As was said in the 2021 article by Dan: “Using your TV as a display for your Mac (or any computer really) has taken a lot of twists and turns over the years.  Each era as display technology has evolved has seen significant progression, but not until recently has TV technology had the right mix of features, functionality, and price to truly be ideal to double as a display for your Mac and other computing devices.”

In the 4 years since the prior piece was written, not only TV technology has only progressed further, it’s now far more cost effective to hookup a 4K display or mostly any newer TV than ever before. While not all TVs are made equal, won’t share the same features (and by extension will have varying picture quality), the overall price to screen resolution on the consumer market is better than ever.

Before elaborating on how display tech has evolved over the last 10 years, here are links to the different sections from the 2021 article going over the progression of computer display technology since the 70s.

• The Early Days of Computing with TVs (Late 1970s to 1980s)
• The 1990s: Computer Graphics Greatly Exceed TV Tech
• The Turn of the Millienium – TV Tech Progresses (2000 to early 2010s)

The 4K era, UHD, OLED, and more (Mid-2010s to Mid-2020s)

There are an insurmountable number of combinations of displays you could connect to your Mac these days, so long as you have the right adapter – and if you need it, it’s almost always a few clicks away on eBay or Amazon. We’re at a point in time where people are more often getting rid of their 1080p TVs and lower resolution monitors, in favor of newer 4K/UHD displays.

4K is the next big industry display resolution standard after 1080p was widely adopted, and is nearly the same resolution as UHD, however the terms are used interchangeably. UHD refers to 3840 x 2160 which is precisely 4 times HD (1920 x 1080), whereas 4K refers to 4096 x 2160 – being 256 pixels wider. 4K/UHD trickled down into display tech slowly, being introduced around 2012. As of Early 2025, the TV resolution is far less a defining factor in the price than the display technology is – you could purchase a brand new 4K 50″ LCD TV for as little as $275, or comparatively spend thousands on an OLED panel featuring bleeding edge tech.

(Above source: Benq Knowledge Center)

8K and beyond exists, succeeding 4K however it is not at all widely adopted yet. Most 8K TVs right now are rather cost prohibitive still, and not much 8K content is even out. In fact no Mac even supports 8K at this time, 6K is the best even an M4 Mac mini can do and those just came out in November. Plasma TV technology has phased away in favor of LCD tech in the 2010s, and almost all LCDs nowadays are LED backlit as opposed to using CCFL tubes like in earlier LCD displays.

OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) panels use organic materials to make light. First appearing in smartphones in the early to mid-2010s, it is a desirable but expensive display technology which has no backlight – instead, each individual pixel lights up on its own. As of Early 2025, OLED TVs and computer monitors are still rather uncommon – only just last year in 2024 did the M4 iPad Pro get an OLED display, and this is a top-of-the-line device. OLED provides drastically better contrast, displays true blacks, offer better refresh rates and wider viewing angles.

(Above image source: Corning – OLED vs LCD technology)

While OLED can be perceived as an overall improvement over LCD, the reality isn’t so simple. LCD technology continues to improve as well, continuing to offer high resolution low cost display solutions while also being better suited in different circumstances such as viewing in direct sunlight. Although some newer OLED/AMOLED displays have mitigated this issue. Different display tech has its own efficiencies, but it mostly matters what you have and how you use it. One test for example on notebookcheck.com shows the differences in power draw between LCD/OLED at different brightness levels (see article).

(Above image source: https://www.notebookcheck.net/…)

HDMI has remained the video input/output standard for TVs, and currently sits at revision 2.1b. This newer spec was announced January 4th 2017 along with a 48G/Category 3 standard known as Ultra High Speed HDMI. 48G cables are capable of carrying 4K/5K/8K and 10K resolutions at 120 Hz, work with earlier HDMI devices, and have HDMI ethernet. Many modern TVs nowadays still have coaxial although they’re not as prevalent. Single USB + ethernet ports are also more common on TVs, as many (even cheaper ones) have started adopting smart TV/ Smart-adjacent features. 1080p TVs are quite abundant still, 720p is rather uncommon to find anymore new in box.

Fast Forward to 2025.. What to choose?

Check out rtings.com for just about any recent TV model you can think of since the mid-2010s for specs and detailed reviews. Dan Bashur also recommends the YouTube channel HDTVTest – where they talk about display tech, trends, and it possibly may help you decide what works best for you! As to be expected, there is an over-saturation of choices available.. used or new.

I wound up using a Hisense 43″ 4K UHD 43R6G Roku TV, which has been my TV since late 2018. It features Dolby Vision HDR + HDR10, DTS studio sound, is 16:9, includes wifi/ethernet/USB, and has some composite inputs/outputs. See website for full list of tech specs. On black friday 2018, this TV was just $278 brand new. It’s been used as a TV for 7 years, only now to be considered as a display upgrade.

I personally went with this as I didn’t even need to buy a brand new monitor or splurge to upgrade to the biggest display I ever had on a desktop computer. Thought to myself: Well if I simply need more resolution and screen real estate, why not try something I already have and make the most out of it? I didn’t need anything fancy, just more viewable screen real estate. 60 Hz is A-ok, macOS scales the different resolutions nicely, and this Hisense lets you custom-name the different inputs – I renamed HDMI 1 to “2018 Mac mini”.

(Above: Maximum resolution, not same as what is selected in image below)

• For the few days I’ve had this setup so far, I haven’t settled on a particular screen resolution. Even in the middle of writing this article I’m still toying with settings. Over the last 3 days I found 2 configurations that work for me – the latter I started using at the beginning of typing this paragraph.
  .
  • Configuration 1: High Dynamic Range enabled, 3200 x 1800 (Not the low resolution UI), UI is scaled to 6400 x 3600. Requires patient fine tuning on the TV settings for text to be readable on screen.
    .
  • Configuration 2 (preferred): High Dynamic Range OFF, 3840 x 2160 4K UI and resolution, UI is more responsive. 43R6 color profile, 60 Hz. The screen feels like a 17″ 2007 MacBook Pro screen, sharpness-wise.

My current production machine is a 2018 Mac mini outfitted with all the bells and whistles, although the AMD RX 580 eGPU is out of commission and I’m trying to figure out what’s going on with it. Being forced to use the Intel UHD 630 1536 MB, I’m shocked at how well it performs scaled up to such resolutions! The UHD 630 will be plenty for now to provide massive amounts of screen real estate, write LEM articles with multiple pages up at the same time, watching videos, photoshopping, social media, and mostly anything short of heavy gaming/video editing until the eGPU is hooked back up.

(Click to enlarge above)

(Enlarge above image: scaled desktop in HDR mode)

(Enlarge above: desktop in 1:1 4K, HDR off, no UI scaling)

Why a giant 43″ display to do the computing work?

Dollar for dollar, you get more “bang for your buck” relative to computer monitors – especially now that 4K displays have been out for more than a couple years. As of early 2025, you can purchase a new 4K pioneer TV at Best Buy for a mere $140, or a new 27″ Samsung 4K LED IPS display for $199 – prices have tumbled significantly since I bought my TV on sale. Since I already had mine in my possession, it was as simple as rearranging the desk.

According to Dan in the 2021 article: “TVs are just generally cheaper for the size you get compared to purpose built monitors – especially 55″ displays.  This is due to the manufacturing process with how LCD displays are built and how the LCD panel sheets are cut at factories (55″ is the most cost effective so it tends to be the best price – see LG CX 48″ vs LG CX 55″ prices to see what I mean plus this video from HDTVTest).”

“Another reason is device repurposing.  It’s really easy to repurpose a 55″ 4K TV.  Put it in another room and/or sell off your least capable (not necessarily oldest) display you no longer want and upgrade what you moved out as the tech advances.” Editor’s note: A good point by Dan. A TV with a lesser resolution can still be enjoyed as a general purpose entertainment device, whereas a monitor would feel constrained and undesirable.

In conclusion

Technology keeps improving, larger screen resolutions are increasingly cost effective, only getting better as the years go by. You can now get a 4K TV or monitor for under $220 brand new – and who even knows what kind of whacky new display tech will roll up in 10 years or less? Until then, TVs like this Hisense 43″ 4K UHD 43R6G and newer 4K monitors will continue providing phenomenal value in terms of dollar-per-pixel.