topic Re: Monitor 4k or not ? in Installation & update

Monitor 4k or not ?

davide — Tue, 27 May 2025 13:17:11 GMT

Is it better to buy a 27 4k monitor and use it at 2560x1440 or get a 27 non 4k monitor? Sorry for the stupid question. Now I use an imac 27 late 2009, so not retina and wanting to change it and I can't afford a 5k monitor. thanks

Re: Monitor 4k or not ?

rakurs — Tue, 27 May 2025 13:41:43 GMT

I would never recommend using a monitor in a non-native resolution. Image will be blurry. If OS UI scaling isn't working properly, then the solution would be to use a 1440p monitor. However, if Mac's scaling is working as intended, there is no reason not to use a 4k monitor, unless your GPU cannot handle it. Do you intend to use it with the same computer - old iMac?

Re: Monitor 4k or not ?

Lingwisyer — Wed, 28 May 2025 03:36:00 GMT

If the PPI of a 27" 4K is too high for you, just get a bigger monitor!

Re: Monitor 4k or not ?

Piotr Walerysiak — Wed, 28 May 2025 07:11:03 GMT

I'd prefer 2 screens setup of 2560x1440 27" or even 1920x1200 24" instead of one 4K. Every one have probably different approach. (I work only in CAD/BIM, no CGI)

Re: Monitor 4k or not ?

Wlad222 — Wed, 28 May 2025 07:31:23 GMT

I recommend 32" 4K monitor. That's around 138 ppi. (For comparison 27 at 4K is 163 ppi and 27 at 2k us 109 ppi). 138 ppi (32 at 4k) is perfect size vs resolution for me! You need to get used to the bigger screen for sure, but once you do, its fantastic!

Re: Monitor 4k or not ?

rakurs — Wed, 28 May 2025 11:10:40 GMT

While we're recommending. I'd point out that ultrawides are perfect... for me. I'm currently using a 34" 3440 × 1440 (Xiaomi VA panel), and I'm actively looking into upgrading to 38" 3840 × 1600 (LG IPS model) - even thought they're curved (GASP!) they work perfectly for me, and the curvature (at least on the one I have, the Xiaomi) does not bother me the slightest, and maybe it is even beneficial since it's not extreme. There are many many different curvatures out there.

Also, sizes. Look up here: https://screengeometry.com/Screens - you can compare your current setup size-wise with an upgrade or upgrades, if you're changing aspect and / or size and / or resolution.

Re: Monitor 4k or not ?

ALL_Emil — Wed, 28 May 2025 11:35:40 GMT

Going away from the good old 5k iMac is painful for all of us. I've been using 2x27" 4k Dell monitors on Windows. Works well. I would never go below. I hate curved monitors. I've been considering upgrading to a 6K, but they are not yet on the market.

I like having two monitors when I'm presenting but in general i would prefer to have one great monitor instead of two decent monitors.

Re: Monitor 4k or not ?

Lingwisyer — Thu, 29 May 2025 01:49:54 GMT

Historically, VA monitors have not had good colour accuracy so make sure you take that into consideration when picking if that is relevant for you.

Re: Monitor 4k or not ?

rakurs — Thu, 29 May 2025 09:08:11 GMT

While that is true, it is also true that they are a bit better in some other aspects than IPS. While OLEDs almost always present the best picture, they have their own limitations, such as burn-in anxiety, and text clarity is also subpar (at least in most panels) so it's really a pick-your-poison situation as there is no perfect display.

Considering the fact that monitors have the longest life (going back to that burn-in!) and they typically outlast almost all other PC components, choice of display is one that should be taken with much deliberation.

Re: Monitor 4k or not ?

Lingwisyer — Fri, 30 May 2025 01:38:51 GMT

Other than a higher contrast ratio, which would only be utilised in limted situations, and budget, why else would you take a VA over an IPS in a work environment?

Re: Monitor 4k or not ?

rakurs — Mon, 02 Jun 2025 09:12:37 GMT

Budget and contrast are the main advantages, as you said yourself. Everything else is on the side of IPS. Four and a half years ago when I bought my first ultrawide (which I still use) there really was no other thing at that price point (400-ish euros) that came even close in terms of features and specifications that I wanted. I am still very conflicted about giving more than twice that amount for a 38" IPS, all that time later, while we have OLEDs at 34" going for 400-ish.

Work environment is a flexible term nowadays, and especially for self employed architects. I play games on my monitor, too, and also use it for some media consumption as well.

Re: Monitor 4k or not ?

Lingwisyer — Tue, 03 Jun 2025 01:57:13 GMT

Not sure why you would be comparing a 38" IPS to a 34" OLED...

Re: Monitor 4k or not ?

davide — Wed, 14 Jan 2026 06:09:20 GMT

no.

I need to change my computer. Maybe I'll buy a used MacBook Pro and decide whether to pair it with a 27" 2K, 27" 4K, or 32" 4K. Thanks.

Re: Monitor 4k or not ?

Lingwisyer — Wed, 14 Jan 2026 09:24:16 GMT

A couple of people in my office struggle to read things on a 27" 4k, so one swapped to a 27" 2k that we had and the other runs it at 150% non-native which isn't ideal... So try them out if you can before you buy.

Ling.

Re: Monitor 4k or not ?

Laszlo Nagy — Thu, 15 Jan 2026 14:03:29 GMT

I have 2x28" 4K monitors, but I am using them at 2560x1440 resolution (at 4K things are just too small on the screen). The 4K resolution would require a larger monitor for me.

Re: Monitor 4k or not ?

davide — Fri, 16 Jan 2026 05:11:04 GMT

I'm wondering if it's better to buy a 27" 2560x1440 monitor or a 27" 4K monitor and use it with ArchiCAD at 2560x1440 resolution. I'm not interested in color fidelity, I don't do photo editing, and I don't use it for gaming, but I do care about text and line sharpness. I currently use a 2009 iMac with 2560x1440. I would have liked a larger desk, going up to 32 inches, but I understand that I would lose some line sharpness and that perhaps it's better to have two 2K monitors. The assumption is that the computer will be Apple. Thanks.

Re: Monitor 4k or not ?

Lingwisyer — Fri, 16 Jan 2026 08:04:08 GMT

If you are not planning to run the 4Ks native, I would just get the 2K. I really like the Dell Ultrasharps. Instead of two 2K monitors, you could consider using a secondary 1080p in portrait, depends on your usage case, or alternatively, there is also the option of using a 1440p 34" ultrawide, with or without a secondary.

Ling.

Re: Monitor 4k or not ?

davide — Fri, 16 Jan 2026 08:45:38 GMT

thanks

Re: Monitor 4k or not ?

Laszlo Nagy — Fri, 16 Jan 2026 12:08:10 GMT

When I bought my monitors, I wanted to buy a monitor with 2560x1440 top resolution, but most of the monitors were already 4K, so I just went for the 4K one.

I don't know how much that changed since then.

But 1440 pixel vertical resolution is the absolute minimum I would accept now.

Re: Monitor 4k or not ?

Pavel_N — Sun, 18 Jan 2026 11:02:57 GMT

Hi David, since macOS 10.14 Mojave, the "subpixel antialiasing" feature that ensures smoothing of fonts is no longer supported, so I think you will be very disappointed with the image on native 2K monitors if you have been working on an iMac so far. I use an old but great DELL U2415 1920x1200 monitor and when I switched from WIN to MAC M2 PRO, it was also disappointing for me. Against WIN the texts on the MAC are not smoothed and it spoils the overall impression. MACs are now made to work well with 4K and 5K monitors.

If you are sure that you will want to work with downscaled resolution of 1440p, 5K monitors are recommended for smooth result (2x downscale 2880p /2 =1440p). It does not work so well with 4K monitors (1,5x downscale). Even though the image with a 4K monitor downscaled to 2K won't be perfect, it will still be better than native 2K. I'm not good at technical details, it's better to check on various Mac user forums.

https://www.google.com/search?q=mac+external+monitor+when+downscaling+to+1400p+is+recommended+4K+or+5K+monitor%3F&client=firefox-b-d&hs=5Gq9&sca_esv=8d8a6070b8a2d493&udm=50&fbs=ADc_l-ZseckkBJUFopaGDNYa-HGjs8TBAvqoC9-yPsp40uKyMnHb1eyYm9-0uydZBIldSrElYZjbv2junGLSB3Uc5uFaZbhcahoYy2kciwTv5OO2R_QN9D7Sd_7_iXbYI2Cw8oqUuvL9mDEz2YzMoIO4FSEPlpmXa8MtWY580qX0etrChuHZKnCfoHJzxH5Jx7uFvLjKkNZA&aep=1&ntc=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjyztDgnpCSAxWlbPEDHby2FmQQ2J8OegQIDxAE&biw=1869&bih=1041&dpr=1&aic=0&mstk=AUtExfCxqheYvA0qtVbf9QJ8Yar_n7dS7PwCpiXfNCsBDSg7creX1s4pgx2p1NGvORaRwx3Ze457cSB6zuwQsFG0e5lqNZjX7yurOCCNv_kyPoVZTep92WYJNidKX7s9OH5EyqWLK-TUQRkIApUlRw6NXXFrZoxnbTJxhg-j8PuTChlU27dzjeW8IMXewy2IVJoXkpVfPuSMWSvV0PsEJYX1cVHzoXHkSOjYGHaaCnAqWlxF90TGSvZJNELJ5A&csuir=1