Monitor suggestions appreciated

[Eggtastic]

I've been driving myself nuts for a while now looking for a new monitor for my M1 mbp. I am a casual user but would like to buy something that will be sort of future proof (I know that doesn't exist in the tech world) so I don't mind spending a little more.

Right now I have a Dell u2515h that I got years ago. Even for my casual usage I went for it ($250 at the time, geared towards creatives which I am barely one besides minor photo editing) and it's been great. It still looks great now even side by side with my retina mbp. Text doesn't look as crisp, it's not 4k, and can't charge my mbp so there's that.

I was looking to go up in size and of course go for 4k. Here's my list which won't make sense to a lot of you but here we go...

Dell Ultrasharp U3223QE : It doesn't come cheap. Appears to offer great picture quality, usb-c charging, etc. Downside is it's 60hz but I am not hardcore gaming on here (just some emulator/retro type of stuff) mostly web browsing and some light work. However, might miss on not having that smooth scrolling down the road and with this price it's annoying it doesn't have that feature.

LG c3 42": This is the one I actually almost bought a few times but upon more research there are more steps required to make it function like a monitor. Despite being a TV it seems people who have gone this route are praising it over LCD monitors. I have an OLED for the living room and it's great. It would appear this would beat out dell ultrasharps with picture quality, size, etc. but would not compare with the functionality of an actual monitor (also burn in potential).

Why these choices? It probably doesn't make sense because they are completely different use cases. To be honest I just liked what I researched about them. Mainly size, screen quality, etc. I considered LG Ergo but the reviews appear to not be great. I considered cheaper end Dell 4k 32" monitors but then (from what i gathered) I lose out on screen quality and usb c functionality. Not really looking for any gaming type of monitor with the obnoxious designs.

Oddly enough, I am not considering the Apple Studio Display I know it pairs well with the mac and see a lot of you are happy with yours. I just want something bigger and the price is a bit steep.

Any suggestions would be appreciated even beyond my list. Attached is my current set up. Again works for me but want to beef it up with more screen real estate and maybe some decent speakers.

 

[drrich2]

Ordinarily I, too, aim for some future proofing, but regarding the Dell, I've got to wonder...if that's $676 (Amazon's price, checked just now, at 18% off) for a 32", 4K monitor, albeit with USB-C capability, do you think maybe something like this (currently) roughly $300 Philips 27" 4K USB-C hub monitor would be more practical:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08KFLY9DQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

See if you're happy with it. As for future proofing, here's a different kind of future proofing - take the $375 you save, wait a few years, then if you wish buy another $300-400 monitor that hopefully by that time will be bigger and/or higher resolution and fuller featured (e.g.: perhaps Thunderbolt?). No guarantees, of course, but tech. is one segment that tends to deliver more for your money over time (wish our groceries from Walmart did that). For example, let's say in 4 years 120-Hz refresh rates are pretty standard in 4-5K monitors, or a 32" 6K 120-Hz Dell is $500 - 600. You still gonna be happy if you bought that Dell you're looking at now?

I'm not saying the one I linked is the greatest, but it was preferred in a PC Magazine roundup for 4K monitors, IIRC, I do have one for connection to an old MacBook or notebook PC, and you can find reviews for it.

https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/philips-brilliance-279p1 (A 2021 Editor's Choice).

Philips Brilliance 279P1 USB-C Monitor Review: A Port Lover's 4K Best Friend

A 4K USB-C monitor with respectable image quality

www.tomshardware.com

Philips 279P1 Review - Gadget Review

www.gadgetreview.com

If your heart is set on 32"+, my suggestion won't do.

Since you want 4K, I take it you want crisp resolution. What does 4K look like on a 42" screen close up reading standard text, on a device intended to be viewed from several feet away? I haven't tried this. Since resolution, not screen size, determines what the monitor displays, are you wanting things 'blown up' on a larger screen?

Often when people look to larger screens they want more 'real estate,' more content displayed, but some just want the same amount enlarged. If you're not computing from several feet away, what advantage do you see a 42" display offering you?

P.S.: Regarding the Dell you mentioned, the Amazon page claims 75 Hz refresh rate, but 2 others sources claimed 60 Hz, like you. I think the 60 is accurate.

 

[Fishrrman]

I have the Dell you mentioned above.

It's actually very nice, very sharp, good colors, but be aware that there's some backlight bleed on these. Mine has some, but it's only a "visible issue" when viewing older B&W movies and tv shows in a dark room. I probably could have sent it in for exchange, but then I might have received another one where it was worse.

Re the 42" tv idea...
There are at least a few "computer displays" (i.e., NOT "tvs") being made in this size now. You have to decide if you really want something that large. A 42-43" flat panel in front of you (running at pixel-for-pixel 4k) would probably require one to sit relatively close (because of text size), and when you do that, you'd have to "move around" to see one end vis-a-vis the other...

If you're looking for 27" 4k...
Take some time to read reviews (amazon is a good place) for some various ones out there.
Dell, LG, Viewsonic, etc.

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

I've been using the LG OLED 48" (C1, perhaps) for 3 years.
It perfectly meets my requirements of screen estate; text visibility, text size etc... at its native resolution and refesh rate. No burn in yet.
The only thing I don't like about it, is when I only reada text base web page like reading online documents; or do some word editing, the auto dimming function kicks in every 5 minutes...

 

[Eggtastic]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

 

[Eggtastic]

I've been using the LG OLED 48" (C1, perhaps) for 3 years.
It perfectly meets my requirements of screen estate; text visibility, text size etc... at its native resolution and refesh rate. No burn in yet.
The only thing I don't like about it, is when I only reada text base web page like reading online documents; or do some word editing, the auto dimming function kicks in every 5 minutes...

Just curious how far you sit away from your 48" C1? I have a Karlby countertop and if I were to get the 42" and push it back far enough I believe it wouldn't be too much of an issue with text reading and noticing the difference in ppi.

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

Just curious how far you sit away from your 48" C1? I have a Karlby countertop and if I were to get the 42" and push it back far enough I believe it wouldn't be too much of an issue with text reading and noticing the difference in ppi.

I sit about 1.2m (4 feet) away from my 48" TV. As I use a (4x8 feet) dining table, not a normal working desk.
Normally, I would reduce the active windows to the center of the screen (equivalent to 24~27" windows), while placing other windows to the 4 corners.
The feeling is just like working with four 24" displays in front of me, without the black bezel.

 

[iStorm]

I saw this video the other day where a guy compares 4 separate monitors vs. one large display. He made some good points between the two that I never thought of before, but maybe you have. (full screen videos taking up the whole display, rather than a corner; one menu bar vs. multiple menu bars; viewing angles)

 

[drrich2]

I saw this video the other day where a guy compares 4 separate monitors vs. one large display.

Very interesting! It's worth mentioning he compared a 55" 4K OLED t.v. to 4 4K non-OLED 27" monitors and found the price (including monitor arms) about the same. I got the impression the 55" had roughly similar 'screen space' to the 4 monitor setup.

Now here's what struck me as really odd. Although the t.v. was perhaps 1/4th the resolution of the 4 monitor setup (and he indicated he could see the difference, although he didn't talk about that a lot, show much comparison of visible text sharpness, etc...), he indicated the image quality on the OLED t.v. was substantially nicer.

So, the OLED had nicer image quality (in his view) despite being noticeably lower resolution. Given that brand name 4K 27" monitors (he used Dells) tend to have good image quality to begin with, that surprised me.

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

I bought my 48" to play games and watch movies from a distance.
When working with text, I move my chair nearer to the screen and reduce the windows size.
And I love my setting.

From 1.2m distance, you can't really tell the difference on texts (4k resolution on 48" TV vs 1080p on 24" display). Black level of OLED screens is much better than common edge LED screens.

 

[meson]

Just curious how far you sit away from your 48" C1? I have a Karlby countertop and if I were to get the 42" and push it back far enough I believe it wouldn't be too much of an issue with text reading and noticing the difference in ppi.

At work, I use a 32" 4k LG monitor and run it at native 3840x2160. I sit about 24"-27" away and find the menubar and menus readable. For text heavy apps, I do tend to bump up the default font size a couple points or adjust the zoom percentage of the window a bit, just so that it's still easy to read when I lean back in my desk chair. The screen real estate is awesome and allows me to use the Rectangle app to divide he screen into 6 areas to snap windows to and use keystrokes to size windows into quadrants. This has eliminated my need for two screens for my workflow.

At home, I built and set up a bar during the pandemic to serve as a place to entertain and to be my home office. There, I use my laptop and an old 21.5" AOC 1080p display and have a 42" TV mounted on the bar that I can connect via HDMI or use with AirPlay. If I'm using the AOC monitor, it's at around my normal 24"-27" distance, and now that Apple has more or less killed off sub pixel antialiasing, it leaves a lot to be desired (primary reason my work screen got much larger and higher resolution), but it does work just fine. At about 60" away is my 42" 4k TV. It takes up about the same portion of my field of view as the 21.5" screen at normal viewing distance. The TV looks great when rendering at 1080p at that distance, but changing the scaling is a bit much for my eyes to handle as I get older, early 40s now. I suspect that somewhere around 36"-42" would put a 42" TV in a spot where the full 4k resolution is suitable for me and reduce the head movements to a reasonable level.