Help me choose a HiDPI monitor for work
It looks like we’re finally getting some real options in the space, so I’m interested in people’s thoughts and experiences! I’ve been running a pair of LG 27MD5KL monitors forever, and they’ve...
It looks like we’re finally getting some real options in the space, so I’m interested in people’s thoughts and experiences!
I’ve been running a pair of LG 27MD5KL monitors forever, and they’ve been largely great - but they’re really showing their age at this point, and I’m being forced to upgrade either way because my new job requires using a Windows laptop (likely a Dell Pro 14, but TBC), and those old LGs use an esoteric dual link DP variant that only Apple supports. I’ll also be keeping my personal MacBook Pro, so smooth compatibility with both is a must. Use will largely be software work: lots of documentation, lots of terminal windows, lots of dark mode, but some design review work as well where decent colour accuracy helps.
Options I’m seeing at the moment are:
- Asus ProArt PA27JCV
- Asus ROG Strix XG27JCG
- LG 27GM950B
- BenQ MA270S
- Apple Studio Display
- Apple Studio Display XDR
I get the impression that Apple’s the better option where possible, but I’m concerned about compatibility, especially when I don’t directly control the choice of laptop. If anyone has real world experience on that one I’d be interested, especially the difference between “technically works on non-Apple laptops” vs “is an equivalently good experience on non-Apple laptops”.
I’m guessing just using separate inputs for each laptop will be fine on whatever I go for, but I’m open to getting a KVM if needed (L1Techs? I haven’t actually checked how hard it is to find one that supports 2x 5K yet…). Couldn’t immediately see anything that’ll take Thunderbolt input from the Mac and HDMI input from the Windows laptop and push both to Thunderbolt output, which might otherwise have been a way to bridge the Apple display question.
Probably going for 27” 5K rather than 32” 6K, unless there’s a compelling argument for the latter. I briefly tried a Dell 32” 6K a few years back and other than horrible backlight bleed, sitting that close to a 32” display ended up feeling like I was craning my neck rather than moving my eyes to see edge to edge.
So, what do people think would be best here?
Sending up a bat signal for @gary and @ButteredToast - you guys both know your stuff on this one!