That said I would be scared to buy this. I’ve heard so many horror stories about the LG UltraFine 5k and the ports breaking and then having to send it in for repair for a long time.
At this point I don’t trust their build quality for monitors.
In general though, I am so glad to see big high DPI monitors have more than one or two options finally.
But that's finally changing: several high-DPI monitors came out last year, and even more are coming this year, which should force manufacturers to do better re: both price and reliability. Last year I got a pair of the Asus ProArt 5K monitors, plus a CalDigit Thunderbolt hub, and have been very happy with this setup.
Except it does? I have a 14" MBP with a 3024x1964 display. By default, it uses a doubling for an effective 1512x982, but I can also select 1800x1169, 1352x878, 1147x745, or 1024x665. So it certainly does have fractional scaling options.
If you connect a 4k 2160p monitor, you can go down or up from the default 1080p doubling (https://www.howtogeek.com/why-your-mac-shows-the-wrong-resol...). If you select 2560x1440 for a 4k 2160p screen, that's 150% scaling rather than 2x (https://appleinsider.com/inside/macos/tips/what-is-display-s..., see the image where it compares "native 2x scaling" to "appears like 2560x1440").
The instant Apple wanted to use a panel that wasn’t 2x, the feature appeared.
I tried using macOS on a 4K 27 inch monitor and it was pretty unbearable. Worse than a 1080p monitor on Windows or Linux.
Personally, I’m fine with that. It’s 2026 and I don’t understand why people are using 1080p monitors for work.
For much more than a decade, I have not used any monitor with a resolution less than 4k with Linux. I have never used any kind of "scaling" and I would not want to use any kind of "scaling", because that by definition means a lower image quality than it should be.
In X Window System, and in any other decent graphic interface system, the sizes of graphic elements, e.g. the size of fonts or of document pages, should be specified in length units, e.g. typographic points, millimeters or inches.
The graphic system knows the dots-per-inch value of the monitor (using either a value configured by the user or the value read from the monitor EDID when the monitor is initialized). When the graphic elements, such as letters are rasterized, the algorithm uses the dimensions in length units and the DPI value to generate the corresponding bitmap.
"Scaling" normally refers to the scaling of a bitmap into another bitmap with a greater resolution, which can be done either by pixel interpolation or by pixel duplication. This is the wrong place for increasing the size of an image that has been generated by the rasterization of fonts and of vector graphics. The right place for dimension control is during the rasterization process, because only there this can be done without image quality loss.
Thus there should be no "scaling", one should just take care that the monitor DPI is configured correctly, in which case the size of the graphic elements on the screen will be independent of the resolution of the connected monitor. Using a monitor with a higher resolution must result in more beautiful letters, not in smaller letters.
Windows got this wrong, with its scaling factor for fonts, but at least in Linux XFCE this is done right, so I can set whatever DPI value I want, e.g. 137 dpi, 179 dpi, or any other value.
If you configure the exact DPI value of your monitor, then the dimensions of a text or picture on the screen will be equal to those of the same text or picture when printed on paper.
One may want to have a bigger text on screen than on paper, because you normally stay at a greater distance from the monitor than the distance at which you would hold a sheet of paper or a book in your hand.
For this, you must set a bigger DPI value than the real one, so that the rasterizer will believe that your screen is smaller and it will draw bigger letters to compensate for that.
For instance, I set 216 dpi for a Dell 27 inch 4k monitor, which will magnify the images on screen by about 4/3 in comparison with their printed size. This has nothing to do with a "scaling". The rasterizer just uses the 216 dpi value, for example when rasterizing a 12 point font, in such a way that the computed bitmap will have the desired size, which is greater than its printed size by the factor chosen by me.
For example macOS just renders at 200% and then scales down to the desired level.
Linux is indeed way better at this.
If it's exact 2x it just renders the UI using double pixels (2x2 per simulated pixel) and then sends that over the wire.
You're in luck; several 5120 × 2880, 600 mm × 340 mm monitors at high refresh rates were announced at CES a couple weeks ago.
MSI MPG 271KRAW16
LG 27GM950B
Acer Nitro XV270X
HKC M9 Pro
Hisense 27GX-ProFor example, I've settled on ~160 PPI viewed at 100cm as my optimal desktop solution. It has an identical perceived pixel density as ~220 PPI viewed at 75cm.
Use a PPD (pixel per degree) calculator to find a setup that suits your needs: https://qasimk.io/screen-ppd/
Would be nice if Apple supported non-integer scaling so I could just dynamically resize everything (without the current technique and performance hit/blurriness of upscaling then downsizing).
32" 6K is very tempting!
It’s $5000. Without a stand.
There are rumors there will be a new version soon. Perhaps we’ll get 120 Hz.
The refresh rate on these super high resolution monitors is not great.
$6K, if you want a comparable matte.
Yeah you looked at a different model. But it's still $8,799.00 and does indeed only do 60Hz.
https://www.asus.com/us/displays-desktops/monitors/proart/pr...
Just so you know 120 hz 10 bit without display stream compression for this will require almost 128 Gbps per second
Doesn’t exist yet
Meanwhile a good number of reports mention terrible uniformity issues with that model.
haven't found anyone who compares
I originally found them because they were one of the only sources that tested for PWM flicker in monitors.
I admire Rtings' attempts to add more and more graphs to quantify everything from VRR flicker to raised black levels. They were helpful when I last shopped for a monitor. But the most valuable information came from veteran monitor review sites such as Monitors Unboxed and TFTCentral.
"I was able to measure 640 nits"
I don't see the problem.
I wish the panel was still in production with more dimming zones and DP input.
But hearing that the text looks good is the biggest thing. I may actually consider going down this road.
Text is just a function of pixel count and using the standard rgb lcd cell.
The 55" model hasn't been made in a few years so you'd have to buy used. You'd have to beg samsung to bring it back.
Here’s a review of the series - https://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/samsung/q900-q900r-8k-qled
One interesting thing is that it’s been firmware updated to support hdmi 2.1 on all hdmi ports now.
Anyone else experience this?
So it would be drawing 200W constantly. While it may have been a twice defective fluke, I suspect either the power delivery or heat killed it somehow.
The 100W MBP charger gets very hot by itself, and its twice that for the built-in monitor charger, which is also right next to the hot display panel. Add hot weather to the mix, and it seems like it could be trying to do too much.
Could it have been that you were plugging and unplugging the MacBook?
Obviously that should totally work. I don’t know what I heard is correct, but I got the impression if you plugged a Mac in and just left it there it would be fine.
The monitor setup seemed like the ideal solution, less cables and just plug in to the monitor. But the combination of heat from powering the monitor, MBP, the monitor itself, and hot weather does seem like a plausible cause to me.
Bright, sharp text, great color. We've had the great Apple Studio Display for years now, it's about time others came to fix some of it's short-comings like 27" size, 60hz and lack of HDMI ports for use with other systems.
So many of us have to stare at a screen for hours every day and having one that reduces strain on my eyes is well worth $1-3k if they'd just make them.
*Struggling for words, but I'm looking more for the expedient solution rather than the "craft beer" or "audiophile" solution.
If you're a gamer QDOLED is best. If you do office work just get whatever is high resolution and makes text sharp.
https://news.lgdisplay.com/en/2025/12/lg-display-unveils-wor...
It amazes me, and it’s so sad. They have no idea what they’re missing. I’m sure high PPI would pay off fast in eye strain. And it’s not like monitors need replacement yearly. Tons of time to recoup that small cost.
I’m not arguing for $2k 37” monitors, just better than $200 ones.
:(
But we have gray on gray, to compensate. One even has a choice. Do you want light or dark eye strain ?
Unsurprisingly this is not a motivating factor to come back to the office, given I have a 220 PPI 6K at home.
But premium displays exist. IPS displays on higher-end laptops, such as ThinkPads, are great - we're talking stuff like 14" 3840x2160, 100% Adobe RGB. The main problem is just that people want to buy truly gigantic panels on the cheap, and there are trade-offs that come with that. But do you really need 2x32" to code?
But yes, you are right, they are conservative on new tech in the ThinkPad lineage.
I expect people are VERY sensitive to mobile phone screen quality, to the point that it's a big factor in phone choice.
On the plus side, I can comfortably fit my editor on half the screen and my browser on the other half.
But 1440p on a 45” is not good PPI. That could be why you’re struggling to see text clearly
I'm 53 y/o and didn't have glasses until 52. And at 53 I only use them sporadically. For example atm I'm typing this without my glasses. I can still work at my computer without glasses.
And yet I spent 10 hours a day in front of computer screens since I was a kid nearly every day of my life (don't worry, I did my share of MX bike, skateboarding, bicycling, tennis, etc.).
You know the biggest eye-relief for me? Not using anti-aliased font. No matter the DPI. Crisp, sharp, pixel-perfect font only for me. Zero AA.
So a 110 / 120 ppi screen is perfect for me.
Not if you do use anti-aliased font (and most people do), I understand the appeal of smaller pixels, for more subtle AA.
But yup: pixel perfect programming font, no anti-aliasing.
38" ultra-wide, curved, monitor. Same monitor since 2017 and it's my dream. My wife OTOH prefers a three monitors setup.
So: people have different preferences and that is fine. To each his own bad tastes.
This year at CES there were a number of new monitors unveiled that compete in this space. There's a new Samsung monitor (G80HS) that is a 32" 6k with a higher refresh rate than the LG or Asus. Unfortunately it has the matte coating instead of glossy, so clarity will suffer.
Also of interest are the new OLED offerings with true RGB stripe subpixel layout. This should fix text rendering problems on systems with subpixel antialiasing. Both Samsung and LG are making these OLED monitors with the true RGB layout. There will almost certainly be glossy coatings offered with these panels, and they'll have higher refresh rates than IPS.
A few thoughts:
1 - I replaced 2x4k 27inch monitors, and so far so good, only annoyance is sometimes I want to share an entire screen as a reflex, I have to remember to have a more window focused workflow.
2 - The power brick is GIGANTIC, but it charges one of my laptops at 96w
3 - It is a bit blurry due to the antiglare coating. Might be annoying to some.
4 - The built-in USB hub is good enough for my Razer Kiyo Pro Ultra, and it gets switched to my active computer, unless I am using HDMI (no USB link available separately from the Thunderbolt or USB-C main ports)
In general, I wanted an Apple XDR display, but with multiple inputs. The results are not as good from an image point of view, but better from a productivity point of view.
Unfortunately, this seems to be a common issue with this display, not a one-off panel discrepancy.
Do yourself a favor and wait for whatever Apple has upcoming, at least if you’re in the Apple ecosystem already.
> Beyond that, it has an attention-grabbing design and off-the-charts image quality. It's one of the best monitors you can buy for content creators, despite some of the unfortunate trade-offs it comes with.
> As Sleek As Monitors Get
> The 32-inch LG UltraFine Evo 6K is a very pretty monitor. I wouldn't blame you for mistaking this as an Apple product, given the focus on clean lines, simple shapes, and designerly aesthetic. The extra-wide stand means that the base itself isn’t overly large. Like the Apple Studio Display, the flat base provides more usable desk space rather than occupying it. The stand itself has a unique design, too. It resembles the styling Apple uses on the iMac and Studio Display, but it has a textured pattern on the back. It’s gorgeous, though you probably won’t spend a lot of time looking at the back of the monitor unless your desk is in the middle of the room or in command position (if you know, you know).
I don't see any of this. It looks very thick at the edges, the rounded corners are unrefined, the ventilation holes are 2000s plasma TV vibe, the port arrangement on the back looks atrocious - ports at different heights (there are four types of ports, and all of them are at a different z-height), some sunk into the surface with a counterbore, others protruding with an extra plastic jacket (screaming "these are all unmatched connectors out of the inventory"). The entire back panel looks like that cheap late 2000s/early 2010s metallic-silver spray painted plastic from nondescript TVs and stereo equipment. (Because it probably is). The stand looks thin and flimsy with a a plastic covering/shell on the reverse side. Oh and the corners of the case are just G1 continuity, they're obviously a quarter round stuck to a flat surface.
No, wired, I don't think anyone is mistaking this for an apple product, just because there is some anodized aluminium paint on it.
- DP: it's the one protuding, and I applaud them. Most DP plugs need to be squized, and having an extra few mm to depress the bit sounds comfortable.
- HDMI: it's flushed, and I applaud them. HDMI cables came in a lot of end sizes, some thin some bulky, I'd hate to be stuck with a cable that doesn't fit because they wanted the hole to be recessed.
- USB-C: they're all recessed. I wouldn't have minded them to be flushed, but then it's easier to tell from touch where's the USB hole is. USB are the ones that will be plugged/unplugged the most, it's kinda nice they're clearly differentiated.
- the last hole is for power ? It will be permanently plugged so I'm not sure it even matters.
Reading your comment I was expecting some really bad decisions, and instead ended up agreeing with every single choices. My only surprise is no USB-A.
It reminded me of the Apple philosophy of minimalism and uniformity for the sake of it. I want my devices to be usable and well designed, especially the back panel of a monitor where most people will be trying to plug/ilunplug stuff blind.
Though the wait seems 5 more years, at the least. Too many pixels and no tolerance for dead ones.
—
If you — like most of us — care only about pixel density for that sweet crisp code, Chinese 6k XDR knock-off by the name of Kuycon G32P got you covered for a few years now and with a fraction of a price ($1700)
Here are photos of what I saw:
https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd....
I wound up buying the Asus ProArt 32" and out of the box it had good light uniformity, a better matte finish, better color accuracy (using the M-Model P3 profile), and was much cheaper.
As far as this one specifically, on a physical level it's perfectly decent. I actually like that unlike the previous LG and most screens it seems nowadays, there is no camera at all. The only real irritation about it is the ginormous power brick it has, which is bigger and heavier then a Mac Mini, and on top of that has a fixed cord (a SHORT fixed cord) which I hate. I prefer having power be integrated and just using a normal power cable, but if nothing else it's irritating that even on high end electronics OEMs still don't use GaN and shrink everything a lot.
I'm no longer doing significant graphics work so haven't invested in updating color calibration hardware, none of my old stuff still works with current higher bit-depth/HDR etc screens. I'm mostly doing coding, CAD, light non-print graphics, etc. So my impressions are purely subjective. List in no particular order vs the older 5k and other screens I've used:
• Whether good luck or just (not) bad luck, quality control on the physical parts hasn't been an issue. There isn't any banding, no dead pixels, light/dark patches or the like that other comments report.
• It claims to be cutting edge in terms of IPS displays, "nano ips black" blah blah, but there isn't any significant noticeable contrast increase vs the old. It's definitely excellent for a standard IPS display but OLED/µLED it is not (though conversely I have no concerns about it being on hours a day display static GUI elements).
• Matte instead of glossy doesn't really do anything for me since I'd reoriented my office space long ago due to everything being glossy. There is a slight shimmer if I focus that bothered me a little more than new but I don't notice after a few months. I don't think it's quite as good as Apple's treatment, but for myself I'd probably just go back to glossy given the choice. YMMV based on lighting.
• It claims to be cutting edge in terms of IPS displays, "nano ips black" blah blah, but there isn't any significant noticeable contrast increase vs the old. It's solid for a standard IPS display but OLED/µLED it is not (though conversely I have no concerns about it being on hours a day display static GUI elements).
• Software situation is mediocre. I have not been able to get LG's software to perform a firmware update, it fails with odd error messages, so I haven't been able to experiment at all with some of the modes that it was advertised with. Their software wants a lot of invasive permissions and is wonky. LG support has not been helpful. Newer screens will presumably come with current firmware out of the box at some point but this was disappointing.
• Also on software, at least under macOS 15 the HDR story seems a bit odd. It's the first desktop Mac screen I've used that has an HDR toggle in the System Settings, and enabling it does make HEIC photos and a few other workflows I surveyed work more like an MBP screen. However it also causes the Mac GUI colors to get all washed out and strange, there isn't compensation there with just the toggle. The may be improved in macOS 26, or might be something one of the Studio modes will help with if I can ever get access to them, but it isn't plug-and-play here.
• If I do toggle it on, having the HDR support with true 10-bit is noticeable in working with high bit depth photos, including everything from any iPhone in awhile.
• Having TB bandwidth out of the hub doesn't matter much to me but does work and means the TB5 input isn't totally wasted. Sometimes convenient to have an extra port. This would probably be of more value for someone using a notebook which is clearly the intended use-case.
Anyway, it's fine, I needed a new screen and it gives me a noticeably improved amount of screen space for my aging eyes but is still on the right size (for me) of not being so big that I'd need a curve though it's right on the edge. I've run 2 and 3-screen (1920x1200) primary use (ie, all for regular system use vs having a secondary proof/video screen like I do now) setups in the past, and there are pluses and minuses particularly with having one be vertically oriented, but it's not bad to have so much space all as a single unified thing.
I think most people would be better off waiting, this was clearly not all baked yet when I got it and there is plenty of competition here or coming, but I'm not returning it either. I'm looking forward to hopefully finally seeing screens that will arguably be "done", basically hitting the limits of human visual acuity in all respects (or at least to the many-9s level of diminishing returns) in the next few years. And I'm also kind of curious longer term still about what effects that might have on the industry, for my entire life progress in video, unlike audio, has been constant and there was always clearly more to do. Once resolution and refresh stops and monitors are "finished" I wonder if that might be interesting for media in terms of reducing the technical rat race?
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0: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/the-complete-list-of-6k...
[1] https://www.macrumors.com/2026/01/15/new-studio-display-or-p...
But of course, you read that. So, I’ll take a hack at guessing what’s on your mind past that.
I bet it won’t be much more expensive than the LG list price, $2000. LG seems hellbent on making margins on this panel in their 1st party monitor. Ex. You can get the same panel but better quality in Asus Proart for $1300.
The key thing to watch here is, is Apple’s also 6K? If so, are they getting better panels than LG gives itself or Asus? (likely)
Regardless, it’s a shitshow with this panel, I’d rather get a used UltraFine 5K than get one of LGs. I’d try Asus if it was easy for me to return. Only new option that’s better than a 10 year old UltraFine 5K with my fellow HiDPI nerds is…the $6K XDR display :/
(n.b. I’m not being precious either, this an extremely painful conclusion I have every incentive to avoid, tl;dr I abandoned an UltraFine 5K to the trash heap because I didn’t have time to figure out how to move it 3,000 miles and assumed _surely_ there was a good option between 24-32” in hidpi…)
Here's the third party version of the upcoming 5K studio display refresh - 271KRAW16, 5K 27" 165hz glossy with mini led backlight https://www.tweaktown.com/news/109565/msi-unveils-worlds-fir...
They've been in the display game a long time. For people that need the product capabilities for their specific job, like color grading, they seem to price them quite well, given everywhere I used to see $30,000-$50,000 reference monitors, I see Studio Displays now.
Also as an owner of 2 27" 4K HDR 144Hz monitors that Apple rendered pointless to make the XDR work in the first place ("Wow, Apple's done some magic to make the display bandwidth work!" = "Apple fucked DP 1.4 users post-Catalina and will not admit it". Myself and countless other users saw our Macs that could drive those setups with Catalina be limited to 60Hz HDR, 95Hz SDR with Big Sur on. Hell, we got better performance if we told our displays to downgrade to DP 1.2).
And let's do the math:
- 6016 x 3384
- at 120Hz
- in 10 bit HDR
- 4:4:4 Chroma
works out to be just shy of 80Gbit/s.
Oh... plus if it's like the XDR with three additional ports that we'd assume should be at least 10Gbit/s each, and we're at 120Gbit/s.
Not that the XDR supports HDMI but you'd need at least HDMI 2.2, which isn't on any Mac right now.
And you'd need a full speed TB5 setup, so M4 Pro or Max (which I'll grant if you're laying out $6-7,000 for your display should be the least of your concern).
But saying that the XDR and this are comparable offerings is strange. "Hmm, why would I buy this $2,000 display now, when at some point in the near future Apple might have a better one for only triple the price!"
Pass.
"That gets close to the sharpness of higher-resolution laptops. The current MacBook Pro still beats it, though, with 254 ppi."
Macs have set the bar: let me know when you get a 254 ppi 27" inch OLED monitor.
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