Can M1 Mac Mini fill a 65 inch 4K TV as monitor without scaling to a reduced resolution?

Hi Calo,

Thanks for the screen shots. They really help.

Your question has conflicting requirements. "I want to know if the M1 Mac Mini can "fill" a 65 inch 4K Monitor/TV in a readable/legible "full size" without scaling to a reduced resolution?"

Scaling the resolution IS the way to make everything on the screen bigger and more readable and I use EasyRes regularly to switch between seeing more on the screen (higher res) and bigger stuff (lower res) depending on what I'm doing at the time.

If you really want to keep the full resolution of 3840 × 2160 there are some things you can make bigger or zoom in on to compensate for the denser ppi. Like if you normally have your Desktop Icon sizes set to 32x32 with a Text Size of 12, you can increase the Icon sizes to 64x64 and the Text Size to 16 so things on the Desktop are bigger again.

Some interface things can be changed and most programs have a Zoom feature to see things bigger.

Examples:

Menu Bar  System Preferences > Accessibility > Display (sidebar) > Display (tab) > Menu bar size

Cursor  System Preferences > Accessibility > Display (sidebar) > Cursor (tab) > Cursor size

Desktop & Finder  View > Show View Options > Text size

Desktop & Finder  View > Show View Options > Icon size

TextEdit  View > Zoom In  ⇧⌘.

Preview  View > Zoom In  ⌘+

Safari  View > Zoom In  ⌘+

Pixelmator Pro  View > Zoom In  ⌘+

Pages  View > Zoom > Zoom In  ⌘>

Numbers  View > Zoom > Zoom In  ⌘>

RLM-11C Calculator  View > Minimum, Medium, Maximum Size  ⌘1, ⌘2, ⌘3

etc.

But not all interface elements are zoomable at a given screen resolution.

So if you want all things bigger and more readable, choosing a lower screen resolution is your best bet. If you need the maximum resolution for big spreadsheets and such, you can adjust some things bigger but not all.

ivan

To make that last point more clear (too late to edit).

The default resolution (the "normal" resolution) of

the MacBook Pro 16 is 1792 x 1120, 7/12 the maximum, normal viewing distance between 20 to 24 inches

the iMac 5K Retina is 2560 x 1440, 1/2 the maximum, normal viewing distance between 20 and 40 inches

the iMac 24" 4.5K is 1920 x 1200, maximum 4480 x 2520

None are no where near the maximum resolution of the display.

So I would guess the default, normal resolution of a 4K display at a 27" screen size would be the 2560 x 1440 like my 27" iMac, which sometimes looks too small depending on how far away I am.

So your 2048 x 1152 resolution for easy reading is not too far off.

ivan

PS, re-reading your original post, you said, "The 4K native resolution is there as a display default, but things are tiny." I doubt if that was a built in display that that would be the default as explained above.

Hi Calo,

Keep in mind, the Mac doesn't actually lower the resolution of your 65" Sony TV when you select a lower effective resolution.

It just kind of zooms the screen simulating that lower resolution so things still look sharp.

For example, your TV can do 3840 x 2160 (4K). If you choose 1920 x 1080 (Full HD) which is half the resolution in each direction, it doesn't change your TV from a 68 ppi display into a crappy 34 ppi display. It just zooms everything to simulate that size.

So it doesn't look like this, all pixelated

It looks like this

That's why in my System Preferences it says "Looks like" (you don't see those words with external displays)

So you can "lower" the effective resolution for your TV and look at it from a distance and it should look just fine. Let me know if what you see is different.

For your comment, "Would be nice if I could see items at 4k on a 65 inch 4K monitor (at 9 feet away) similar to how it looks on a 27 inch 4K monitor (at around 3 feet away)"

What would be the resolution setting of the 27" 4K monitor?

My MacBook Pro doesn't offer the full 3072 x 1920 resolution in System Preferences. Everything would be too small. The highest System Prefs goes is 2048 x 1280, although I can go "full res" with EasyRes if I want.

And my iMac 27" 5K Retina doesn't offer the full 5120 x 2880 resolution, it natively goes to 3200 x 1800 "more space".

So check the settings, you may be able to use the same resolution on your TV from a distance.

ivan

Howdy,

I'm not sure I understand. You state, "The 4K native resolution is there as a display default, but things are tiny."

Does that mean you are able to select the 4K native resolution (3840 × 2160) which would fill the screen, but things on the screen are too small to read, like icons and text?

If so, then the Mac is filling the screen without scaling as you ask.

Checking the XR65A80J User Manual, the "PC Format" is 3840 × 2160p (120 Hz) which is the native resolution of the TV.

Then you list two "legible" resolutions you have used that also fill the screen but are scaled, 1920 x 1080 and 2048 x 1152.

If you are able to select a resolution of 3840 × 2160 which fills the screen, but everything is too small, then to make things bigger and more readable, you will have to lower the resolution (scale it). A resolution of 1920 x 1080 for example is half the native resolution so things will look twice as big on screen (and more legible).

In your Monitors System Preference, what resolutions can you select for your TV? Maybe a screenshot of your options?

See also Connecting a computer and viewing stored content

and. Computer video signal specifications

Thanks,

ivan

You're welcome. Glad to help. Fun to research.

and one of my numbers was wrong :-(

Resolution pixels per inch pixel size Scale Factor

3840 x 2160 68 ppi 4K. 0.014706 Full Resolution

sigh. Take care.