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The state of external retina displays

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Re: The state of external retina displays

#91

Post by never_a-pickle »

henvic wrote: post #60

I really wanted the 27-inch LG UltraFine 5K ( https://www.lg.com/us/monitors/lg-27md5kl-b-5k-uhd-led-monit... ), but I heard many complains about it not being as reliable as you'd expect, then I decided to get the LG UltraFine 4K ( https://amzn.to/3qs2pFW ) a little over a year ago, and I don't regret at all spending so much more for a display, than I'd normally expect to. Now, I want to update to Apple's Pro Display…

Slight differences in white balance, even after calibration, preclude the use of multiple monitors for myself as well. Even if they are the same monitor, same model our nervous system is very good at detecting these differences.

I have no settled on a new monitor either, I'm using a 24" that is slightly too small for split screen use, but doable. 27" would be nice but 32" would likely be the best here.

There are a few good ones in the works. LG announced a new "IPS black" technology, which offers better contrast than your MacBook screen (claimed 2000:1, we'll see). As well, LG is manufacturing a few monitors for Apple this year. Some of these will be miniLED like the XDR display, but cheaper as manufacturing costs have likely reduced significantly.

The only monitor I'd even consider right now is the LGGN950 or one of the 5k2k displays, though the latter are notoriously finicky I've heard and currently not usable on Mac without a dedicated GPU.

Re: The state of external retina displays

#92

Post by jasonjmcghee »

minimaul wrote: post #75
jasonjmcghee wrote: post #71

LG 27GN950 seems like it hits a a lot of the criteria others are discussing. It is not 220 PPI though. 4K IPS at 144Hz (or 120Hz depending on video card) HDR 400 nits It also rotates to portrait mode, has a built in backlight for eyestrain, is essentially borderless- and it's $800-900. Have had it over a year with no issues.

Is it actually HDR, or is it 'HDR'? I have another LG monitor that claims HDR support but really it just squishes the SDR content to make space for HDR - so it makes everything look awful .

I've heard others say that unless it has FALD, anything claiming HDR is basically lying. And I can't speak to how accurate that is, but this monitor has HDR600 which requires 10bit color depth and local dimming.

I think it looks better with it enabled than without, seems like darker darks / richer color, but I'm not an HDR or monitor enthusiast, so check better sources before making a purchase.

Re: The state of external retina displays

#93

Post by mgarfias »

eigenvalue wrote: post #20
mgarfias wrote: post #9

I’ve got a pair of the ultrafine 5ks. I’d happily trade them in on something that I can plug into and know that it will power up the display reliably. Right now if I take my laptop off somewhere and come back, who knows if they’ll both power up. I’m frequently stuck on one display and no amount of unplugging and reconnecting or swearing helps.

Maybe try a powered usb-c hub and connect the displays to that instead of directly to the laptop?

One of them goes to a thunderbolt3 dock. When they display refuses to power up, it doesn’t matter if it’s plugged in direct or into the dock.

Also, I can see the display in the system report in the thunderbolt section, and devices daisy chained off of them work. It’s just the panel that’s being a bitch.

Re: The state of external retina displays

#94

Post by jmisavage »

naikrovek wrote: post #53
____________g wrote: post #18

I have been waiting for good external Retina displays for years . That the situation has not improved after all this time is incredibly frustrating. Why is no display manufacturer [0] interested in setting itself apart by producing and marketing a lineup of reasonably priced external pixel-doubled (~200 ppi) displays? For some reason everything must be 16:9 and 4K with no regards to display size, resulting in some ve…

it's a matter of connectors and display bandwidth. Apple's extra-expensive display doesn't use HDMI or DisplayPort connectors, it uses a proprietary connector. edit: I'm wrong on that. oops. apparently that invalidates my entire point. (it doesn't) display bandwidth matters, and connectors are where display bandwidth goes to die. apple had to design a special one for the bandwidth requirements of that display. it's n…

It's using a Thunderbolt 3 connector I wouldn't call that proprietary. There are quite a few TB3 monitors out there.

Re: The state of external retina displays

#95

Post by russelg »

naikrovek wrote: post #53
____________g wrote: post #18

I have been waiting for good external Retina displays for years . That the situation has not improved after all this time is incredibly frustrating. Why is no display manufacturer [0] interested in setting itself apart by producing and marketing a lineup of reasonably priced external pixel-doubled (~200 ppi) displays? For some reason everything must be 16:9 and 4K with no regards to display size, resulting in some ve…

it's a matter of connectors and display bandwidth. Apple's extra-expensive display doesn't use HDMI or DisplayPort connectors, it uses a proprietary connector. edit: I'm wrong on that. oops. apparently that invalidates my entire point. (it doesn't) display bandwidth matters, and connectors are where display bandwidth goes to die. apple had to design a special one for the bandwidth requirements of that display. it's n…

DisplayPort over Thunderbolt is not a proprietary connector (this is what the Pro Display XDR uses).

Re: The state of external retina displays

#96

Post by xyzzy123 »

urthor wrote: post #73

> Ridiculous Option: Apple Pro Display XDR I'll admit, a monitor that costs more than my first car is beyond affordable for 99% of the population. But saying that, many of the people reading this are pulling truly exotic salaries right now. After devoting untold hours to reaching the top of their profession. Let's say you're a professional earning $300k plus in software. You're often working 100% remote, using your m…

Some work tools get treated like capital or heirloom and some get treated like consumables.

Scissors or a hand plane are decent "heirloom" items. Potentially you can retire with the same one you started with, or pass them down.

Electric drills start to lean toward consumable. Battery tech changes over the years and they do wear out in non-fixable ways.

Screen and computer tech advances so fast that 5 years is a "good" lifespan, and 10 years is exceptional.

So a 4k investment in scissors is a lifetime investment, while a 5k screen may be more like "1k / year for good monitor as a service" (plus 2k off your next refresh).

I think it can still make sense, but very often when people buy the premium in computers or displays they are getting the same thing everyone else gets 30-50% cheaper 1 year later.

Re: The state of external retina displays

#97

Post by yanokwa »

ModernMech wrote: post #52
distantsounds wrote: post #14

Dell P2415Q. https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/cty/dell-24-ultra-hd-4k... you can still find it in stock on Amazon despite Dell not carrying it anymore. I have one, it's a glorious IPS panel for photo editing.

I just picked up a pair of P3222QE monitors. Kind of pricey but hands down the best monitors I've owned. I think it's too big to be "Retina" at 4K, but I really can't see any pixels. I still find it hard to believe though that I can't change the brightness via the keyboard though in state of the art monitors. Does anyone know of any monitors where this is possible, or do they mostly require you to go through the terr…

See https://lunar.fyi to change brightness via keyboard

Re: The state of external retina displays

#98

Post by shellac »

naikrovek wrote: post #53
____________g wrote: post #18

I have been waiting for good external Retina displays for years . That the situation has not improved after all this time is incredibly frustrating. Why is no display manufacturer [0] interested in setting itself apart by producing and marketing a lineup of reasonably priced external pixel-doubled (~200 ppi) displays? For some reason everything must be 16:9 and 4K with no regards to display size, resulting in some ve…

it's a matter of connectors and display bandwidth. Apple's extra-expensive display doesn't use HDMI or DisplayPort connectors, it uses a proprietary connector. edit: I'm wrong on that. oops. apparently that invalidates my entire point. (it doesn't) display bandwidth matters, and connectors are where display bandwidth goes to die. apple had to design a special one for the bandwidth requirements of that display. it's n…

It uses a usb 3 connector, although, given bandwidth and power requirements, I guess it has to be rated for the task.

Re: The state of external retina displays

#99

Post by [deleted] »

never_a-pickle wrote: post #91
henvic wrote: post #60

I really wanted the 27-inch LG UltraFine 5K ( https://www.lg.com/us/monitors/lg-27md5kl-b-5k-uhd-led-monit... ), but I heard many complains about it not being as reliable as you'd expect, then I decided to get the LG UltraFine 4K ( https://amzn.to/3qs2pFW ) a little over a year ago, and I don't regret at all spending so much more for a display, than I'd normally expect to. Now, I want to update to Apple's Pro Display…

Slight differences in white balance, even after calibration, preclude the use of multiple monitors for myself as well. Even if they are the same monitor, same model our nervous system is very good at detecting these differences. I have no settled on a new monitor either, I'm using a 24" that is slightly too small for split screen use, but doable. 27" would be nice but 32" would likely be the best here. There are a fe…

[deleted]

Re: The state of external retina displays

#100

Post by mhh__ »

urthor wrote: post #73

> Ridiculous Option: Apple Pro Display XDR I'll admit, a monitor that costs more than my first car is beyond affordable for 99% of the population. But saying that, many of the people reading this are pulling truly exotic salaries right now. After devoting untold hours to reaching the top of their profession. Let's say you're a professional earning $300k plus in software. You're often working 100% remote, using your m…

Well obviously if you have that kind of cash you might as well, but it's a bit like drugs. You think "I need this to be productive" when you're really just stroking your vice - where does it stop?
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