[CrazyStat]

> the problem most people have I think is that they buy much larger displays and then want to use a higher rendered resolution

I'm not going to buy a 4k screen with the intention of running it at 1080p. There are plenty of large 1080p screens out there.

If I buy a 4k screen it's because I want to run it at 4k.

[vetinari]

> I'm not going to buy a 4k screen with the intention of running it at 1080p.

He is not talking about not running 4k. He is talking about running more than 4k framebuffer scaled down to 4k (the "more space" option in Display control panel).

[joosters]

I'm using a 4k display on a mac mini, but I've got it set halfway between the 'larger text' (1080p x2) and 'more space' (4k with no pixel doubling).

This doesn't mean I'm running it at a lower resolution - behind the scenes, the mac is actually rendering the display at 6016x3384 and then smoothly scaling it down to the native 4k of 3840x2160.

Because it's having to draw everything at a higher resolution than the actual screen, performance does take a hit, but I find everything still works perfectly smoothly and responsive (just don't try playing games at this resolution on the mac mini!)

[joshmn]

Mac Mini user here also: What display are you using?

[joosters]

It's a BenQ EW3270U, 4k @ 60hz, connected via USB-C. It's been working just fine, I'd recommend it.

I have a second monitor which is not high-DPI but 2560x1440, connected with a USB-C => displayport cable. Surprisingly, the mix of high-DPI and normal DPI monitors works really well, with no problems, even when moving windows from one display to the other.

[stephenr]

... I think you've missed the point.

It isn't running at 1080p. It's doing "@2x" pixel rendering (commonly called "Retina") - so it uses 4 physical pixels to render one "screen" pixel, giving you much crisper.. everything.

[kristiandupont]

..crisper as in more visibly pixelated? What is the point in that?

[microtonal]

It is not more pixelated. It's like scaling up all fonts and widgets by 2x, but still rendering them at 4k. So, the fonts and widgets are retina-sharp. Imagine using 4k as the resolution, but rendering all 14pt fonts as 28pt.

Though I get why you might think it's pixelated from stephenr's description.

[wtracy]

Crisper as in everything has 4x antialiasing.

[FireBeyond]

I run my 2 27" 4Ks (off a Hackintosh) at 1080p HiRes. Is for me the best balance of aesthetics and resolution.