just sharing my personal experience in using different resolutions of different desktops (for productivity)
updated 21 April 2022
I just want to just share my personal
experience in using different resolutions
of different desktops.
Before the pandemic, I was satisfied with
my HP Stream netbook. That is just
too low in specs and the screen is,
of course, too small.
But nowadays, during the pandemic,
we are forced to do online classes
and all work is done through the computer.
So, this one really matters now.
First, I simply project the netbook
to an external monitor 27” 1080p. Then,
we were provided by our company
with the iMac 21.5”,
that’s 4k Retina Display,
knowing that we really need that.
Plus, there are two external
monitors, 19.5” 1080p and
a smart TV 42” 1080p.
With these too many screens, I realized
these things (for productivity):
If that is really 1080p, then, that’s good.
You have a lot of space. With Windows OS,
you get a scaled view of everything. They
say Windows OS is not good at being scaled but
I think it’s just fine. When you compare that
to MacBook Pro scaling, then it’s not that
good.
But here is one thing you achieve:
you have a bigger projection of everything,
especially when your eyesight is poor.
Viewing distance is a little bit farther
since the projection is bigger. But still, it
is a good one. 4k resolution is not so
good for poor eyesight so that Mac
provided the option to
lower the resolution thereby
making all things appear bigger than
the default.
Also, some external 27-Inch monitors
are already curved. This actually has no
benefit for this size.
The 27-Inch iMac is still not curved.
But beyond this size, you need a curved one.
If you have 20/20 eyesight, then,
you’ll find this 4k Retina Display an
awesome experience. There is only one
catch: make sure you have the correct
viewing distance.
I’m not mentioning any specific distance,
but the basic rule is that you stretch your
arm then find the correct spot there
whether moving away or towards the monitor.
It was just I came from the larger
scaling of 1080p and Windows OS, I
realized I should be closer for this
display. And once I have my spot,
the experience is actually good,
I don’t experience much digital
eye strain.
And since they say it’s retina display
the individual pixels are too much, you
will not see any individual pixel, no matter
how close you are.
This one really makes a
striking difference, for example,
when using GitHub and you are editing the
document right there at the site,
you’ll see that even the fonts are too
small in editing mode, they are not problematic
if you have a normal vision.
Compared to 1080p, the 1080p is
a little bit bigger,
but you can see the individual pixels.
In my experience,
I can say it’s not as dense compared to
the Retina Display of iMac. That really
matters.
This external monitor is not completely
a computer monitor, no matter how it is claimed
to be. Also, it’s not just the 42-Inch.
These displays are more for viewing videos
and hence cannot be used, say, for
text editing. It can be, but for sure, your eyes
will not be able to handle it for a longer
period. Even if they claim a 4k 50-Inch
screen, computer monitors tend to be more expensive,
so from the price alone, you can say it’s not
really a good quality even if manufacturers
insist it’s 4k resolution.
This 42-Inch Smart TV is projecting the
iMac, but still is not good quality
for productivity. Again, let me emphasize
for productivity. It’s
good for viewing because you have a very
large projection. So, you can use larger
TV screens for viewing videos on YouTube
while you are working, say, playing a
music video or live concert.
You just saved money for a larger projection
of videos. That’s an awesome
experience too, again, for
viewing videos.
Even if say, it’s purely 4k like the iMac
screen, still you tend to watch videos
farther. So, 4k, for that reason, does not really
matter. If you really want to pay for it,
just make sure that you have the correct viewing
distance.