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Retina MBP with External HIGH quality display

djsound

djsound

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Dec 4, 2006
791
17
So I work normally on a 15" MBP retina and the screen is so small for everything but I do LOVE my laptop. =) I was wanting to upgrade to a new 5k imac but they're a bit expensive and stilla rent playing nice with Adobe CC so I was waiting. Yesterday my friend suggested just getting a nice big 30" monitor for my MBP. I had totally forgotten that this is possible. Are there any 30"+ monitors out there that are like 5k? As good quality as a retina?? I'd like to just close my MBP after connecting it and look at the big monitor and use an external keyboard too..........anyone have experience with this?? Recommendations?? thanks.
 
As far as I am aware, only two external 5K monitors exist - one from Dell and one from HP. They are both 27" and identical in picture quality to the Retina iMac, since (I believe) they use the same panel.

None of this matters too much, though, since a rMBP can't run an external 5K monitor. You need a Mac Pro or the Retina iMac for that.
 
Wow there are a lot of them. =) Mine is a MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Early 2013). HDMI output would be the best quality?
 
djsound said:
Wow there are a lot of them. =) Mine is a MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Early 2013). HDMI output would be the best quality?
Click to expand...

Display port is better. Unless you are doing a lot of text, any decent quality DP monitor will be just fine. Except for text, my high quality external monitor is about the same as the retina screen. Go to a showroom and audition some as looks can be subjective. I use my rMBP screen for text and menus, and the external for image and video edits.
 
ColdCase said:
Display port is better. Unless you are doing a lot of text, any decent quality DP monitor will be just fine. Except for text, my high quality external monitor is about the same as the retina screen. Go to a showroom and audition some as looks can be subjective. I use my rMBP screen for text and menus, and the external for image and video edits.
Click to expand...

Hi Coldcase,
Why do you think text does not display so well on the monitor? The reason I ask is that I recently overnight auditioned the Samsung LU28D590DS (mentioned in post above) and was disappointed with the lack of sharpness of the text. My laptop is 15" MBPr late 2013. It drove the screen no worries, although there was tearing when scrolling in Chrome (I put this down to only using HDMI @ 30Hz and not DP @ 60Hz). I didn't get to trial the display port connection as I didn't have a cable, but would that have improved the text display? By the sounds of your post, it would not.
David.
 
i just bought a 1440p 25 inch dell. the text and ui are very small. not sure Im going to keep it. on 27" displays everything is 15% bigger which helps out but stuff is still on the small side
 
hmm I am a bit confused now. So I can't use a 4k monitor? What would likely be the best resolution that I could use then? I just need more screen real estate (be able to see more then a small laptop).....I produce music and do graphic design....so the more that I can see, the better....but ya...I am used to the retina screens so I hate seeing pixels now. =)

I actually wonder what would happen if I just hooked up a 4k monitor to it...even though it is not officially supported...
 
dav1dd said:
Hi Coldcase,
Why do you think text does not display so well on the monitor? The reason I ask is that I recently overnight auditioned the Samsung LU28D590DS (mentioned in post above) and was disappointed with the lack of sharpness of the text. My laptop is 15" MBPr late 2013. It drove the screen no worries, although there was tearing when scrolling in Chrome (I put this down to only using HDMI @ 30Hz and not DP @ 60Hz). I didn't get to trial the display port connection as I didn't have a cable, but would that have improved the text display? By the sounds of your post, it would not.
David.
Click to expand...

It has something to do with how the mac OS does font smoothing. It works great with an Apple monitor, but not so great on third party monitors. There are a few adjustments one can make within the OS settings, and there probably a step by step instruction somewhere on line.... but you are still not going to be as good as the rMBP display, IMHO. DP may be better than HDMI for text... I haven't used HDMI in awhile, because I always found it soft and fuzzy... but thats just me.
 
djsound said:
What would likely be the best resolution that I could use then?
Click to expand...
- "Best" is subjective. I think the highest standard resolution you can do is 3440x1440. Officially, the machine is listed as capable of 2 x 2560x1600, which requires more bandwidth, so I guess 3440x1440 should be possible.

There are two limitations on your computer worth considering: one is what the GPU can do, and the other is what the ports (Thunderbolt and HDMI) can do. I believe the TB 1 ports use DisplayPort 1.1, which doesn't have enough bandwidth for 4K at 60Hz (but does for 30Hz).
I don't know which HDMI version it uses.

djsound said:
I actually wonder what would happen if I just hooked up a 4k monitor to it...even though it is not officially supported...
Click to expand...
- I can't remember anyone on the forums having tried it on that machine. Perhaps post in the MBP forum and ask?
You could buy 4K monitor, see what it can do, report here, and then return it if it doesn't work to your liking. :)
 
Last edited:
Apparently the 4k monitors work with the early mbp's but they only refresh at a rate of 30hz. I am going to go get one and I'll report back on my findings. ;)
 
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