Get a couple of 6x4 inch prints done at the local chemist, it’ll cost about a dollar. “better” is subjective, “reality” is probably xmp number 13, where the yellows translate to a mid-tone, number 14 with the added 20.53% contrast is a much whiter flower.
Probably some things to consider, computer screens are light sources, prints are reflective, so a print is very much dependent on how it’s viewed. Monochrome is not reality so pumping the contrast for subject emphasis is much more acceptable, but then one has “opinion”. Generally people say that a perfect print has a range of tones and detail visible, but it easily becomes subjective, how much detail in the shadows? is it okay to have to look for it in good light?
I have a story, I started in the darkroom for a group of regional newspapers. Early on, I did a reprint for a member of the public, a 10x8 of a black rabbit next to a white rabbit, it was possibly a little too contrasty but you could certainly look at it and find the detail in the white and black fur of the respective bunnies.
A week later the town office sent it back, requesting a reprint because the customer was not happy. This I could not get my head around, I printed it again, slightly softer where the whites were what I considered to be light grey, the black rabbit was losing it’s depth. A week later the print came back, this time with a copy of the photo in the newspaper and how the client wanted the print. Newspaper paper is grey, there’s no “white”, there’s no depth to the blacks. I actually got the lady into the offices and dug out the original 6x4 print that had gone into the paper and tried to show her “black rabbit, white rabbit”, newspaper print = dark grey, light grey rabbits. So the “correct” print was the original and my subsequent enlargements. The lady was not having any of it, she wanted a print exactly the same as what had appeared in the paper, even though she physically owned the two rabbits, one black, one white. I printed a very soft version eventually, there is no moral, just a commentary that it’s all personal preference.
White is also comparative, put a white envelope on a plate with a paper towel and the differences in whiteyness are visible. Which is why I suggest getting some prints knocked up you may find that the preferred screen version has blown highlights and blacks too deep in hand. Not blowing the highlight detail, you can see a lot more dark detail holding up the print and squinting, but you won’t magic detail in white areas if they exceed the printers capability.
