27" 4K monitor for Mac Mini - which?

[Dracoro]

Are most new monitors now much of a muchness or are there clear differences?

Looking at c27 inch "4k" (3840x2160) to plug into MacMini. That will have a HDMI 2 as well as USB-C/Thunderbolt-3 connector/port.

Usage is for some photos and music work, plus watching Netflix/YouTube etc. as well as being a little future proof.

Not gaming so no need for silly spec/costs.

Any suggestions and/or things to look out for?

[Horace Van Khute]

Panel tech is as always the biggest difference. Then accessories (connections etc), fit and finish and so on on top. Good IPS 4k 27 inch would be around 400-500 quid.

E.g. https://www.amazon.co.uk/LG-27UL850-DisplayHDR-Dis...

[Dracoro]

Thanks. Also thinking of going 24 inch and maybe adding second later. So, ultimately 2x24 rather than 1x27.

[Horace Van Khute]

Personally I wouldn't, 24 inch 16:9 form factor feels tiny. 27 inch feels perfect in desk application. Or even better 2x27inch

[Troubleatmill]

@Dracoro - You need to see this thread
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Edited by Troubleatmill on Wednesday 3rd June 13:34

[Lagom]

Dracoro said:

Thanks. Also thinking of going 24 inch and maybe adding second later. So, ultimately 2x24 rather than 1x27.

At home, I've just upgraded from a 24" HD to 27" 4k monitor - won't be changing back. Makes my 2 x 24" setup at work look pants.

[Dracoro]

Thanks all - yes I have seen that homeworking thread!

Thought about it some more and...have ordered a 28inch 4k OLED Samsung from ao. Hope it's good!

So much on Amazon (including the samsung) that suits is out of stock.

[mmm-five]

I thought OLEDs were best reserved for constantly moving images (like TVs), due to their higher chance of image retention/screen burn than their LCD counterparts as computer monitors where windows/toolbars/menus can be on screen for hours?

[Dracoro]

Ah, should I be cancelling this order?

[Lagom]

Dracoro said:

Thanks all - yes I have seen that homeworking thread!

Thought about it some more and...have ordered a 28inch 4k OLED Samsung from ao. Hope it's good!

OLED or QLED?

[mmm-five]

Dracoro said:

Ah, should I be cancelling this order!!

It's possible that I'm just mis-remembering stories from the earlier models (or maybe from plasma )?

I've got a Sony 4K OLED in the living room, but all my monitors are LCD. I know LG don't offer warranty on screen burn/image retention as it's a usage problem not a manufacturing issue...but for them to even specifically mention it seems strange if there is no issue.

I'm sure others will chime in.

[Dracoro]

QLED (mistyped above!, not OLED)

Samsung LU28H750UQUXEN

[Lagom]

Nothing wrong with that monitor, I'm sure you'll be more than happy with it.

I have a 65" Samsung QLED in the front room, the advantage over OLED is that it doesn't get burn-in.

[boxst]

The monitor is great, I would just be wary of the Mac Mini in high resolution — I bought one last year and sent it back as at higher resolutions it was really slow. Ended up buying a 27” iMac that is quite impressive.

[Dracoro]

The new MacMini supports 4k (more than one monitor too) so should be OK.

Depends what you are doing with it though, if doing intensive video editing etc. then an external GPU is an option. I doubt I will need that though

Edited by Dracoro on Wednesday 3rd June 16:23

[Horace Van Khute]

Dracoro said:

The new MacMini supports 4k (more than one monitor too) so should be OK.

You know when they are saying that it supports 4k in multi-monitor configuration they don't say how well it works with it it just that it works. Similar to minimum hardware requirements with software.

Based on my experience with MBP driving an external 4k screen and the integrated retina screen, on 2 SKU's one with integrated the other with discreet GPUs I can say that it works in both cases but it's far from nice - the fans stay on all the time, the average temps go up by a lot (which contributed to killing the battery on the iGPU only model) and the speed takes a hit with an iGPU only SKU. And since mac mini comes with an iGPU only option I'd agree with boxst, you might be disappointed.

[Troubleatmill]

Horace Van Khute said:

Dracoro said:

The new MacMini supports 4k (more than one monitor too) so should be OK.

You know when they are saying that it supports 4k in multi-monitor configuration they don't say how well it works with it it just that it works. Similar to minimum hardware requirements with software.

Based on my experience with MBP driving an external 4k screen and the integrated retina screen, on 2 SKU's one with integrated the other with discreet GPUs I can say that it works in both cases but it's far from nice - the fans stay on all the time, the average temps go up by a lot (which contributed to killing the battery on the iGPU only model) and the speed takes a hit with an iGPU only SKU. And since mac mini comes with an iGPU only option I'd agree with boxst, you might be disappointed.

Our protragonist wants ( in his other thread ) - the GPU punishing ability to....
"Other than usual surfing, mail, office etc., videos (watching, i.e. Netflix, YouTub etc.) the main use is probably writing/recoding music - Garageband etc."

I think he will be fine.

If he gets into extreme flight simulators etc - he can add an eGPU.

[Horace Van Khute]

Troubleatmill said:

Horace Van Khute said:

Dracoro said:

The new MacMini supports 4k (more than one monitor too) so should be OK.

You know when they are saying that it supports 4k in multi-monitor configuration they don't say how well it works with it it just that it works. Similar to minimum hardware requirements with software.

Based on my experience with MBP driving an external 4k screen and the integrated retina screen, on 2 SKU's one with integrated the other with discreet GPUs I can say that it works in both cases but it's far from nice - the fans stay on all the time, the average temps go up by a lot (which contributed to killing the battery on the iGPU only model) and the speed takes a hit with an iGPU only SKU. And since mac mini comes with an iGPU only option I'd agree with boxst, you might be disappointed.

Our protragonist wants ( in his other thread ) - the GPU punishing ability to....
"Other than usual surfing, mail, office etc., videos (watching, i.e. Netflix, YouTub etc.) the main use is probably writing/recoding music - Garageband etc."

I think he will be fine.

If he gets into extreme flight simulators etc - he can add an eGPU.

The use case I described is a similar scenario, nothing fancy, and the thing was sweating, not a surprise with subpar cooling that a MBP has.

That said, he doesn't have much choice, anything less than 4k will look pants (obviously some people might not notice it and could argue I'm wrong) with mac OS as they now design the interface to look best in "retina" scenarios, so 4/5k divided by 2 in H and V.