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Video stuttering with new 13" Macbook Pro and USB-C LG 4K monitor

F

FrankieTDouglas

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Mar 10, 2005
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2,882
My setup: 2018 13" Macbook Pro i5, with the 27" LG 4K usb-c monitor (https://www.lg.com/us/monitors/lg-27UK850-W-4k-uhd-led-monitor)

The issue is extreme slowdown when I attempt to view videos or work on the external. I currently have it set up with a single cord connecting to the usb-c port on my laptop, but am suffering dramatic slowdown when I attempt to do work on the external vs the laptop screen. For instance, Lightroom slows down to a crawl on the external, Photoshop is incredibly laggy. If I switch to the laptop screen, everything is smooth and fast. If I quick view a 4k video shot on an iPhone, the laptop screen plays it fine but the external stutters for the whole video. I've even moved the video back and forth while it played and witness this effect.

The screen looks nice, but it's completely unusable for any photo work if it's going to slow down and be less responsive than the laptop screen. Am I doing something wrong that someone may be aware of?
 
I'm using my 2018 i7 13" with a similar LG panel (32UD99-W) via USB-C with no issues. I am running with resolution scaled to 2560 but from what I understand this only affects interface elements such as text and not graphics. I played briefly with a scaled resolution of a native 4k, but my 62 year old eyes would need something larger than a 32" monitor to make that a pleasant experience.

I watched a couple of 4k youtube videos to see how that looked, and it was fine. One was a motorsports video from IMSA just to make sure it exercised the screen with fast moving images. I am also a Lightroom user (6.14 - not going to a subscription model) and that works fine for me.
 
hulkk said:
Why to buy a 4K display and then not run it with 4K resolution? :confused:
Click to expand...

Because all of the menu items are tiny on the screen, as opposed to running it scaled and end up with sharper and legible menus everywhere.
 
One of the problems of "scaling" (regarding the display) is that the CPU/GPU must work "that much harder" to interpolate the display image.

Running the display at a resolution where no scaling is needed, may result in things running smoother.

I know you won't like the next question, but ...
Why buy a display that you can't or won't run at native resolution?
 
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Fishrrman said:
One of the problems of "scaling" (regarding the display) is that the CPU/GPU must work "that much harder" to interpolate the display image.

Running the display at a resolution where no scaling is needed, may result in things running smoother.

I know you won't like the next question, but ...
Why buy a display that you can't or won't run at native resolution?
Click to expand...

Yep. That’s why I use a 2k monitor for most work and only review 4K output on a 4K monitor
 
No problems with the same setting (lg 27uk 850) except mbp 2017 i5 but its better to have external power ( caldigit ts3 used) and to have good quality cable for tb3
 
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