rb61 wrote:
I have an older Mac Mini that will not support 4K.... (
show quote)
IPS is really imporant if more than one person is going to be viewing the monitor,
becuase it increases viewing angle. For a single-user, the increase in power consumption
and initial price may not be worth it. Only IPS-PRO (introduced in 2004) increases contrast
and clarity--but its
very expensive and so -- as far as I know-- onlyused in industrial
and medical applications.
Three issues that were not discussed: screen size, dynamic range and color calibration.
Screen size is as important as resolution (particularly if your visual acuity with correction is less
than 20/20). Even 20/20 vision only resolves about 1 minute of arc. Since the user has has to sit a
comfortable reading distance from a monitor--not stick his nose right up to it--increasing the resolution
of a small screen does no good: the user won't see more detail.
LCD/LED monitors do not have black blacks. Turn out the room lites, and your "black" screen glows.
Not usually a problem with color images, but in B&W it's annoying if B doesn't look B. (It used to
on CRTs and plasma displays).
Your (I assume) LCD/LED TV probably has "dynamic range". This means it turns down the LED
illuminator for dark scenes. Not much help for photos--but LCD/LED monitors don't even do that.
It's too bad OLED is so expensive.
Color calibration requires a colorimeter of some kind. Special ones are made for Macs and PCs.
Perception of color varies from person to person (partly genetic, partly cultural), so you need
hardware to do the job right.
No monitor is entirely satisfactory--and east no affordable one--and no two are exactly the same.
Monitors for PCs can usually be found a thrift stores and garage sales -- I don't know about for Macs.
If you try a bunch of different monitors, eventually you'll figure out which shortcoming annoys you
the least.