5K Studio Display and 4K Monitor Scaling on a Mac...

[bjlawrence11]

Do people ever scale down their 5K Studio Displays, so that their second monitor has a matching resolution? Moving between two different resolutions is my worry. Can someone advise me on the best setup?

I want to get a Studio Display for my primary and my other monitor as a heavily used secondary. My other monitor is a 32" 4K monitor that I have scaled to 3008x1692. I have no problem with the lower pixel density and I do understand there is some increased CPU taxing with scaling. Since I seem fine working with a scaled resolution, here's the question..

What might be the best resolution if I had a 27" 5K Studio Display and 32" 4K monitor? I just don't want to move things between the monitors and have things scaling up and down. I find that harder on the eyes, than working with scaled UI overall.

 

[Bigwaff]

I've got a 5K Studio Display and a 2K Thunderbolt Display sitting side-by-side. Both are set to their default scaling of 2560x1440. Windows and text stay the same "size" when I drag them from one to the other. Granted both displays are 27" but is this behavior what you are referring to when you say "scaling up and down"?

 

[tstafford]

OP: I run multiple ASDs and am a big fan. However I would argue that the main benefit of the ASD is how the monitor performs in native resolution (2560 x 1440 - "half" of 5K). If you intend to run it at a different resolution than native, I wonder if you might just be better off with a 4K display. Why pay all that money for the ASD and not take advantage of the way the default resolution works with macOS.

 

[bjlawrence11]

Thanks. I'm just figuring this all out here... and it is clear now, I need to work with one of the native resolutions, for sure.

I just think that a 27" ASD display running at "half" resolution won't give me enough room to work- things will appear too big and take up too much screen real-estate. I do find running my 4K monitor at it's native resolution of 3840x2160 makes everything far too small for eyes. Hence me scaling it to 3008x1692.

Perhaps I can run an ASD at the full 5K resolution, and run my 4K at the full 4K resolution, and dial up the OSX preferences for text and icon size?

 

[xraydoc]

Perhaps I can run an ASD at the full 5K resolution

5K native at 27" will make for some really small text!

I will say, however, that the Studio Display at scaled resolution of 2880 x 1620 (one of macOS's build-in scaled resolutions for this display) still looks fantastic and gives you a lot of desktop space with only slightly smaller text.

 

[tstafford]

Perhaps I can run an ASD at the full 5K resolution, and run my 4K at the full 4K resolution, and dial up the OSX preferences for text and icon size?

I'm probably missing something, but if you like 4K why not just get another 4K?

 

[bjlawrence11]

I'm probably missing something, but if you like 4K why not just get another 4K?

Thanks, but I work long days stairing at my monitors... I'm all in on having an apple monitor for the instant on, keyboard brightness control, and added benefits of the embedded USB-C hub, speakers and webcam.

 

[bjlawrence11]

5K native at 27" will make for some really small text!

I will say, however, that the Studio Display at scaled resolution of 2880 x 1620 (one of macOS's build-in scaled resolutions for this display) still looks fantastic and gives you a lot of desktop space with only slightly smaller text.

Thanks, I thought maybe 5K on the smaller 27" might be a bit larger, and I could meet somewhere in the middle. Good to know you're happy though!

 

[tstafford]

Thanks, but I work long days stairing at my monitors... I'm all in on having an apple monitor for the instant on, keyboard brightness control, and added benefits of the embedded USB-C hub, speakers and webcam.

Makes sense. The instant on and Apple integration don't get much pub here but they are really nice features. I love the ASDs but they aren't for everyone, that's for sure.

 

[JaredJenkinsDesign]

At least on my Studio Display and my 27" 4K monitor, I have the option to set both of them to 3200x1800 so you could go that route if you wanted consistent scaling and a bit extra screen real-estate. I personally leave both of mine on 2560x1440 as 5K is meant to be used at that resolution and the M1 machines can easily handle 2560x1440 scaled resolution on a 4K monitor.

 

[roflc0pter]

I leave mines on default as well. Text is too small with the more space resolution

 

[bjlawrence11]

OP: I run multiple ASDs and am a big fan. However I would argue that the main benefit of the ASD is how the monitor performs in native resolution (2560 x 1440 - "half" of 5K). If you intend to run it at a different resolution than native, I wonder if you might just be better off with a 4K display. Why pay all that money for the ASD and not take advantage of the way the default resolution works with macOS.

With multiple ASDs are you able to take advantage of all those speakers simultaneously? Or do you just set your primary monitor for the extras?

 

[xraydoc]

With multiple ASDs are you able to take advantage of all those speakers simultaneously? Or do you just set your primary monitor for the extras?

There is a way to create a multioutput device in MIDI control and use all the speakers in multiple Studio Displays. Sounds pretty decent. Controlling the volume from the keyboard function keys requires a small 3rd party utility, but it does work.

I have a pair of very nice Edifer speakers on my desk, so I use those instead. The speakers and webcam in the Studio Display is a nice bonus, but they weren't the primary reason for my purchase.

 

[tstafford]

With multiple ASDs are you able to take advantage of all those speakers simultaneously? Or do you just set your primary monitor for the extras?

Like above, I don't rely on the Studio speakers. I use a pair of Kanto YU2 and their sub. The Studio speakers are fine, not great.