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LG Ultrafine 6K announced
- Thread starter eksu
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That first reviewer on YouTube said he had a blue tint in certain areas at the edges. I couldn't really see it in his videos, as it almost looked to me like vignetting with a superimposed off-axis view which can shift colour a bit, but we'll have to take his word for it. Regarding the off-axis colour shift, it's nowhere near as bad as VA, but I'm mentioning it for the sake of completeness.
However, as mentioned before, my screen is not perfect. I have dirty screen effect which I can see on a solid white background, but which I usually don't see in general usage (including with white browser pages). Also, contrary to my initial assessment, it's not 100% free of backlight bleed, but it's quite minimal. There is basically a mild sliver of it in on spot I can see on an all black background when the room light is dimmed but again I don't see it in general usage.
The matte screen is good though IMO. Text may not be quite as crisp as my 27" 5K iMac, but it's pretty close and a very noticeable improvement over my older 27" 4K class screen (164 ppi) at my ~22" seating distance. (Mine is actually a 28" 4K+ monitor, but same pixel density.) However, YMMV. It's clear that some people here really don't like matte screens, and even though this matte screen is nicer than most, it's still not a glossy screen that they might prefer.
I also really notice the improved contrast over my previous IPS monitor. There is noticeably more "pop" to the contrast and I also see more shadow detail. With my old monitor, if I increased the brightness to bright out the highlights, everything else looked washed out. That is not the case with this monitor. I can increase the brightness to max and darker parts don't get significantly washed out. The image looks very decent with regular ambient light in the room, but in a dark room it (literally) pales in comparison to my tandem OLED iPad Pro, not surprisingly. Going forward, I don't think I'd upgrade again until HiDPI 30-32" 5-6K OLED is available for a decent price, and preferably tandem OLED. I'm not keen on getting a mini-LED unless it's relatively inexpensive, as it's really just IPS (or VA) again albeit with a better backlight design.
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On another note, I don't think if I showed this in this thread yet, but I find it interesting the way macOS Ventura on my 12" MacBook deals with this monitor. It defaults to a 2X scaled resolution of 3360x1890 with internal rendering at 6720x3780. Another option is a scaled resolution of 3008x1692, but there is no 3072x1728 option offered for some reason. However, it still only connects at 4K which means it downscales that again to 3840x2160, but text quality is not as bad as I thought it would be for 4K. (Text quality kinda sucked on a native 4K Asus ProArt 32" I tested.)
It's too bad on the non-Pro Mx chips, 3360x1890 is not an option. I personally wouldn't use it, but I know a lot of people would.
Thanks for the reply, you have been very helpful with your experience of the monitor. I see here in the UK Amazon have it up for £1800, that plus the stand from China so say another 100 makes £1900. Not sure if it has slightly off screen is worth that? The Asus 32” which most people seem to really like is up for £1300 so a £500 saving. I did want this LG but I will wait for more reviews, but I am beginning to lean to the Asus I think for my own needs.
I do like my M4 iPad Pro screen, but sadly OLED would be useless for my work use, it would get burn in in no time.
When compared to the LG, the price of the Asus is not as attractive here. It's CA$2000 / US$1425 / £1080 (before taxes).
I paid $2380 (before taxes) for the LG, which is US$1696 / £1285, but I'm still hopeful I qualify for the CA$300 rebate promotion. I'll find out in a few weeks, but that would be worth US$214 / £162. If I do actually get that, it would bring the LG pricing down to just over US$1500 before taxes. Fingers crossed!
And it even comes with a true Thunderbolt 5 cable.
I'm really curious though how the Tcolor 32" 6K fares with Macs. I know it works fine for at least one Mac mini user, but I don't know if that person has a Pro or non-Pro Mac mini, or what input s/he's using. At <US$1000 shipped, that might be a reasonable option for some people if it doesn't have the weird Thunderbolt 4 issues that they Kuycon has, and it doesn't rely upon a remote control either. The Tcolor has actual buttons on it, on the side.
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FWIW, tandem OLED is more resistant to burn-in, but yeah, I hear ya.
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When compared to the LG, the price of the Asus is not as attractive here. It's CA$2000 / US$1425 / £1080 (before taxes).
I paid $2380 (before taxes) for the LG, which is US$1696 / £1285, but I'm still hopeful I qualify for the CA$300 rebate promotion. I'll find out in a few weeks, but that would be worth US$214 / £162. If I do actually get that, it would bring the LG pricing down to just over US$1500 before taxes. Fingers crossed!
And it even comes with a true Thunderbolt 5 cable.
I'm really curious though how the Tcolor 32" 6K fares with Macs. I know it works fine for at least one Mac mini user, but I don't know if that person has a Pro or non-Pro Mac mini, or what input s/he's using. At <US$1000 shipped, that might be a reasonable option for some people if it doesn't have the weird Thunderbolt 4 issues that they Kuycon has, and it doesn't rely upon a remote control either. The Tcolor has actual buttons on it, on the side.
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FWIW, tandem OLED is more resistant to burn-in, but yeah, I hear ya.
Thats certainly cheap enough.. I do worry the further from mainstream brands we go, the more likely we will have issues with support down the road. The Kuycon having Tahoe compatibility concerns kind of illuminates the potential risk.
When compared to the LG, the price of the Asus is not as attractive here. It's CA$2000 / US$1425 / £1080 (before taxes).
I paid $2380 (before taxes) for the LG, which is US$1696 / £1285, but I'm still hopeful I qualify for the CA$300 rebate promotion. I'll find out in a few weeks, but that would be worth US$214 / £162. If I do actually get that, it would bring the LG pricing down to just over US$1500 before taxes. Fingers crossed!
And it even comes with a true Thunderbolt 5 cable.
I'm really curious though how the Tcolor 32" 6K fares with Macs. I know it works fine for at least one Mac mini user, but I don't know if that person has a Pro or non-Pro Mac mini, or what input s/he's using. At <US$1000 shipped, that might be a reasonable option for some people if it doesn't have the weird Thunderbolt 4 issues that they Kuycon has, and it doesn't rely upon a remote control either. The Tcolor has actual buttons on it, on the side.
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Tcoior Ultra Clear Gaming Display 32inch 6k Aluminum Ips Flat Screen Monitor Retina Display 60hz Lcd Monitors For Design Office - Buy Lcd Monitors led Monitor nano Ips Panel flat Screens built-in Speakers Monitor monitor For Home usb Monitors business Display fhd Monitor monitor Retina Display...
FWIW, tandem OLED is more resistant to burn-in, but yeah, I hear ya.
Not a bad price with that rebate. The trouble with these things is you have no way of seeing them before purchase, hard enough to find any store that will stock the monitors let alone have them side by side on display. All you have are other peoples opinions to go on and everyone is different. I've now seen people say the text is rubbish on BOTH the LG and Asus due to the matte screens, but I have a matte screen on my Huawei Mateview 28" 4K monitor, and I can read the text on it, sure a glossy screen will look better but then I am not sure I would be able to read the screen through reflections in the first place during the summer.
Out of interest, how hot does the LG get? Does it produce a lot of heat at maximum brightness?
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Of course, you can read text on the LG or ASUS 6K without any problems, but everything looks better on a non-matte screen. Anyone who likes this will be able to confirm it every time. There are reasons why 99% of TVs have a glossy coating and only 1% have a matte coating, because the picture simply looks more brilliant.
If you're one of those users who doesn't care that much about aesthetics, then you won't notice anything negative about the ASUS or LG. But if you are that kind of aesthete, never make a 1:1 comparison
Not hot at all at my usual settings but I usually run at ~110-150 nits. I rarely run at full brightness unless I am watching a Netflix stream or something, but I haven’t done that for long enough for the screen to heat up. I don’t know what would happen if I used the screen at max brightness for say 1 hour because I’ve never tried it.
What happens when the monitor (in this case: LG) supplies power via TB5 to a MacBook, for example? Will the heat probably increase slightly? This is the case with other monitors, for example.
I use it with a M4 Mac mini, with just a few low power peripherals plugged into the monitor.
I only tested an M4 MacBook Air and 2017 m3 MacBook for like 20 minutes each time so I can’t really say. Furthermore, neither of those models have super high power draw. It should also be noted though that the (giant) power supply is external. It’s not built into the monitor.
PS. I was pleased at how well the 12” MacBook handled it, even though it was only connected at 4K via USB-C 3. Full 4:4:4 colour at 60 Hz and the machine was still acceptably responsive for light work. An A18 Pro MacBook model with 6K support over USB-C would be a major win.
I also thought that because the power supply is external, the monitor shouldn't get particularly warm, but I've experienced the opposite with another example, namely a TB4 dock from Anker. It also has a large external power supply, but when you use PD from the dock with a MacBook, the dock still gets quite warm at the interface. Probably because some chips on the circuit board are working hard.
Of course, you can read text on the LG or ASUS 6K without any problems, but everything looks better on a non-matte screen. Anyone who likes this will be able to confirm it every time. There are reasons why 99% of TVs have a glossy coating and only 1% have a matte coating, because the picture simply looks more brilliant.
If you're one of those users who doesn't care that much about aesthetics, then you won't notice anything negative about the ASUS or LG. But if you are that kind of aesthete, never make a 1:1 comparison
There is reading text and there is reading text.. my iPad M4 OLED screen is better then my M3 Mac Mini LED screen. Both are glossy. I actually can find my Mac screen tiring to read text on sometimes. My matte monitor is fine though.
Those third party Thunderbolt docks are notorious for overheating. They pack a bunch of chips to handle various protocols and charging into a very small box with poor ventilation, which makes it hard to dissipate the heat. I understand where you're coming from, but it's not really directly comparable vs. a 32" monitor with tons of ventilation (like the LG and Kuycon holy version).
The question is always whether passive ventilation is sufficient for monitors when up to 96 watts of PD are applied. Apple will have installed active ventilation in the ASD for a reason, even though there are also ventilation holes at the top edge. And you remember the charred TB connection on the ASUS monitor, which makes it clear that heat hotspots can occur with this type of use. I therefore prefer not to use PD with the Kuycon (I don't do this with the ASD either).
Well my two monitors should arrive tomorrow! Unfortunately, I have a herniated disc on the C5 part of my neck so it might be some time before I can get them fully dialed in — my desk is not ready and I’m extremely hurt, but I’ll do what I can with the included stands until I can figure out a solution with ergotron. Which might also end up meaning I have to remove my iMac and Studio Display for the foreseeable future.
Since the LG 6K has a built-in Thunderbolt hub, I've since unplugged one of my two small TB 4 hubs from my M4 Mac mini, and am using the monitor as a TB hub. I plugged my Time Machine drive into the monitor, even though it's running at slower speeds through the monitor (since my Mac mini is not TB 5). The slower write speed (since it has to share bandwidth with the monitor) hasn't made any noticeable real world difference though since Time Machine runs in the background and it's just small incremental saves.
So, I've repurposed that second TB 4 hub as an input for the LG 6K monitor's DisplayPort. I had an old no-name USB-C to DisplayPort dongle and connected that up to the monitor's DisplayPort input and to the Thunderbolt 4 hub. I don't know what that dongle supports, but I suspect it's DP 1.4. Now instead of reaching around the back of the monitor, I can simply plug my M4 MacBook Air into the hub and it works fine at 6K 4:4:4 60 Hz. As mentioned, I don't know what colour calibration parameters are used for the various Studio 1,2,3 settings on the monitor, but one of them seems to match the M4 MacBook Air reasonably well, just judging by eye using the default LG UltraFine macOS Tahoe colour profile.
However, that el cheapo DP dongle is unstable with my old 12" m3 MacBook when directly connected, and doesn't work at all with that MacBook through the hub. I guess I will be looking for a new DP dongle.
So, I've repurposed that second TB 4 hub as an input for the LG 6K monitor's DisplayPort. I had an old no-name USB-C to DisplayPort dongle and connected that up to the monitor's DisplayPort input and to the Thunderbolt 4 hub. I don't know what that dongle supports, but I suspect it's DP 1.4. Now instead of reaching around the back of the monitor, I can simply plug my M4 MacBook Air into the hub and it works fine at 6K 4:4:4 60 Hz. As mentioned, I don't know what colour calibration parameters are used for the various Studio 1,2,3 settings on the monitor, but one of them seems to match the M4 MacBook Air reasonably well, just judging by eye using the default LG UltraFine macOS Tahoe colour profile.
However, that el cheapo DP dongle is unstable with my old 12" m3 MacBook when directly connected, and doesn't work at all with that MacBook through the hub. I guess I will be looking for a new DP dongle.
Congrats on finally getting the monitors! And I hope you get well soon.
Is the LG software required to get these profiles? I was hoping to just use Windows to update the firmware and Monitor Control or Better Display to control brightness, but I don’t know if color profiles will be locked to that app or not. And I’d like to avoid the app if possible (this is sight unseen of course, just a feeling). I'm going to see if I can get a cheaper colorimeter (or get one from a friend who might have an extra) but it isn’t my top priority with my neck and trying to figure out my setup situation.
Those Studio presets are built into the monitor as hardware presets. You don’t need any software installed to use them.
The firmware update is from several weeks ago so I don’t know if you’ll have to update yours or not. If you do, you will need to use the LG Switch software to do it. There is a mention of a manual update method but the actual firmware doesn’t seem provided separately AFAIK, and I didn’t see a separate updater available either, so I guess you’d need the LG Switch software anyway. I believe either the Windows version or the Mac version would work, but FWIW, the updater repeatedly failed in Tahoe on my M4 Mac mini. I eventually was able to install it using my Intel m3 MacBook on Ventura.
Thanks! The monitors are here but this is a next week project. Man, these boxes are big! And yeah, I remembered you said it failed in Tahoe, I’d use my iMac but that is going to be convoluted as I try to figure out what to do/where to put it. I can probably just use my Windows laptop faster, assuming they aren’t flashed already.
Attachments
German review:
www.mactechnews.de
Power utilization:
The LG 6K consumes much, much less power during sleep vs. the Apple Studio Display, but much more power in use.
Test LG UltraFine evo 32 Zoll 6K: Günstige Alternative zum Pro Display XDR, oder das bessere Studio Display?
Mit dem UltraFine evo 32 Zoll 6K bietet LG einen 32“-Monitor an, der sich als günstige Alternative zu Apples Pro Display XDR anbietet. Oder als Steigerung zum Apple Studio Display mit 27“. Aber kann der 2.000-Euro-Monitor diesen Anspruch auch erfüllen? Der REWIND-Praxistest klärt auf.
Power utilization:
The LG 6K consumes much, much less power during sleep vs. the Apple Studio Display, but much more power in use.
I'm confused. This is the DisplayPort dongle I have. It's a Monoprice 13234 USB-C to DisplayPort Adapter.
The specs state it is DisplayPort 1.2, and I bought it many years ago, yet I can confirm again it works fine at 6K HDR 4:4:4 60 Hz as tested by the RTINGS chroma test page at 1:1 6K. So I guess it's a secret DP 1.4 dongle then?
I bought a VESA certified USB-C to DP 2.1 cable, and the behaviour is exactly the same. It doesn't work properly with the 12" MacBook, either through the TB hub or directly connected, but it works fine with the M4 MacBook Air, M4 iPad Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro. The 12" MacBook works over USB-C (at 4K) though, which I guess is good enough.
wikipedia says:
it won't work through the TB hub because the MacBook doesn't support Thunderbolt, I guess.
Ah that makes sense. I didn’t realize that was true for the USB-C dongles too.
The iPhone 17 Pro doesn’t support Thunderbolt either, and the hub does work with USB 3. I even tried with a USB 3 cable which I’ve previously confirmed doesn’t work for USB 4, and it worked.
...after quite a long wait our new monitor arrived today
huge thanks to @EugW and all the other posters in the accessories section whose help has been invaluable to me.
So far it's exceeding expectations, I'm used to glossy but this matt has won me over. Happy day over here ! 🥰
huge thanks to @EugW and all the other posters in the accessories section whose help has been invaluable to me.
So far it's exceeding expectations, I'm used to glossy but this matt has won me over. Happy day over here ! 🥰
The instructions in the manual for sharing attached peripherals was a little confusing to me but once I understood it, it was pretty easy to set up and use. The way I have it configured right now:
Ports:
1. DisplayPort - Connected to TB4/USB4 hub for my laptop
2. HDMI
3. Thunderbolt input - Connected to Mac mini
4. Thunderbolt output - Connected to Time Machine SSD
5. USB-C input - Connected to TB4/USB4 hub for my laptop
6. USB-C output - Connected to web cam
7. USB-C output - Connected to audio system
I have configured the USB selection setting for the Thunderbolt input as Thunderbolt.
I have configured the USB selection setting for the DisplayPort input as USB-C.
When I'm using the Thunderbolt input with the Mac mini, it sees the Time Machine SSD, web cam, and audio system.
When I'm using the DisplayPort input with the hub for my laptop, it sees the web cam and audio system, but not the SSD.
In other words both the TB and DP inputs see the web cam and audio system, but the SSD can only be seen by the TB input.
Conversely, the TB4/USB4 hub (and everything attached to it) is invisible to the Mac mini connected to the Thunderbolt input.
Blue - For only the laptop
Purple - For only the Mac mini
Green - For both the Mac mini and laptop
Ports:
1. DisplayPort - Connected to TB4/USB4 hub for my laptop
2. HDMI
3. Thunderbolt input - Connected to Mac mini
4. Thunderbolt output - Connected to Time Machine SSD
5. USB-C input - Connected to TB4/USB4 hub for my laptop
6. USB-C output - Connected to web cam
7. USB-C output - Connected to audio system
I have configured the USB selection setting for the Thunderbolt input as Thunderbolt.
I have configured the USB selection setting for the DisplayPort input as USB-C.
When I'm using the Thunderbolt input with the Mac mini, it sees the Time Machine SSD, web cam, and audio system.
When I'm using the DisplayPort input with the hub for my laptop, it sees the web cam and audio system, but not the SSD.
In other words both the TB and DP inputs see the web cam and audio system, but the SSD can only be seen by the TB input.
Conversely, the TB4/USB4 hub (and everything attached to it) is invisible to the Mac mini connected to the Thunderbolt input.
Blue - For only the laptop
Purple - For only the Mac mini
Green - For both the Mac mini and laptop
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