Text on a 27" 4k display

[sufs]

I love retina displays for text - But I feel like that the 21" LG 4k is just too small, and the 27" 5k is way too expensive (and does not work with my 12" MacBook).

Have anyone tried the 27" 4k displays? Any word on the text-rendering and clarity?

Any suggestions?

 

[iMi]

I love retina displays for text - But I feel like that the 21" LG 4k is just too small, and the 27" 5k is way too expensive (and does not work with my 12" MacBook).

Have anyone tried the 27" 4k displays? Any word on the text-rendering and clarity?

Any suggestions?

Yes, I used the Lenovo ThinkVision X1 with the new MacBook. It worked great over the USB-C connection. Scaling worked very well. Audio and camera worked well, too.

The only issue I had was the full charge chime going off on the MacBook in clamshell mode. One fully charged, it would chime once every few minutes. It didn't do this when using the build in display along with the 4K external.

 

[zhenya]

I've used my 12" MacBook on my Dell P2715q quite a bit and it works fine (other than being limited to 30hz on my 2015 model). Looks sharp, animations are fast.

 

[Mobster1983]

I love retina displays for text - But I feel like that the 21" LG 4k is just too small, and the 27" 5k is way too expensive (and does not work with my 12" MacBook).

Have anyone tried the 27" 4k displays? Any word on the text-rendering and clarity?

Any suggestions?

Great question. I was wondering about this for quite a while as well. I have an old Apple Thunderbolt display, and doing a lot of reading on it is horrible since I got my 2016 MBP and see the screen difference. I have been waiting for more 4k or 5k TB3 displays to come out but to no avail.

Last month I actually stopped by the Apple store where they had the LG5k and a 27" 4k monitor set up right next to each other. I have excellent eyesight (20/10) and though I would be able to see a big difference. While I could tell the 5k was sharper, I did not think there was a huge difference between the two. I had to get fairly close to see the difference. For reading text, my personal opinion is that the 4k will work great and is the better deal considering the prices.

 

[matreya]

Have anyone tried the 27" 4k displays? Any word on the text-rendering and clarity?

I bought a new Dell U2718Q a week ago, connected as a 2nd monitor to my late 2014 iMac 5k Retina. Text rendering is excellent.

 

[mgipe]

I assume that everything appears larger on a 4k 27 inch compared with a 5k 27 inch? Does this look OK, or does it just seem oversized?

 

[matreya]

It looks exactly the same size. It's scaled using the settings in Displays preference pane. So pixels per inch is less, giving the same width and height as the retina 5k display.

 

[mcpryon2]

I was planning on getting the 27" Ultrafine for my 2016 15" but curiosity got the best of me and I picked up the LG 27UD69 at Best Buy for $399. I figured it would do until I got the Ultrafine...then I plugged in the 4k 27" LG (using a USB-C to Displayport cable) and I was good.

The 27UD69 looks really good and it's over $900 cheaper than the 5K Ultrafine. It doesn't have any ports, but that's not a huge deal for me. I'm glad I finally decided to try a 4K 27".

 

[irontiger82]

I was planning on getting the 27" Ultrafine for my 2016 15" but curiosity got the best of me and I picked up the LG 27UD69 at Best Buy for $399. I figured it would do until I got the Ultrafine...then I plugged in the 4k 27" LG (using a USB-C to Displayport cable) and I was good.

The 27UD69 looks really good and it's over $900 cheaper than the 5K Ultrafine. It doesn't have any ports, but that's not a huge deal for me. I'm glad I finally decided to try a 4K 27".

I tried both LG 27UD69 and Asus MX27UC and they look great at scaling BUT on both monitors my mouse going across the screen is NOT SMOOTH and it seems that it is due to the scaling.

I am using it in 1080p resolution. Everything looks good, but i think text could be better if it was in the native resolution, which both are not in 1080P resolution. I will not be using the 4K resolution, since I like to read my text instead of reading tiny ant sized texts.

I will be returning both unfortunately, until I pony up for the 5K or 21" 4K resolution which I read works best for Macbooks.

 

[Mobster1983]

I was planning on getting the 27" Ultrafine for my 2016 15" but curiosity got the best of me and I picked up the LG 27UD69 at Best Buy for $399. I figured it would do until I got the Ultrafine...then I plugged in the 4k 27" LG (using a USB-C to Displayport cable) and I was good.

The 27UD69 looks really good and it's over $900 cheaper than the 5K Ultrafine. It doesn't have any ports, but that's not a huge deal for me. I'm glad I finally decided to try a 4K 27".

Any issues with this monitor? Just checked it out and looks pretty good. I plan on getting a dock eventually so the lack of ports is not a huge deal.

 

[mcpryon2]

I tried both LG 27UD69 and Asus MX27UC and they look great at scaling BUT on both monitors my mouse going across the screen is NOT SMOOTH and it seems that it is due to the scaling.

I am using it in 1080p resolution. Everything looks good, but i think text could be better if it was in the native resolution, which both are not in 1080P resolution. I will not be using the 4K resolution, since I like to read my text instead of reading tiny ant sized texts.

I will be returning both unfortunately, until I pony up for the 5K or 21" 4K resolution which I read works best for Macbooks.

Which cable were you using with the LG one? I used the HDMI for a few days until my USB-C to Displayport cable arrived. The HDMI only does 4k at 30Hz, so everything, including the mouse, can be pretty choppy. Once I got the Displayport cable I could do 60Hz and things are much better. I use the 1440 scaling option.

Any issues with this monitor? Just checked it out and looks pretty good. I plan on getting a dock eventually so the lack of ports is not a huge deal.

I really like it and haven't run into many problems. For $399 on sale at Best Buy it's really hard to pass up. I do mostly video and audio editing, with a little bit of graphic design sprinkled in and I'm very happy with it. I don't plan on getting the 5K Ultrafine anymore. I'd rather wait and see if Apple makes some new displays...or if I really want 5K I'll just spend a little more and get an iMac.

 

[PeterKG]

I was planning on getting the 27" Ultrafine for my 2016 15" but curiosity got the best of me and I picked up the LG 27UD69 at Best Buy for $399. I figured it would do until I got the Ultrafine...then I plugged in the 4k 27" LG (using a USB-C to Displayport cable) and I was good.

The 27UD69 looks really good and it's over $900 cheaper than the 5K Ultrafine. It doesn't have any ports, but that's not a huge deal for me. I'm glad I finally decided to try a 4K 27".

You need to use Display Port and not HDMI. Purchase a USB-C to Display Port cable on Amazon, or a USB-C to Display Port adaptor. I have this display and it renders perfectly at 3840x2160, using DP, and you won't have any of the mouse or scrolling issues you are experiencing using HDMI.

 

[LiE_]

Running default "Retina" on a 27" 4k is IMO too large. All the GUI elements and text look cartoonish big. The ideal Retina resolution for a 27" is 1440p, which can only be achieved with 5k. You can downscale to 1440p on a 4k 27" which looks OKish, but if you're like me then the slight blurriness will not be acceptable. For some it's fine.

 

[bokkow]

I'm using my Dell P2715Q at scaled 3200*1800 60HZ for more than 2 years now and going back to 1440P just looks too big and inefficient to me.

Make sure you have the right cable to support 60Hz as the people above me already said, it makes all the difference in the world

 

[Trey M]

I was planning on getting the 27" Ultrafine for my 2016 15" but curiosity got the best of me and I picked up the LG 27UD69 at Best Buy for $399. I figured it would do until I got the Ultrafine...then I plugged in the 4k 27" LG (using a USB-C to Displayport cable) and I was good.

The 27UD69 looks really good and it's over $900 cheaper than the 5K Ultrafine. It doesn't have any ports, but that's not a huge deal for me. I'm glad I finally decided to try a 4K 27".

Agreed I have a 27UD69 as well and I think it's fantastic when compared to the LG Ultrafine 5k, Ultrafine 4k, etc. The panel quality isn't quite as good but you're still getting an awesome IPS 4K panel for $400.

I have mine hooked up via DisplayPort to my Elgato Thunderbolt 3 dock...it's excellent, gives me more ports than an Ultrafine 5k or any other monitor, and the whole package is right at $700.

 

[bhamss]

I found this article to be helpful when looking for a display jus the same way you are. I want 'retina' quality text on my display the same as my MBP.

https://bjango.com/articles/macexternaldisplays/

that being said I have demo'd both the LG 4k and 5k and they work brilliant with the MBP. Design is rough but a very nice monitor. I returned both as I just could not stomach paying full boat for either of these. Hoping to catch a deal closer to the holidays.