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Ask HN: 5K 27“ computer monitor recommendation?

30 points by thoughtpeddler ↗ HN
I'm looking for a 5K 27" computer monitor but it seems there is literally only one option on the market: the LG/Apple UltraFine 5K 27" display.

I prefer this resolution at this size because it amounts to 220 PPI, which is 'Retina' (HiDPI) at macOS's native integer scaling.

Apparently there were a few models some years ago, such as the Dell UP2715K, the HP Z27q, and the Philips 275P4VYKEB, but they're discontinued. Other options like the Planar IX2790 and the iiyama XB2779QQS are impossible to find now. What's the solution here?

There's a glut of 4K 27" monitors on the market but to get Retina, you'd have to run them downscaled by 4x to 1080p, which is less than ideal.

24 comments

[ 4.8 ms ] story [ 68.1 ms ] thread
henriquez
The LG 5K Ultrafine is all but discontinued. There are basically no realistic aftermarket “retina” monitors currently.
stevencorona
I have two of those Planar’s.

Pros: 5K over a single display port is great. Awesome price. Glossy finish, same form factor as the 27” iMac. Costumer support is good.

Cons: Expect lots of dead pixels, burn in/ghosting. I RMAed two of them for these issues and the replacements had the same problems.

BoorishBears
What about a 4k ultrawide? (Proper 4k, proper ultrawide)

https://us.msi.com/Monitor/Prestige-PS341WU

Tagbert
2160 vertical pixels is a difficult fit.

* At 1x, UI elements are very small unless it is a very large monitor.

* At 2X, you have 1080 addressable resolution which looks clunky at larger sizes. Fractional scaling can be blurry and can tax the video card more.

* 5K with 2880/1440 is just enough better at most sizes.

Matthias247
Those are essentially wider 27" 4k monitors. If the OP wants a true retina screen which is perfectly suitable for 2:1 scaling those are not a better option.
vsskanth
Agree with you on internet scaling. 4k 24" or 27" isn't that good at 1.5x scaling even in Windows which has native support for fractional scaling.
thoughtpeddler
Exactly. Apple knows this and that's why they offered the LG 5K UltraFine to begin with. The greatest mystery is why there's been no "mid-market" Apple-branded display to supersede the Thunderbolt Display.
musicale
It's too bad that the iMac doesn't support Target Display mode anymore.

I've been pretty happy with the 5K Ultrafine.

Besides availability, the tricky part may be matching the display interface, as the LG is Thunderbolt only.

thoughtpeddler
Alas, outside of crazy hacks like this one (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzTVe6aVgww), there's no way to use the 5K iMacs as an external display :(
musicale
Sad that Apple abandoned Target Display Mode with the Retina iMacs, though pre-Retina models support it (2011-2014 via Thunderbolt, 2009-2010 via Mini DisplayPort.)
tonyedgecombe
I've been pretty happy with the 5K Ultrafine.

Me too, the only issue I've had is it can be a little slow coming out of sleep although that is probably a problem with my Mac Mini rather than the monitor itself.

foobarbazetc
I bought a HP Z27q on eBay and it’s great.

Only screen that works with dual mini-DP input from a 2013 nMP.

thoughtpeddler
I'm glad that's working for you. Ideally the monitor I'm imagining would have a single USB-C/Thunderbolt connector into my Mac.
whatever1
Apart from the Planar that has QC issues there is nothing else. The PC / monitor industry has decided that 4K should be enough for every desktop pc user. Don’t forget that until the arrival of DP1.4 you couldn’t even feed a 5k display with enough data using one cable. Plus the fact that Dell and HP discontinued their 5k offerings shows that the demand was likely low (which is to be expected given their price and their incompatibility with laptops).

There is an 8k currently sold by Dell, but it is out of most people’s budget (>$3.5k)

mayoff
I have an LG 5K plugged into my iMac Pro and really the LG is just as good to my eyes.
pheug
Tried HP z27q for a month under Linux with Cinnamon, didn't like it. Being a DP 1.2 monitor, 5K resolution is implemented as an ugly hack using MST and two displayport connections. The system views it essentially as two independent monitors. Stuff like maximizing windows just plain doesn't work, you always work on half the screen, window panels are half sized, etc. Some work went into fixing user experience on GNOME, but for Cinnamon the maintainers are not interested in proper support for MST and I'm not interested in switching DEs. The situation is a better in newer monitors with DisplayPort 1.4 though, which gets rid of MST. But these are only Planar and Iiyama which you say you have problems sourcing. My monitor examplar also every so often would randomly flicker for a few minutes on a cold start, which also contributed to my decision to get rid of it.

My recommendation is to just get a 4K 27". Much more options and similar enough PPI, you would hardly tell the difference. Well, you won't have the perfect 2x scaling without stuff looking too big, but most desktop environments today support fractional scaling and/or you can play with your font sizes. I have 2x scaling now on 4K 27" with smaller font sizes, stuff looks about as good as what I had on 5K.

imagetic
90% of the reason I'm still on an iMac is the screen, 10% is cause I prefer macOS over Windows, but 0% because of what's inside of it. But I'm a photographer who does a lot of media production work, both still and video. So far, I haven't found a screen other than the iMac/Cinema Display's that hold up over time.

The only alternative I've been satisfied with LG UltraFine 5K.

We had some LG 27UD69P's as budget screens on some edit bays, they're 4K 27" displays, I believe the 27UL850-W is the current model. Nobody has hated them.

I haven't had much luck with the Dell's or HPs, even on the higher end displays. Color washes out after a year or so. Hard to get them to match unless you pull two from the same batch out of the box on the same day.

ksec
The only company that is making 5K Res panel is LG. And all the Monitor you mentioned above were using the same LG panel.

Unfortunately as with everything manufacturing you need scale. And the volume of 5K panel is tiny by today's standard.

schappim
If you can afford it, jump straight to the 30" Pro XDR. It is pricy but a great screen.

I also have two of the LG/Apple UltraFine 5K 27" displays and both suffer burn-in (strangely the iMacs we have w/ the same panels do not).

throwaway98797
I recently got ultra fine, anything you recommend to prevent burn in?

Are yours the old version or the refresh?