5 ms·

Ask HN: Best 4k display for dev work?

5 points by misterioss 6y ago

I'm looking for 27" display, up to $1000. Ideally it's compatible with macbook pro 2017+

dubyabee2 6y ago
Good question
- misterioss 6y ago
  Good comment :)
interrupt_ 6y ago
I've started using a LG 27UL650 4K and so far it seems good. I noticed some mild ghosting though... not sure if it's config related.
- schappim 6y ago
  Both my LGs (5Ks not 4Ks) have ghosting. I'd keep clear of them if you can.
  - rayhendricks 6y ago
    Picked yup a 4k lg from costco last year for around $300-350. This is not a gaming monitor, but running KDE on Kubuntu 20.04 scaled at 150% is just fine. Ubuntu 20.04 is unusable due to buggy GPU/x/? though. Looks like that composited desktop is getting like 10fps. Text and video are just fine, games are horrible but just get a cheapo 1080p 144hz TN if secondary monitor if you're gaming.
misterioss 6y ago
I consider Acer ConceptD CP3271KP, not sure how good it is... It's pretty new display and not many reviews out there. Another option - Dell UltraSharp 27 4K USB-C U2720Q
rusinov 6y ago
LG UltraFine 4K
dyingkneepad 6y ago
As a Linux user, I kinda regret buying a 4k display. Absolutely no desktop environment can properly handle having a 4k display and a 1920x1080 13" laptop panel at the same time if you need to keep switching between with-monitor and without-monitor. Yes they all claim to have "hidpi" configuration, and those configs mostly work if you're always using it in the same setting, but as soon as you start having to disconnect/reconnect your monitor to take the laptop somewhere else your troubles start. Applications can't properly handle changing DPI on the fly, there are often apps that get completely confused by their changes: they either show tiny fonts (e.g., cinnamon taskbar launchers), or adjust the font sizes but not the spacing between lines so you can only see half of the characters (hexchat) or whatever. It's horrible. It makes me want to write my own desktop environment, or fully switch to text-mode-only apps. I have a Samsung monitor and I'm not super happy with its colors. I always enjoyed the colors from Dell monitors. But if I ever buy another monitor I'll probably look at its response times.
- factorialboy 6y ago
  Xfce handles it very nicely with fractional scaling. As does Kde. Haven't tried Gnome though, couple years ago it had issues.
  - dyingkneepad 6y ago
    I have tried both. Xfce was the worst actually: switching from dual screen with scaling to laptop-screen-only without scaling made the DE so broken I had to reboot.
throw51319 6y ago
What are the benefits to 4k for coding? I find my 31.5" to be almost a bit too bit for dev. So far I like 2 x 24" 1080p's.
- diehunde 6y ago
  I remember seeing this article a while ago here: https://tonsky.me/blog/monitors/ https://tonsky.me/blog/monitors/
- misterioss 6y ago
  I can't use anything worse than Macbook's display since I tried it :(

5 points by misterioss 6y ago

I'm looking for 27" display, up to $1000. Ideally it's compatible with macbook pro 2017+

dubyabee2 6y ago

Good question

misterioss 6y ago
Good comment :)

interrupt_ 6y ago

I've started using a LG 27UL650 4K and so far it seems good. I noticed some mild ghosting though... not sure if it's config related.

schappim 6y ago
Both my LGs (5Ks not 4Ks) have ghosting. I'd keep clear of them if you can.
- rayhendricks 6y ago
  Picked yup a 4k lg from costco last year for around $300-350. This is not a gaming monitor, but running KDE on Kubuntu 20.04 scaled at 150% is just fine. Ubuntu 20.04 is unusable due to buggy GPU/x/? though. Looks like that composited desktop is getting like 10fps. Text and video are just fine, games are horrible but just get a cheapo 1080p 144hz TN if secondary monitor if you're gaming.

misterioss 6y ago

I consider Acer ConceptD CP3271KP, not sure how good it is... It's pretty new display and not many reviews out there. Another option - Dell UltraSharp 27 4K USB-C U2720Q

rusinov 6y ago

LG UltraFine 4K

dyingkneepad 6y ago

As a Linux user, I kinda regret buying a 4k display. Absolutely no desktop environment can properly handle having a 4k display and a 1920x1080 13" laptop panel at the same time if you need to keep switching between with-monitor and without-monitor. Yes they all claim to have "hidpi" configuration, and those configs mostly work if you're always using it in the same setting, but as soon as you start having to disconnect/reconnect your monitor to take the laptop somewhere else your troubles start. Applications can't properly handle changing DPI on the fly, there are often apps that get completely confused by their changes: they either show tiny fonts (e.g., cinnamon taskbar launchers), or adjust the font sizes but not the spacing between lines so you can only see half of the characters (hexchat) or whatever. It's horrible. It makes me want to write my own desktop environment, or fully switch to text-mode-only apps. I have a Samsung monitor and I'm not super happy with its colors. I always enjoyed the colors from Dell monitors. But if I ever buy another monitor I'll probably look at its response times.

factorialboy 6y ago
Xfce handles it very nicely with fractional scaling. As does Kde. Haven't tried Gnome though, couple years ago it had issues.
- dyingkneepad 6y ago
  I have tried both. Xfce was the worst actually: switching from dual screen with scaling to laptop-screen-only without scaling made the DE so broken I had to reboot.

throw51319 6y ago

What are the benefits to 4k for coding? I find my 31.5" to be almost a bit too bit for dev. So far I like 2 x 24" 1080p's.

diehunde 6y ago
I remember seeing this article a while ago here: https://tonsky.me/blog/monitors/ https://tonsky.me/blog/monitors/
misterioss 6y ago
I can't use anything worse than Macbook's display since I tried it :(