Screen suggestions for the Mac Studio?

[gshocked]

Hi all,

I was hoping to get some opinions regarding a screen that complements the Mac Studio.
Yes, in a perfect world I would purchase the Apple Studio Display but in Australia, this cost a "reasonable" (not) $2499.
So this is unfortunately out of my price range and lives in fantasy land.

I'm looking at two in particular, however, would love people's opinions and thoughts. Yes, there are YouTube videos out there but every influencer seems to all point to the Apple Studio Display or some other random thing they are sponsored by (not always, I know).

The two that have captured my eye are the LG 32” Class UltraFine Display Ergo IPS Monitor with HDR10 or the 40'' Curved UltraWide® 5K2K Nano IPS Monitor with Thunderbolt™ 4 Connectivity. The 32" is close to around 1K AUD and the other is hovering at 2K AUD (this is stretching the budget).

I do currently have an LG 34" Ultrawide with a resolution of 3440 x 1400. I do a lot of photography and drone video editing, so 4K seems to be the way to go.

What are people using in the realm of 4K monitors?

Thanks!

 

[enricoclaudio]

I had an iMac 5K with an external LG 32UN880-B 4K Ergo display and loved it. My main monitor was the iMac 5K Retina so when decided to get the Mac Studio, I ordered a second LG 32UN880-B to run dual displays. While the LG 32UN880-B was "good", been spoiled for more than 5 years by an iMac 5K Retina sharpness, I had to send the newest LG back to Costco and ordered a pair of ASDs VESA Mount from Best Buy. To me the increase in sharpness and detail is worth the price difference and my eyes do appreciate the upgrade. However, if your budget is limited and you have no issues with the sharpness that the LG 32UN880-B brings, then you are going to love that display. In fact, the oldest one is right now in my bedroom serving as screen for a Windows Lenovo ThinkCentre M90n that I use as Roon Remote.

Before:

After:

 

[Falcon_64]

I've been using the BenQ SW321C since I got the Studio. I've owned 5K iMacs in the past, while they did appear crisp and clear, I never did get used to the glossy finish. The matte finish on the BenQ is the best anti-glare finish I've ever used, I told a friend it eats light...I think it's THAT good.

Regarding 4K vs 5K - I always ran my iMacs at 3840 x 2160 as I find 4K the most useful and comfortable on a 27" screen. Any lower resolution and I feel like I'm losing too much real estate (I do mostly photo editing). Ideally, at 32" I would have native 5K, but 4K is still very usable. I find with the larger reproduction of the same resolution, I can sit back more in my chair as opposed to leaning forward with my shoulders hunched over. This leads to a lot less stress on my neck and between shoulders.

Finally, regarding screen brightness, I find this largely irrelevant. Whether a screen has 400 or 1000 nits max brightness, I'm never ever going to use it at that level for even a minute. As a photographer that sometimes prints at home, I have screens calibrated to 120cd/m2 and any display can put out that much light. Color accuracy, ability to calibrate/profile internally, and uniformity of the display are the most important things for my choice. YMMV.

 

[StudioMacs]

Hi all,

I was hoping to get some opinions regarding a screen that complements the Mac Studio.
Yes, in a perfect world I would purchase the Apple Studio Display but in Australia, this cost a "reasonable" (not) $2499.
So this is unfortunately out of my price range and lives in fantasy land.

I'm looking at two in particular, however, would love people's opinions and thoughts. Yes, there are YouTube videos out there but every influencer seems to all point to the Apple Studio Display or some other random thing they are sponsored by (not always, I know).

The two that have captured my eye are the LG 32” Class UltraFine Display Ergo IPS Monitor with HDR10 or the 40'' Curved UltraWide® 5K2K Nano IPS Monitor with Thunderbolt™ 4 Connectivity. The 32" is close to around 1K AUD and the other is hovering at 2K AUD (this is stretching the budget).

I do currently have an LG 34" Ultrawide with a resolution of 3440 x 1400. I do a lot of photography and drone video editing, so 4K seems to be the way to go.

What are people using in the realm of 4K monitors?

Thanks!

Since your price range means you will need a monitor that compromises to meet a price point (isn’t the best at everything), it will be important to prioritize the aspects crucial to your usage such as ppi vs color accuracy, brightness vs screen size, etc….

I think for photo and video editing, you should focus on color accuracy rather than aspect ratios. Also, 4K is fine for video and photo editing, since you don‘t need the sharp UI and text of a 5K panel (unlike someone working with a lot of text). For video editing, I’ve used a dual 4K 27” setup in the past. Right now i‘m mostly doing web design and a little bit of coding, so I’m preferring the ASD at the moment for that.

 

[zozomester]

 

[kinghuang]

View attachment 1997824

Huawei MateViews! I have a Studio Display, but I'm thinking of getting two MateViews to flank on either side. I like 3:2 ratio screens. How do you like yours? The main thing keeping me from pulling the trigger right now is the lack of VESA mount options.

 

[zozomester]

Huawei MateViews! I have a Studio Display, but I'm thinking of getting two MateViews to flank on either side. I like 3:2 ratio screens. How do you like yours? The main thing keeping me from pulling the trigger right now is the lack of VESA mount options.

I like the monitor. Quality piece. Yes, the Vesa is not an option. Do you want to use it with a vesa stand?

 

[roland.g]

I have one of these and really like it. Ultrawide 5k2k LG. 21:9 5120x2160

LG 34WK95U-W 34" 5K 2K WUHD (5120 x 2160) 60Hz UltraWide Screen Monitor; FreeSync; HDR; HDMI DisplayPort; Frame Rate - Micro Center

Get it now! Multitaskers can now work in a generous 5:9 area while simultaneously viewing a 16:9 4K video on the same screen. The world's first 5K2K 21:9 display, the 34WK95U, offers 5120 x 2160 resolution optimized for video editors, programmers and developers, with convenient single-cable...

www.microcenter.com

Here's another link.

LG 34WK95U-W 34"UltraWide 5K Nano IPS LED Monitor with Built-In Speakers, 5120x2160

34" UltraWide® Nano IPS Display 5K2K WUHD (5120 x 2160) Resolution Thunderbolt™ 3 DCI-P3 98% HDR Support 4-Side Virtually Borderless Design The Verge Awards at CES recognize the pieces of technology that will shape 2018, and beyond. "You want a display that's a little extra". 1/9/2018 See for you...

www.amazon.com

 

[EntropyQ3]

If you are interested in colour accurate DCI-P3 or Adobe RGB (100% coverage of each gamut), the Lenovo Thinkvision P27U-20 is a 4k 27” monitor with Thunderbolt4+DisplayPort+HDMI inputs, and built in KVM including rj45 Gbe.
100W charging through TB4.
Adjustable height, tilt, swivel, full pivot support and VESA mountable.

I use it with a Studio and a PC permanently connected, leaving me with one more ”guest” input.

Immediatey recognized by the Studio when connected with the included Thunderbolt cable. Very straightforward screen, comes with a factory calibration sheet for both DCI-P3 and Adobe RGB (DE<1) but you can do your own calibration as well of course.

It Does The Job.
At roughly a third the price of Apples offering, which in terms of connectivity, doesn’t.

 

[haralds]

I am just using my standard Dell UW3818DW. It's 3860x1600 curved. Not Retina, but it works well for dev work and Logic Pro.
It also allows me to use it for other displays with 2x HDMI, DP, and USB-C with Power.
So I can fire up my Switch, old PowerMac Mini (via DP to mDP with adapter,) and PowerBook M1, which gets charged.
Normally the display is surrounded my and iPad and Intel MacBook Pro to the left and PowerBook 13" M1 to the right.

Universal Control RULES!!!!

 

[FSmertz]

If you are interested in colour accurate DCI-P3 or Adobe RGB (100% coverage of each gamut), the Lenovo Thinkvision P27U-20 is a 4k 27” monitor with Thunderbolt4+DisplayPort+HDMI inputs, and built in KVM including rj45 Gbe.
100W charging through TB4.
Adjustable height, tilt, swivel, full pivot support and VESA mountable.

I use it with a Studio and a PC permanently connected, leaving me with one more ”guest” input.

Immediatey recognized by the Studio when connected with the included Thunderbolt cable. Very straightforward screen, comes with a factory calibration sheet for both DCI-P3 and Adobe RGB (DE<1) but you can do your own calibration as well of course.

It Does The Job.
At roughly a third the price of Apples offering, which in terms of connectivity, doesn’t.

Adobe (1998) RGB is my firm requirement and this seems like one of the candidates to complement my pricey NEC 27-in screen that I use for editing images. I had been interested in Lenovo's 32-in version of this, but it appears to be EOL. So, with your Studio, what resolution are you running the Levono at?

 

[EntropyQ3]

Adobe (1998) RGB is my firm requirement and this seems like one of the candidates to complement my pricey NEC 27-in screen that I use for editing images. I had been interested in Lenovo's 32-in version of this, but it appears to be EOL. So, with your Studio, what resolution are you running the Levono at?

I’m typically running it in "looks like 2560x1440", mostly out of habit since I’ve been using a 27" monitor of that resolution as my main screen since 2009. It works quite nicely, and even with dealing with photos, I have little reason to change resolutions from the downscaled from 5120x2880. When I really pixel peep, I enlarge over 100% anyway since the native pixels are far too small for critical analysis by my eyes.

The colour gamut/calibration support is one of the highlights of the screen, as is of course the TB4 connection, and thus support for daisy chaining monitors and charging laptops at high rates. (Less useful on the Studio, but things change over time, and this screen feels as if it will stick around.) I have a desktop PC permanently attached, and may or may not make use of the KVM functionality in the future. At any rate, laptops drifting by the screen will find the KVM functionality practical.

Lenovo sells hoods for it, although I didn’t buy one as my setup was made to avoid lighting problems. I can also submit that although it doesn’t support continously variable refresh rates or 120+ Hz frame rates, pixel response is actually good.

It is a workhorse of a monitor with significant inner qualities. Like a good spouse. ;-)

 

[gshocked]

View attachment 1997824

Thank you zozmester! It's lovely and makes me cry ?
Hold on! For a minute there, I thought these were two Apple Studio displays?

 

[gshocked]

I had an iMac 5K with an external LG 32UN880-B 4K Ergo display and loved it. My main monitor was the iMac 5K Retina so when decided to get the Mac Studio, I ordered a second LG 32UN880-B to run dual displays. While the LG 32UN880-B was "good", been spoiled for more than 5 years by an iMac 5K Retina sharpness, I had to send the newest LG back to Costco and ordered a pair of ASDs VESA Mount from Best Buy. To me the increase in sharpness and detail is worth the price difference and my eyes do appreciate the upgrade. However, if your budget is limited and you have no issues with the sharpness that the LG 32UN880-B brings, then you are going to love that display. In fact, the oldest one is right now in my bedroom serving as screen for a Windows Lenovo ThinkCentre M90n that I use as Roon Remote.

Before:

View attachment 1997377

After:

View attachment 1997378

Thank you again!!

 

[gshocked]

I have one of these and really like it. Ultrawide 5k2k LG. 21:9 5120x2160

LG 34WK95U-W 34" 5K 2K WUHD (5120 x 2160) 60Hz UltraWide Screen Monitor; FreeSync; HDR; HDMI DisplayPort; Frame Rate - Micro Center

Get it now! Multitaskers can now work in a generous 5:9 area while simultaneously viewing a 16:9 4K video on the same screen. The world's first 5K2K 21:9 display, the 34WK95U, offers 5120 x 2160 resolution optimized for video editors, programmers and developers, with convenient single-cable...

www.microcenter.com

Here's another link.

LG 34WK95U-W 34"UltraWide 5K Nano IPS LED Monitor with Built-In Speakers, 5120x2160

34" UltraWide® Nano IPS Display 5K2K WUHD (5120 x 2160) Resolution Thunderbolt™ 3 DCI-P3 98% HDR Support 4-Side Virtually Borderless Design The Verge Awards at CES recognize the pieces of technology that will shape 2018, and beyond. "You want a display that's a little extra". 1/9/2018 See for you...

www.amazon.com

I currently have a 34" Ultrawide but it only outputs 3440 x 1440. I knew the vertical height was always the compromise with Ultrawide screens and that's why I started looking at the 40" LG Ultrawide, however, its getting close to Apple Studio Display territory. How do you find the UI scaling on your monitor?

 

[gshocked]

I am just using my standard Dell UW3818DW. It's 3860x1600 curved. Not Retina, but it works well for dev work and Logic Pro.
It also allows me to use it for other displays with 2x HDMI, DP, and USB-C with Power.
So I can fire up my Switch, old PowerMac Mini (via DP to mDP with adapter,) and PowerBook M1, which gets charged.
Normally the display is surrounded my and iPad and Intel MacBook Pro to the left and PowerBook 13" M1 to the right.

Universal Control RULES!!!!

How great is Universal Control!!

I purchase my Ultrawide during the start of the pandemic and the budget then only stretch to the 34" Ultrawide, also that was the only thing in stock... 38" ultrawide would have been fantastic!

 

[roland.g]

I currently have a 34" Ultrawide but it only outputs 3440 x 1440. I knew the vertical height was always the compromise with Ultrawide screens and that's why I started looking at the 40" LG Ultrawide, however, its getting close to Apple Studio Display territory. How do you find the UI scaling on your monitor?

My 34" LG scales perfectly and looks great. I don't have any issues with it. My 2014 Mac Mini is limited on utilizing the full resolution, however, my Mac Studio arrives this week and I'm looking forward to seeing how the LG looks, though I imagine it will still be scaled (otherwise too small to really read) and may end up looking the same. The picture is crisp and the good PPI has meant that it feels like a 4k experience on an 21:9 aspect ratio.

 

[Mr Screech]

If you mostly consume text, I can't recommend a retina display enough.
Right now I have a lg ultrafine 5k and a benq 1440p next to each other, whenever I have to write or read text, basically 90% of internet, the retina is much easier on the eyes and a breath of relief. Which is why I've ordered an ASD to replace the benq.

The scaling options are sufficient enough that if I need more real-estate on some apps, it's easy to adjust without introducing blur.

Unless you mostly play games or watch movies, retina is the way to go.
Monitors can survive multiple computer upgrades, so it's worth an investment.

 

[gshocked]

If you mostly consume text, I can't recommend a retina display enough.
Right now I have a lg ultrafine 5k and a benq 1440p next to each other, whenever I have to write or read text, basically 90% of internet, the retina is much easier on the eyes and a breath of relief. Which is why I've ordered an ASD to replace the benq.

The scaling options are sufficient enough that if I need more real-estate on some apps, it's easy to adjust without introducing blur.

Unless you mostly play games or watch movies, retina is the way to go.
Monitors can survive multiple computer upgrades, so it's worth an investment.

Thanks for sharing!
Does the 5K LG ultrafine give your he option for desktop scaling, just like what you would see in a MacBook?

 

[EntropyQ3]

If you mostly consume text, I can't recommend a retina display enough.
Right now I have a lg ultrafine 5k and a benq 1440p next to each other, whenever I have to write or read text, basically 90% of internet, the retina is much easier on the eyes and a breath of relief. Which is why I've ordered an ASD to replace the benq.

The scaling options are sufficient enough that if I need more real-estate on some apps, it's easy to adjust without introducing blur.

Unless you mostly play games or watch movies, retina is the way to go.
Monitors can survive multiple computer upgrades, so it's worth an investment.

You state as absolutes what is quite situational.
27” 4k screens are retina to me at the distance I sit and with my visual acuity.
And my monitor wins out in ergonomics, connectivity, color gamut and price.

Most importantly, since perception is dependent on personal factors, people should simply go see for themselves. Apple stores may be hard to come by in several countries but 4k monitors are ubiquitous. Hook up a Mac and have a look. It settled things for me. Besides, when I pixel peep images, it makes more sense to click 400% than to lean forward and try to study individual pixels with a loupe.

 

[roland.g]

Thanks for sharing!
Does the 5K LG ultrafine give your he option for desktop scaling, just like what you would see in a MacBook?

My LG 5K2K does.

 

[Mr Screech]

Thanks for sharing!
Does the 5K LG ultrafine give your he option for desktop scaling, just like what you would see in a MacBook?

Yes, and with apps like switchresx you get more customization when necessary.

You state as absolutes what is quite situational.
27” 4k screens are retina to me at the distance I sit and with my visual acuity.
And my monitor wins out in ergonomics, connectivity, color gamut and price.

4k 27" are fine as well, I was mostly comparing to the 'old' resolution with low ppi.
The plus for 5k is that my standard resolution for a 27" is 2560x1440, the 5k has perfect 2x scaling so it would be crystal clear.

Connectivity can be big factor, that's my biggest annoyance with LG 5k and ASD, it has only one input, thunderbolt(not that PC friendly). At the moment I have to switch the thunderbolt cable between 2 systems, which can get tiresome.

Another plus for the ASD is that it has a glass front, which makes removing any sneeze remnants, saliva or dust a lot easier.

 

[jdb8167]

4k 27" are fine as well, I was mostly comparing to the 'old' resolution with low ppi.

The plus for 5k is that my standard resolution for a 27" is 2560x1440, the 5k has perfect 2x scaling so it would be crystal clear.

I’m not sure that I agree that 4K 27” is fine. I find my 23.8” 4K barely acceptable at 185 PPI. At 27” that would be 163 PPI. I’m very sure I would see that as pixelated next to my retina MacBook. Even at 185 PPI I mostly keep the MacBook Air in clamshell because I don’t want to see a comparison.

 

[Dutch60]

Well, I' m not too sure about 5k or 4k for my specific goal (photography). At the moment on 27" 5k iMac (2019). I' m thinking about a Mac Studio later this year. And then there' s the monitor ofcourse. Thinking about an Eizo CG monitor. This year there will be 2 new models; CG2700S (1440p) and 2700X (4k). Both 27". I still haven' t decided on the right resolution for photography; some seem to prefer 4k, while others say 1440p is the ideal resolution for a 27" screen. Especially for photography (no scaling necessary and I scale my 5k iMac to 1440p /"normal" on screen settings in iMac anyway). So, would a 4k monitor (scaled to 1440p), be preferable to an 1440 monitor? I've read a lot on the internet, but still cannot decide.
Maybe someone can chime in and give an advice?
Thank you.

 

[EntropyQ3]

Yes, and with apps like switchresx you get more customization when necessary.

4k 27" are fine as well, I was mostly comparing to the 'old' resolution with low ppi.
The plus for 5k is that my standard resolution for a 27" is 2560x1440, the 5k has perfect 2x scaling so it would be crystal clear.

Connectivity can be big factor, that's my biggest annoyance with LG 5k and ASD, it has only one input, thunderbolt(not that PC friendly). At the moment I have to switch the thunderbolt cable between 2 systems, which can get tiresome.

Another plus for the ASD is that it has a glass front, which makes removing any sneeze remnants, saliva or dust a lot easier.

OMG, I love this. ❤️
It puts the finger on the most important point - these things are used. For different things. By human beings. Who are different. There is no ”one size fits all”.
But try to magine hearing the presenters on an Apple event bring this particular benefit up. ?

When it comes to 27” 4k vs. 2560x1440 for photography specifically, well I’d say that good colour reproduction and backlight uniformity is the most important for the overall impression, but higher resolution is definitely noticeable up to the limits of your visual acuity and dependent on your viewing distance. When it comes to pixel level editing or evalution of noise reduction results however, that resolution difference is somewhat irrelevant. You’ll have to enlarge the image under any circumstance, and you’ll do it to a comfortable level independent of the panels native resolution. I have both kinds of screens available and overall prefer the 4k one, but honestly that is mainly for overall usage, text rendering is nicer for instance.
Simply put YMMV. It’s probably a good idea to rent or borrow a colour calibration tool regardless of screen res.