How to Get a Suitable 4K Monitor for Your Mac

If you have owned a Mac computer with retina screen, viewing the fantastic movies would not be a dream for many users. What’s more, if you would like to obtain more wonderful viewing experiences, using a 4K TV as a Mac monitor could be the option you can turn to. Have you known about 4K or 4K monitor? What would 4K monitor bring in comparison with other common monitors? In today’s article, we would elaborate these aspects in details. I would sort out the best 4K monitors for Mac for you on helping users to get the excellent movie experiences.

Part 1: Tips for Purchasing a 4K Monitor for Mac

Apple's new MacBook Pro released in 2016 uses the Thunderbolt 3/USB-C interface. This interface can not only support 4K displays, but driving 5K displays is also a piece of cake for it. Then friends who want to equip it with a display may feel that since it supports monitors of any resolution, it is simple: 5 is greater than 4, then buy 5K. But when choosing a suitable HD display for your Mac, you need to consider not only the 5 and 4 issues, but also several other factors that you cannot ignore. For example, how many monitors do you need, and the viewing angle when you use the device, and various other options, including how many interfaces are available for users.

1. Size

The selection conclusion under personal needs: It is related to the depth of the desktop. If your house is small and the work table is also small, then the 27-inch is selected, and the entire display can be seen without turning the head.

2. Resolution

My recommended resolution should be 3840*2160. Due to the special font rendering method of Mac OS, the screen resolution is almost as high as possible. Here I chose 4K as the target. The maximum resolution supported by Macbook Pro 2015 Early (13 inches) is 3840 * 2160 @ 60HZ 10Bit. This way you can scale up to 1920 * 1080 by 4 pixels corresponding to 1 pixel.

3. Panel type

Because of the indifferent attitude towards the game, the TN screen was the first to be ruled out. The color performance of TN is not very good. The first choice is IPS, which has a good viewing angle. The second choice is VA, and the viewing angle is not as good as IPS, but the black level and contrast are better than IPS.

4. About HDR

In consideration of budget, you can give up the HDR function. Gamers and Blu-ray enthusiasts must have the function, but the current HDR color gamut of low-end monitors chooses the monitor's native color gamut (slightly larger than SDR), the middle-end chooses P3, and the high-end chooses BT2020.

5. Backlight

WLED can be selected. RGB LED backlight can provide better color expression, but that is a thing above Dell UP level, basically without a high budget, you don't need to consider RGB LED backlight.

Part 2: 5 Best 4K Monitors for Your Mac

No. 1 Dell P2715Q 4K monitor

Dell is the first manufacturer to enter the field of 4K displays. Dell P2715Q adopts a more professional design, especially the flexible base and bracket, which can achieve a large range of height adjustment. The interface is mainly concentrated on the back, including 4 USB 3.0, HDMI, audio output, etc. Dell P2715Q has a 27-inch 4K IPS panel which has 100% sRGB color gamut and 79% AdobeRGB color gamut, and has a high contrast ratio of 690: 1. Although the price is not the cheapest, the overall picture quality performance is very satisfactory, suitable for daily office, watching ultra-clear video, users can also choose 24 or 27 inches according to demand, it is worth considering.

No. 2 Samsung UE590 4K FreeSync Monitor

The series is aimed at home entertainment and gamers. There are 23.5 and 28-inch models with a resolution of 3840 x 2160, a contrast ratio of up to 1000: 1, and support for AMD FreeSync. Among them, the 23.5-inch U24E590D can display 16.7 million colors, with a horizontal and vertical viewing angle of 178 degrees, a response time of 4ms, and a brightness of 300cd / m2. The 28-inch U28E590D can display one billion colors with a maximum brightness of 370cd / m2. The viewing angles of 170 degrees horizontal and 160 degrees vertical are slightly smaller than the former. It seems that it is due to the use of TN panel, but the response time is only 1ms, suitable for players who often play FPS games.

No. 3 Asus PB287Q

Asus PB287Q has 3840 × 2160, 4k resolution, professional appearance design. Ergonomic bracket design is highly praised by the public. Providing vertical rotation, horizontal rotation, and height adjustment to meet the needs of different users' application environment, ASUS's proud QuickFit one-click typesetting function and PIP / PBP picture-in-picture function have also been retained. PB287Q adopts the latest non-flash screen technology and adopts dynamically adjustable DC transformer backlight to eliminate screen flicker, so that users can get a more comfortable viewing experience and effectively prevent visual fatigue. As a 4K display that truly targets mainstream consumers, the ASUS PB287Q is quite competitive overall.

No. 4 LG 27UD88 4K USB Type-C Monitor

The 27-inch LG 27UD88-W uses a narrow bezel design. Although it needs to be careful when handling to avoid damaging the screen, the narrow bezel significantly improves the visual effect and is more immersive. All the interfaces of the monitor are behind the screen, and the data interfaces include power supply, USB-C, Display port, 3.5mm earphone, 2 HDMI and two USB interfaces. Although LG 27UD88-W advertises 4K Ultra HD, the maximum screen resolution is 3840 × 2160, but the maximum refresh rate can only reach 60Hz, which is slightly insufficient for players who play eSports games. The color of the screen is full and it is a high-definition IPS display, so it is quite good in terms of color presentation. The color space display of more than 99% sRGB allows users to conduct professional color proofing and inspection, which is very suitable for designers.

No. 5 LG UltraFine 4K

The resolution of the 23.7-inch LG UltraFine 4K display reaches a stunning 3840 x 2160 pixels, which can vividly present your favorite photos and videos. Therefore, whether you are watching a movie or editing an image, this high-performance display can provide pure and flawless 4K resolution, presenting you with a subtle and delicate visual effect. Built-in stereo speakers bring an enhanced audio experience. In addition, because the display can display more than 8 million pixels, your text, photos, and web pages look sharper and more vivid than ever. The UltraFine 4K display is the ideal partner for the MacBook or MacBook Pro. It provides ample space for you to work on tasks in multiple tools and multiple windows at the same time, and it can immediately present extremely vivid images and clear and sharp text.

Part 3: If You Have 4K TV, Use it as Mac Monitor

Step 1. If you want to connect an external monitor to the Mac, the first thing to consider is what port to use. Generally, we use VGA or HDMI to connect the monitor.

Step 2. When we connect the Mac to the monitor, we need to set the display mode for us. There are two display modes, one is mirror display; the other is split-screen extended display.
Step 3. Next, in the setting options of the monitor, please click the "Arrangement" column.

Step 4. When there are two monitors, it must be divided into main and auxiliary monitors. As shown in the figure below, the white bar above the display is the main display screen.

Step 5. In addition, we can also use the mouse to move the positions of the two monitors and set them according to our needs.

Part 4: Free 4K Player Software for Your Mac

Referring to the above best 4K monitors for Mac Pro and Mac OS models, now you must be very excited about the real viewing experience on your Mac you may get. But for your future references, asides from the hardware preparation, another piece of 4K player software is the one you should not miss. Here, Leawo Blu-ray Player can be able to provide you with the best 4K content on your Mac monitor. As a 100% free and 6-in-1 media player software, Leawo Blu-ray Player contains all media playback solutions you need for your leisure entertainment, including Blu-ray, DVD, CD, HD (4K), ISO file with AVI, MPEG, WMV, ASF, FLV, MKV/MKA and other popular formats supported. You can even backup your disc movies, as Leawo Blu-ray Player premium allows you to convert Blu-ray to MKV files without quality loss.