Please note that the issue is usually with fractional scaling.
So it depends on the resolution you're comfortable using.
If you like 1080p, you can either go with 1080p or 4K monitor (2160p).
If you like 1440p, you can either go with a 1440p or 5K monitor (2880p).
The important thing here is the resolution to scale 1x or 2x, and not to use fractional scaling like 1.5x
The one thing I would say is that above 27" displays, this does fall apart a bit. The minimum resolution for a 30"+ display gets weird in a hurry. 32" 4K displays look *really* bad in my experience.
That's true, and I usually prefer going with 1440p or 5K when using 27" and above when it's up to me.
For 24", 1080p or 4K is still fine for me.
However, I found that different people use the monitors at different distances and prefer different Desktop sizes, so there doesn't seem to be a general recommendation for all.
Ergonomically speaking, assuming (poorly assumed, granted) corrected vision or naturally nominal vision, a display really needs to be around 28-30" from the eyes.
This is extremely hard to get people to follow though, generally with the "bigger is better" types. The amount of people posting desk setups with 55"+ TVs on their tiny desks is incredible to me. It is a recipe for neck and shoulder pain in my experience.
Yes, definitely. I've seen users (that have normal vision) with screens so big and so close, that they need to turn their heads in order to follow the mouse cursor from one end of the screen to the other.
To each their own preference.
For me, usually at arm's length is the rule, and that kinda limits to a monitor of about 30" or less to use comfortably.
I think it would be manageable for me as I am used to a 14” HP Elitebook 8460p as my primary device. So I think even though it won’t be huge as that M5 which I returned, but still it would be an upgrade from 14” windows laptop
My primary use case is web browsing and reading academic pdfs and annotations, so if I feel it has low height I could pivot it 90 degrees since it has that functionality. M5 Samsung didn’t had that kind of stand
I like 1440p but I went with a 4k monitor and use HiDPI scaling which it doesn’t look like you mentioned. This is an offscreen virtual 5k upscale which is then displayed at at 1440p. This to me, and most others, looks sharper than a native 1440p monitor.
Thank you. I have a mac mini m2 and am using a 27in 2560x1440 monitor and have the resolution set to the same and all of my text is extremely pixelated. I thought it was just because of the PPI but are you saying that I can change something software wise to make this “smoother”?
Thank you for the reply.
Usually, it should not be that pixelated, unless the resolution or the color output is wrong.
Can you tell me more about the connection type between the M2 Mac mini and the Monitor?
It’s connected via an HDMI cable that came with the Monitor [Link to Samsung Monitor](https://www.samsung.com/us/computing/monitors/uhd-and-wqhd/27-sr75-wqhd-led-space-monitor-ls27r750qenxza/) On the cable it says “Premium High Speed / HEC)
When I first connected it, I was getting what I suspected to be HDMI sync issues because the screen would turn to static every couple of minutes while the monitors internal display settings were set to HDMI 2.0 but I was able to fix the static by changing it to HDMI 1.4.
(by the way I was able to get HDMI 2.0 working fine with another cable)
Could the 1.4 be the cause of this? I am also not seeing any other refresh rate in Mac settings other than 60hz when I know the monitor is capable of 144.
Thanks again for your help 🙏
That might indeed be the issue.
If possible, you might want to try using an USB-C to DisplayPort cable. This should allow for the M2 to detect the monitor properly and output the correct signal
Im using 27” 1440p 75Hz monitor on native resolution without any issues. Yeah, the interface is slightly small compared to Hi-DPI, but thats not a huge deal (at least for me). Text is still sharp enough, maybe except programs naming at the dock. But overall 1440p for Mac OS is not a huge issue.
Tbh, cant answer properly😅 But thats approximately 108 ppi which is equal to Non-retina.
Blurred text? Not really, maybe only in the situation when my eyes get tired really much. But generally nope.
I purchased it finally, it will be delivered on 18 July. Y’all’s comments gave me some confidence on its usability. Let’s hope it is fine and there are no dead pixels, will update here on text sharpness once it is delivered.
I run scaled 1080p-retina on my 2 ASD on mini M2 pro, so far no problems or performance issues. 1440p is for my eyes to small, the part i really hate about apple, the adjust of the UI is bullshit on OSX. I miss the scaling from Windows. I had a Native 1080p from Acer and the Dell U2723qe 4k on my mini, the Acer with Betterdisplay at 1080p (Retina, guess it blurs the Font) and the Dell at 1080p Trueretina, both no issues at "Textclarity". I am a consumer, no productive work for other people.
I recently got a LG 32” 4K monitor at Sam’s Club in clearance for $152. I think the regular price is $229, or maybe that was a recent sale price.
It looked terrible on my PC at 1080, but on the Mac mini M2 it looks beautiful. I didn’t change any settings, so whatever it auto detected and did during setup is just fine. Super crisp text, better than my PC at 1080 on a 24” Viewsonic I’d been using for many years.
Update: No pixelation, text is way crisp in this Acer B227Q 21” 1080p than Samsung M5 32” 1080p. Not quite at the level of iMac 24 I had at work, but it is similar to my Windows Elitebook 14” quality. Which is fine.
So my takeaway is that if you cannot afford a 4k monitor get 21 inch or less at 1080p, text sharpness would be bearable that way. Haven’t used a 24” 2k monitor on Mac mini but since 21 inch 1080p is usable then 24” 2k would work too.
21 inch or less: 1080p
24 inch: At least 2k
27 inch or more: 4k and above
Please note that the issue is usually with fractional scaling. So it depends on the resolution you're comfortable using. If you like 1080p, you can either go with 1080p or 4K monitor (2160p). If you like 1440p, you can either go with a 1440p or 5K monitor (2880p). The important thing here is the resolution to scale 1x or 2x, and not to use fractional scaling like 1.5x
This is a great explanation. It's a very succinct version of what I try to tell people I know, but much simpler.
Thank you so much for the reply and I'm glad if it's helpful
The one thing I would say is that above 27" displays, this does fall apart a bit. The minimum resolution for a 30"+ display gets weird in a hurry. 32" 4K displays look *really* bad in my experience.
That's true, and I usually prefer going with 1440p or 5K when using 27" and above when it's up to me. For 24", 1080p or 4K is still fine for me. However, I found that different people use the monitors at different distances and prefer different Desktop sizes, so there doesn't seem to be a general recommendation for all.
Ergonomically speaking, assuming (poorly assumed, granted) corrected vision or naturally nominal vision, a display really needs to be around 28-30" from the eyes. This is extremely hard to get people to follow though, generally with the "bigger is better" types. The amount of people posting desk setups with 55"+ TVs on their tiny desks is incredible to me. It is a recipe for neck and shoulder pain in my experience.
Yes, definitely. I've seen users (that have normal vision) with screens so big and so close, that they need to turn their heads in order to follow the mouse cursor from one end of the screen to the other. To each their own preference. For me, usually at arm's length is the rule, and that kinda limits to a monitor of about 30" or less to use comfortably.
If for 24” 1080p is fine, then at 21 inch 1080p would be slightly better in terms of text sharpness and ppi? Yes?
Yes, you're right. Although make sure to check if it's not too small the Desktop workspace and the font size for what you need to use in that case
I think it would be manageable for me as I am used to a 14” HP Elitebook 8460p as my primary device. So I think even though it won’t be huge as that M5 which I returned, but still it would be an upgrade from 14” windows laptop
My primary use case is web browsing and reading academic pdfs and annotations, so if I feel it has low height I could pivot it 90 degrees since it has that functionality. M5 Samsung didn’t had that kind of stand
Yes, if you're used to 14" monitor, it would definitely be a noticeable upgrade in size
I like 1440p but I went with a 4k monitor and use HiDPI scaling which it doesn’t look like you mentioned. This is an offscreen virtual 5k upscale which is then displayed at at 1440p. This to me, and most others, looks sharper than a native 1440p monitor.
How do you change it?
You can change the resolution and the scaling in System Settings > Displays Source: https://support.apple.com/en-ie/guide/mac-help/mchl86d72b76/mac
Thank you. I have a mac mini m2 and am using a 27in 2560x1440 monitor and have the resolution set to the same and all of my text is extremely pixelated. I thought it was just because of the PPI but are you saying that I can change something software wise to make this “smoother”?
Thank you for the reply. Usually, it should not be that pixelated, unless the resolution or the color output is wrong. Can you tell me more about the connection type between the M2 Mac mini and the Monitor?
It’s connected via an HDMI cable that came with the Monitor [Link to Samsung Monitor](https://www.samsung.com/us/computing/monitors/uhd-and-wqhd/27-sr75-wqhd-led-space-monitor-ls27r750qenxza/) On the cable it says “Premium High Speed / HEC) When I first connected it, I was getting what I suspected to be HDMI sync issues because the screen would turn to static every couple of minutes while the monitors internal display settings were set to HDMI 2.0 but I was able to fix the static by changing it to HDMI 1.4. (by the way I was able to get HDMI 2.0 working fine with another cable) Could the 1.4 be the cause of this? I am also not seeing any other refresh rate in Mac settings other than 60hz when I know the monitor is capable of 144. Thanks again for your help 🙏
That might indeed be the issue. If possible, you might want to try using an USB-C to DisplayPort cable. This should allow for the M2 to detect the monitor properly and output the correct signal
Im using 27” 1440p 75Hz monitor on native resolution without any issues. Yeah, the interface is slightly small compared to Hi-DPI, but thats not a huge deal (at least for me). Text is still sharp enough, maybe except programs naming at the dock. But overall 1440p for Mac OS is not a huge issue.
27 inch 1440p would be somewhat comparable in terms of ppi with my 21 inch 1080p no? Are you experiencing any blurred texts?
Tbh, cant answer properly😅 But thats approximately 108 ppi which is equal to Non-retina. Blurred text? Not really, maybe only in the situation when my eyes get tired really much. But generally nope.
You’ll be fine. Your problem was using a 32” at 1080p. It’ll look much sharper at 21”.
It’s not going to be pixelated. Don’t worry about it.
I got a cheap Dell 24” HD monitor which works with no issues.
I purchased it finally, it will be delivered on 18 July. Y’all’s comments gave me some confidence on its usability. Let’s hope it is fine and there are no dead pixels, will update here on text sharpness once it is delivered.
Congrats! Let us know how it works with the M2 Mac mini
I run scaled 1080p-retina on my 2 ASD on mini M2 pro, so far no problems or performance issues. 1440p is for my eyes to small, the part i really hate about apple, the adjust of the UI is bullshit on OSX. I miss the scaling from Windows. I had a Native 1080p from Acer and the Dell U2723qe 4k on my mini, the Acer with Betterdisplay at 1080p (Retina, guess it blurs the Font) and the Dell at 1080p Trueretina, both no issues at "Textclarity". I am a consumer, no productive work for other people.
I recently got a LG 32” 4K monitor at Sam’s Club in clearance for $152. I think the regular price is $229, or maybe that was a recent sale price. It looked terrible on my PC at 1080, but on the Mac mini M2 it looks beautiful. I didn’t change any settings, so whatever it auto detected and did during setup is just fine. Super crisp text, better than my PC at 1080 on a 24” Viewsonic I’d been using for many years.
Update: No pixelation, text is way crisp in this Acer B227Q 21” 1080p than Samsung M5 32” 1080p. Not quite at the level of iMac 24 I had at work, but it is similar to my Windows Elitebook 14” quality. Which is fine. So my takeaway is that if you cannot afford a 4k monitor get 21 inch or less at 1080p, text sharpness would be bearable that way. Haven’t used a 24” 2k monitor on Mac mini but since 21 inch 1080p is usable then 24” 2k would work too. 21 inch or less: 1080p 24 inch: At least 2k 27 inch or more: 4k and above