Great displays for Mac Pro 8 core (2010)

Question

Im using a Samsung one right now and its 1080p but even when i watch 1080p movies on the display the lines and colors are blocky and i cant fix this. So i was thinking maybe if i bought an older apple display like the Cinema display that this would be a better fit. Im not in video editing or anything I just want a good quality display to show the full potential of the computer.
Thanks for your time

Answer 1

Goodredroad,
The fact is that there is no such thing as a "retina" display. 
You have an Apple Macbook Pro with a 2560x1600 display.  Probably a 15" Macbook Pro with a 2560x1600 display.
If you calculate that display resolution (in PPI, or pixels per inch), a 2560x1600 15" display is 201.26ppi (with a 0.126mm dot pitch).
What this means is that you have over 200+ pixels per inch (PPI).  Which is a nice/decent display, with very high pixel density.  Many phones right now are over 300ppi (pixels per inch) with extremely low dot pitch numbers.  They are extremely high resolution displays (with very high pixel density).  This is what gives you the "clarity" and why a high-resolution display (in a very small screen size, with extremely high pixel density gives you such clarity).
Now you are complaining about "poor resolution" on your Samsung display (using an extremely old craptastic 3-4 year old Radeon 5000 series graphics card) which is laughable (at best).
The Samsung monitor that you mentioned is a 24" monitor (anytime you increase the size of the monitor, and use the same, or lower resolution, you are going to have FAR LESS pixels per inch).  So yes, of course if you look at a display with 200+ pixels per inch, and then compare it to a display that gets nearly HALF of that resolution (pixels per inch) that large display is going to seem "grainy" or "poor resolution".
That 24" display should have at least 3840x2160p (4K2K) resolution, just to get 183ppi (and 0.1384mm dot pitch) which would still be lower resolution (lower pixel density) than your 15" display.
You would actually need a 5760x3240p 32" display (which is half-way between 4K2K and 8K4K), and that would give you a 206.52ppi (and 0.123mm dot pitch) resolution, which would be comparable to what you are seeing on your 15" 2560x1600 "retina" display.
Yes, small little touchscreen cell phones (and now small laptop displays) are using high resolution displays (with much greater pixel density) and it does give you a much clearer picture.
Large monitor displays have not caught up, and most large monitors (24" and larger) should be in the 8K4K (7680x4320p) display resolution range right now.  Unfortunately, most are extremely low resolution (1920x1080p) which is more like a low-resolution TV (HDTV) display, and not really a high-resolution "retina" display (with a high pixel density).
If you stand back about 15 feet, from the 24" display, then yes it would look similar to your retina display (because you couldn't see the poor resolution up close), but since you are sitting in front of the 24" display, and are using a high-resolution (200+ppi monitor display as your reference display) it's extremely easy to see why your 24" display "looks like crap".
It has nothing to do with "1080p" because your retina display is not 1080p (it's actually 2560x1600p), so it's actually 1600p (on a small 15" screen) and you're trying to ask why a large 24" 1080p screen is much lower picture quality than a small 15" 1600p display?
Well the simple and correct answer is that your pixel density is much greater on a small 15" retina display (2560x1600p screen resolution on a 15" display gives you 201.26ppi and 0.1262mm dot pitch resolution).
The 24" Samsung (or any 1920x1080p display for that matter) is a lower-resolution display (it is only 1920x1080p) and it is also a much larger screen size (which means the pixels are spaced out much farther apart).  So the large 24" Samsung (at 1920x1080p screen resolution on a 24" display gives you 91.79ppi and 0.2767mm dot pitch).
What that means is that your 24" Samsung monitor is HALF of the resolution (pixel density) as your 15" 2560x1600 display.
The pixels are spaced out twice as far, and the pixel density is HALF of what your high resolution 15" MacBook Pro is.  So of course you are going to notice a very poor quality resolution (if you are comparing it to your retinan display on your Mac).  It would almost be like comparing a 540p display (analog) to a 1080p (HDTV) display at the same size.  You would notice a tremendous difference in picture quality and clarity.
So no, the two are not even close to being similar.  You would need a 32" UHDTV with 8K4K (7680x4320) display resolution, and yes that would give you great picture clarity (with a high pixel density) and you would notice that it would look similar/identical to your 15" display in picture quality.
But comparing a 1920x1080p 24" Samsung against a 15" 2560x1600p display is laughable, if you are trying to compare the picture quality (PPI and dot pitch) between the two (which is what visual resolution to the naked eye is).
The closer the pixels are together, the "better" the picture looks.  That is why Apple is calling it a "retina" display.  There is nothing "retina" about it, it is simply just a higher screen resolution (2560x1600p) on a smaller display (15" display) thus giving you a much higher pixel density (and much higher dot pitch) and thus giving you a much higher visual quality/clarity (then what you are used to).
So yes, if you compare it to a large 24" 1920x1080p display, you'll always be dissatisfied with the larger display.  If you want better picture quality, then get a Radeon HD 7970 graphics card (capable of 4K2K screen resolution) and then get a 4K2K monitor (such as a 30" 5120x3200p monitor) and you would have the exact same picture quality as on your 15" retina display.
3840x2400p at 22.5" Display would give you a similar pixel density (201.26ppi / 0.1262mm dot pitch) as your 15" 2560x1600p display.
So if you want the same quality resolution, on your desktop computer, then just buy a 22.5" display with 4K2K (3840x2160p display resolution) and that will give you the same exact picture clarity and quality (201.26ppi and 0.1262mm dot pitch) that your Apple Macbook Pro "retina" (2560x1600p) display has.
You'll also need a high-end graphics card (like a Radeon HD 7970) so that you can display the higher resolution (4K2K resolution).
> I have tried all of that and im still not getting a "1080p" quality. I have compared
> the quality of the videos on my mac pro and than watch the exact same video on
> my Macbook pro retina. The files are the same they were downloaded off the itune
> store at 1080p so i know thats not a variable. The monitor that im using is a Samsung
> Syncmaster SM 2494HM. On the test account i got the same results
The files you are watching are being watched on a much smaller display (with a much higher pixel density display) so of course you are going to notice a drastic difference in picture quality. 
It would be similar to watching a 540p movie on a 92" television and complaining that a 32" 1080p television "looked better" than the 92" 540p television.
Same concept.