OK, so got the new Mini M4, and a Philips budget 4K display (model: 27E1N1800A).
So, having read more about it, after I got it, it seems that a 4K
display isn't the best choice for a Mac (I had no idea), but the reading makes sense, and I understand the whys and wherefores. And I had
forgotten about all the scaling calculations from the past (it's not a problem on the iPad, nor on the MacBook Pro I was using).
Obviously its best native setting is 3840x2160, but it's only just
usable at that, although superbly sharp. Otherwise, the Mac tries to
default at 1920x1080.
OK, so got the new Mini M4, and a Philips budget 4K display (model: 27E1N1800A).Hi Andy,
So, having read more about it, after I got it, it seems that a 4K
display isn't the best choice for a Mac (I had no idea), but the reading makes sense, and I understand the whys and wherefores. And I had
forgotten about all the scaling calculations from the past (it's not a problem on the iPad, nor on the MacBook Pro I was using).
Obviously its best native setting is 3840x2160, but it's only just
usable at that, although superbly sharp. Otherwise, the Mac tries to
default at 1920x1080.
That's OK, and also equally sharp, although text and UI stuff is huge,
even at minimum settings - although I'm starting my 60's, I can still
see OK at small sizes, and prefer a little more screen real estate.
I've tried it at a few different settings in between, offered by macOS,
to be honest, they all seem equally clear to me. My favourite is
probably 2560x1440, for day to day use.
The only issue I have is when editing photos, at that resolution I don't
get anything when doing a 100% zoom for sharpening. It's actually best
at 1920x1080 for that.
I have tried out BetterDisplay, but not really sure what it's offering
me, other than a much larger lost of resolutions to try.
I've also discovered they didn't seem to have fixed the USB-C/
Thunderbolt - Displayport issues. I had been using a cable to connect to
the display that way, but kept getting a blank screen during screen
saver mode (it's Ok at full sleep though). Switching to HDMI seems to
have fixed that. Any real world differences there, that's I'm likely to
lose anything from it?
Of course I appreciate there's a lot of trial and error, and personal preferences involved, but I'd appreciate any pointers anyway.
Cheers.
On 11.08.26 19:29, Andy Hewitt wrote:
OK, so got the new Mini M4, and a Philips budget 4K display (model:
27E1N1800A).
So, having read more about it, after I got it, it seems that a 4K
display isn't the best choice for a Mac (I had no idea), but the reading
makes sense, and I understand the whys and wherefores. And I had
forgotten about all the scaling calculations from the past (it's not a
problem on the iPad, nor on the MacBook Pro I was using).
Obviously its best native setting is 3840x2160, but it's only just
usable at that, although superbly sharp. Otherwise, the Mac tries to
default at 1920x1080.
My Dell 27" runs perfectly at 3008 x 1692. Size of the icons and
everything else fits perfectly.
Go to Settings - Displays and play around.Pretty much what I have been doing, but can't decide what works best
Of course I appreciate there's a lot of trial and error, and personalHi Andy,
preferences involved, but I'd appreciate any pointers anyway.
Cheers.
You've hit on one of macOS's long-standing quirks with 27-inch 4K (3840|u2160) monitors. Here is a breakdown of what's going on under the hood, how to get the most out of your setup, and answers to your
specific points:
1. Why 4K on a 27-inch Display acts "weird" on macOS
Apple's Retina display system is built around a target density of ~218
PPI (like the 27-inch 5K Studio Display or 24-inch 4K iMac). A 27-inch
4K panel sits at roughly 163 PPI.
Native 3840|u2160 (100% / 1:1 scaling): Crisp, but text and UI elements
are tiny because macOS isn't scaling the interface up.
1920|u1080 (2x HiDPI Retina): Perfect pixel-doubling (4 physical pixels
for every 1 virtual pixel). Sharp and easy on the eyes, but feels cramped.
2560|u1440 (Scaled HiDPI): To give you this UI size, macOS actually
renders a virtual 5120|u2880 canvas in memory, draws the UI on it, and
then downscales that image to fit your monitorrCOs 3840|u2160 physical pixels.
The good news: On your M4 Mac Mini, the GPU handles this downscaling instantly without taking any perceptible performance hit.
The bad news: Because 3840 isn't an exact mathematical multiple of 5120, there is a tiny amount of sub-pixel interpolation. Most people find 2560|u1440 HiDPI at 27" to be the "sweet spot" for usable screen real
estate vs text sharpness.
2. Photo Editing & 100% Zoom
When you are editing photos in Lightroom, Photoshop, or Photos at a
scaled resolution like 2560|u1440, macOS is stretching/scaling the application interface, which can blur pixel-level critical evaluation
(like checking noise or sharpness at 1:1 zoom).
How to handle it: Many professional photo editing applications render
the image canvas directly to screen pixels independently of the macOS UI scaling. However, if your editor relies on macOS UI scaling, switching
to 1920|u1080 HiDPI (where 1 UI point = exactly 2|u2 physical pixels)
gives you the cleanest pixel accuracy.
BetterDisplay shortcut: If you stick with BetterDisplay, you can set up
a global keyboard shortcut to toggle instantly between 2560|u1440 HiDPI (desktop mode) and 1920|u1080 HiDPI (photo editing mode) without digging into System Settings every time.
3. HDMI vs. USB-C / DisplayPort
For a budget 4K 60Hz display like the Philips 27E1N1800A, you lose
virtually nothing by using HDMI instead of USB-C/DisplayPort.
Bandwidth & Refresh Rate: HDMI 2.0/2.1 on the M4 Mini easily carries 4K
at 60Hz with full 8-bit or 10-bit color, which is all that panel supports.
Sleep/Wake Bugs: macOS has had intermittent DisplayPort MST/DSC sleep handshake issues across several macOS releases, particularly with budget display controller chipsets. If switching to HDMI resolved the blank
screen / sleep wake issue, stick with HDMI.
Recommendations Summary
Daily Use: Keep macOS set to the 2560|u1440 scaled resolution. It's the standard productivity setup for 27" 4K displays on Apple Silicon.
Display Cable: Stick with HDMI. It avoids the DisplayPort sleep bug
without sacrificing image quality or refresh rate.
BetterDisplay: You don't need it if macOS natively offers the 2560|u1440 scaled option, but it's great if you want quick resolution-switching
hotkeys for photo work or smoother brightness controls.
Hope that helps!
It does actually. Thanks
Andy Hewitt <thewildrover@icloud.com> wrote
[rCa]
It does actually. Thanks
Yes but not his own thoughts - all done via AI.
On 12/08/2026 05:36, Alan B wrote:
Andy Hewitt <thewildrover@icloud.com> wrote
[rCa]
It does actually. Thanks
Yes but not his own thoughts - all done via AI.
Well, at least he got to interact with the AI, and not me ;-)
It does actually. Thanks
Andy Hewitt <thewildrover@icloud.com> wrote:
On 12/08/2026 05:36, Alan B wrote:
Andy Hewitt <thewildrover@icloud.com> wrote
[rCa]
It does actually. Thanks
Yes but not his own thoughts - all done via AI.
Well, at least he got to interact with the AI, and not me ;-)
Thought for the day: Is posting something authored by an AI bot without acknowledgement a form of plagiarism?
On 12/08/2026 06:29, Alan B wrote:
Andy Hewitt <thewildrover@icloud.com> wrote:
On 12/08/2026 05:36, Alan B wrote:
Andy Hewitt <thewildrover@icloud.com> wrote
[rCa]
It does actually. Thanks
Yes but not his own thoughts - all done via AI.
Well, at least he got to interact with the AI, and not me ;-)
Thought for the day: Is posting something authored by an AI bot without
acknowledgement a form of plagiarism?
Hi Alan,
It is a fair question and a topic that comes up regularly nowadays!
In my view, it really comes down to intent, verification, and utility:
Information vs. Creative Authorship: Plagiarism traditionally involves taking credit for someone else's artistic, academic, or literary work.
When answering a technical support query on a newsgroup, the primary
goal is delivering accurate, structured, and helpful advice to solve a specific problem.
The Human in the Loop: Using an AI tool as a sophisticated technical research assistantrCowhere the user prompts, verifies the technical
accuracy against their own experience, edits the output, and takes responsibility for the posted informationrCois more like using an
advanced, curated search engine or draft compiler.
Value to the Reader: If the information supplied is technically
accurate, well-explained, and directly solves Andy's problem (as it did
here with Retina scaling mechanics and cable handshakes), then the group receives genuine technical value.
That said, transparency is always good practice. Different newsgroup participants have varying views on disclosure, but as long as the
technical details are verified before hitting "Send", the group benefits from good troubleshooting!
=
Written by AI - and I agree with every word!
David B. <David@hotmail.co.uk> wrote:
On 12/08/2026 06:29, Alan B wrote:
Andy Hewitt <thewildrover@icloud.com> wrote:
On 12/08/2026 05:36, Alan B wrote:
Andy Hewitt <thewildrover@icloud.com> wrote
[rCa]
It does actually. Thanks
Yes but not his own thoughts - all done via AI.
Well, at least he got to interact with the AI, and not me ;-)
Thought for the day: Is posting something authored by an AI bot without
acknowledgement a form of plagiarism?
Hi Alan,
It is a fair question and a topic that comes up regularly nowadays!
In my view, it really comes down to intent, verification, and utility:
Information vs. Creative Authorship: Plagiarism traditionally involves
taking credit for someone else's artistic, academic, or literary work.
When answering a technical support query on a newsgroup, the primary
goal is delivering accurate, structured, and helpful advice to solve a
specific problem.
The Human in the Loop: Using an AI tool as a sophisticated technical
research assistantrCowhere the user prompts, verifies the technical
accuracy against their own experience, edits the output, and takes
responsibility for the posted informationrCois more like using an
advanced, curated search engine or draft compiler.
Value to the Reader: If the information supplied is technically
accurate, well-explained, and directly solves Andy's problem (as it did
here with Retina scaling mechanics and cable handshakes), then the group
receives genuine technical value.
That said, transparency is always good practice. Different newsgroup
participants have varying views on disclosure, but as long as the
technical details are verified before hitting "Send", the group benefits
from good troubleshooting!
=
Written by AI - and I agree with every word!
In hindsight, now knowing it was AI, it didnrCOt really give me any answers as such. Indeed, I am actually a bit more sceptical of the reply now. It
did the old mind readers trick of telling me what I expected to get back as
a response, based on the information I already gave it.
My OP was intended to open a discussion with real people, and their real world use of the equipment IrCOm using (or as near to it as possible).
IrCOm not a fan of AI, at least not for much of it. Some parts are clearly good. However, I want to know when IrCOm interacting with it.
Plagiarism or not, itrCOs generally expected to include references to sources used for content in such an article.
In the past, werCOve usually referred to things being of onerCOs own experience
(IME), or previous conversations in the forum (or another).
Personally I would not, could not, post anything without mentioning how I know it (not taking into account forgetting, or errors in judgement).
So, yes, you should have at least started off with rCyaccording to GeminirCa.rCO
Cheers
On 11/08/2026 18:33, J||rg Lorenz wrote:
On 11.08.26 19:29, Andy Hewitt wrote:
OK, so got the new Mini M4, and a Philips budget 4K display (model:
27E1N1800A).
So, having read more about it, after I got it, it seems that a 4K
display isn't the best choice for a Mac (I had no idea), but the reading >>> makes sense, and I understand the whys and wherefores. And I had
forgotten about all the scaling calculations from the past (it's not a
problem on the iPad, nor on the MacBook Pro I was using).
Obviously its best native setting is 3840x2160, but it's only just
usable at that, although superbly sharp. Otherwise, the Mac tries to
default at 1920x1080.
My Dell 27" runs perfectly at 3008 x 1692. Size of the icons and
everything else fits perfectly.
OK, I hadn't tried that one. But have now, maybe a bit more than needed
for me, and only available with BetterDisplay as non-HiDpi.
Go to Settings - Displays and play around.Pretty much what I have been doing, but can't decide what works best
yet. I might pony up for BetterDisplay Pro, and set a keyboard shortcut
- or I can see a possible Automator option.
On 11 Aug 2026 at 23:02:22 BST, Andy Hewitt wrote:
My Dell 27" runs perfectly at 3008 x 1692. Size of the icons and
everything else fits perfectly.
OK, I hadn't tried that one. But have now, maybe a bit more than needed
for me, and only available with BetterDisplay as non-HiDpi.
Go to Settings - Displays and play around.Pretty much what I have been doing, but can't decide what works best
yet. I might pony up for BetterDisplay Pro, and set a keyboard shortcut
- or I can see a possible Automator option.
Same situation as you - M4 and a BenQ PD2705U. I just leave it at 2560 x 1440 and it's just about perfect for me. I don't come across the photos problem often. Couple of things:
It's not as sharp as it could be - when connected to a Windows box for example
it's noticeably sharper. It's still good but that doesn't stop me pining for a
proper 5K monitor. I've a 2021 iMac sitting in a box - apparently a -u100 aliexpress board turns it into a 5K monitor . . .
There is a performance hit - even if I don't notice it. IIUC - just using Activity Monitor - the windowserver process uses between 5 and 10% CPU at 1920
x 1080, and 25% to 40% at 2560 x 1440. I'm not sure if I've got this right but
it'd need less processing at 5K(?).
USB C generally works well - the monitor has a USB hub I use a lot. But it doesn't work fully - the monitor's (rubbish) speakers can't be controlled using the keyboard for example.
TLDR I'd like a 5K monitor but can't afford it :-)Yup, I did have a look, but there's quite a significant leap in cost.
OK, so got the new Mini M4, and a Philips budget 4K display (model: 27E1N1800A).
I have tried out BetterDisplay, but not really sure what it's offering
me, other than a much larger lost of resolutions to try.
Andy Hewitt <thewildrover@icloud.com> wrote:
On 12/08/2026 05:36, Alan B wrote:
Andy Hewitt <thewildrover@icloud.com> wrote
[rCa]
It does actually. Thanks
Yes but not his own thoughts - all done via AI.
Well, at least he got to interact with the AI, and not me ;-)
Thought for the day: Is posting something authored by an AI bot without acknowledgement a form of plagiarism?
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