4K/5K screens for DAW

[chk071]

Actually, I think the thing with older plugin's GUI's can almost be neglected, as many of the newer ones do allow resizing. I agree that from 29" upwards, you should get a 4k screen, especially when the screen is not that far away from your eyes.

[DJ Warmonger]

You surely resized Synth1 on the screenshot that you took.

You are correct. I did it so long ago that I forgot! Here are three old synths that do not resize, on a 29" 4K screen. If you get a large screen with the same ppi, the GUIs will remain proportionately the same.
Unresized synths.png

How comes they do not resize? Do you claim that Zeta's native resolution is larger than 1920 x 1080 (a quarter of your screen area?) Seemingly your entire UI is upscaled to 150%.

[Michael L]

Seemingly your entire UI is upscaled to 150 %

What I was saying earlier -but not clearly- is that if you get a 4k screen with the same ppi as a HD screen (e.g. 32" 4k = 108 ppi = HD) it will scale cleanly so you will have a large screen with your old HD plugin GUIs at the same size and sharpness as on an HD screen. But if your ppi is higher HD GUIs will always be smaller, and may be less sharp.
If a DAW supports 4k its UI will have higher resolution than the HD plugins it hosts. For example, at my default MacOS Display setting, the GarageBand UI is 4K while at the same time it hosts old plugins at HD resolution, so all UIs are the same 'HD size' in GB which is great! (Some old UIs no longer display in Logic)

[zacha]

You might also want to consider an ultrawide. I did, and that’s what I ended up getting. Primarily for audio production, with a bit of other light use.

And yes, the GPU should handle most of that.

I like the idea of an ultra wide, though it’s worth noting that if you’re on a Mac, some were reported have issues with ultra wide aspect ratios. This may be fixed in more recent Macs’ video cards, but it’s worth checking pre-purchase

And on the main topic of the thread, I can definitely notice the difference in pixels between a 27” 4K screen and my current 24” 1080p screen

[zacha]

[duplicate. Deleted]

[teilo]

I assume you are talking about Windows here.

On Mac, I run dual 4K 27" displays in HiDPI mode. macOS handles all scaling, so nothing is tiny, and you simply gain more clarity for any apps that have HiDPI resources, or use vector scaling. The rest stay a little fuzzy, but no worse than were you on 1920x1080. I honestly never notice it.

The only thing I have issues with is Reason Rack, but that's a problem on any modern display.

[Scoox]

Old thread but I'm on the same boat, thinking to buy a new (bigger) display.

When comparing screens, the most important thing is resolution. It doesn't matter if it is a 32" or 43" display. You will want a 32" display closer to your eyes than a 43" display, otherwise your eyes won't be able to resolve detail. The optimal viewing distance for these two display sizes will be different, but the result as far as your retina is concerned will be the same. In both cases, at the optimal viewing distance, you will experience the same field of view (measured in degrees). So basically any display that's 3840 pixels across is going to give you the same viewing experience, with one exception: a visual target that's closer to the eyes requires your eyes to converge more (if it was very near you'd be crossing your eyes), and generally it's easier to focus on an object that's 5ft from your eyes than one 2ft from your eyes.

More pixels across and vertically means more head and eye movement. 3840 pixels across is slightly too much. You'll be turning your head left and right in order to view the left and right screen edges. 3440 or even 2560 pixels across is actually a better horizontal resolution if you want comfort.

1600 vertical pixels is a very sweet spot. If there was a 3440x1600 display I'd buy it. 4K displays, with 2160 vertical pixels, is a bit much and looking up for extended periods of time can cause neck and shoulder stiffness. You'll find yourself preferring certain parts of the display (lower 3/4) and avoiding the top bit. Bear this in mind if you are a Mac user, as the menus on Mac are fixed at the top of the screen and you'll definitely be looking up. Windows users don't have this problem as menus exist within each window.

Big screens are more expensive, bulkier, heavier, use more power and generate more heat.

All that said, assuming the software you use scales without issue, a 4K monitor at 125% scaling is excellent, giving you an effective resolution of 3072x1728 pixels, which results in very comfortable field of view (much more comfortable for your eyes and neck than, say 3840x1600 or 3440x1440), and a generous optimal viewing distance of between 90-100 cm. And you still have the option of going back to 100% as and when needed.

[Bombadil]

I bought a 32" LG Ultrafine (one of their cheaper models, lol) for my M1 Mini and it is absolutely perfect for me. I use Logic. It's really cool to have everything right there in front of me, as much in my face as I choose, and the clarity. Opening Amplitube 5 in full-screen mode...whoa......

It's 4K, though I use it at QHD (1440) setting due to old eyes.

[Scoox]

I bought a 32" LG Ultrafine (one of their cheaper models, lol) for my M1 Mini and it is absolutely perfect for me. I use Logic. It's really cool to have everything right there in front of me, as much in my face as I choose, and the clarity. Opening Amplitube 5 in full-screen mode...whoa......

It's 4K, though I use it at QHD (1440) setting due to old eyes.

Ah, great stuff. I've spend last week debating whether to get one of those 38" ultrawides or a 43" 4K display. My gut tells me the 4K is the better choice, good to know that it's working well for you.

[sQeetz]

I bought a 32" LG Ultrafine (one of their cheaper models, lol) for my M1 Mini and it is absolutely perfect for me. I use Logic. It's really cool to have everything right there in front of me, as much in my face as I choose, and the clarity. Opening Amplitube 5 in full-screen mode...whoa......

It's 4K, though I use it at QHD (1440) setting due to old eyes.

Just in case you didn't know (because I didn't for the longest time using a 4K screen with a Mac):
If with 1080 everything is too big and 1440 too small you can choose resolutions in between by option-clicking "Scaled" in the Display settings

[Bombadil]

It's set to 'scaled' @1440. Full UHD would be a strain on my eyes.

[T-CM11]

My plan is to get a 50 inch 4K TV for my studio PC, and attach it to the wall. The PPI is low enough to use the full resolution without scaling (OS/DAW).
I have a few non-resizable plugins, so high-PPI is a no-go.
The size of the screen will be nice for my hybrid setup. (see the screen while using hardware synths)

I'm thinking of selling my Microwave XT , so I'll be using Largo (non-resizable) a lot more!

[T-CM11]

More pixels across and vertically means more head and eye movement. 3840 pixels across is slightly too much. You'll be turning your head left and right in order to view the left and right screen edges. 3440 or even 2560 pixels across is actually a better horizontal resolution if you want comfort.

Head and eye movement are relative to size (and distance), not the amount of pixels. e.g. A 14 inch 4K laptop has the same amount of pixels as a 65 inch 4K TV.

When comparing screens, the most important thing is resolution. It doesn't matter if it is a 32" or 43" display.

ALL aspects (resolution/size/distance/panel type) are important, depending on the use case. You're thinking too much of your own situation. Not everybody is a 100% ITB sit-at-desk user.

For my other PC (general usage / also music production / no audio hardware / desk-based), I find my 27" 2560x1440 (40 cm viewing distance) to be perfect. The PPI is on the high side, but older, non-resizable plugins are still usable.

[egbert]

Seemingly your entire UI is upscaled to 150 %

What I was saying earlier -but not clearly- is that if you get a 4k screen with the same ppi as a HD screen (e.g. 32" 4k = 108 ppi = HD)

That figure is not quite right. The 32 inch figure is the measure of the diagonal of the screen. The actual width is under 28 inches so you have 3840 pixels wide spread over ~ 28 inches = approx 137 ppi.

If you are happy with a 23 inch full HD monitor you want a 46" 4K TV to get the same size text without scaling. 43" 4K is popular for some applications. Smaller 4K stuff (eg the 27" AIO market) typically scales at 150% for Win 10. This would be for text, icons, app GUIs etc.

[echosystm]

For music production, gaming, watching videos and so on, 2K is fine. For office use, I wouldn't use anything other than a 4K screen. The difference in text quality is enormous.