Thanks a lot for the detailed explanation, and one that is not trying to frighten us into using a 1440p with no scaling rather than a scaled 4k one. I wasn't sure about which resolution to choose, but now I'm going for a 4k monitor. 👍
I honestly do not understand how can 1440p be reccomended. I have both 1440p and 4k 27' monitors. 1440p without scaling looks like shit. Everything is so blurry my eyes hurt, and I'm not exaggerating here. Either I'm not doing something right with it or this should be just a straight crime to reccomend using this. I use 1440p one in 1080p and it is tolerable (with some 3rd party apps magic, I use RDM) 4k in 1440p is perfect to me (a lot of work with text, coding and browsing mostly)
A 4K monitor scaled to "looks like 1080p" or "looks like 1440p" is way better than a native 1440p panel, I know as I've used both. I agree with you, and the videos recommending 1440p are insane.
Great informative video! Aspect ratio and scaling is kind of a daunting topic for a lot of people. (Also, I bought an Apple TV 4K because of your video the other day, that thing is awesome!)
This is exactly what I've been looking for. Usually people talk a lot about the definition of a display and not about scaling and how operating systems manage the scaling settings. I wish I'd known this before buying a 2K Display 😅 now I'm stuck with seeing everything at 100% because fractional scaling in MacOS and Linux is just blurry.
@@camcodes2100 it took me about 1 month of trying different 27 inch monitors at different resolutions to figure out a lot of this and how macOS deals with it. Amazon knows how many monitors I went through 😆
I have just bought Dell Ultrafine 4k. Download their supporting app, all their scaling is sharp. Lots of scaling to choose from. Coming form iMac that used to 210 PPI. iMac is sharper. 4k screen just look edgy, not blurry. It is not eye straining at all.
So, not sure I really got much question answered, about to get a M4 Mini and want a 4K monitor. My thought is to run it at the 1440 setting in Settings. Will text be sharp & clear that way? Do YOU run it that way?
@@uptowndoof3993 this would not be integer scaling. For 4k (UHD = 3840x2160) you would need to set it to FHD (1920x1080) since it is exactly half of UHD. 1440p will cost alot of performance and probably looks not so good.
@@lotro1986 Thing is I saw a video where the poster put up screenshots of text... he got much shaper results using a 4k monitor scaled to 1440, than with a native 1440 monitor. The implication was better to get 4k and scale it. I'd love to have both so I can personally compare them!
This happens because, unlike windows and linux, mac os does not yet have a separation between display resolution and interface scaling, where in linux and windows you can set a resolution of 4k or higher and scale the interface by 200%, doing thus just as visible as a native one but with a much higher clarity, that's why studio screen works much better on windows than on mac os even if it is not recognized by some users...
@@pentiumvsamd Just bought a Mac Mini and struggling with the same. The display looks so bad, fuzzy text, how can Mac miss this. Windows works flawlessly with the same monitors. I though of giving Mac a try, but I may go back to windows
@@bunty672744 in windows 11, you can see in "Advanced display" there are two different fields for "Desktop mode" and "Active signal mode". That and the Display/Scale settings that separate the GUI elements from text elements. Basically, windows does downscale and mac tries to upscale.
@@bunty672744 they did not miss it, it's intentional so the mac does only display sharp text on their very "cheap" displays like $1600 5k in 27'' Mac Studio Display
I just got a M3 Max MacBook Pro 14". I was afraid to use my 4k 32" monitor with it before I got it, but it works flawlessly without any issues at all. Perfect image, perfect performance. Maybe if you have a 8gb m1 then performance could be an issue, but for any newer more powerful Mac, you are good to go.
This isn't quite accurate. 4K at 27" is still a compromise. UI Elements are large relative to the screen size, PPI is decent but not that high. To get retina-like (2x HiDPI) resolution there really are only 3 sizes that work with macOS. @ 4K 24" (184 PPI, more appropriate scaling) @ 5K 27" (218 PPI and true pixel-perfect retina scaling) @ 6K 32" (223 PPI...) There are two key parts to this puzzle. One is PPI and the other is proper 2x scaling.
@@HalfManHalfTech do the mac keys (mission, launchpad, brightness, sound) of the apple keyboard adequately work with this display? I'm hesitating between the BenQ MA270U and the Dell U2723QE. I'm afraid that the latter isn't mac compatible.
@@cardonajuan I can't make up my mind btwn the BenQ MA270U and the BenQ PD2706U (which is $70 cheaper right now). The contrast or delta E is rather disappointing for both monitors for a brand advertising colour accuracy! I'm also wondering at what price BenQ 5K will be released. If it's under $700 it might be worthwhile considering.
Why keep mentioning 27inch ? In terms of performance and “spaces of screen”, there is no difference between 27inch , 32inch. The only difference between them is the physical size of the monitors. In this case, a bigger monitor is easier to look at but having a 32inch in front of work desk is already pushing to the limit. Some user prefer to see more content so they opt for selecting “higher resolution” in exchange of “less clearer” text (like programmer). Casual user or amateur user doing internet surfer would go for the default setting. Watching a RUclips streamed at HD makes no difference in the above case
4k absolutely _not_ 1440p. 4K at 24" is super close to retina like quality. 183 PPI (HiDPI scaling to 1080p) with non-fractional blurring/edges. The only thing better than 24" 4K at 2x scaling is 27" at 5K or 32" at 6K.
Thanks for the video. But what’s the point of buying a 1440p monitor then if it’s going to get scaled by MacOS to 1080. Makes no sense no? Am I wrong? Is it not worth it the to buy a 1440p monitor for macOS?
@@Mr.C0ffee by default macOS will scale a 27inch 1440p monitor to 1440p There is no scaling for the ui elements on a 27inch 1440p monitor. Scaling a 1440p monitor to 1080 will make the ui elements bigger. You lose out on screen real estate or space since windows and elements are bigger. If you look at my macOS videos on the channel since I have a 27 inch 4K monitor my UI is scaled to 1080 P because I want the windows and elements to appear big enough for viewers to be able to see.
My grandma got seizures by trying to understanding this. And I wasn't able to explain to her either. Bloody complicated explanation. Only thing I know is that I have issues with my 4k monitor. I blamed it on my eyes before, now I don't know what to do.
Just got a 27" with 1440p for my MacBook Pro. So basically I either get less space (bigger ui elements) and better resolution by scaling to 1080p or compromise by accepting the whack resolution with more space (normal sized ui elements)? What a fcking joke
So when I have 4k resolution panel but I switch it to 1080p does it mean that scale got bigger but I have 4k resolution or is ti just turned to 1080p reoslution?
Well, after days going nuts about which monitor I should buy, I have found a good explanation about how apple drives scales. Thanks you so much. You've got my like button. Now, here is the question for you: which monitor configuration would you recommend for someone which uses his macbook pro m1 Max for 70% productivity and 30% for some gaming? Any particular monitor you would recommend (price not an issue).
Wow, what a tour de force! You've made everything clear. I had thought that for my use case a 1440 monitor was my best choice but I will now focus on 4K ones.
So, can u help me guys if we use 4k resolution do we stuck on a little scaled version of 4k in macOS I have 4k 27inch display I cannot figure this out.
I wonder which LG monitor you were testing. Also, when you press the brightness or sound keys on your apple keyboard, does it change the brightness or sound as expected. I think that not all 4k monitors are mac compatible in that sense. Concerning the 2x scaling, I understand that each pixel in the native resolution (e.g. 3840x2160) gets bumped up th 4 pixels in half the native resolution. Is that correct? I didn't quite understand when the performance is downgraded. Is it when the scaling isn't a full integer?
Sorry, I've watched the video twice and I'm still a bit confused about monitors. I'd like a 32-inch BenQ monitor, but would I get the same sharpness as a 27-inch BenQ? I understand that the scale has to be left at 1080, but would the sharpness be the same on a 32-inch 4K at 1080 as on a 27-inch 4K at 1080? Could You help me answering this? Thank You.
No, the sharpness will be a bit less, because u are spreading the same amount of pixels over more physical space, i.e the pixel density or pixels per inch (or dots per inch) is lower on a 32inch screen that it is on a 27 inch. For a 32 inch you might be better off, setting your resolution at 2560x1440, because 1080p will look massive and waste a lot of real estate. Some people with good vision might even be fine with no scaling at 32 inches and leaving it at 4k. In general, the bigger the screen, the higher resolution you can comfortably show. For example I have an 38 inch ultrawide screen with a native resolution of 3820x1600 (so its like 1/3 shorter than 4k) but I can comfortably run it at its native resolution because the pixel density is low enough. Sure it doesn't look as "sharp", but for productivity, I prioritise the working real estate over text sharpness.
To put this into a perspective, we have to look at the PPI (pixels per inch) for each resolution+screen size: - 1080p@24inch = 92 PPI - 1440p@27inch is 109 PPI - 3820x1600@38inch = 110 PPI (my aforementioned 38 inch ultrawide) ---- 120 PPI ---- - 4K@32inch = 137 PPI - 4K@27inch = 163 PPI ---- 200 PPI ---- - 5K@27inch = 218 PPI (e.g Apple Studio Display) - 6K@32inch = 218 PPI (e.g Apple Pro Display XDR) - 3024x1964@14inch = 254 PPI (Macbook Pro 14inch) Most people can comfortably read text up to 120 PPI, but for anything higher, you will need to start using UI scaling, but that does come with the benefit of sharper text, since we are using double the pixels to render the same size text, resulting in higher perceived sharpness. Anything above 200 PPI is what Apple brands as "retina" displays, because it can safely use 2x scaling to make text sharp, while still having enough real estate so that it doesn't feel cramped. That's why most Apple displays are above 200 PPI these days. In summary, Higher PPI = higher density = harder to read at native = "sharper" text when UI scaling is used.
@@HalfManHalfTech one doubt i have is that if we set the scaling resolution to 1080p only the UI changes right? Like if I play a 4k video on RUclips will it still play on native 4k or will it be 1080p scaled to 4k?
How we can switch off the scaling? First i Hooke up my monitor 1440p 240hz and it was all fine default resolution was 1440p and 120hz but now it says default resolution 1080p and also only 60hz available and says scaling might results…. Any help?
Hello i have at least changed 3 monitors due to this scaling issue ,but text clarity gives me lot of headaches and i stopped using my mac ....which monitor you would prefer me i do not want to look at 32 inch as bigger screen is not comfortable as i have small office space room 6 *6 feet room
I am facing the exact issue with my Mac Mini. I two 24 inch monitors, one 1440p and one 1080p. Both are unable to display the text sharp. The issue is with the scaling and fuzzy text, gives me headache. I moved back to windows and my Mac mini is lying useless :(
Thank you very very much for this very clear video. It makes sense!! A question: when you put on a 4K the scale to 1440p instead of the default 1080, how does it affect the performance? Thanks in advance.
I'm using a 27inch 4k 144hz samsung monitor with m1 macbook air. Everything looks very sharp. The mac can also do full 4k 144hz, its vry smooth and sharp
Which monitor do you use? I'm still looking for something suitable to switch from Windows to macOS regarding productivity but with a higher refresh rate so I will still be able to use it for gaming with my Windows
Hi I have the new Mac Mini M4 - what monitor would you go for, I edit mainly in 1080p in FCP - I currently have a 27 but would love a 32 for extra real estate. budget £700 or lower
I have an M4 Mac Mini too. I use a Huawei Mateview 4K+ (3840×2560p). 27 inches. That thing looks beautiful. The 3×2 aspect ratio gives me good real estate for editing. The monitor costs 550 Canadian. Edit: the vertical room (2560p) gives me 18.5% more vertical room over the traditional 2160p.
Excellent video Sir. Quick question. What about using better display on 4K 27 inch monitor can I use 1440p HiDpi. the message that affecting performance will go away?
I use a 43 inch 4k tv as an external display for my MacBook Pro and even if I use its native display resolution I get the "using scaled resolution may affect performance" message. Why? last time I checked on display settings 4k native resolution was indicated as "standard" just like 1920 x 1080, great video by the way!
well explained . thank you . I have a MacBook Pro 2017 with 2k Samsung G5 32 inch and it is running 2k default no scaling at 144hz and no issue with the performance msg but when I use my MacBook m2 15 inch with the same monitor the image is faded. would you know why ?
Hey Bud, Great video! Thanks for all the information. I am using M2 Max, 64GB RAM, 12 Core CPU, 30 Core GPU. When I use Benq SW240 monitor connected to my Macbook, I see an extreme amount of lag on monitor screen even while using notes, youtube, or other applications. It will work fine at the start but then I wont even be able to move the app window to my macbook screen. Play/pause on youtube video wont even work properly. I have tried several different methods, using the same monitor with my Dell laptop, using different monitor with my macbook, trying different cords i.e., DP-DP, TB4/USB-C - DP, HDMI-HDMI. It just won't work. When I took it to apple, they did testing at store and said everything worked fine when they checked it with apple native displays. Do you know how to get this fixed? Extremely annoyed and disappointed to know that laptop capable enough to do 8K 60HZ is not even capable of doing 1920x1200 60HZ display.
What a fantastic explanation. Thanks! What if I wanted to go with an ultrawide? I'm looking at a large 5120x1440 @ 32x9 or possibly a 3440x1440 @ 21x9. Will those resolutions show up as "(default)" with no impact on performance?
Hi, I'm using M1 Mac Mini and planning to get a 27" 2K display (it'll connect to gaming console as well), but it seems UI in 1440p native looks kinda small to me, my question is if I scale it down to 1080p do I get blurry fonts and the 'warning messages'?
Excellent explanation: Well Done! Also, i love your wonderful voice and very precise diction - so easy to understand every word that you are saying, Finally - thanks for not ruining an excellent instructive video with loud background music. You certainly don't need it.
I'm looking for something cheaper than the Apple Monitor but for Music production, editing video and productivity. Can you suggest another 34" or more monitor to go with the Mac Studio M2? Hopefully cheaper🤭I just purcahsed Alienware AW3225QF but think it may be overkill for what I need it for! Love the specs but I'm not a gamer. Thanks for this video! New Subscriber 🎉
So I should buy a monitor with inferior features just because the Mac poorly digests 4K? Interesting... especially for people who maybe work on that same monitor or just want to watch movies or video content in high quality. Are you serious?
Can you recommend me a 27" monitor model for my Mac Mini M4, according to your video. It will help me a lot. Thanks in advance. (I know nothing about technology)
Thank you for this video. But I don't understand how it depends to MacBook Pro 14 M2 Pro. This MacBook have resolution 3024x1964 (1512x982). How it depends to 5120х2880? Thanks.
Hey, great video-thanks so much for the helpful content! I have a quick question: I just bought a MacBook Pro 14-inch with the M4 chip along with the Dell 4K P3223QE monitor. I connected the monitor using the USB-C to USB-C cable that came with it, but the default resolution recommended by macOS is 1920x1080 at 60Hz. When I scale to higher resolutions, everything becomes too small, and I can’t seem to get the specific scaled resolution I’m looking for, like 2560x1440. I’m wondering if this is a limitation of the monitor, the cable, or something else. Do you think switching cables could resolve this, or is this monitor not the best match for the MacBook for achieving the scaled resolution I want? I still have time to return the monitor if necessary, so I’d appreciate your advice. Thanks again for your help!
Go with 4k. You might keep the monitor even for 10 years and 4k is already the standard for quite a few years. My iMac from 2011 has a 1440p screen...There alre already 8k monitors popping up so you don't wanna be stuck with 15 year old tech.
Hey, great video-thanks so much for the helpful content! I have a quick question: I just bought a MacBook Pro 14-inch with the M4 chip along with the Dell 4K P3223QE monitor. I connected the monitor using the USB-C to USB-C cable that came with it, but the default resolution recommended by macOS is 1920x1080 at 60Hz. When I scale to higher resolutions, everything becomes too small, and I can’t seem to get the specific scaled resolution I’m looking for, like 2560x1440. I’m wondering if this is a limitation of the monitor? I did try today with this new cable, and it did not help: Cable Matters [Intel Certified] Braided 40Gbps Thunderbolt 4 Cable 1m Black, with 240W Charging Power Delivery and 8K Video - Fully Compatible with Thunderbolt 3, USB 4 for Apple MacBook Pro, iMac I still have time to return the monitor there is no other solution. Thanks again for your help!
you are wrong bro. 1440p panel set to display 1080p will be worse than native 1080p panel. to scale down from 1440 to 1080, it is non-integer scaling. ( 1.5 instead of 2). Non-integer scaling will output poor, blurr text.
But when we 4k (2160p) panel scales down to 2k (1440p) it is also non-integer scaling. But this scaling will be sharper and better than native 2k. (12:34 in the video). Give me some explanation )
@@drmoezawaung that's not the case. Hardware DSP scaling systems use superscaling techniques, so they will scale up to create the extra interpolated pixels first, then bin the unused pixels. With so many differing camera resolutions and screen resolutions in existence the need for reliable, good quality scaling techniques has been around for decades. Most pictures don't map 1:1 to the screen resolution in use, so pretty much every picture would look blurry on every screen unless this problem had been solved.
Lots of information! I AM a grandpa and my head is about to explode. Very interesting comparisons. I'm getting a new 27" soon. But getting one that displays Adobe RGB accurately for printing has narrowed my choice to BenQ's SW series. Cost also limits my choice to a 1440p which I have used for many years. It will still be a welcome upgrade although I'd love to have the 4K version.
Yes, I bought a refurbished SW272Q and set it up on Christmas. I ran a calibration on it and it looks great. My old monitor was 1440 so I’m use to this resolution. Driving it with a new Mac mini Pro. Lots of software upgrades going from old Intel processor to Silicon. Very pleased with this system.
OMFG! I was looking exactly for this. I was suspecting I would need at least 32" to see 4K as is, but was looking at 27" sometimes as the panels are generally cheaper. Yeah, no, it has to be 32" in least for 4K on a Mac. Thanks a lot for this video! Amazing explanation! A lot more people need to watch this!
Your takeaway is wrong. What matters is pixel density. The point of the video is that if you want a UI that is at the right size, you need the DPI of the monitor to be a factor of 110 DPI (that is either 110 or 220 DPI). iMac is 4.5K at 27inch (220 DPI), MacBook are 2K at 13-15 inch, etc. The UI may be uncomfortably too small or big if you are far away from a factor of 110DPI (below 100, above 120, below 200, above 240, etc.). Hence forcing you to use an "out of scale, scaling factor" to have an UI at proper size. The downside of using an "out of scale, scaling factor" is not properly explained in this video but main issue is that font and UI lack sharpness. There is an utility called BetterDisplay (15$) that mostly patch these issues and is really worth especially for 1080p and 2K monitor. It's less of an issue on a 4K monitor.
@@mathisd Hey, thanks a lot for such a detailed reply. I know about Mac scaling and I do have the Better Display (great software, btw). What I wanted to do is to be able to comfortably read / write with the display set to 4K without scaling. I had 2 32" which worked for me but I had to return them, and was tempted to go with a 27" 4K panel, but I couldn't figure out if 4K on a 27 would look too small, and the video shows it would. That's why I said It would be 32" at least for Mac.
27” 4K vs 27" 1440p - Which Is The Best For Mac?
Updated video 👉🏾 ruclips.net/video/etqtdvrBuNY/видео.html
This is BY FAR the best guide on RUclips. Thanks!
@@finn9204 thanks Finn
Using 4K on my 32” screen, looks good, text is fully readable - even with my 57 year old mark 1 eyeballs
lol 😂 mark 1
Lol built in a cave, from scraps type of eyeballs.
Thanks a lot for the detailed explanation, and one that is not trying to frighten us into using a 1440p with no scaling rather than a scaled 4k one. I wasn't sure about which resolution to choose, but now I'm going for a 4k monitor. 👍
@@mattmarkus4868 it's extremely difficult to find a 24" monitor that is 4k (on amazon at least), so my guess here would be no
I honestly do not understand how can 1440p be reccomended.
I have both 1440p and 4k 27' monitors. 1440p without scaling looks like shit. Everything is so blurry my eyes hurt, and I'm not exaggerating here.
Either I'm not doing something right with it or this should be just a straight crime to reccomend using this.
I use 1440p one in 1080p and it is tolerable (with some 3rd party apps magic, I use RDM)
4k in 1440p is perfect to me (a lot of work with text, coding and browsing mostly)
A 4K monitor scaled to "looks like 1080p" or "looks like 1440p" is way better than a native 1440p panel, I know as I've used both. I agree with you, and the videos recommending 1440p are insane.
What I get from this is that there needs to be more 27 inch 5k monitors.
Great informative video! Aspect ratio and scaling is kind of a daunting topic for a lot of people.
(Also, I bought an Apple TV 4K because of your video the other day, that thing is awesome!)
It’s amazing. I like how the Apple TV is so minimal
This is exactly what I've been looking for.
Usually people talk a lot about the definition of a display and not about scaling and how operating systems manage the scaling settings.
I wish I'd known this before buying a 2K Display 😅 now I'm stuck with seeing everything at 100% because fractional scaling in MacOS and Linux is just blurry.
@@camcodes2100 it took me about 1 month of trying different 27 inch monitors at different resolutions to figure out a lot of this and how macOS deals with it. Amazon knows how many monitors I went through 😆
I have just bought Dell Ultrafine 4k. Download their supporting app, all their scaling is sharp. Lots of scaling to choose from. Coming form iMac that used to 210 PPI. iMac is sharper. 4k screen just look edgy, not blurry. It is not eye straining at all.
Yesterday I order a 1440p display, should I cancel the order, plz reply
@@abhishek_patra_ 2k is fine brother, no need to worry
Great video! Been looking for such an explanation for quite a long time. Thanks bro.
Glad it helped! Should have made it sooner but I recently started testing monitors and realized this needed more clarification
so scaling only affects the UI? gaming and video is still shown at 4k?
i wonder that also do you have a answer ?
yes
Wow..this is lovely - you literally went through all the use cases scenarios...pure GOLD. Subscribed.
thanks for the clear explanation. this is one of the best YT videos about scaling issues on mac os.
Thanks! Glad I could be of assistance
Fantastic video! Thank you SO much for breaking all this down, step-by-step, in your helpful video. Excellent work!
Brilliant! This 71 year old grandfather can confirm it’s a very understandable video 😂
my macbook pro does not show any other resolution other than the preset ones and there is no toggle "show all resolutions".
So, not sure I really got much question answered, about to get a M4 Mini and want a 4K monitor. My thought is to run it at the 1440 setting in Settings. Will text be sharp & clear that way? Do YOU run it that way?
@@uptowndoof3993 +1
@@uptowndoof3993 this would not be integer scaling. For 4k (UHD = 3840x2160) you would need to set it to FHD (1920x1080) since it is exactly half of UHD. 1440p will cost alot of performance and probably looks not so good.
if You want to run in 1440 better choice is 2k monitor
@@lotro1986 Thing is I saw a video where the poster put up screenshots of text... he got much shaper results using a 4k monitor scaled to 1440, than with a native 1440 monitor. The implication was better to get 4k and scale it. I'd love to have both so I can personally compare them!
This happens because, unlike windows and linux, mac os does not yet have a separation between display resolution and interface scaling, where in linux and windows you can set a resolution of 4k or higher and scale the interface by 200%, doing thus just as visible as a native one but with a much higher clarity, that's why studio screen works much better on windows than on mac os even if it is not recognized by some users...
@@pentiumvsamd Just bought a Mac Mini and struggling with the same. The display looks so bad, fuzzy text, how can Mac miss this. Windows works flawlessly with the same monitors. I though of giving Mac a try, but I may go back to windows
@@bunty672744 in windows 11, you can see in "Advanced display" there are two different fields for "Desktop mode" and "Active signal mode". That and the Display/Scale settings that separate the GUI elements from text elements. Basically, windows does downscale and mac tries to upscale.
@@bunty672744 they did not miss it, it's intentional so the mac does only display sharp text on their very "cheap" displays like $1600 5k in 27'' Mac Studio Display
how did you know to put this vide on my feed? Perfect timing before I chose the wrong one!
@@XRP_321 it’s not me. It’s youtube 😆
@@HalfManHalfTech 😂. Ty is awsome! Thanks for the content. Subbed and looking forward to your next videos! 🦾🫡🫡🫡🫡
@@XRP_321 thanks 🙏🏾
Welcome to the crew
Same Here! Thank you to the brilliant creator of this video.
What about a 34" 3440x1440 monitor?
Wow, I'm watching on my 1080p screen and I can already see the difference of the sharpness
This video is so good in explaining that I subscribed.
Thank you
Super well-explained ! What about the case of a 24" monitor running through a Mac Mini 2018? What 24" monitor would you recommend?
very clear comparison and detail explanation
@@bonihersanto7 thanks 🙏🏾
I just got a M3 Max MacBook Pro 14". I was afraid to use my 4k 32" monitor with it before I got it, but it works flawlessly without any issues at all. Perfect image, perfect performance. Maybe if you have a 8gb m1 then performance could be an issue, but for any newer more powerful Mac, you are good to go.
What scaling are you using on that screen?
What monitor do you recommend for a Mac mini 4m? I tend to color correct and that is an important factor for me.
Samedi question for me.
This isn't quite accurate. 4K at 27" is still a compromise. UI Elements are large relative to the screen size, PPI is decent but not that high. To get retina-like (2x HiDPI) resolution there really are only 3 sizes that work with macOS.
@ 4K 24" (184 PPI, more appropriate scaling)
@ 5K 27" (218 PPI and true pixel-perfect retina scaling)
@ 6K 32" (223 PPI...)
There are two key parts to this puzzle. One is PPI and the other is proper 2x scaling.
You can't see any difference. If you can, it's the fault of the OS.
@@akyhne any difference between what, exactly?
@@mattmarkus4868 You cannot see the Pixel density, between e.g. a 32" 4K and a 32" 6K. Not at a normal distance from a monitor.
@@mattmarkus4868 does a 27' 1440p looks good (for mac mini M4) ? Thanks
What's the model you recommend buying?
I set out for the Dell U2723QE
@@HalfManHalfTech do the mac keys (mission, launchpad, brightness, sound) of the apple keyboard adequately work with this display? I'm hesitating between the BenQ MA270U and the Dell U2723QE. I'm afraid that the latter isn't mac compatible.
@@odebroqueville i’m thinking in buying the benq ma 270. Wich One did you get?
@@cardonajuan I can't make up my mind btwn the BenQ MA270U and the BenQ PD2706U (which is $70 cheaper right now). The contrast or delta E is rather disappointing for both monitors for a brand advertising colour accuracy! I'm also wondering at what price BenQ 5K will be released. If it's under $700 it might be worthwhile considering.
what resolution would be best to use/pair with a 24" monitor?
Why keep mentioning 27inch ? In terms of performance and “spaces of screen”, there is no difference between 27inch , 32inch. The only difference between them is the physical size of the monitors. In this case, a bigger monitor is easier to look at but having a 32inch in front of work desk is already pushing to the limit.
Some user prefer to see more content so they opt for selecting “higher resolution” in exchange of “less clearer” text (like programmer).
Casual user or amateur user doing internet surfer would go for the default setting.
Watching a RUclips streamed at HD makes no difference in the above case
This has cleared so much for me. Best explanation in youtube.
@@dheeladheel thanks.
Glad I could be of assistance
It is truly incredible how ridiculously complicated apple has made it to use an external display.
@@volcanic3104 right! It's stressing me out!
What about 24 inch? 1440p or 4k ? Please let me know
1440p
4k absolutely _not_ 1440p. 4K at 24" is super close to retina like quality. 183 PPI (HiDPI scaling to 1080p) with non-fractional blurring/edges. The only thing better than 24" 4K at 2x scaling is 27" at 5K or 32" at 6K.
Why would you want a monitor less than 5k for your Mac?
Thanks for the video. But what’s the point of buying a 1440p monitor then if it’s going to get scaled by MacOS to 1080. Makes no sense no? Am I wrong? Is it not worth it the to buy a 1440p monitor for macOS?
@@Mr.C0ffee by default macOS will scale a 27inch 1440p monitor to 1440p
There is no scaling for the ui elements on a 27inch 1440p monitor.
Scaling a 1440p monitor to 1080 will make the ui elements bigger. You lose out on screen real estate or space since windows and elements are bigger. If you look at my macOS videos on the channel since I have a 27 inch 4K monitor my UI is scaled to 1080 P because I want the windows and elements to appear big enough for viewers to be able to see.
My grandma got seizures by trying to understanding this. And I wasn't able to explain to her either. Bloody complicated explanation. Only thing I know is that I have issues with my 4k monitor. I blamed it on my eyes before, now I don't know what to do.
Just got a 27" with 1440p for my MacBook Pro. So basically I either get less space (bigger ui elements) and better resolution by scaling to 1080p or compromise by accepting the whack resolution with more space (normal sized ui elements)? What a fcking joke
Thanks!! Been looking for this for long time
@@anggagargantuanconcepts2245 glad to be of service
Which monitor should I get for MacBook Air M1 (2020), View infinity S8 32 inch, BenQ PD2706UA 27 inch or any LG 4K 27inch?
Apple Studio Display 😆😆
Any 27"" 5K scaled to 1440p.
So when I have 4k resolution panel but I switch it to 1080p does it mean that scale got bigger but I have 4k resolution or is ti just turned to 1080p reoslution?
So when I have 4k resolution panel but I switch it to 1080p does it mean that scale got bigger but I have 4k resolution - correct
Well, after days going nuts about which monitor I should buy, I have found a good explanation about how apple drives scales. Thanks you so much. You've got my like button.
Now, here is the question for you: which monitor configuration would you recommend for someone which uses his macbook pro m1 Max for 70% productivity and 30% for some gaming? Any particular monitor you would recommend (price not an issue).
Wow, what a tour de force! You've made everything clear. I had thought that for my use case a 1440 monitor was my best choice but I will now focus on 4K ones.
So, can u help me guys if we use 4k resolution do we stuck on a little scaled version of 4k in macOS I have 4k 27inch display I cannot figure this out.
I wonder which LG monitor you were testing. Also, when you press the brightness or sound keys on your apple keyboard, does it change the brightness or sound as expected. I think that not all 4k monitors are mac compatible in that sense. Concerning the 2x scaling, I understand that each pixel in the native resolution (e.g. 3840x2160) gets bumped up th 4 pixels in half the native resolution. Is that correct? I didn't quite understand when the performance is downgraded. Is it when the scaling isn't a full integer?
Man, thanks a lot. Now when the mac mini M4 is here, I was wondering which monitor to get. Massive thanks! I will go with 4K 27"
My question is, on a 4K panel, and with a user resolution of 1080p, can you watch videos in 2160p on RUclips? Thanks.
Yes you can. my panel is 4K and i watch videos in 2160p
Thank you! Your video gave some new insights!
Sorry, I've watched the video twice and I'm still a bit confused about monitors. I'd like a 32-inch BenQ monitor, but would I get the same sharpness as a 27-inch BenQ? I understand that the scale has to be left at 1080, but would the sharpness be the same on a 32-inch 4K at 1080 as on a 27-inch 4K at 1080? Could You help me answering this? Thank You.
No, the sharpness will be a bit less, because u are spreading the same amount of pixels over more physical space, i.e the pixel density or pixels per inch (or dots per inch) is lower on a 32inch screen that it is on a 27 inch. For a 32 inch you might be better off, setting your resolution at 2560x1440, because 1080p will look massive and waste a lot of real estate. Some people with good vision might even be fine with no scaling at 32 inches and leaving it at 4k. In general, the bigger the screen, the higher resolution you can comfortably show. For example I have an 38 inch ultrawide screen with a native resolution of 3820x1600 (so its like 1/3 shorter than 4k) but I can comfortably run it at its native resolution because the pixel density is low enough. Sure it doesn't look as "sharp", but for productivity, I prioritise the working real estate over text sharpness.
To put this into a perspective, we have to look at the PPI (pixels per inch) for each resolution+screen size:
- 1080p@24inch = 92 PPI
- 1440p@27inch is 109 PPI
- 3820x1600@38inch = 110 PPI (my aforementioned 38 inch ultrawide)
---- 120 PPI ----
- 4K@32inch = 137 PPI
- 4K@27inch = 163 PPI
---- 200 PPI ----
- 5K@27inch = 218 PPI (e.g Apple Studio Display)
- 6K@32inch = 218 PPI (e.g Apple Pro Display XDR)
- 3024x1964@14inch = 254 PPI (Macbook Pro 14inch)
Most people can comfortably read text up to 120 PPI, but for anything higher, you will need to start using UI scaling, but that does come with the benefit of sharper text, since we are using double the pixels to render the same size text, resulting in higher perceived sharpness. Anything above 200 PPI is what Apple brands as "retina" displays, because it can safely use 2x scaling to make text sharp, while still having enough real estate so that it doesn't feel cramped. That's why most Apple displays are above 200 PPI these days.
In summary, Higher PPI = higher density = harder to read at native = "sharper" text when UI scaling is used.
@@dogoku Thank You so much
Great Explanation 🙌, understood clearly every detail about macOS scaling in an interesting way.
@@MaheshVarma08 glad I could be of service
@@HalfManHalfTech one doubt i have is that if we set the scaling resolution to 1080p only the UI changes right? Like if I play a 4k video on RUclips will it still play on native 4k or will it be 1080p scaled to 4k?
Bro how do you make your thumb line please any help
Combination of Photoshop and and at times ChatGPT
This is an excellent overview. Thank you.
Extremely well done and informative! Thank you!!
Thank you! Exactly what I was looking for. Very informative.
How we can switch off the scaling?
First i Hooke up my monitor 1440p 240hz and it was all fine default resolution was 1440p and 120hz but now it says default resolution 1080p and also only 60hz available and says scaling might results….
Any help?
Hello i have at least changed 3 monitors due to this scaling issue ,but text clarity gives me lot of headaches and i stopped using my mac ....which monitor you would prefer me i do not want to look at 32 inch as bigger screen is not comfortable as i have small office space room 6 *6 feet room
I am facing the exact issue with my Mac Mini. I two 24 inch monitors, one 1440p and one 1080p. Both are unable to display the text sharp. The issue is with the scaling and fuzzy text, gives me headache. I moved back to windows and my Mac mini is lying useless :(
A small 4K will give you what you are looking for, the same pixels crunched into a smaller area
Thank you very very much for this very clear video. It makes sense!! A question: when you put on a 4K the scale to 1440p instead of the default 1080, how does it affect the performance? Thanks in advance.
I'm using a 27inch 4k 144hz samsung monitor with m1 macbook air. Everything looks very sharp. The mac can also do full 4k 144hz, its vry smooth and sharp
@@tyke_1203 thunderbolt connection or HDMI??
Thunderbolt to display port cable
Which monitor do you use? I'm still looking for something suitable to switch from Windows to macOS regarding productivity but with a higher refresh rate so I will still be able to use it for gaming with my Windows
@@tyke_1203 isn’t the MacBook Air m1 capped at 60 hz.
@@TheEverydayManChannel the built in display, yes. But you can use 120hz if using an external monitor that supports it.
M1 Pro MacBook also. I use 32” 4k 165hz OLED… for PS5 gaming & Mac use! looks great! Great video
Hi I have the new Mac Mini M4 - what monitor would you go for, I edit mainly in 1080p in FCP - I currently have a 27 but would love a 32 for extra real estate. budget £700 or lower
I have an M4 Mac Mini too. I use a Huawei Mateview 4K+ (3840×2560p). 27 inches.
That thing looks beautiful.
The 3×2 aspect ratio gives me good real estate for editing.
The monitor costs 550 Canadian.
Edit: the vertical room (2560p) gives me 18.5% more vertical room over the traditional 2160p.
great video man!
Excellent video Sir. Quick question.
What about using better display on 4K 27 inch monitor can I use 1440p HiDpi. the message that affecting performance will go away?
Very insightful, loved it!🔥❤
Thanks 🙏🏾.
I use a 43 inch 4k tv as an external display for my MacBook Pro and even if I use its native display resolution I get the "using scaled resolution may affect performance" message. Why? last time I checked on display settings 4k native resolution was indicated as "standard" just like 1920 x 1080, great video by the way!
well explained . thank you . I have a MacBook Pro 2017 with 2k Samsung G5 32 inch and it is running 2k default no scaling at 144hz and no issue with the performance msg but when I use my MacBook m2 15 inch with the same monitor the image is faded. would you know why ?
Thanks you answered the most questions,
But what about eyes strain an eye fatigue?
Which one is more comfortable for eyes?
1080p or 1440p ?
Hey Bud, Great video! Thanks for all the information.
I am using M2 Max, 64GB RAM, 12 Core CPU, 30 Core GPU. When I use Benq SW240 monitor connected to my Macbook, I see an extreme amount of lag on monitor screen even while using notes, youtube, or other applications. It will work fine at the start but then I wont even be able to move the app window to my macbook screen. Play/pause on youtube video wont even work properly.
I have tried several different methods, using the same monitor with my Dell laptop, using different monitor with my macbook, trying different cords i.e., DP-DP, TB4/USB-C - DP, HDMI-HDMI. It just won't work. When I took it to apple, they did testing at store and said everything worked fine when they checked it with apple native displays.
Do you know how to get this fixed? Extremely annoyed and disappointed to know that laptop capable enough to do 8K 60HZ is not even capable of doing 1920x1200 60HZ display.
What a fantastic explanation. Thanks! What if I wanted to go with an ultrawide? I'm looking at a large 5120x1440 @ 32x9 or possibly a 3440x1440 @ 21x9. Will those resolutions show up as "(default)" with no impact on performance?
Same question here
Hi, I'm using M1 Mac Mini and planning to get a 27" 2K display (it'll connect to gaming console as well), but it seems UI in 1440p native looks kinda small to me, my question is if I scale it down to 1080p do I get blurry fonts and the 'warning messages'?
I have a MacBook Air M1 with a 2K 27", and I have to say while the UI is quite sharp at 1440p, it gets softer/blurry with 1080p scaling.
@@newmarie416 thanks for sharing your experience :)
That was a very helpful video. Thank you!
Excellent explanation: Well Done! Also, i love your wonderful voice and very precise diction - so easy to understand every word that you are saying, Finally - thanks for not ruining an excellent instructive video with loud background music. You certainly don't need it.
I'm looking for something cheaper than the Apple Monitor but for Music production, editing video and productivity. Can you suggest another 34" or more monitor to go with the Mac Studio M2? Hopefully cheaper🤭I just purcahsed Alienware AW3225QF but think it may be overkill for what I need it for! Love the specs but I'm not a gamer. Thanks for this video! New Subscriber 🎉
@@pattip8110 Dell U2723QE
It’s the one I finally settled with
Really useful explanation. Thank you.
Awesome video! 💪
@@siegolas thanks Sie
So I should buy a monitor with inferior features just because the Mac poorly digests 4K? Interesting... especially for people who maybe work on that same monitor or just want to watch movies or video content in high quality. Are you serious?
watch the video again lol
Hi HMHT, thanks for this video, it's super helpful!
Can you recommend me a 27" monitor model for my Mac Mini M4, according to your video. It will help me a lot. Thanks in advance. (I know nothing about technology)
thabk you cam, can you recommend a bugdet monitos for MAc mini m4? i dont do gamng but edit images? its so confusing.
Thank you for this video. But I don't understand how it depends to MacBook Pro 14 M2 Pro. This MacBook have resolution 3024x1964 (1512x982). How it depends to 5120х2880? Thanks.
Hey, great video-thanks so much for the helpful content!
I have a quick question: I just bought a MacBook Pro 14-inch with the M4 chip along with the Dell 4K P3223QE monitor. I connected the monitor using the USB-C to USB-C cable that came with it, but the default resolution recommended by macOS is 1920x1080 at 60Hz.
When I scale to higher resolutions, everything becomes too small, and I can’t seem to get the specific scaled resolution I’m looking for, like 2560x1440. I’m wondering if this is a limitation of the monitor, the cable, or something else.
Do you think switching cables could resolve this, or is this monitor not the best match for the MacBook for achieving the scaled resolution I want? I still have time to return the monitor if necessary, so I’d appreciate your advice.
Thanks again for your help!
Hello my brother, please advise what would be better for mac mini m4, I'm choosing between 2k DELL P2723D or 4k DELL P2723QE
Go with 4k. You might keep the monitor even for 10 years and 4k is already the standard for quite a few years. My iMac from 2011 has a 1440p screen...There alre already 8k monitors popping up so you don't wanna be stuck with 15 year old tech.
Hey, great video-thanks so much for the helpful content!
I have a quick question: I just bought a MacBook Pro 14-inch with the M4 chip along with the Dell 4K P3223QE monitor. I connected the monitor using the USB-C to USB-C cable that came with it, but the default resolution recommended by macOS is 1920x1080 at 60Hz.
When I scale to higher resolutions, everything becomes too small, and I can’t seem to get the specific scaled resolution I’m looking for, like 2560x1440. I’m wondering if this is a limitation of the monitor? I did try today with this new cable, and it did not help: Cable Matters [Intel Certified] Braided 40Gbps Thunderbolt 4 Cable 1m Black, with 240W Charging Power Delivery and 8K Video - Fully Compatible with Thunderbolt 3, USB 4 for Apple MacBook Pro, iMac
I still have time to return the monitor there is no other solution.
Thanks again for your help!
you are wrong bro. 1440p panel set to display 1080p will be worse than native 1080p panel. to scale down from 1440 to 1080, it is non-integer scaling. ( 1.5 instead of 2). Non-integer scaling will output poor, blurr text.
So it’s better just to have 1080p? Instead of 1440p scaling down?
But when we 4k (2160p) panel scales down to 2k (1440p) it is also non-integer scaling. But this scaling will be sharper and better than native 2k. (12:34 in the video). Give me some explanation )
@@drmoezawaung that's not the case. Hardware DSP scaling systems use superscaling techniques, so they will scale up to create the extra interpolated pixels first, then bin the unused pixels. With so many differing camera resolutions and screen resolutions in existence the need for reliable, good quality scaling techniques has been around for decades. Most pictures don't map 1:1 to the screen resolution in use, so pretty much every picture would look blurry on every screen unless this problem had been solved.
Very informative. Thank you
great work buddy
Thank you for explaining this in details! 👌
thank you. great video!
1440p at 27" is best
🥲watching this on my 1280x800 display
Thank you so much for this!
Uff vaya que me sirvió tu video ahora que estoy por comprar un monitor, muchas gracias! Excelente explicación!!
@@rodolforojano9929 gracias 🙏🏾
Guys help me im brand-new in this ecosystem I have 4k 27" this fuckin macos doesnt show than one scale for 4k resolution.
He shows me the way
Lots of information! I AM a grandpa and my head is about to explode. Very interesting comparisons. I'm getting a new 27" soon. But getting one that displays Adobe RGB accurately for printing has narrowed my choice to BenQ's SW series. Cost also limits my choice to a 1440p which I have used for many years. It will still be a welcome upgrade although I'd love to have the 4K version.
Have u baught One ? Does benQ 27' 1440p works fine ?
Yes, I bought a refurbished SW272Q and set it up on Christmas. I ran a calibration on it and it looks great. My old monitor was 1440 so I’m use to this resolution. Driving it with a new Mac mini Pro. Lots of software upgrades going from old Intel processor to Silicon. Very pleased with this system.
Loved this video, never gonna buy mac again
1/2 & 1/2 .....THANK YOU FOR THE HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
OMFG! I was looking exactly for this. I was suspecting I would need at least 32" to see 4K as is, but was looking at 27" sometimes as the panels are generally cheaper. Yeah, no, it has to be 32" in least for 4K on a Mac.
Thanks a lot for this video! Amazing explanation! A lot more people need to watch this!
Your takeaway is wrong. What matters is pixel density.
The point of the video is that if you want a UI that is at the right size, you need the DPI of the monitor to be a factor of 110 DPI (that is either 110 or 220 DPI). iMac is 4.5K at 27inch (220 DPI), MacBook are 2K at 13-15 inch, etc.
The UI may be uncomfortably too small or big if you are far away from a factor of 110DPI (below 100, above 120, below 200, above 240, etc.). Hence forcing you to use an "out of scale, scaling factor" to have an UI at proper size.
The downside of using an "out of scale, scaling factor" is not properly explained in this video but main issue is that font and UI lack sharpness.
There is an utility called BetterDisplay (15$) that mostly patch these issues and is really worth especially for 1080p and 2K monitor. It's less of an issue on a 4K monitor.
@@mathisd Hey, thanks a lot for such a detailed reply. I know about Mac scaling and I do have the Better Display (great software, btw). What I wanted to do is to be able to comfortably read / write with the display set to 4K without scaling. I had 2 32" which worked for me but I had to return them, and was tempted to go with a 27" 4K panel, but I couldn't figure out if 4K on a 27 would look too small, and the video shows it would. That's why I said It would be 32" at least for Mac.
@@SergeyBasov I agree, I use the smaller monitor.
Great job
Finally understood!
thanks man! 4k it is then.
Thank you!
Thank you :)
@@jaimin.rathod 🤜🏾🤛🏾
noice work
Thanks. Hopefully it makes sense.