Two 4K monitors or two HD monitors?

[Toothpick]

I want two 27” monitors to match the size of my iMac. The iMac is 5k.

Is there any real advantage over a 27” 4K monitor compared to a regular HD 27” ?

the 4K seems to be roughly double the price. I don’t mind paying it if the advantage is there. If it’s significantly better.

I do light video editing. But mostly just browse the web.

 

[hickey92]

Unless you're gonna make use of the 4k with 4k video, or plan to do 4k gaming (not sure you can even do that on an imac), then I'd say use the regular HD. It sounds as if 4k would be major overkill for your purposes.

Sent from my VOG-L09 using Tapatalk

 

[TexLaw]

Provided you are actually using 4K, you'll certainly notice a difference on such a large monitor. Of course, the real question is whether you care. Obviously, you won't care much while just browsing the web, but you might very well enjoy it for video editing (if you are editing 4K video).

 

[RealPretendPsychic]

Go UltraWide!

 

[Toothpick]

Go UltraWide!

I was thinking of this as well. Then I’ll likely just need 1 extra monitor instead of two. A 27” ultra wide in Regular HD?

 

[oc_in_fw]

I was thinking of this as well. Then I’ll likely just need 1 extra monitor instead of two. A 27” ultra wide in Regular HD?

IMO, if you aren’t doing heavy duty photo or video editing, regular HD is going to be great and save you some money over a 4K or 5k display.

 

[RealPretendPsychic]

I was thinking of this as well. Then I’ll likely just need 1 extra monitor instead of two. A 27” ultra wide in Regular HD?

I’m doing the same search right now to set up a workstation in the office. My better half is fine with a 25”, but I’m pushing for a 29” or 34“. Probably just standard 1080P, but as long as it‘a a 21:9 ratio I’m good.

 

[BigFoot]

I just put two new 22" in my office, 1080P. Its work I had a budget but man I wish they were 27". The 1080P looks really good though.

@Toothpick how much 4K do you watch on your TV, that may help you decide if it is worth it for your computer.

 

[Toothpick]

I just put two new 22" in my office, 1080P. Its work I had a budget but man I wish they were 27". The 1080P looks really good though.

@Toothpick how much 4K do you watch on your TV, that may help you decide if it is worth it for your computer.

I have a 4K TV but I don’t watch any 4K. I stream everything with the Apple TV and it is not the 4K version. I was just thinking of a 4k monitor because the iMac is 5k and 4k is somewhat cheap now.

But I think y’all are right, for just browsing the web I don’t think I need 4K. I have two 24” monitors now. I just want them all to be the same size as the main computer.

I’m leaning toward a 34” Ultra Wide.

 

[johnnylighton]

I have 2 27" Dell U2718Q and they're great. 4K, inexpensive, IPS panel so it's good for viewing angles, very sharp, great colors (but cannot be calibrated for serious photo editing). I use them on Windows 10 at 150% scaling.

Know that 2x27" are so wide that, unlike a large, curved single screen, you're going to get a kind of distortion on the outside edges and it's not that pleasant to look at for long periods. But for things that you need to glance at, it works well.

 

[Toothpick]

Yuck! Hooked up one of my 24” and it’s ugly next to the Mac. Gonna have to get a 27” for sure. Maybe even a 32”.

 

[RealPretendPsychic]

Yuck! Hooked up one of my 24” and it’s ugly next to the Mac. Gonna have to get a 27” for sure. Maybe even a 32”.

View attachment 1071759

Settled on a 29” ultrawide. It wasn’t the super unnecessarily large, curved monitor I recommended, but I like it!

 

[Toothpick]

Sweet! LG? Cost? Specs? I have yet to buy one. Still on the market though.

 

[cleanshaved]

One thing you may need Jason is to have a good adjustable height on the stand, regardless of the size you go with. The two screens look odd due to the stepped down view.
Maybe a duel screen monitor stand with independent adjustments for height etc.

 

[Merle]

I have to laugh as I'm seeing 4k and 8k monitors well under 1000 usd and still 45,55 inches diagonal. And, much larger at the "old" price points we'd coughed up 10 years ago.

The web browsing question is an ironic one because most often I'm making all the screen tools much much bigger and the data field areas have to be much larger than "100%" to be read! With a high pixel pitch comes very unique tradeoffs regarding text and tools. Also, you'll find you need an ultra-high-resolution mouse to easily do highlight selection of hyperlinks.

 

[RealPretendPsychic]

Sweet! LG? Cost? Specs? I have yet to buy one. Still on the market though.

Yup actually got it clearance at a local Walmart. LG 29UM50-P 21:9, 2560x1080, 5ms response, and 1,000:1 contrast. We’ll mostly use it for online research and spreadsheets and maybe some photo editing. I’ve only done some spreadsheets so far so haven’t gotten to fully test it out. Probably could use an adjustable stand though, it sits pretty low.

 

[Toothpick]

I stepped up to the 27" curved standard HD. It's an improvement. Only $159 at Walmart so why not. Eventually I will upgrade again to a 4k when the price drops a bit. Maybe a year or two down the road.

If I go any wider or bigger I'll need a bigger desk. This is just about perfect. A little hangs over but not enough to be of a concern.