Retina 15 inches vs 4K Display 28 inches
    MacBook Retina Display - 226 PPI

    4K display 28 inch - 157 PPI

    So, what do you think ? Is 4k / 28 inches, getting close to MBP Retina 15 inches, when scaled / HiDPI ?
     

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  7. Kashsystems, Jul 5, 2014

    Kashsystems macrumors 6502

    Joined:
    Jul 23, 2012
    #7
    My only problem with 4k 28 inch displays is that at the 700 dollar price range, they are TN panels. After seeing a couple of them, it turned me off to the notion of getting one right now. But if you don't care or need an IPS screen, I would see that as a better investment if Screen Real Estate is most important to you.

    As far as personal experience, I would get the Dell. But iI have yet to see that BenQ to compare the 2.
     
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  8. dannyx, Jul 5, 2014

    dannyx thread starter macrumors newbie

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    Jul 1, 2014
    #8
    I don't mind the TN display.
    All i want is to have nice / clear / crisp / fonts on the OS X web browsers
    They look different when browsing the internet, compared with Windows 7
     
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