

“99% coverage of the sRGB spectrum” or similar message in the marketing text is usually a good sign, and what you’ll want to look for if buying a display for web or app development. I am unaware of a way to calibrate a 5K iMac to use sRGB. It’s often possible to put wide gamut displays into an sRGB emulation mode, or to calibrate them to sRGB.
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Incorrectly set up, a wide gamut display used with non-colour managed software will produce overly saturated colours, and those colours won’t match how the final product is seen. If that’s your line of work, you probably only need and want sRGB support (and an IPS LED display).
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Wide colour gamut support - displays that use the Adobe RGB, Display P3, or DCI-P3 colour spaces - are great for photo editing, if your source material is created in those colour spaces.īut, the majority of web design, iOS apps, Android apps and game design is in the sRGB colour space. If I could buy a Surface Studio as an external display for my Mac, I think I would. The Surface Studio’s 193PPI display is actually perfect for Windows, where the non-Retina (1×) UI scale is 96PPI, and the Retina (2×) UI scale is 192PPI. The 4K iMac, 5K iMac and Surface Studio are listed as points of comparison, and can’t really be used as external displays. For example, 160PPI will show non-Retina UI too small, but Retina UI too large (it’s worth noting this can be used to buy a display that shows larger text and UI for those who need or prefer it). Here’s a list of common external displays, with the 110PPI and 220PPI zones indicated.īuying a display with a pixel density in the red zone usually isn’t a good choice, if you want to run “default for this display”. You can use Sven Neuhaus’s PPI calculator to work out the pixel density of any display you’re interested in. A slightly higher value will mean text and interface elements are smaller. A slightly lower value will mean text and interface elements are larger. You won’t need to choose a display that is exactly 110PPI or 220PPI.

As the list scrolls, the divider shimmers as the scaling represents the line differently. The divider above shows the shimmering - it’s a 1pt or 2 Retina pixel line, but when the display is scaled down by a fractional amount (72%), those pixels don’t map directly to pixels on the display. For me, “default for this display” is the only way to go. Elements that animate will appear to shimmer as they move. It’s better quality, faster, and gives longer battery life.īlurry pixels and a scaled display make it very difficult for designers and developers to see if elements are where they need to be. You want to use the “default for this display” setting, if you can. The result is blurry pixels, higher memory usage, more work for the GPU to do, and shorter battery life for laptops. These can be used as a solution, but if you do, macOS will render the entire screen to a virtual canvas, then bitmap scale it up or down to the desired size. The Display pane in System Preferences includes “larger text” and “more space” options. Using a display that isn’t close to 110PPI or 220PPI means text and interface elements will either be too big, or too small. Apple’s interface design in macOS is set up so it is comfortable for most people at a density of about 110 pixels per inch for non-Retina, and about 220 pixels per inch for Retina - text is readable and button targets are easy to hit at a normal viewing distance. Thunderbolt 3 equiped Macs, like the 2016 MacBook Pros, can run 27-inch Retina displays though. But, that only covers Retina displays up to 20-inch. Thunderbolt 2 and DisplayPort 1.2 have a maximum resolution of 3840×2160 at 60FPS, which means non-Retina resolutions up to about 40-inch are supported by most current Macs. It’ll likely be set by your budget, desk space and personal preference.
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That’s an issue, because not all displays are well suited for Macs.Īpril 2022 update: Mac external displays for designers and developers, part 2 contains newer information, and includes Apple’s Pro Display XDR and Studio Display. Apple doesn’t sell external displays any more, so you can’t just default to their wisdom. If you’re considering an external display for your Mac, there’s a few important decisions to make. Mac external displays for designers and developers
