New monitor for my old MacMini

Long story short,

I got a 2014 Mini with 1TB SSD and 16GB RAM, not too bad, it takes age to export files from LightRoom but I can live with it until they come out with an M2 Mini, in the meantime my sight has gone pretty bad all of a sudden (especially after an emergency eye surgery) and I found out myself with a constant headache unless I wear reading glasses (+1.5) which mitigate the issue but I think it is about time to upgrade the screen to something bigger and better.

At this moment in time I am running a cheap HP 22CW, I used to have, back in time, a marvellous Cinema Display HD whose rear foot broke so I can't use it any longer (not to mention the amount of adapters and cables to adapt to modern standard connections) and the an iMac 27" which was perfect size for photo retouching, I would now like to update the screen first with a 27" but I can not afford nor justify a high end device like an Eizo or top of the line Benq so I have to remain in the mid range with a budget of 500-600 and the possibility to still connect it to my old Mini (MiniDisplayPort or HDMI adaptor as I am running now), what would you advice and, also, res wise, 4K or what?

Grazie

Apple Support – Mac mini (Late 2014) – Technical Specifications

It looks like this Mini might be able to drive a single 4K (3840x2160) monitor over HDMI, at a refresh rate of 30 Hz. I think it might be limited to 2560x1600 when using Mini DisplayPort output or when driving dual monitors of any type.

The Mini could probably use a 27" – 32" 4K (3840x2160) monitor (hooked up via HDMI) in either of these modes:

Retina "like 1920x1080 pixel" mode:

• Same amount of workspace as on your 21.5" 1080p HP22cw monitor.
• Larger text and objects than on your HP22cw.
• 3840x2160 pixel detail for photo areas.

Retina "like 2560x1440 pixel" mode:

• More workspace than on your 21.5" 1080p HP22cw monitor.
• If you were using a 32" 4K monitor, text would be a bit larger than it is on your HP22cw. It would be like going to a 24" 1080p monitor. If you were using a 27" 4K monitor, text would be smaller.
• Might have some cost in terms of performance or pixel-peeping artifacts.

The pixels on your HP22cw are somewhat closely packed (for a small monitor), and the ones on 27" – 32" 4K monitors aren't as closely packed as those on Retina iMacs. So as far as native PPI is concerned, you're not going to see the night-and-day difference with an upgrade to a 27" – 32" 4K monitor that someone would see when upgrading from a 27" 2.5K iMac to a 27" 5K Retina iMac.

Tom_N said:

Apple Support – Mac mini (Late 2014) – Technical Specifications

It looks like this Mini might be able to drive a single 4K (3840x2160) monitor over HDMI, at a refresh rate of 30 Hz. I think it might be limited to 2560x1600 when using Mini DisplayPort output or when driving dual monitors of any type.

The Mini could probably use a 27" – 32" 4K (3840x2160) monitor (hooked up via HDMI) in either of these modes:

Retina "like 1920x1080 pixel" mode:

• Same amount of workspace as on your 21.5" 1080p HP22cw monitor.
• Larger text and objects than on your HP22cw.
• 3840x2160 pixel detail for photo areas.

Retina "like 2560x1440 pixel" mode:

• More workspace than on your 21.5" 1080p HP22cw monitor.
• If you were using a 32" 4K monitor, text would be a bit larger than it is on your HP22cw. It would be like going to a 24" 1080p monitor. If you were using a 27" 4K monitor, text would be smaller.
• Might have some cost in terms of performance or pixel-peeping artifacts.

The pixels on your HP22cw are somewhat closely packed (for a small monitor), and the ones on 27" – 32" 4K monitors aren't as closely packed as those on Retina iMacs. So as far as native PPI is concerned, you're not going to see the night-and-day difference with an upgrade to a 27" – 32" 4K monitor that someone would see when upgrading from a 27" 2.5K iMac to a 27" 5K Retina iMac.

Click to expand...

Hello Tom,

the plan is to upgrade the Mini by next Apple release or so but in the meantime I would like to both have more room to work with photography (LR is a pain to browse when you can only fit like 5 columns...) and also have same text pitch, I accepted the idea I gotta wear glasses as I am not 40 since quite a while...

Giovanni_1968 said:

Hello Tom,

the plan is to upgrade the Mini by next Apple release or so but in the meantime I would like to both have more room to work with photography (LR is a pain to browse when you can only fit like 5 columns...) and also have same text pitch, I accepted the idea I gotta wear glasses as I am not 40 since quite a while...

Click to expand...

Baseline: HP22cw (21.5", 1920x1080 pixel monitor).

A 32" 4K monitor running in Retina "like 2560x1440" mode would give you 33% extra workspace (in each direction), plus somewhat larger text.

A 27" 2.5K monitor or 27" 4K monitor running in Retina "like 2560x1440" would give you the same amount of extra workspace, but at the cost of somewhat smaller text.