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I might be the only one, but it's still to this date (and dating all the way back to 2014 with the first iMac 5k display) Apple is the only company that truly g
by densh 7mo ago
I might be the only one, but it's still to this date (and dating all the way back to 2014 with the first iMac 5k display) Apple is the only company that truly gets HIDPI desktop displays with high quality gloss and 200+ ppi at screen this large. In the meantime popular and widely sold gaming screens with matte blur filters and mediocre ppi give me headache and eye fatigue after a few hours of use. Prior generation Studio Display is the only external display that truly worked for text heavy work with my eyes (including software engineering), and I'm sure the latest generation is fantastic as well.
- isqueiros 7mo agoYou should try some of the newer OLED panels. They're all glossy and look really good.
- whatever1 7mo agoText sucks in oled displays. 200 ppi is not enough to make it look decent. OLED smartphones have much higher ppi to deal with this.
- aethrum 7mo ago4k OLED text is great.
- jsheard 7mo agoUpcoming OLED panels are switching to vertical RGB stripe, similar to LCDs, which should fix the remaining text issues. https://www.tomshardware.com/monitors/lg-display-reveals-worlds-first-4k-240hz-oled-gaming-monitor-with-a-true-rgb-striped-subpixel-layout-new-panel-succeeds-woled-with-multi-stack-tandem-oled https://www.tomshardware.com/monitors/lg-display-reveals-wor...
- roboror 7mo agoWOLED handles text much better than QDOLED, I don't think anyone would say the 27" 4k versions "suck"
- JoshTriplett 7mo ago> Text sucks in oled displays. Not anymore, as long as you make sure that any RGB antialiasing is turned off. Linux defaluts to disabling this and doing only grayscale antialiasing, so it looks great on an OLED out of the box. Windows can be configured to do this.
- Eric_WVGG 7mo agoLow-res is low-res. Curves on SVGs and vector graphics look terrible.
- PaulDavisThe1st 7mo agoI have no idea what you mean by "Linux defaults to" ... what possible Linux-wide global could there be for antialiasing? Apps are free to turn on different kinds of antialiasing for text rendering all by themselves.
- JoshTriplett 7mo agoDefault configurations in font rendering on typical distributions.
- troupo 7mo ago> Apple is the only company that truly gets HIDPI desktop displays with high quality gloss and 200+ ppi at screen this large. And somehow they completely forgot how to seamlessly work with displays in general. Connect multiple displays via Thunderbolt? Nope. Keep layouts when switching displays? No. Running any display at more than 60Hz? No. Remember monitor positions? No.
- pwthornton 7mo agoGreat news. Apple announced a 120hz display today.
- troupo 7mo agoThere are other 120Hz displays than Apple's. There are even 240Hz displays. IIRC Apple couldn't get above 60Hz even on third-party displays they explicitly advertised.
- pwthornton 7mo agoThere are 5k displays at 240hz?
- deleted 7mo ago[deleted]
- cosmic_cheese 7mo agoI have an Alienware AW2721D and my M series Macs have no problem driving it at 240hz. macOS picks up that it’s a GSync display and supports VRR on it too.
- troupo 7mo agoI could never get my two ASUS displays work at anything but 60Hz
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- roboror 7mo agoThe Studio Display shares a panel with the MSI MPG 271KRAW16
- behnamoh 7mo agoEven the new one in this post?
- delta_p_delta_x 7mo agoYes. That MSI monitor was unveiled at CES 2026, alongside several other monitors that use the same panel, such as the LG 27GM950-B.
- nntwozz 7mo agoI just want to know who's naming these things, it's been like this forever. Why can't it be something simple?
- MagicMoonlight 7mo agoI feel like they do it deliberately, so that you can’t easily research their products and find if they are out of date. They can sell you a monitor from 2012 as if it’s brand new, because you have no idea what it is.
- delta_p_delta_x 7mo ago> Why can't it be something simple? Because monitors aren't simple. There are dozens of axes along which they can be scaled. They have resolution (1080p FHD, 1440p QHD, 4K, 5K, 6K, 8K), aspect ratio (16:9, 8:5, 4:3, 3:2, 21:9, 32:9), refresh rate (60 Hz, 75 Hz, 120 Hz, 144 Hz, 165 Hz, 240 Hz, 360 Hz, 480 Hz, 1 kHz, and of course adaptive refresh rate tech including G-Sync), colour quality (depth and accuracy), contrast ratios for HDR, panel technology (LCD-TN, LCD-IPS, LCD-VA, OLED, QD-OLED, WOLED, and now RGB stripe OLED), backlight technology (CCFL, edge-lit LED, miniLED, microLED), connectivity (HDMI/DP, USB-B, USB-C, DP alt mode, Thunderbolt, 3.5 mm, and KVMs). It's very hard to stuff all this information in one neat model number. On the consumer's part it makes sense to understand these features and what is necessary for one's use case, filter monitors by said features, and note down the model numbers that satisfy the requirements.
- tshaddox 7mo agoI bought that original 5k iMac on release day in 2014. I was thrilled with that display, and stoked to see the entire display industry go the route of true quadruple-resolution just like smartphone displays did. Sadly, it basically never happened. There was the LG display that came out a couple of years later. It didn't have great reviews, and it was like two thirds the cost of an entire 5k iMac. It took Apple over 7 years to release their standalone 5k display, and there are a few other true 5k displays (1440p screen real estate with quadruple-resolution, not the ultrawide 2160p displays branded as "5k") on the market now with prices just starting to drop below 1,000 USD. Unfortunately in that time I've gotten used to the screen real estate of the ultrawide 1440p monitors (which are now ubiquitous, and hitting ridiculous sub-$300 prices). As of now, my perfect display for office work (gaming, video/photo work, or heavy media playback are different topics) would be 21:9 with 1440p screen real estate with quadruple-resolution—essentially just a wider version of that original 5k iMac display.
- seanmcdirmid 7mo agoYou can get a 27 inch 5k from Asus for $750. A 31.5 inch 6K goes for around $1200. A 28 inch 4K is around $350-$400.
- nebula8804 7mo agoAnyone reading this I am begging to please thoroughly test anything that comes out of ASUS before committing. Maybe only purchase with a generous return policy and possibly insurance. They are decent panels but everything around the panel is horrendous. Random connection errors with different machines, poor UX for switching inputs, takes a millenium to boot up and connect to the screen, forget about any support, if you have built in speakers you'd be better off with a tin can connected to your computer. You get what you pay for with ASUS.
- seanmcdirmid 7mo agoI’ve frankly have had worse experience with Samsung and better experiences with LG. The model I have is pretty bare bones, which is much better than the Samsung 27 inch 5k I had that just died on me after a couple of years. The LG 28 inch 4k is going on its 6th year. I think if I buy a 6K, I’ll wait for the LG to come down in price a bit ($2k for LG vs $1300 for Asus on Amazon).
- praseodym 7mo agoThe hardware is great, but the software is lacking. macOS only supports resolution-based scaling which makes anything but the default 200% pixel scaling mode look bad. For example, with a 27" 4K display many users will want to use 150% or 175% scaling to get enough real estate, but the image will look blurry because macOS renders at a higher resolution and then downscales to the 4K resolution of the screen. Both Windows and Linux (Wayland) support scaling the UI itself, and with their support for sub-pixel anti-aliasing (that macOS also lacks) this makes text look a lot more crisp.
- presbyterian 7mo ago> For example, with a 27" 4K display many users will want to use 150% or 175% scaling to get enough real estate, but the image will look blurry I use a Mac with a monitor with these specs (a Dell of some kind, I don't know the model number off the top of my head), at 150% scaling, and it's not blurry at all.
- arndt 7mo agoI also feel it's just fine. Not as amazing as the Apple displays, but I'll have to sit really close to make out the difference for text.
- jsheard 7mo agoYeah this is correct, I don't know why you're being downvoted. The decisions Apple made when pivoting their software stack to high-DPI resulted in Macs requiring ultra-dense displays for optimal results - that's a limitation of macOS, not an indictment of less dense displays, which Windows and Linux accommodate much better.
- jonpurdy 7mo agoThis is correct and also increasingly affecting me as my eyes age. I had to give my Studio Display to my wife because my eyes can't focus at a reasonable distance anymore, and if I moved back further the text was too small to read. I ran the 5K Studio Display at 4K scaled for a bit but it was noticeably blurry. This would've been easily solved with non-integer scaling, if Apple had implemented that. (I now use a combo of 4K TV 48" from ~1.5-2 metres back as well as a 4K 27" screen from 1 m away, depending on which room I want to work in. Angular resolution works out similarly (115 pixels per degree).)
- hbn 7mo agoLG used to with the Ultrafine 5k (I believe it's discontinued now?) I got a deal on a used one last year and I love it. It's the only monitor I've used plugged into a MacBook that didn't look notably off (worse) compared to the MacBook's display sitting next to it. Only thing a bit jarring is it's 60Hz but I can live with it.
- fl0ki 7mo agoI've been using a work-issued one since 2018, and my only complaint in 2026 is that some of its rear USB ports are failing.
- kllrnohj 7mo agoThe $1600 Studio Display is also 60hz, including this "brand new" one (which appears to be the exact same, just with a new web cam?) Asus has picked up the 5k 27" monitor from LG, it's the $730 PA27JCV
- sdn90 7mo agoAgreed. I constantly see people saying Apple displays are a terrible value. Last Apple display I had was the Thunderbolt 27 but from now on I'm sticking with Apple. I've had nothing but issues with non-Apple monitors as well. Customer service ime is non-existent if you need a repair. For something I rely on to get work done, I'm starting to think the premium is worth it.
- hatsix 7mo agoPersonally, I can't handle glossy displays, trying to read with reflections gives me a headache. Most other manufacturers offer both glossy and matte, except for Apple, because they know better.
- ItsHarper 7mo agoThe nano-texture matte finish is available as an option
- perardi 7mo agoYou are not the only one. I have an ASUS ProArt Display 27” 5K. And I somewhat regret it. I love the pixel density. But I don’t love the matte finish. Which is apparently a controversial take. But I really don’t. I like the crisp pop of typography you get with a glossy display. And, for UI design, the matte finish just doesn’t “feel” like the average end-user experience. I am constantly pushing Figma between my laptop display and my monitor to better simulate what a design will look like on an average glossy LCD or OLED display.
- paozac 7mo agoI've got that display, too, and quite like it. Matte finish is essential (IMO) if you're annoyed by reflections.
- recursive 7mo agoDoes gloss mean reflective? Like where I can see the room lights reflecting off my screen. I never considered the possibility that someone might consider that a good thing.
- whalesalad 7mo agoIn an environment with little to no reflections, gloss looks so much better. It becomes truly transparent with no distraction. Matte displays always have a little frost to them.
- recursive 7mo agoIf you do most of your computing in a prepared or controlled room, I can see the logic in that, although I think I'm not personally nearly sensitive enough to care. For me though, I am frequently working in different rooms with arbitrary lighting situations. Net effect of the gloss is negative for me unquestionably.
- scosman 7mo agoThis is a monitor, not a laptop. I pretty much set it down and never moved it again. In my case, a glossy glass screen is ideal.
- vladvasiliu 7mo agoWhat kind of environment is that? Maybe if you're a black person wearing black clothes, no glasses (maybe contacts are ok?) in a room with closed curtains, no lights and nothing reflective, sure. I used to daily drive an apple thunderbolt display (the last non-retina one, 2560x1440). That thing was atrocious. I could often see the reflections of my glasses, or a white glare if I was wearing a white shirt. At nigh, in a dark office (lights off, just whatever came in from the street). I'm typing this on a matte "ips black" dell ultrasharp something-or-other at 10% brightness, wearing glasses, a white t-shirt, with an overhead light, and see no reflection or glare on my screen. There's no way in hell I'd go back to a shiny screen. I understand "anti-glare" technology has improved. The most recent apple screen I've tested is an m1 mbp. It seems somewhat better than my 2013 mbp, but still a worse experience than my 2015 (or thereabouts) 24"@4k dell, which is pretty old technology. My 2025 lenovo has a screen that's much more confortable to use inside. Paradoxically, I'd say the one environment where I prefer my macs to my matte screens is in bright sunlight. Sure, there are more reflections than you can shake a stick at, but there's always an angle where you can see the part of the screen you want. You have to move around, which is obviously annoying, but you can see. The matte screens just turn to mush. Luckily for me, I hate being out in the sun, so I never encounter this situation in practice. I think the "frost" you're talking about depends a lot on the screen implementation. I tested once an HP model, 27"@4k, and it did have such an effect. Anecdotally, it didn't handle reflections all that well, either. So maybe it's just a question of lower quality product?
- derefr 7mo ago> In the meantime popular and widely sold gaming screens with matte blur filters and mediocre ppi give me headache and eye fatigue after a few hours of use. I presume you also mean "when used for text heavy work" here, yes? Or do you mean that these displays tire out your eyes even when used "for what they're for", i.e. gaming? (Because that's a very interesting assertion if so, and I'd like to go into depth about it.)
- Fr0styMatt88 7mo agoThere’s a solid use case for matte screens. I use an 800R curved monitor and there’s absolutely no way that would work for me if it wasn’t matte. I know this because when I glance over at my coworker’s 1200R glossy screen it’s like looking in a funhouse mirror. Edge use case I know.