Can a 24-Inch full HD monitor match the quality of a 4K screen for my Mac mini M2 and PS5?

Retina “like 1820x1080” mode on a 4K monitor draws text and photo areas at a 4K level of detail. So a 24” 1920x1080 monitor will not have the same level of detail as a 24” 4K one running in Retina “like 1820x1080” mode.

Rudegar wrote:

4K resolution is 3840 x 2160 pixels

if you are running 1920 * 1080 on a 4k monitor then each pixel will just take up 4

this is a modulus 2 of the resolution which mean it will not blue like monitors does when not running their native resolution

so if it match the quality comes down to the type of lcd panel the 2 monitors use, if it's the same type the quality should match

This would be the case if you were talking about "1920 x 1080 (low resolution)" mode

The M2 Mac mini probably wouldn't even show that as a choice for a 4K monitor unless you went into Display Settings and told it to show all resolutions as a list. In the other views, the only "1920x1080" choice would be (Retina) "like 1920x1080".

In that mode,

• Applications would size things "as if" the display had a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels.
• Applications would draw on a (2x1920)x(2x1080) pixel canvas, that is to say, at a 3840x2160 level of detail.
• Quality would be better than if the monitor only had 1920x1080 resolution, but was of the same size.

jlowe01 wrote:

Ian R. Brown wrote:

What is wrong with your current monitor?

If it ain't broke don't fix it!

It’s the best monitor (LG UD58) I’ve had. I’m preparing for when it breaks down. I suppose 27 inch 4K is now the standard.

24" 4K and 27" 5K are both desirable combinations. It's just that they're a bit hard to find, costly, or both.

Currently, the only standalone 24" 4K monitors of which I'm aware are the

• LG UD58 ($299.99). (LG seems to have discontinued an earlier 24" 4K Thunderbolt monitor.)
• Asus ProArt Display PA24US ($1299)

While your monitor has an IPS panel, LG doesn't specify coverage of sRGB, DCI-P3, or Adobe RGB. The Asus has a lot of color accuracy features (including high-end ones) – but unless you do photography for a living, that price is going to be a bit of a deterrent.

4K resolution is 3840 x 2160 pixels

if you are running 1920 * 1080 on a 4k monitor then each pixel will just take up 4

this is a modulus 2 of the resolution which mean it will not blue like monitors does when not running their native resolution

so if it match the quality comes down to the type of lcd panel the 2 monitors use, if it's the same type the quality should match

if you run the 4k monitor in it's native resolution 3840 x 2160 it's quality would be higher than the other HD monitor running in 1920x1080 of cause

What is wrong with your current monitor?

If it ain't broke don't fix it!