LG 27UP850-W + Macbook M1/M1X - do I need to do anything/calibrate?

[spnc]

Hi guys,

Today I'm about to receive this monitor for my 13" M1 MBP (I actually ordered two, another one for the 16" M1X MBP of my step-mother).

Do I need to do anything after connecting the Thunderbolt cable from the screen to the MBPs?

1. I bought this Thunderbolt 4 cable https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/CBLTB4C0.7M/ because I was under the impression that the USB-C cables provided in the box were not enough in terms of universal compatibility, bandwidth (40 Gbps for Thunderbolt 4 vs 20 Gbps for USB-C), and 'wake-from-sleep' feature only possible with Thunderbolt 4 cable - is it correct?
2. When comparing the 27UP850-W vs. the previous model 27UL850-W, (https://www.lg.com/us/compare?bizType=B2C&modelId=MD06065396:MD08000010), I see that it now has: USB Down-stream YES, USB-C (DP Alternate Mode) YES, USB-C (Data Transmission) YES - how is this new?
3. When also comparing it says the 27UP850-W now has 'Auto Input Switch' (which I found seems to be defined as: 'When automatic input switch is set to On, display will automatically switch to new input when connected'), as well as 'Power Save/Sleep Mode'. Does that mean the screen will connect smoothly to M1/M1X Macbooks, without problems?
4. Do I need to calibrate the screens from Mac Display settings page, like this guy shows?
   Or do I need to do nothing at all, and just select native resolution, 3840x2160, to get the best matching resolution from MBP?
5. The guy is above video advises, before calibrating, to turn off "Automatically adjust brightness", "True Tone", "Night Mode" and also in the monitor Display tab to turn off "HDR". Is this still correct in 2021?
6. If I turn off "True Tone" when the LG screen is connected, does it get back to turned ON each time I disconnect the screen and use the laptop in standalone? I'd like to keep using True Tone when using my Macbook in cases where the screen is not connected.
7. Speaking of HDR, do you confirm that (if I read the comments properly) HDR is useless on this LG monitor series with Macbooks and it shall be turned off (both on the screen options screen and on the macbook options screen?) at all times to maintain the best matching quality screen?
8. Speaking of calibration again, do I need to use the LG provided app (LG Calibration Studio or True Pro Color, whatever it's called?) on top, separately, or not at all? And what about other 3rd-party calibration apps? I'd like to keep it as simple as possible.
9. What about the LG OnScreen control utility > Monitor settings, is there anything to touch?
10. Do I need to turn any option in the LG screen settings page, and/or in the Macbook settings page, in order to allow Wake-From-Screen to run smoothly when clicking/touching the Magic Keyboard or Magic Mouse connected wirelessly to wake up the Macbook (and LG screen)? Or is there now nothing to do since we are using 2020/2021 Macbooks M1/M1X and this 2021 screen models? I think there used to be a dedicated Wake-From-Screen option to be selected on previous LG series, but now it's now gone/irrelevant/automatic with Thunderbolt 4 correct?
11. If the M1/M1X Macbook has the lid closed all the time, then I can simply click/touch the Magic Mouse or Keyboard to wake up the LG screen smoothly, correct?
12. And to put the LG screen to sleep, I can either click 'Sleep' in the Mac menu, or if the lid is open, close the lid will automatically put the LG screen to sleep as well - correct? Or it won't?
13. Conversely, does turning off the LG screen put the M1/M1X laptops to sleep (whether their lid is open or closed) when using Thunderbolt 4 cables? Or not at all (I don't think it does, just double checking here)
14. What is sRGB Mode? As opposed to DCI-P3 mode? I read someone in YT comments (
    ) saying they can no longer find the sRRGB coverage (probably vs. the previous models such as here
    ). It seems the 27UP850 no longer has the sRGB (99%) and only has the DCI-P3 (95%) mode - what does it mean and what does 95% mean?
15. Regarding 'Scaled Display' (or whatever you call it?). Some people seem to be wondering as well (
    ) whether to use the native 4k or scale down to 1440p like? And that they possibly use the enlarged characters when the display of the characters is too small for them - is it only them or is it a common issue?
16. Provided the LG 27UP850-W only has 163 PPI (versus 227 PPI for the M1, and 250 PPI for the M1X Macbooks), how come the text won't be downgraded/blurry? How to optimise the settings to make the LG screen as close as possible to the M1/M1X screens?
17. Regarding the M1X of my step mother, since the MagSafe is back on M1X MBPs, what happens if I connect the MagSafe to power and, at the same time, one of the USB-C/Thunderbolt charging ports to LG screen USB-C/Thunderbolt ports - is there no risk of overloading the MBP battery?
18. If use external speakers for my step mum (she won't be using an external sound card like me), is it better to connect the speakers directly to the LG screen output, or from the M1X Macbook? The Macbook will stay closed most of the time, so I guess better to connect them directly on the LG screen audio port. But then, will the sound source be of a poor quality (as opposed to the M1X internal sound interface)?

Thank you so much!

 

[umbilical]

Wow tons of questions, I had plans to buy that UP monitor for the mac mini, what do you think after all? you got responses to all your questions?

 

[nemofish]

Looking to get this too - @spnc what are your experiences now?

 

[umbilical]

Basically for now my only question before pull the trigger on that monitor is, there's a 34 Ultrawide monitor for under $600 that give me the same 4K picture quality than the UP850? I'm debating is get a 27 or a 34 ultrawide, but picture quality is for me the 1st important thing, so I need the same quality of the UP850-W but on 34 wide.

Maybe the only that match the quality of the UP is the LG 34BK95U-W 34 ??? but cost $1500

 

[Blacktip]

Basically for now my only question before pull the trigger on that monitor is, there's a 34 Ultrawide monitor for under $600 that give me the same 4K picture quality than the UP850? I'm debating is get a 27 or a 34 ultrawide, but picture quality is for me the 1st important thing, so I need the same quality of the UP850-W but on 34 wide.

Maybe the only that match the quality of the UP is the LG 34BK95U-W 34 ??? but cost $1500

It depends on what you mean with "picture quality". First – I have no own experience of that 34" UW monitor, but if that also is 4K (I guess it is), you will most probably see more pixelations in text and on other sharp elements on screen. I have the LG 27UP850-W myself, and it's a decent monitor in terms of a.) connectivity and b.) 'crispness'. But no, there's no way you can compare the PPI to say … a 5K iMac or the LG Ultrafine 5K (which is extremely hard to buy nowadays).

If you mean 'picture quality' in terms of colour accuracy, I have no idea. For me, using my 27" LG monitor is the best I could do until someone produce a monitor with higher PPI. Or, if Apple decide to slash the price on that Pro Display with a thousand percent or so …

I'd expect a physically bigger screen size to look 'worse' than a smaller screen if they're both "4K".

 

[Blacktip]

1. Provided the LG 27UP850-W only has 163 PPI (versus 227 PPI for the M1, and 250 PPI for the M1X Macbooks), how come the text won't be downgraded/blurry? How to optimise the settings to make the LG screen as close as possible to the M1/M1X screens?

I have tried to degrade the blurriness on my 27UP850 by scaling the UI to either "look like 3008 x 1692" or "look like 2560 x 1440". The choice I make is depending on my mood of the day and perhaps on how much coffee I've had But also (and perhaps the most important tip) to install https://www.fontsmoothingadjuster.com and disable font smoothing. Read more about this here: https://tonsky.me/blog/monitors/#turn-off-font-smoothing

 

[umbilical]

It depends on what you mean with "picture quality". First – I have no own experience of that 34" UW monitor, but if that also is 4K (I guess it is), you will most probably see more pixelations in text and on other sharp elements on screen. I have the LG 27UP850-W myself, and it's a decent monitor in terms of a.) connectivity and b.) 'crispness'. But no, there's no way you can compare the PPI to say … a 5K iMac or the LG Ultrafine 5K (which is extremely hard to buy nowadays).

If you mean 'picture quality' in terms of colour accuracy, I have no idea. For me, using my 27" LG monitor is the best I could do until someone produce a monitor with higher PPI. Or, if Apple decide to slash the price on that Pro Display with a thousand percent or so …

I'd expect a physically bigger screen size to look 'worse' than a smaller screen if they're both "4K".

Actually I'm sick of wait to apple release a monitor for around $1299 or around... so I need buy a LG, the UP, price right now is $589 after taxes, I think is a little expensive for a 27 but I can't wait more, I don't find other solution.

Yes the 5K ultrafine is better but spend $1200 on that thing with that huge bezels and now I feel it a little "old" is not my desire right now, I think is better go for the UP now and wait to see if apple release something.

I say "picture quality" you know to overall quality, crisp text, colors etc.

Let me put of this way, I see fine the retina from a late 2013 macbook pro, so anything better than that, is welcome for me, I don't want anything worst than that.

The wide 34 cost around $1200-1500 but again I don't know is inferior to the UP, the 34 is 2018, UP 2021.

 

[Blacktip]

One of my oldest (still working) MBP from 2013 has a better image quality than my current LG 27UP850-W in terms of crispness. Perhaps not if you count the nits, but yeah … it's all down do the PPI of the monitor. Some people won't notice. They're happy with anything it seems… Trust me – there's definitely a void when it comes getting an external monitor to a Mac nowadays that actually can display imagery as we come to expect it. Again, I'm pretty happy with the UP850. It does what it should, and has yet to show signs of those pesky signal-losing-issues that plague so many other monitors (earlier bought a pretty expensive BenQ-monitor that lost signal on and off, and had to return it).

 

[justanothergeordie]

I just bought an M1 Mini and the LG UP850 to replace an ageing 2013 iMac which couldn't keep up any more. I mainly use Adobe design software so colour, sharpness and brightness are important. I knew this wasn't going to compare to an iMac 5K but it's so much better than my old 1440 screen and as the PPI gets higher it becomes less of an issue that it's 4K and not 5K at 27 inches. The brightness on this is enough for me at full brightness (400 nits) and again is much better than my old iMac.

I've only ever bought Apple computers and screens, having owned a few iMacs, Powerbook G4 and before that G3 and PPC desktops. I knew there would be some compromises with a non-Apple screen and webcam but I am genuinely shocked at how good my set up is now. The Mini (16GB RAM and 1TB SSD) performs brilliantly and the screen is excellent. I would definitely recommend this for design work.

 

[umbilical]

I just bought an M1 Mini and the LG UP850 to replace an ageing 2013 iMac which couldn't keep up any more. I mainly use Adobe design software so colour, sharpness and brightness are important. I knew this wasn't going to compare to an iMac 5K but it's so much better than my old 1440 screen and as the PPI gets higher it becomes less of an issue that it's 4K and not 5K at 27 inches. The brightness on this is enough for me at full brightness (400 nits) and again is much better than my old iMac.

I've only ever bought Apple computers and screens, having owned a few iMacs, Powerbook G4 and before that G3 and PPC desktops. I knew there would be some compromises with a non-Apple screen and webcam but I am genuinely shocked at how good my set up is now. The Mini (16GB RAM and 1TB SSD) performs brilliantly and the screen is excellent. I would definitely recommend this for design work.

I want that same setup, m1 mini and up, but I'll wait to the next mini and maybe apple release a "lower" price monitor, we'll see, but yes mini + monitor is the way to go!

 

[nemofish]

I just bought an M1 Mini and the LG UP850 to replace an ageing 2013 iMac which couldn't keep up any more. I mainly use Adobe design software so colour, sharpness and brightness are important. I knew this wasn't going to compare to an iMac 5K but it's so much better than my old 1440 screen and as the PPI gets higher it becomes less of an issue that it's 4K and not 5K at 27 inches. The brightness on this is enough for me at full brightness (400 nits) and again is much better than my old iMac.

I've only ever bought Apple computers and screens, having owned a few iMacs, Powerbook G4 and before that G3 and PPC desktops. I knew there would be some compromises with a non-Apple screen and webcam but I am genuinely shocked at how good my set up is now. The Mini (16GB RAM and 1TB SSD) performs brilliantly and the screen is excellent. I would definitely recommend this for design work.

Designer here - I have the same setup, though my UP850 is here and still boxed. Just need time to set it all up!

 

[justanothergeordie]

Designer here - I have the same setup, though my UP850 is here and still boxed. Just need time to set it all up!

Hey, how did you get on with your new set up?

 

[nemofish]

Hey, how did you get on with your new set up?

Got it, looks nice but struggling with usb power on restart.

 

[justanothergeordie]

Got it, looks nice but struggling with usb power on restart.

Do you mean through the monitor's hub? I am too. I use USB C to connect as I found HDMI had quirks, plus it didn't give the hub any power. Even with USB C attached, it still drops connections sometimes.

 

[nemofish]

Do you mean through the monitor's hub? I am too. I use USB C to connect as I found HDMI had quirks, plus it didn't give the hub any power. Even with USB C attached, it still drops connections sometimes.

Not used it long enough to test for drop-outs, but each time it restarts there is no power to the hub and I must manually unplug and re-plug back in to get power.

Not sure if a Mac issue or LG issue though....

 

[macdre99]

I just bought an M1 Mini and the LG UP850 to replace an ageing 2013 iMac which couldn't keep up any more. I mainly use Adobe design software so colour, sharpness and brightness are important. I knew this wasn't going to compare to an iMac 5K but it's so much better than my old 1440 screen and as the PPI gets higher it becomes less of an issue that it's 4K and not 5K at 27 inches. The brightness on this is enough for me at full brightness (400 nits) and again is much better than my old iMac.

I've only ever bought Apple computers and screens, having owned a few iMacs, Powerbook G4 and before that G3 and PPC desktops. I knew there would be some compromises with a non-Apple screen and webcam but I am genuinely shocked at how good my set up is now. The Mini (16GB RAM and 1TB SSD) performs brilliantly and the screen is excellent. I would definitely recommend this for design work.

@justanothergeordie I'm currently trying to piece together my mini mac setup and I'm wanting to go with this monitor. Can you tell me which cable set up you decided to go with to connect your mac mini? Are you using usb-c to usb-c or a different route? I was thinking about going usb-c to displayport.

 

[macdre99]

I just bought an M1 Mini and the LG UP850 to replace an ageing 2013 iMac which couldn't keep up any more. I mainly use Adobe design software so colour, sharpness and brightness are important. I knew this wasn't going to compare to an iMac 5K but it's so much better than my old 1440 screen and as the PPI gets higher it becomes less of an issue that it's 4K and not 5K at 27 inches. The brightness on this is enough for me at full brightness (400 nits) and again is much better than my old iMac.

I've only ever bought Apple computers and screens, having owned a few iMacs, Powerbook G4 and before that G3 and PPC desktops. I knew there would be some compromises with a non-Apple screen and webcam but I am genuinely shocked at how good my set up is now. The Mini (16GB RAM and 1TB SSD) performs brilliantly and the screen is excellent. I would definitely recommend this for design work.

 

[justanothergeordie]

@justanothergeordie I'm currently trying to piece together my mini mac setup and I'm wanting to go with this monitor. Can you tell me which cable set up you decided to go with to connect your mac mini? Are you using usb-c to usb-c or a different route? I was thinking about going usb-c to displayport.

@justanothergeordie I'm currently trying to piece together my mini mac setup and I'm wanting to go with this monitor. Can you tell me which cable set up you decided to go with to connect your mac mini? Are you using usb-c to usb-c or a different route? I was thinking about going usb-c to displayport.

@macdre99 I use USB C to USB C and it works fine, no issues. I tried HDMI but there were some quirks so I switched straight back. I haven’t tried displayport so I can’t comment. This set up is working really well for me.