The state of external retina displays • Hacker News Board

Re: The state of external retina displays

#181

Post by jedbrown » Tue, Dec 28, 2021, 12:40 AM UTC

the_pwner224 wrote: post #113

xyzzy123 wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some work tools get treated like capital or heirloom and some get treated like consumables . Scissors or a hand plane are decent "heirloom" items. Potentially you can retire with the same one you started with, or pass them down. Electric drills start to lean toward consumable. Battery tech changes over the years and they do wear out in non-fixable ways. Screen and computer tech advances so fast that 5 years is a "goo…

8 years ago you had to pay $1k for a 1440p 27" sRGB IPS panel. 2 years ago I spent $800 on a 4k 27" 144 Hz monitor with >95% P3 coverage. Or another example: 8 years ago I spent $320 on a 1080p 27" (massive pixels) monitor with horrible color reproduction and contrast. 4 years ago I upgraded to a new monitor and for $300 I was able to get 4k 27" with >100% sRGB. And when you consider inflation, progress is even great…

Five years ago, I got a 40-inch 4k@60Hz for under $400. I recently got a 43-inch 4k@60Hz for $450. The new one is lighter and somewhat more color accurate. I don't get the obsession with small pixels; my eyes prefer if I stand/sit a bit further from a bigger monitor, and it's great for pairing/teaching.

Re: The state of external retina displays

#182

Post by minimaul » Tue, Dec 28, 2021, 12:41 AM UTC

washadjeffmad wrote: post #175

Eric_WVGG wrote: post #134

My utterly unrealistic dream is: now that the first batch of 5k iMacs is approaching “old age,” some business would start selling kits than had the tools and instructions necessary to gut old iMacs, and a new controller board that would convert the remaining screens to basic DisplayPort displays. At $300 and around $500 for an old iMac on eBay, this could be somehow both more economical and likely more reliable than…

I wouldn't blame you for wanting to remove the Intel innards, but iMacs can already be used as external displays. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204592 Also, you can just spec the panels from Aliexpress most of the time. That's how I got my first Korean Retina IPS display over a decade ago, and I'm doing it again now for a non-standard OLED panel for a project.

Target Display Mode doesn't work on any of the 5K iMacs, from what I understand.

Re: The state of external retina displays

#183

Post by washadjeffmad » Tue, Dec 28, 2021, 12:42 AM UTC

zzt123 wrote: post #144

formerly_proven wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you need so much brightness in an indoor environment? Personally I've more frequently had the opposite problem, i.e. minimum brightness only going down to the 30-50 nits level, which is quite bright in dark-ish environments.

Not the person you’re replying to, but better speed of thought at higher brightness levels. Sounds ridiculous, but it is so apparent in me that I even have a 20ms delta in simple response time between 300 nits and 200 nits in a moderately lit room - the same delta between me being fresh awake and being tired after being awake for 20 hours. Additionally I’ve anecdotally observed that the dimmer the screen is relative…

That's funny, because I've found something similar to be true for me. I wonder if that's a function of some measurement of interactive visual information.

For instance, I have a green screen CRT that I can work on at any nit as long as the contrast is basically infinite (text dim or bright), but as soon as the rest of the screen becomes illuminated, it's like I'm peering through a literal fog.

Contrast that to a dimmed 4k 10-bit panel, and I find myself dropping out of focus or losing my place. I'm looking for a particular OLED panel right now on AliExpress to test with.

Re: The state of external retina displays

#184

Post by cycrutchfield » Tue, Dec 28, 2021, 12:44 AM UTC

Eric_WVGG wrote: post #117

ivalm wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am guessing scissors, esp if they get sharpened 2x/day will not last multiple decades (because sharpening an edge removes material).

He’s almost certainly referring to honing the blades. Actual sharpening would require equipment that would be just ridiculous to have around a hair salon.

A stone? A strop with polishing compounds?

Re: The state of external retina displays

#185

Post by epolanski » Tue, Dec 28, 2021, 12:45 AM UTC

____________g wrote: post #18

I have been waiting for good external Retina displays for years . That the situation has not improved after all this time is incredibly frustrating. Why is no display manufacturer [0] interested in setting itself apart by producing and marketing a lineup of reasonably priced external pixel-doubled (~200 ppi) displays? For some reason everything must be 16:9 and 4K with no regards to display size, resulting in some ve…

The monitor market as a whole is pretty underwhelming.

TVs and mobile/portable devices get lots of attention. But pc monitor they are very far in manufactors priorities.

Re: The state of external retina displays

#186

Post by never_a-pickle » Tue, Dec 28, 2021, 12:46 AM UTC

Macha wrote: post #47

never_a-pickle wrote: post #13

The computer monitor market is at the mercy of gamers who want 1080p-1440p if it means getting 600fps in a game rather than 150fps at higher resolutions. It's why since 2015 there has been an arms race of refresh rates rather than of resolution. We had 4-5k panels at retina in 2015, market conditions could have had us with much higher quality panels if the entire thing wasn't catered to young, cash-strapped gamers wh…

As some of them have found (e.g. Linus window snapping burn in, in under six months), OLEDs have real drawbacks for use as standard desktop use displays. It's why even Apple don't use OLEDs on their Macs yet, who you would expect to do so if it was just a matter of "more money = more premium" with no deference to the gaming use case.

Agreed re: the medium-term issues of OLED.

But I can get a $1000 4k, 120hz OLED screen. Sure, it might be 42-48", but I could just as easily buy a deeper desk, wall mount it 4-5 feet away for the same effect. I'm currently sitting 3.5 feet from a 24" monitor. In this instance, the TV becomes "retina" past 3 feet.

https://www.designcompaniesranked.com/resources/is-this-reti...

Let's assume when used as a monitor without excessive amounts of care, irreparable burn-in takes 2 years. I could buy two of these TVs and wait out the whole nonsense the market is going through right now. Re: Linus, Keep in mind that window snap burn in was fixed with the pixel refresh function. And the conclusion he and Wendell came to in that video was that it isn't perfect, and it's often wasteful, but you can just get another monitor.

Re: The state of external retina displays

#187

Post by rsync » Tue, Dec 28, 2021, 12:47 AM UTC

minimaul wrote: post #159

Curious as to what people think of https://consumer.huawei.com/en/monitors/mateview/specs/ - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09C6JZPZG It's 28.2" and 3840x2560 - it's a 3:2 aspect ratio. I think it's a very tempting option.

Thank you - that is very interesting ...

Perhaps I can pay this forward by mentioning the Eizo 1:1 (1920x1920) monitor @ 26.5" diagonal:

https://www.eizo.com/products/flexscan/ev2730q/

Re: The state of external retina displays

#188

Post by jstx1 » Tue, Dec 28, 2021, 12:50 AM UTC

cheeze wrote: post #174

jstx1 wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I just find that's truly not an unlikely situation to be in. Uhm, I would say that fully remote $300k+ jobs are still unlikely.

Not really. I was pleasantly surprised at the options out there when I looked recently. Entry level dev, yeah going to be hard. Senior level dev with a decent resume? Shouldn't be an issue at all.

possible != likely

Re: The state of external retina displays

#189

Post by t3rabytes » Tue, Dec 28, 2021, 12:50 AM UTC

minimaul wrote: post #159

Curious as to what people think of https://consumer.huawei.com/en/monitors/mateview/specs/ - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09C6JZPZG It's 28.2" and 3840x2560 - it's a 3:2 aspect ratio. I think it's a very tempting option.

Looks cool, but I haven’t heard of this monitor once before — I suspect it’s likely because Huawei’s brand has been mildly killed by the US govt (I also don’t see that monitor on US Amazon).

Re: The state of external retina displays

#190

Post by bredren » Tue, Dec 28, 2021, 12:50 AM UTC

urthor wrote: post #73

> Ridiculous Option: Apple Pro Display XDR I'll admit, a monitor that costs more than my first car is beyond affordable for 99% of the population. But saying that, many of the people reading this are pulling truly exotic salaries right now. After devoting untold hours to reaching the top of their profession. Let's say you're a professional earning $300k plus in software. You're often working 100% remote, using your m…

I bought the XDR pro display and the stand June 2020 after completing a challenging but decent paying contract.

It’s a fantastic piece of equipment. Apple’s business discount and Apple Card cash back program chips away at the initial cost.

I sell used Apple products regularly as I upgrade and they hold their value pretty well. XDR is not an exception, check eBay.

Liquidating an XDR in favor of say Apple VR or an upgraded XDR will reduce the cost of ownership a great deal. Do the math for yourself.

I use it with a 2018 Mac mini and standard Blackmagic egpu largely for full stack development. It’s amazing.

I occasionally edit video in final cut, and watched Dune in 4K HDR on it.

If you’re considering an XDR I would not let all the negative opinion here sway you too much.

You can read about the experiences other developers and non tech folks have had w the XDR in this thread: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/pro-display-xdr-owners-...