LETTER OF THE MONTH
I come from the 1985 DTP (desktop publishing) era and used a 9–inch screen for about five years, then a 12, then 13, then 19, 20, and 27, all of which I used to publish a magazine and run a print shop.
After all these years I finally have a screen that’s big enough. A 43–inch Samsung 4K. A 3,840 x 2,160 resolution didn’t mean much to me, the only thing that mattered was, “does it fit my stuff?”. Will that resolution just be tiny dots that make things smooth or will things zoom down to a size that is WYSIWYG size? The answer is yes! 21 inches deep by 37 inches wide. Why can’t specs and articles talk about the real size of a screen and what it fits? So to the real world that is more than six sheets of letter size 8.5x11 or more than three sheets of ledger 11x17. Wow. Or for the new age online world, well, it fits a lot of stuff.
I must say, I think 43 inches is the maximum size I’d want, as I actually find myself leaning a bit to look up into a corner. Also, for the first time I realize that one thing Windoze does that is not so dozy is the menus are in each window, unlike a Mac where your menu is far up into the left corner.
It almost makes you need to learn more shortcut keys or find a fix that puts menus in each window (no go so far for Mac). I’ve sent Apple feedback on that as I’ve seen several professionals using huge 60– and 70–inch screens in their offices so clients can easily see what they are presenting (using Windows).
The other thing lacking is a better tool for sorting windows and keeping them in their place. For some reason InDesign slouches down after the computer sleeps; a real pain. Rebooting also shuffles windows all over the place. I’ve looked up a fix for that and tried but ended up with the same thing. Another Apple wish list? You’d think someone at Apple is working on 43–inch monitors, no?
So, this Samsung 4K TV was only $450 Canadian — about $350 US. A bargain for all the room you may ever need. If not, buy two and be enveloped. Make sure your chair slides easily.
I am running a new 15–inch M2 Air which handles this monitor easily. My previous computer was a 2020 Macbook Pro which also ran well. Note: buy a quality USB–C to HDMI cable. BRIAN K
Buying a TV is a great way to get more resolution for your Mac, for less, Brian. The editor personally uses a 32–inch Samsung 4K monitor and couldn’t imagine going back to anything smaller (unless Apple decided to ship him a Studio Display). Working across a variety of documents is a lot easier — with windows side by side, and multiple desktops, it’s a massive improvement for productivity.