[alinescoo]

I’ve been using the monitor recommended here and I am happy on how it works after almost a year now (BenQ EX2780Q 2560×1440 @144Hz).

Now I have another question. I am thinking of upgrading my computer and basically I have 2 options:
– go with an i7 13700 + 32 GB DDR5
– go with a mac mini, probably m2

I’ve been tinkering with the idea of getting a mac for quite some time. I sort of needed it at some points in my workflow. However, there is a big concern related to how macOS renders font and how much temporal dithering is using. I’ve read user comments that macs with m1/m2 use temporal dithering which causes eye strain for some. But my main concern are reports of blurry/fuzzy text for 27″ 2k monitors. Going a bit into more details, macOS seems to be ok with 220ppi which for 27″ means 5k resolution. In this way, it can render the text to look like 2560×1440 (scale of 2) (so decent size/screen estate) and have it very crisp. Getting a 27″ 4k doesn’t provide a “round” scaling factor value, however reports are that it looks quite ok. The problem is with 27″ 2k which has 109 ppi. Theoretically, this means that the display runs at it’s native resolution, without any scale, but reports are that the text looks fuzzy/blurry. Now, I am happy with the size/looks of text of my monitor in Windows, but my concern is how will it look on mac mini? Any experience or thoughts on the matter?

Thank you very much.

[PCM2]

Hi alinescoo,

I’ve created a separate thread for this in case it catches somebody’s attention who has experience with this. I’m afraid I don’t, I’m purely a Windows PC user. I’m aware that MacOS as a platform and its programs are really built with high pixel densities in mind (‘HiDPI’) and I have certainly seen people reference issues with its scaling for lower resolutions (such as 27″ QHD which applies to your screen). For some of these comments I haven’t been entirely clear whether people who state there are issues there are simply comparing to screens with much higher pixel density and whether they have used the same screen with Windows to see how things are supposed to look natively. Some people have been put off by such comments and were pleasantly surprised when they got such a screen up and running (example from Reddit). Would be great to hear from others with experience of this as I’m afraid that isn’t something I can offer.

P.S. It’s best to refer to the 2560 x 1440 resolution as (W)QHD or 1440p, not ‘2K’ which undersells and is misleading.

[alinescoo]

Thank you for your input and the 2k correction, I was unaware. Maybe I can manage to get into a store and see the actual mac OS running to see if dithering bothers my eyes.

[PCM2]

I think that’s a good idea, if possible, as you have an appropriate Windows-based reference in mind as well. If you do, your thoughts here would be very welcome.

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