I’ve had the Studio Display hooked up to my Mac for over a year now and it works fine and has crisp text, lovely colours, a single cable for power and display, etc. etc.
But I’m finding it really cramped and I really miss 120Hz refresh rates so I’m back on my monitor bullshit to see what’s on the market these days for someone that wants loads of desktop space as well as high refresh rates.
Unfortunately, macOS looks like trash on non-Retina screens at native resolution/100% due to a lack of sub-pixel antialiasing since Mojave. I can fiddle around with font smoothing settings via terminal commands and BetterDisplay, but compared to Windows or even Linux, text just doesn’t look as good on the same monitor. From Apple’s point of view, all their displays are Retina/HiDPI so there’s no need for subpixel antialiasing, but that leaves us in the situation where if you want an external display there’s a compromise to be made.
That leaves me with three monitor options if I want to keep using macOS:
- Triple 27" 4K 120Hz+ @ 200% or 150%
- Triple 27" 5K @ 60Hz @ 200%
- 31.5" 6K monitor 60Hz @ 200%
But if I go to Linux/Windows I have more options available to me as when not in 200%/HiDPI/Retina mode, text is way better than on macOS.
- Triple 27" 1440p 120Hz+ @ 100%
- Triple 24" 1080p 120Hz+ @ 100%
- Single 42" 4K 120Hz+ @ 100%
- Single 40" 5K2K 120Hz @ 100%
Here’s the amount of desktop real estate I get with each option. The 200% modes I’ve halved to be equivalent to 100% - e.g: I’d see the same amount of stuff on screen with a 5K monitor at 200% as I would on a 1440p monitor at 100%, but the 5K will be “retina” quality.
- Triple 27" 1440p 120Hz+ @ 100% - 11,059,200 pixels
- Triple 27" 5K @ 60Hz @ 200% - 11,059,200 pixels
- Single 40" 5K2K 120Hz @ 100% - 11,059,200 pixels
- Single 42" 4K 120Hz+ @ 100% - 8,294,400 pixels
- Triple 27" 4K 120Hz+ @ 200% - 6,220,800 pixels
- Triple 24" 1080p 120Hz+ @ 100% - 6,220,800 pixels
- 31.5" 6K monitor 60Hz @ 200% - 5,308,416 pixels
- 27" 5K monitor 60Hz @ 200% - 3,686,400 pixels
I’ve also got to worry about price, some of these monitors are not cheap! 3x 1080p or 1440p monitors are by far the cheapest, but a single 42" 4K OLED TV isn’t far behind and you get that OLED goodness (with caveats that I’ll get to later).
- Triple 24" 1080p 120Hz+ @ 100% - 3x Philips Evnia 24M2N3200S, $567
- Triple 27" 1440p 120Hz+ @ 100% - 3x Viewsonic VX2728-2K-180, $897
- Single 27" 5K monitor 60Hz @ 200% - Samsung LS27C900PAEXXY, $1,395
- Single 42" 4K 120Hz+ @ 100% - LG OLED42C4PSA, $1,634
- Triple 27" 4K 120Hz+ @ 200% - 3x AOC U27G3X, $2,037
- Single 40" 5K2K 120Hz @ 100% - Dell U4025QW, $2,399
- 31.5" 6K monitor 60Hz @ 200% - Dell U3224KB, $2,882
- Triple 27" 5K @ 60Hz @ 200% - 3x Samsung LS27C900PAEXXY, $4,185
Dollars per megapixel of desktop space:
- Triple 27" 1440p 120Hz+ @ 100% - $81.11
- Triple 24" 1080p 120Hz+ @ 100% - $91.15
- Single 42" 4K 120Hz+ @ 100% - $197
- Single 40" 5K2K 120Hz @ 100% - $216.92
- 27" 5K monitor 60Hz @ 200% - $378.42
- Triple 27" 4K 120Hz+ @ 200% - $327.45
- 31.5" 6K monitor 60Hz @ 200% - $542.91
- Triple 27" 5K @ 60Hz @ 200% - $378.42
With that info, here’s my thoughts on each setup:
macOS options:
-
Triple 27" 4K 120Hz+ @ 200% - don’t get as much of an increase in desktop space and quite expensive at around $2,100, also not sure 3x 27" displays will fit on my desk and would need a new Mac to handle 3x displays
-
Triple 27" 5K @ 60Hz @ 200% - the most expensive option, also need to buy a new Mac to handle it, only 60Hz, might not be able to fit on desk
-
31.5" 6K monitor 60Hz @ 200% - expensive, only 60Hz and not that much of a boost in desktop space to justify the cost, but at least I could keep using my current Mac. Loads of desktop space though!
PC options:
-
Triple 27" 1440p 120Hz+ @ 100% - the most desktop space, not that expensive, but unsure if all 3x would fit on my desk and I’d need to get a new PC
-
Triple 24" 1080p 120Hz+ @ 100% - the cheapest setup so least risk, not as much desktop space but will fit on my desk
-
Single 42" 4K 120Hz+ @ 100% - the LG OLED is the only 40" 4K display, OLED is great for games but I’ve got text clarity concerns (WOLED panel & RWBG pixels) and 42" is a big unit
-
Single 40" 5K2K 120Hz @ 100% - the Dell U4025QW is a cool monitor, loads of desktop space (the same as a triple 27" setup due to the extra height 2160 vs 1440) but pretty expensive
Not sure what to do here. Each setup has good bits and bad bits. All the 100% ones I’d need to ditch the Mac, but the 200% ones I’d need a new Mac anyways which isn’t cheap.
My heart says buy the LG OLED and see how it goes, but I can’t return it, even with a re-stocking fee, if I don’t like it after a week at home.
The Dell U4025QW is tempting but it’s so expensive at $2,399.
I doubt 3x 27" monitors will fit on my desk properly, so I might end up just going the cheapskate option with 3x 1080p monitors, but I’m not thrilled at the modest jump in desktop space.
Gonna contemplate this a little more, particularly considering all those three options I listed in this conclusion also require me to build a new PC as none of my current PCs (which to be fair are over 10 years old!) can handle 3x monitors at 120Hz.
