For the LG display, Thunderbolt is required for full 5k resolution. For the Apple Studio Display, Thunderbolt is not necessary. Samsung could go either way on this one.
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What the 5K? A new 5K display????
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Interesting - I am on my 3rd one, and it's broken now too. First - terrible image retention - like the old image was 2/3 as bright as the new one at times. LG replaced it. Second one - started with some image retention, then also pink border along the frame started to develop, and then it just went to show noise regardless of input. LG was dragging its feet on the replacement until after the warranty ran out, so I still have it, broken and useless. Luckily I got a third one for free from a friend, who bought a new one while LG was processing a replacement too, so he gave me the replacement when it came. It started to develop image retention issues after a year and a half. It's still useable but starting to get noticeable, so I was considering the Studio display as a replacement, but was hoping someone would offer a competing product with better connectivity and camera. Fingers crossed...
What was fascinating to me about the LG 31.5” 4K monitors I have is that one of them started to get pink/discoloured borders. As I was past the warranty period, I hooked it up to my WinPC, hoping it would annoy me less. It did and did not: it’s a 60Hz screen and that has become annoying for gaming for me but the borders reverted to as-new. I have only had discolouring on those monitors when hooked up to M series Macs… (Mac mini, MBPro 16”)
How long did you use it on your Windows PC? Some discolouration and image retention is only visible when the monitor has been used for somewhat extended periods, even if it was there before. It seems to be heat related.
It went directly from the Mac to Windows (same day; within an hour or so) and went from displaying the discolouration to not doing so. Having set it aside on the Mac for many months as I travelled, it wasn’t there on the Mac when I returned. But once it appeared, turning it off for even a day or two was not enough. Yet it never appeared, even many months later, on the WinPC…
Ugh. I really want a glossy screen. This would have to be priced >$300 for me to consider as an alternative to the Studio Display. Full disclosure: I still have my 27" iMac. I am waiting for a 2023 Mini with Studio Display. Or on possible chance a 2023 27" iMac.
I'm assuming USD, but >$300 seems like a given. Did you perhaps mean <$300 (less than $300)?
Regional prices will vary of course, but looking at Samsung's cheapest, "dumb" 27" 4K IPS displays they seem to straddle the 300 USD line. Samsung wouldn't sell a 27" 5K IPS display with "smart features" for less.
There's an app called SwitchResX which might help solve that problem you have? If I recall correctly - when I used it, I could specify any scaling resolution I wanted: https://www.madrau.com/
You can get 5K 39Hz on LG UltraFine 5K (27MD5KL) displays without Thunderbolt if you use a custom timing which you can create on Intel Macs using SwitchResX.
You can if you have 2 studio display and a cal digit TS4 dock (probably some other thunderbolt 4 docks also permit that).
But you can’t if at least one of them isn’t a studio display, such as an LG 5k
Since the studio display is quite expensive and comes with bells and whistles that are useless to have twice on your desk it would be nice to have an alternative cheaper display to pair it with.
There's three options for getting 5120×2880 at 60 Hz:
- Dual-link SST using two HBR2 connections. 10 bpc. Since two HBR2 connections can be tunneled over Thunderbolt 3/4, this would require Thunderbolt.
- SST using a single HBR3 connection without DSC. 8 bpc. No need for Thunderbolt, just DisplayPort 1.4.
- SST using a single HBR2 connection with DSC. 10 bpc. No need for Thunderbolt, just DisplayPort 1.4.
IIRC I had that scaled 2304×1296 mode on my Dell "5K" monitor. The thing with that mode is that it uses a 4608×2592 framebuffer, which is then upscaled to 5120×2880 for output to the monitor. Not ideal. But you can add arbitrary scaled modes using SwitchResX, as said before.
I have the 2019 LG 5K. Rev B LG 5K do USB-C input at 4K from iPads and even old 2015 MacBooks (the ones that only had USB-C out).
This new Samsung 5K does look interesting (not a Samsung fan at all). I'm hoping Apple will release a HDR 5K 27 inch this year though at the same price as the current Studio Display. The appeal on Apple's display has to be sound quality surely? Nothing else will match it. But I didn't get one because I already had the LG 5K.
Does the stand on the Samsung have vertical adjustment? Doesn't look like it does.
I measured Apple's height on the fixed stand to be exactly the same as the lowest setting on the LG 5K which is spot on for me.
Why is height adjustment so difficult? It's so important for all day use as well. These devices should be better than they are for the money by now, it's 2023 not 1993.
This new Samsung 5K does look interesting (not a Samsung fan at all). I'm hoping Apple will release a HDR 5K 27 inch this year though at the same price as the current Studio Display. The appeal on Apple's display has to be sound quality surely? Nothing else will match it. But I didn't get one because I already had the LG 5K.
Does the stand on the Samsung have vertical adjustment? Doesn't look like it does.
I measured Apple's height on the fixed stand to be exactly the same as the lowest setting on the LG 5K which is spot on for me.
Why is height adjustment so difficult? It's so important for all day use as well. These devices should be better than they are for the money by now, it's 2023 not 1993.
Don't forget that the Dell UP2715K is also a dual-link SST display but it doesn't use Thunderbolt - the two HBR2 connections are connected using two DisplayPort cables.
Other methods besides DSC can be used to reduce bits per pixel so that 60Hz can be achieved with HBR2 link rate. 6bpc can be selected in Windows for the Studio Display; not sure about the LG. 4:2:0 is also an option but I don't know any 5K displays that allow that.
That is one of reasons why I chose 23,7 inch 4K from LG, because it have two Thunderbolt ports.
I think in perspective with new Thunderbolt and USB4 2.0 we will get Thunderbolt Displays with bullit Thunderbolt hubs.
Yes SwitchResX works but it always feels like a kludge to me.
In which way(s)?
Yes, I should™ have mentioned the Dell UP2715K, HP Z27q and Philips 275P4VYKEB.
You can't tell macOS to output 6bpc though.
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Dell just announced the Dell UltraSharp 32" 6K-display (U3224KB) (6144x3456, IPS-Black, HDR600, Thunderbolt 4, mini DisplayPort 2.1, HDMI 2.1, USB-C, built-in 4K-webcam, two 14W speakers, 99 % DCI-P3, 1:2000 contrast,
stand with full range tilt, height, swivel and rotate adjustments).
).
Things are heating up for high resolution displays this year! FINALLY.
stand with full range tilt, height, swivel and rotate adjustments).
).
Things are heating up for high resolution displays this year! FINALLY.
I just wanted to note that there are dual link SST displays that don't require Thunderbolt. Besides 5K, there's also the Dell UP3218K 8K60 and the Acer XV273K 4K144. Both of those displays use dual HBR3. The Acer doesn't work at 4K144 on macOS. The UP3218K works at 8K60 in Ventura but only for specific Mac Pro configurations (I don't know which configuration) or with my Lilu/WhateverGreen patch for any Intel Mac that has a GPU that supports dual HBR3 DisplayPort connections.Yes, I should™ have mentioned the Dell UP2715K, HP Z27q and Philips 275P4VYKEB.
Apple's Pro Display XDR (6K60) has a dual link SST mode for 6K60 which is dual HBR3 over Thunderbolt for GPUs that don't support DSC. It also supports the dual HBR2 for 5K mode.
I can with my Lilu / WhateverGreen patches on an iMac14,2 but I haven't figured out how to increase the max pixel clock yet and I haven't gotten around to making it work for modern GPUs.
That Dell U3224KB is ugly AF! But 6K is cool. Claiming it's the world's first 6K monitor when the Pro Display XDR has been out for ages is a bit of a fib. Could you look at the Dell all day though? It's really ugly.
I am glad the high res display market is finally hotting up though. The more options with 5K / 6K displays that work with TB4 the better.
I am glad the high res display market is finally hotting up though. The more options with 5K / 6K displays that work with TB4 the better.
The Dell is 6KiP but the XDR is only 6KP. The i is for binary math where the Si metric prefixes (K, M, G, T, P) multiply by 2^10 instead of 10^3.
6KiP = 6 x 1024 pixels = 6144 pixels.
6KP = 6 x 1000 pixels = 6000 pixels (actually 6016).
macOS used to measure file sizes by KiB but now it uses KB (since Mac OS X Snow Leopard?)
RAM is still measured in MiB and GiB.
but by this logic, 4K displays aren't really 4K and 8K displays aren't really 8K since they are usually only 3840 or 7680 pixels wide.
Dell made the world's first 6K claim so people like us would talk about it.
Yep, you're not wrong.
It's still ugly even if it is genuinely the world's first 6K!
You’re absolutely correct, of course. There’s a few more I know about: The Eizo FDH3601 (4096×2160@60) is dual-link SST. The Iiyama XB2779QQS and Planar IX2790 (both 5120×2880@60) can be driven by dual-link SST using their Picture-by-Picture mode. The Canon DP-V3010 (4096×2560@60) is quad-link SST.
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I am f^&king drooling over this! Really hoping this means Dell might surprise us with an update to their 8K finally!
Last year Dell announced the U3223QZ at CES, which has the same ugly design with webcam as the one announced today, and then a month later they announced the U3223QE, which is the same panel/specs in a non-ugly version. Hopefully they do the same this year and announce a normal version of it soon.