Mac Studio + LG Ultragear 32 monitor = blurry/terrible text

[zimm17]

I replaced a 2015 27" iMac with a new Mac Studio computer and an LG Ultragear 32GN650B monitor. And I'm so disappointed. I know this is a gaming monitor, but the text looks SO bad and blurry. I also have an MSI PC gaming computer hooked up to the monitor and its text is blurry too.

I tried all the resolutions- but native 2560x1440 looks the best. I played with all then settings I can find. Sharpness up to 70 is better but still terrible. The MSI PC uses the display port input and studio is using a standard HDMI cable. I tried 2 cables, no change.

Did I just waste $350 on this monitor? Should I have gotten something else? I'm really missing my 27" iMac Retina display, but that computer was getting too slow, it benchmarked half what my little MacBook Air M1 runs at. Or am I missing something obvious here? I don't know how in the world in the year 2022 with an Ultra-HD monitor, the text could be so poor.

Edit: after some googling, I'm finding that this display is a "2k" monitor. I'm thinking I messed up there.

 

[allan.nyholm]

does look poor from that angle for sure. What does a screenshot of the text look like? Does any setting help at all? like reducing the Hz to 60? What about certain accessibility settings? increase contrast? Things like that?

I don't have anything like your setup; a Apple Silicon Mac, Ventura or an external display. I have an Retina Intel iMac 27" with Monterey installed on it - so I'm asking quite naively perhaps

 

[zimm17]

I tried changing the Hz to 60 with no effect. The text looks just like the screen shot minus the lines- the camera is picking that up. I see a pure white background, but the grey letters are pixelated and "blurry". I'm pretty sure I got a low end monitor and got sucked into thinking "QHD" meant something better than just a 2k monitor.

I might see if they'll take a return on it and upgrade to something better. It might even help to drop down to a 27" in order to get more pixel density.

I looked up the specs on my old iMac and that thing has 5120x2880 resolution. Quite a lot more than 2560x1440.

 

[Toinman]

Your new display is bigger is size but lower in resolution. Your iMac has a pixel density of 218ppi and your new LG has 93ppi. That's a huge downgrade in visual quality. Especially text readability will take a hit. The OS will use anti-aliasing to smooth the fonts so it doesn't show harsh individual pixels, but it will cause a blurry effect. I think Windows call font-smoothing 'ClearType' and there might be some settings to adjust, but I'm not sure there's anything you can do to salvage your experience.

 

[xraydoc]

If something like a 5K Studio Display is out of your budget, get a quality 4K monitor and you’ll be good.

 

[zimm17]

Thanks everyone, I'm back to monitor shopping. Another case of "buy once, cry once". But dang, the 27" 5k is $1600, that's a lot of money for a monitor isn't it? The iMac is already a 27" 5k- too bad I can't just use it to display my iMac studio.

 

[exoticSpice]

Thanks everyone, I'm back to monitor shopping. Another case of "buy once, cry once". But dang, the 27" 5k is $1600, that's a lot of money for a monitor isn't it? The iMac is already a 27" 5k- too bad I can't just use it to display my iMac studio.

Just get this.

 

[Toinman]

Just get this.

That's not a 5K monitor, which OP liked. And also not at high-refresh rate gaming monitor OP was going after. So I wouldn't recommend this.

Thanks everyone, I'm back to monitor shopping. Another case of "buy once, cry once". But dang, the 27" 5k is $1600, that's a lot of money for a monitor isn't it? The iMac is already a 27" 5k- too bad I can't just use it to display my iMac studio.

There's still the LG Ultrafine 5K which is basically the same as the Apple Studio Display for $500 less. But that's also 60hz. If you want high-refresh rates, you will have to resort to 4K. There are a decent amount of 27" 4K 144hz monitors on the market. That's what I think you are looking for.

 

[xraydoc]

Just get this.

That’s a TN panel. While inexpensive, they’re also often of limited quality.

 

[zimm17]

So I picked up a LG 27UP850 (4k). Holly smokes, what a difference. It's not quite retina sharp, but the text is normal and clear. Super happy. It's only a 60hz, but I don't game much and my kids won't know the difference. The Ultragear version with 144hz was double the cost. Thanks for the advice.

It also has a 60 watt USB-C port if I ever need to use my laptop with it too.

I would have sprung for the studio display, but it won't take 2 inputs so that a deal breaker. The LG was only $440, I could buy 4 of these for the cost of the studio.