4K monitor defaults to 1080p

[AndyR]

Picked up a LG 27UK650 4K monitor today to use with my 2017 13”MBP. Huge upgrade from my current old 1080p and it’s looks amazing, but when I connect it the Default for Display looks like 1080p. Everything is huge.

I have to go into scaling to make it look 4K or ideally what I want to run at 1440p. That looks fine too, but just curious why the default is so large like that?

This is with DisplayPort to USB c cable. If I use a hdmi cable to my pc desktop it defaults to 4K.

Any ideas? Also if I do scale it to 1440p, am I right in assuming that it’s just the GUI portions that are resized, but the screen resolution is still 4K? So if I play a 4K YouTube video in full screen it’s actual 4K and not 1440p.

 

[Stephen.R]

It's how macOS handles high resolution displays - it's "retina" mode in action, where things are pixel-doubled.

It works well on a display with a high enough PPI (hint: not 4K @ 27"). This is why the LG 4K UltraFine is 21.5" but doesn't come with a mandatory set of inspector gadget goggles to make things readable.

 

[AndyR]

It's how macOS handles high resolution displays - it's "retina" mode in action, where things are pixel-doubled..

Thanks, had a feeling it would be this but wasn’t sure. Seemed odd it defaulted to the huge text setting which is what confused me.

Overall though, what a great monitor.