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New monitor for a MacStudio

S

sirio76

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Mar 28, 2013
578
416
After a decade my old LG ultra wide 34" thunderbolt monitor given up, I'm looking for a replacement.

This is what I'm looking for:

-thunderbolt connection (it will be used with a MacStudio so the USB-C and eventually even an HDMI may work)
-4K or 5K resolution
-16/9 or 16/10 proportion
-between 30" and 32"
-good color fidelity without the need for calibration
-good overall quality
-a nice design would be a plus
-it will be used only for work, I'm not interested in gaming so refresh rate is not important
-possibly under 2.000 $/€

Any suggestion will be much appreciated and if you know about some cybermonday discount here in Europe let me know ;)
 
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I have a Mac Studio and Samsung M8 due to be delivered this week. I'll post my initial impressions once I have had it all up and running for a few days. But for now, I chose the M8 because for the most part, it's gotten good reviews, including from MacRumors members. It seemed like the best value for the money, and the ability to have it double as a TV is a plus.
 
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Unless you have to have the built in camera, Samsung has a very similar
monitor as the M80 with out the camera They have one called the M70b ( includes USB-C input) for 329 dollars today with the sale.
 
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Take a look at the LG 32UL950. 4K, IPS panel, TB Monitor. Works wonderfully with the Mac Studio…
 
sirio76 said:
After a decade my old LG ultra wide 34" thunderbolt monitor given up, I'm looking for a replacement.

This is what I'm looking for:

-thunderbolt connection (it will be used with a MacStudio so the USB-C and eventually even an HDMI may work)
-4K or 5K resolution
-16/9 or 16/10 proportion
-between 30" and 32"
-good color fidelity without the need for calibration
-good overall quality
-a nice design would be a plus
-it will be used only for work, I'm not interested in gaming so refresh rate is not important
-possibly under 2.000 $/€

Any suggestion will be much appreciated and if you know about some cybermonday discount here in Europe let me know ;)
Click to expand...
I've had good exxperience with BenQ - the one I am using is 32". This one is specifically geared to photography with internal LUT calibration, but they make many others. For your purposes you should be able to get one for well under $2000
 
There are (probably) dozens of forum threads covering this exact topic. A quick search here will give you all the recommendations you need.
 
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I've been doing a lot of research on this and I've come to the realization that the best on the market are the LG Ultrafine 5K models or the Apple Studio Display itself. I've had the Samsung M8 and was not impressed by it. It looked cheap. I ended up selling it.

I'm about to buy a Mac Studio and I am definitely gonna splurge on the Studio Display. It's the best for a Mac hands down.
 
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Yes probably the Studio is the best 27“, but I need a bigger screen and I can not justify the price of the XDR for my needs.
I ended up buying the Dell Ultrasharp U3223QE that fits all my requirement, it offers the best IPS technology (the LG IPS black non yet available on LG screens) for deep blacks, 2000:1 contrast ratio, good color calibration. It also offer great selection of ports, basically it works as an hub, it got even an Ethernet and that’s a big plus since the MacStudio have only a single port.
I‘ll report my impression next week.
 
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Sadly, 4K is no 5K due to MACOS scaling. If you want color accuracy, buy a calibrator. not much $ if its critical for your workflow.

Since the only 5Ks are apple$$$ and LG, really you are limited to 4K. TONS of reviews like gizmo stated. try rtings -- very in-depth.
 
For those interested in a 4K 32 inch monitor with all the cool stuff including a color case and smart tv like features, Samsung has the M80 on a Christmas sale for 399 dollars. That’s an incredible price for a monitor that has all of those features. I wish that I could buy 4 of them. 2 for my upcoming Studio and 2 for my Windows computer.
 
sirio76 said:
Yes probably the Studio is the best 27“, but I need a bigger screen and I can not justify the price of the XDR for my needs.
I ended up buying the Dell Ultrasharp U3223QE that fits all my requirement, it offers the best IPS technology (the LG IPS black non yet available on LG screens) for deep blacks, 2000:1 contrast ratio, good color calibration. It also offer great selection of ports, basically it works as an hub, it got even an Ethernet and that’s a big plus since the MacStudio have only a single port.
I‘ll report my impression next week.
Click to expand...
I have a Dell U3223QE connected to my Mac Studio. I love it, picture quality is very good and text is sharp, even scaled, but I have an occasional flickering of the screen (not very often) which stops when I close a browser window. Is it a bug? Still no firmware update after 6 months. And I paid to much, now these monitors are 20% cheaper. Just curious, do you have the same problem?
 
sirio76 said:
After a decade my old LG ultra wide 34" thunderbolt monitor given up, I'm looking for a replacement.

This is what I'm looking for:

-thunderbolt connection (it will be used with a MacStudio so the USB-C and eventually even an HDMI may work)
-4K or 5K resolution
-16/9 or 16/10 proportion
-between 30" and 32"
-good color fidelity without the need for calibration
-good overall quality
-a nice design would be a plus
-it will be used only for work, I'm not interested in gaming so refresh rate is not important
-possibly under 2.000 $/€

Any suggestion will be much appreciated and if you know about some cybermonday discount here in Europe let me know ;)
Click to expand...
When I was looking for a monitor I used RTINGS.com. I've always used Dell's Ultrasharp line and never looked back.
 
sirio76 said:
Already seen the Samsung, nice design but the image quality is not that good compared to the alternatives.
I’ll probably go for this: https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/dell-ultrasharp-32-4k-usb-c-hub-monitor-u3223qe-review/
Click to expand...
I have two of 27-inch version of this monitor, the Dell U2723QE. I am overall satisfied with these monitors. (I really wanted the apple studio display but could not justify the pricing, especially for two of them.)

Pros:
- good picture quality. the text is sharp to me, although the PPI will be slightly lower with the 32inch version
- I run it at "looks like 2550 x 1440" and don't notice any penalties in display performance (on a 2019 13 inch MBP)
- Nice thin bezel without the dell logo.
- Nice stand, although I have have them mounted on dual monitor arms.
- Reasonable brightness at 400 nits
- the cost is a fraction of the cost of any Apple Display


Cons:
- it handles glare poorly when compared to my apple old Thunderbolt Display
- has a plastic feel when compared to an apple display
- if you want to use the built in USB hub for ethernet, you will have to choose between high data transfer speeds or higher refresh rate. For example, if I wanted to prioritize data throughput through the built in hub, I have to accept a 30 Hz refresh rate
- no built in webcam, so I needed to purchase an external one
- no built in speakers
 
I don't really like 32" 4K (138 ppi) monitors, because the scaled text quality is mediocre IMO, at typical ergonomic seating distances*. Scaled text is much nicer at 27" 4K (164 ppi).

According to this calculator, 32" 4K monitors are "Retina" at 25" seating distance. In contrast, 27" 4K monitors are "Retina" at 21" seating distance. IMO, after testing such monitors in my own house, I can say the differences in text quality are pretty substantial. To put it another way, my 164 ppi monitor is closer to my 218 ppi 5K iMac in scaled text quality than a 138 ppi monitor is to a 164 ppi monitor.

*Computer ergonomics guidelines suggest 20" or more for desktop seating distance. According to my own measurements, I typically sit at about 22-25", although if I lean in it can very occasionally be around 19-20".

michaelsviews said:
When I was looking for a monitor I used RTINGS.com. I've always used Dell's Ultrasharp line and never looked back.
Click to expand...
RTINGS review are useful overall, but RTINGS' ratings for text quality are useless for Macs, since they use Windows to assess text quality. Windows and Macs have dramatically different text quality on the same monitors, due to the way the OSes render fonts.

As for the Samsung M8, besides the fact it's a 32" 4K monitor, it's also a VA panel. I don't like the viewing angles of most VA panels. BTW, these poor viewing angles are reflected in the RTINGS review for this monitor. Their review also states their M8 had mediocre out-of-the-box colour calibration, and even after calibration, it hits only 94% of sRGB.
 
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Smoothie said:
Samsung is releasing the ViewFinity S9, a new 27-inch 5K IPS monitor. No info on price. https://www.theverge.com/2023/1/2/23531390/samsung-viewfinity-s9-5k-monitor-announced-features
Click to expand...
This looks super promising.

While I am a very happy multiple ASD owner, I tried EXTREMELY hard to find an alternative before spending all the dough. This looks like an option I would have likely gone w/. I'm hopeful it turns out to be as good as it appears. We need an alternative to ASD.
 
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Smoothie said:
Samsung is releasing the ViewFinity S9, a new 27-inch 5K IPS monitor. No info on price. https://www.theverge.com/2023/1/2/23531390/samsung-viewfinity-s9-5k-monitor-announced-features
Click to expand...
27" 5K IPS would be a nice addition to the market. The more competition the better. However, I wonder why Apple doesn't offer 2304x1296 in macOS on any 5K monitors, but they offer that same resolution for 4K monitors. Cuz if you install SwitchResX, you can get 2304x1296 on a 5K monitor and it works just fine with no significant slowdowns for most usage.

BTW, I see that Samsung is also releasing a "mini" version of their M8 32" 4K monitor, as a 27" 4K monitor. The M8 is a VA panel, and I don't like 32" VA panels because of the poor viewing angles, with brightness and colour washout at the edges even from a normal central seating position. I'm thinking 27" VA at the same seating distances would be better than 32" VA, but I don't know how much better.
 
Get a 42" 4K tv.

I did some looking around, and learned that Apple's interface works well at around 100 dpi, or around 200 dpi, but has performance problems from 120-180 dpi. So I calculated how big a 4k display would have to be to be 100 dpi, and arrived at 42 inches. That is what I am now using, and after a short period of adjustment, I am quite happy with having tons of room for windows and things. (A friend of mine also uses a 42" TV, but enlarges everything.) It's also quite a bit cheaper then smaller screens with the same resolution.

Apple's monitor never made any sense to me. It costs more than the old 27" iMac that had the same screen. Why?
 
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Other than being 27" the Dell UP2720Q hits all the stated requirements. Thunderbolt 3, 4K resolution, 4 USB ports, and 100% Adobe RGB. I've got one (along with a Dell UP2718Q) on my Mac Studio and it's fantastic. Also has built in calibration.
 
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