The *COMPLETE* list of 27" 5K Displays?

[keksikuningas]

The question will also be (at least for Apple users) what exactly you need 120/180/350Hz for.

When it comes to gaming (which is not particularly important to me), the M3/4/5 chips must first deliver the graphics performance, and Cyberpunk has demonstrated that this is only possible with the most powerful Apple Silicon chips, if at all. In the Windows world, it is significantly easier to achieve high and consistent frame rates.

120hz is pleasant for any kind of computer usage that involves scrolling text or moving your mouse / windows around.

try using a base model iphone next to the pro model with 120hz screen next time you are in a store. just try scrolling the news app or scroll through the home menu screen with a phone in each hand

 

[Dark-Signature]

120hz is pleasant for any kind of computer usage that involves scrolling text or moving your mouse / windows around.

try using a base model iphone next to the pro model with 120hz screen next time you are in a store. just try scrolling the news app or scroll through the home menu screen with a phone in each hand

We are in complete agreement on that

I just mean that if a Mac user now thinks that gaming will also work at 120/180/330Hz (with the new monitors that have just been announced) and that it's a “fast” games (e.g., first-person shooters), they will be very disappointed because many Macs simply won't be able to handle it, even if the bandwidth via TB5 & Co. provides the basis, but the raw graphics power is simply not available on many Apple devices.

However, for normal work at 120+ Hz, it should of course work (if the basic requirements are met)

 

[keksikuningas]

We are in complete agreement on that

I just mean that if a Mac user now thinks that gaming will also work at 120/180/330Hz (with the new monitors that have just been announced) and that it's a “fast” games (e.g., first-person shooters), they will be very disappointed because many Macs simply won't be able to handle it, even if the bandwidth via TB5 & Co. provides the basis, but the raw graphics power is simply not available on many Apple devices.

However, for normal work at 120+ Hz, it should of course work (if the basic requirements are met)

oh yeah that's definitely true. Although I think there's now frame generation on AS as well as upscaling so maybe it's not as far fetched as we think it is? Also plenty of older games that looks just as good while also not being as performance requiring

 

[dropadrop]

Would those fast first person shooter games:
- be available on macs?
- if yes, run at so high fps that it would matter?

Obviously if you have a PC with a top of the line GPU you will have crazy fast framerates and at least on paper the monitor will provide benefits. This provides a marketing opportunity as the GPU cost so much that you might want to upgrade your display to make the most out of it. But thats not a very common mac scenario, and even on a pc I doubt many can see a big difference between 180hz and 320hz.

 

[thenewepic]

I think we are still too far away from 240+ Hz on big retina displays but almost everyone (not just gamers) can benefit from 120Hz. I’m sure current technologies definitely can provide such a refresh rate even on big retina monitors and I hope display manufacturers will do this very soon.

 

[Dark-Signature]

I think we are still too far away from 240+ Hz on big retina displays but almost everyone (not just gamers) can benefit from 120Hz. I’m sure current technologies definitely can provide such a refresh rate even on big retina monitors and I hope display manufacturers will do this very soon.

If Apple were serious about the gaming sector, they would support 240+ Hz in lower resolutions (e.g., WQHD), but I doubt that this will happen in the Apple world.

Here, too, the Windows world is much more advanced.

 

[tenthousandthings]

~

I think we are still too far away from 240+ Hz on big retina displays but almost everyone (not just gamers) can benefit from 120Hz. I’m sure current technologies definitely can provide such a refresh rate even on big retina monitors and I hope display manufacturers will do this very soon.

Just in case you missed it above, this discussion was set off by ASUS listing a 27" 5K 180Hz*/330Hz gaming monitor on their web site (price and availability unknown). No doubt this will be included in their official press releases around CES, but their rush to get this up now indicates we could see more competition in this area soon.

https://rog.asus.com/us/monitors/27-to-31-5-inches/rog-strix-5k-xg27jcg/

* 5K 165Hz maximum with M3 Max/Ultra and M4 Pro/Max. 5K 60Hz maximum with base M1 and base M2. Other Mac silicon not listed: https://rog.asus.com/us/support/faq/1056320/

 

[tenthousandthings]

If Apple were serious about the gaming sector, they would support 240+ Hz in lower resolutions (e.g., WQHD), but I doubt that this will happen in the Apple world.

Here, too, the Windows world is much more advanced.

"Dual mode" (DFR = dynamic frequency and resolution) switching as a standard element in higher-resolution displays is a relatively new development, introduced in January 2024 (OLED) and May 2024 (LCD), both 4K/FHD. The 32" 5K/QHD that was in development never materialized (as far as I know), so this 27" 5K/QHD will be the world's first.

Apple supports Adaptive Sync, so I'm not sure what you're talking about. macOS should support the QHD (1440p) 330Hz mode in the same Macs (M3 Max/Ultra and M4 Pro/Max) that support the 5K 165Hz mode. Why do you think it would not? Is there anything to indicate otherwise?

Other than the 180Hz overclocking (versus 165Hz), which macOS does not seem to support, the list of Windows-world GPUs that fully support this display doesn't seem "much more advanced" -- you still need a high-end GPU. Nvidia's launched in January 2025, and while the AMD support goes back to 2023, so does Apple's M3 Max.

 

[Dark-Signature]

"Dual mode" (DFR = dynamic frequency and resolution) switching as a standard element in higher-resolution displays is a relatively new development, introduced in January 2024 (OLED) and May 2024 (LCD), both 4K/FHD. The 32" 5K/QHD that was in development never materialized (as far as I know), so this 27" 5K/QHD will be the world's first.

Apple supports Adaptive Sync, so I'm not sure what you're talking about. macOS should support the QHD (1440p) 330Hz mode in the same Macs (M3 Max/Ultra and M4 Pro/Max) that support the 5K 165Hz mode. Why do you think it would not? Is there anything to indicate otherwise?

When I made that statement, I was thinking about the Apple Studio Display 2 and whether Apple would offer something like “dual mode” there. To be honest, I can't imagine Apple doing that at all.

 

[tenthousandthings]

When I made that statement, I was thinking about the Apple Studio Display 2 and whether Apple would offer something like “dual mode” there. To be honest, I can't imagine Apple doing that at all.

If I recall correctly, this DFR (dynamic frequency and resolution) is an LG Display feature that ASUS is marketing as “Dual Mode” — it started in OLED but it’s possible all their current panels have the capacity — that’s why the Kuycon G32P can do 120Hz at lower resolutions, for example.

So if Apple is using LG Display for the panel in the Studio Display 2, then maybe?

 

[Dark-Signature]

If I recall correctly, this DFR (dynamic frequency and resolution) is an LG Display feature that ASUS is marketing as “Dual Mode” — it started in OLED but it’s possible all their current panels have the capacity — that’s why the Kuycon G32P can do 120Hz at lower resolutions, for example.

So if Apple is using LG Display for the panel in the Studio Display 2, then maybe?

This is an inconsistent statement, because it is also claimed that the Kuycon G32P and the Dell UltraSharp 32-6K monitor – U3224KBA have the same panel from LG, and the Dell is definitely not capable of using dual mode. It will probably not only depend on the panel, but also on the logic board that controls the panel.

 

[thenewepic]

5K 165Hz maximum with M3 Max/Ultra and M4 Pro/Max. 5K 60Hz maximum with base M1 and base M2. Other Mac silicon not listed: https://rog.asus.com/us/support/faq/1056320/

now we're talking! What a shame that they didn't list M1/M2 Pro/Max on this page. Will there be an option to use 5K 120Hz on these macs? It would be very interesting to know because NVIDIA GPUs that capped at DP1.4 do support 5K 120Hz.

 

[PaulD-UK]

@Dark-Signature "This is an inconsistent statement...
It will probably not only depend on the panel, but also on the logic board that controls the panel."

The Kuycon is most likely using an off-the-shelf video scaler chip from RealTek which is probably a simple firmware update on one of their top line 4K/*00Hz gaming scaler chips.

So it's more or less a given that it can 'cover all bases', unlike the Dell, which would be a bespoke design.

 

[Dark-Signature]

@Dark-Signature "This is an inconsistent statement...
It will probably not only depend on the panel, but also on the logic board that controls the panel."

The Kuycon is most likely using an off-the-shelf video scaler chip from RealTek which is probably a simple firmware update on one of their top line 4K/*00Hz gaming scaler chips.

So it's more or less a given that it can 'cover all bases', unlike the Dell, which would be a bespoke design.

And based on this observation... what do you think Apple will do?

 

[Chancha]

And based on this observation... what do you think Apple will do?

If I were Apple I would try to make the display spec sound as simple as possible, like how they never advertise the 14" 16" MBP screen as "24-120Hz VRR", but instead made up a buzzword with "ProMotion". And then out of the box the macOS system settings for display also never offered the degree of control like you would after installing BetterDisplay.

So I think they will release a 5k 24-120Hz VRR HDR display, but do the exact same and call it ProMotion. And if the panel was supposed to be able to handle dual mode, they would hide it or even disable it. In fact I even think they would cap it at 120Hz despite the hardware inside capable of 165Hz or even the 180Hz overclocked in that above ASUS model.

btw I got an ASUS XG32UCWG, which is a 32" 4k 165Hz / 1080p 330Hz dual mode WOLED display. Putting the display in dual mode via the OSD first, plug it to a MBP M3 Max, it just works. The resolution is 1/4 but the framerate is only x2, so it only requires half the bandwidth than the default mode anyway.