Best Super Ultrawide Monitor for M1 Max MacBook Pro

[Chapaloo]

Hey Everyone !

Looking for the best MacBook pro M1 Max Superultrawide monitor

Has any one tried

1. Samsung Neo G9

2. LG UltraWide 49WL95C​

3. Dell UltraSharp 49 Curved Monitor - U4919DW​

I am NOT using it for gaming. I may play one or two games,

I know the samsung can get to 120 hz at 5120 x 1440. The others get to only 60 hz. Does this make a difference for productivity if I'm not gaming?

Is the curved screen of the samsung easier to look at then the less curved screen?

Looking for best quality, am surfing the web, some light editing, amazing screen, sharpest text. Planning on getting the USBC to displayport cord for connectivity.

 

[JaredJenkinsDesign]

I don't have a lot of experience with Super Ultrawide Monitors but I'll do my best to give you some advice.

For the refresh rate, a higher refresh rate will make things look and feel smoother when you're moving your cursor, scrolling pages, dragging applications etc. While it does provide a smoother experience, it's not going to help you significantly for productivity as it seems to benefit gamers more during gameplay.

For sharpness, all of these monitors will have the same sharpness since they're all 5120x1440 at 49 inches. If you want a sharper Ultrawide (although not super ultrawide), then I would look into the 40 inch 5k2k ultrawides like the LG 40WP95C-W 40” and Dell U4021QW. Both will provide sharper text and a bit more vertical resolution which is nice for productivity. Both are a bit more expensive though so I completely understand if they're outside your budget.

 

[kasakka]

First off, you are unlikely to achieve max refresh rate from the G9. MacOS is a bit **** in this regard and Display Stream Compression is often just plain broken. It will be limited to 120 Hz rather than the 240 Hz.

I do prefer high refresh rate even for desktop use.

Other aspects that may push you to go for the G9 over the others:

• Neo G9 has massively better HDR support. If it works on MacOS, which is not guaranteed.
• G9 is more curved, which in this form factor is IMO a plus.
• G9 has (to my knowledge) a more flexible Picture by Picture mode. You may find this the preferred way to use it for productivity. You just connect two outputs from the display to your Mac and use them as if you had two separate displays. You can choose between 2x 2560x1440 or 3360x1440 ultrawide + 1760x1440 "side" monitor. I really like the "side monitor" setup. You get two sets of virtual desktops this way. I use the "side display" for things like Slack, Teams, email and terminals while my main work is done on the ultrawide portion.

If this is entirely for productivity and you don't care about HDR, then consider the regular G9 or the older CRG9 as both will be a lot cheaper. I have the CRG9 and it works at 120 Hz or alternatively 100 Hz in Picture by Picture mode. Compared to the CRG9 the regular G9 is just more curved and has faster pixel refresh rates and 1xDP + 2xHDMI 2.1 instead of CRG9's 2xDP + 1xHDMI 2.0.

 

[ascender]

For sharpness, all of these monitors will have the same sharpness since they're all 5120x1440 at 49 inches. If you want a sharper Ultrawide (although not super ultrawide), then I would look into the 40 inch 5k2k ultrawides like the LG 40WP95C-W 40” and Dell U4021QW. Both will provide sharper text and a bit more vertical resolution which is nice for productivity. Both are a bit more expensive though so I completely understand if they're outside your budget.

I think this is the key bit. You're not doing gaming, so if sharp, retina-like text is a priority, you need to be 100% that the monitor you buy will give you the quality of text you need at the resolution you are going to use.

I've used the LG 34WP95C-W which is great as its 5K, so every supported resolution gave me crisp text.

With the 49", due to the lower overall resolution and HiDPI, at some of the scaled resolutions (I think the panel's native 5120x1440), I had blurry fonts, so it meant I couldn't get the most out of the screen.

 

[Seiko4169]

I have the LG UltraWide 49WL95C. Driven by a 6.1 and egpu. Resolution is fine but vertical resolution feels a little limited. I also found over time that the window placements never felt quite right as I’d use the main central area for the primary focus but the free space either side too small for useful apps. Combined with a 49” screen meant I was always kind of leaning over edge to edge. Got to the point that I’d simply use the central portion.

I did like the multi connections and half a screen each for Mac and say Xbox one was quite nice but of limited real world use.

Just be sure that you really do want that width, I prefer my 27” iMac Pro screen and 32” Samsung M8 despite their smaller screen estate.

 

[Chapaloo]

Hey guys,

Thanks for that.
So, I ended up purchasing the LG 40WP95C and its great but just too dim. I have it at highest brightness and it's just too dim to justify the price. I also got the dell 49" and the samsung neo odyssey BUT the text is much more fuzzy compared to the LG.

Can any one recommend a monitor more comparable to the Apple studio display PPI and Brightness wise.

Even though I have my heart set on an UltraWide I would be willing to sacrifice that for better specs. Should I consider the samsung m8?

 

[xraydoc]

Can any one recommend a monitor more comparable to the Apple studio display PPI and Brightness wise.

Only the Apple Studio Display and the Apple XDR displays are in that class.

The Samsung M8 is just another 32" 4K monitor. Its PPI won't make you happy.

You could try this: https://www.lg.com/us/monitors/lg-40wp95c-w though the PPI and brightness are still lower than the Studio Display or XDR.

 

[Chapaloo]

my mistake, Im actually using the LG 40WP95C. It's way too dim, even though the ppl is great.

Any other alternatives to the apple studio display?

 

[xraydoc]

my mistake, Im actually using the LG 40WP95C. It's way too dim, even though the ppl is great.

Any other alternatives to the apple studio display?

LG Ultrafine 5K

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

Unfortunately, there is no 'the best' at the moment. Depending on your wants and needs, they all have limitations. If you want the crispest image, you'll want 5k2k, and in that case I would recommend the LG 40WP95C-W. Now, if you prefer image quality instead, then there's a few more options mentioned in detail above, but none of them are perfect. Or perhaps the Alienware QD-OLED monitor, if you want to consume a lot of media. Alternatively, if you want as good specs as possible, but want to forgo the ultrawide part, there's Apples XDR Pro display, which is likely to get an upgrade along with the Mac Pro next month.

There's several new 5k1440p panels coming from LG and AU Optronics the next 12 months though, so if you can wait, I would do that, and see what comes up. 5k display development is very slow unfortunately, so we have to take what we can, and the current ones on the market are mostly *very* old (Looking at you LG!).

 

[Seiko4169]

I think the M8 is a great monitor btw. 4K resolution is nice and at 32inches it’s a great size. I’m not sure I’d look to buy the Studio display, it’s quite expensive for it is but it’s 5k and slightly ahead of the M8 in terms of brightness. Depends on your budget and eco system. I use the M8 with a variety of machines including windows.

 

[xraydoc]

I think the M8 is a great monitor btw. 4K resolution is nice and at 32inches it’s a great size. I’m not sure I’d look to buy the Studio display, it’s quite expensive for it is but it’s 5k and slightly ahead of the M8 in terms of brightness. Depends on your budget and eco system. I use the M8 with a variety of machines including windows.

I have no doubt the M8 is a fine 32” 4K monitor. But the OP asked specifically about monitors similar to the Studio Display in brightness (600 nits) and PPI (218), neither of which the M8 can approach — nor can anything else short of the XDR. So the OP has got a choice to make.

 

[Chapaloo]

The 5k2k is amazing. Super sharp.

On paper, the mac studio display is great (highest ppi and highest nits)


The 40WP95C-W is a nice monitor, BUT the nits are super low (300) and the monitor lacks serious brightness and has a bit of eye strain.

For $1700, I cant justify it.

I'm seeing some options, but none are ultrawide.

I can do with 400 nits and 140+ ppi.

Is it better to wait until more brands come out with 5k at 400+ nits?

 

[usualpulp]

The 5k2k is amazing. Super sharp.

On paper, the mac studio display is great (highest ppi and highest nits)


The 40WP95C-W is a nice monitor, BUT the nits are super low (300) and the monitor lacks serious brightness and has a bit of eye strain.

For $1700, I cant justify it.

I'm seeing some options, but none are ultrawide.

I can do with 400 nits and 140+ ppi.

Is it better to wait until more brands come out with 5k at 400+ nits?

i've read there should be more monitor tech coming real soon using oled and comparable screens from other companies using similar lighting as the neo g9.

From what i found there is just simply no perfect solution so i got a 38" LG as a get by screen until something better comes along or prices drop on the 5k2k lg you got.
Though i cant imagine not being bright enough my 38" lg is so bright i had to turn it way down, but im sensitive to brightness.

 

[Chapaloo]

i've read there should be more monitor tech coming real soon using oled and comparable screens from other companies using similar lighting as the neo g9.

From what i found there is just simply no perfect solution so i got a 38" LG as a get by screen until something better comes along or prices drop on the 5k2k lg you got.
Though i cant imagine not being bright enough my 38" lg is so bright i had to turn it way down, but im sensitive to brightness.

Is that 38" LG a 5k2k? Are you referring to the

LG 38WN95C-W?​

Great Monitor. It has 450 nits. the 40" only has 300 nits.

Have you had any eye strain with this monitor ? How do texts and stuff show up on this monitor? The ppi is similar to the other samsung monitors, so is it super sharp for you ?

thx

 

[usualpulp]

Is that 38" LG a 5k2k? Are you referring to the

LG 38WN95C-W?​

Great Monitor. It has 450 nits. the 40" only has 300 nits.

Have you had any eye strain with this monitor ? How do texts and stuff show up on this monitor? The ppi is similar to the other samsung monitors, so is it super sharp for you ?

thx

i have the "gamer" version of that model the gn950 since it was cheaper but theyre basically same minus the gamer features.
so far everything looks pretty good to me, it shows as a hidpi display on my m1 macbook pro with monterey
i had to drop the resolution just a tad with switchresX to make it readable for my eyes but the text looks good to me better than my 27" 1440 screen i use on the side.

only eye strain i had was just getting used to a curved display after a couple days eyes adjusted.
I'll be using this until larger displays come down in price or 5k ultrawide becomes more widely available.

If you have costco membership in the US. its on sale , and they have a very very liberal return policy.

 

[Robdmb]

Unfortunately, there is no 'the best' at the moment. Depending on your wants and needs, they all have limitations. If you want the crispest image, you'll want 5k2k, and in that case I would recommend the LG 40WP95C-W. Now, if you prefer image quality instead, then there's a few more options mentioned in detail above, but none of them are perfect. Or perhaps the Alienware QD-OLED monitor, if you want to consume a lot of media. Alternatively, if you want as good specs as possible, but want to forgo the ultrawide part, there's Apples XDR Pro display, which is likely to get an upgrade along with the Mac Pro next month.

There's several new 5k1440p panels coming from LG and AU Optronics the next 12 months though, so if you can wait, I would do that, and see what comes up. 5k display development is very slow unfortunately, so we have to take what we can, and the current ones on the market are mostly *very* old (Looking at you LG!).

Are these panels potential replacements for the 5k2k panels (like the 34" 5k2k from LG) or something entirely different?

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

Are these panels potential replacements for the 5k2k panels (like the 34" 5k2k from LG) or something entirely different?

Different, since they are 5k1440p panels. But the current LG 5k2k panels are very old (5 years!), so the new panels will likely have much better specifications, other than the resolution of course.

 

[Ray&Paula]

I think this is the key bit. You're not doing gaming, so if sharp, retina-like text is a priority, you need to be 100% that the monitor you buy will give you the quality of text you need at the resolution you are going to use.

I've used the LG 34WP95C-W which is great as its 5K, so every supported resolution gave me crisp text.

With the 49", due to the lower overall resolution and HiDPI, at some of the scaled resolutions (I think the panel's native 5120x1440), I had blurry fonts, so it meant I couldn't get the most out of the screen.

I've been looking at 27" - 32" monitors for the past couple weeks for my Late 2021 16" MacBook Pro M1 Max. Wanting an external monitor for FCPX and ON1 Photo Raw. You have me intrigued about the LG 34WP95C-W. I took a look on the LG site which doesn't show that model but, it did show a model 34WK95U-W which may be a newer one (2018). Spec's seemed to be good along with 600 nits for HDR. I would love this size of screen but, I want to be able color grade properly along with having proper scaling / resolution for FCPX, ON1 and whatever else that might come along. Drawbacks on that model is 3 star on their site along with being an older monitor. With that being said, over the past couple weeks everything I've looked at had some issues of some kind. I feel for anyone that's looking for a decent monitor.... it's tough.
I have a couple questions if you don't mind?
1) I normally edit in 4k 3840x2160. Was there a setting for that resolution? If so, did it fill the entire screen properly?
2) As for the crisp text, did you have to set that to an special setting? I've read that 40" ultrawides have some issues with the text being too small and when enlarged it's somewhat blurry. I believe those were the 1440's.
3) Do you find that 600 nits is good for it's HDR?
If your answers are positive, I'll start looking up to that range...... Your input would be sincerely appreciated. Thanks

 

[ascender]

I've been looking at 27" - 32" monitors for the past couple weeks for my Late 2021 16" MacBook Pro M1 Max. Wanting an external monitor for FCPX and ON1 Photo Raw. You have me intrigued about the LG 34WP95C-W. I took a look on the LG site which doesn't show that model but, it did show a model 34WK95U-W which may be a newer one (2018). Spec's seemed to be good along with 600 nits for HDR. I would love this size of screen but, I want to be able color grade properly along with having proper scaling / resolution for FCPX, ON1 and whatever else that might come along. Drawbacks on that model is 3 star on their site along with being an older monitor. With that being said, over the past couple weeks everything I've looked at had some issues of some kind. I feel for anyone that's looking for a decent monitor.... it's tough.
I have a couple questions if you don't mind?
1) I normally edit in 4k 3840x2160. Was there a setting for that resolution? If so, did it fill the entire screen properly?
2) As for the crisp text, did you have to set that to an special setting? I've read that 40" ultrawides have some issues with the text being too small and when enlarged it's somewhat blurry. I believe those were the 1440's.
3) Do you find that 600 nits is good for it's HDR?
If your answers are positive, I'll start looking up to that range...... Your input would be sincerely appreciated. Thanks

Sorry, I'm not the best person to ask as my workflow doesn't really involve HDR, colour grading or even photography & video work sorry.

For point 2, it's the ppi on screens you need to pay attention-to as that's what will ultimately determine what HiDPI resolutions are supported by the screen. If you do a search for the model number, you should get a thread which will include the available resolutions and hopefully also be able to answer your other questions.

 

[Ray&Paula]

Sorry, I'm not the best person to ask as my workflow doesn't really involve HDR, colour grading or even photography & video work sorry.

For point 2, it's the ppi on screens you need to pay attention-to as that's what will ultimately determine what HiDPI resolutions are supported by the screen. If you do a search for the model number, you should get a thread which will include the available resolutions and hopefully also be able to answer your other questions.

Thank you for your help. DPI is defiantly important, that's the one thing that apears to be lacking in the wider screens. It would be nice to find for example, a 40" that could be used in split screen using 4k 3840x2160. With that being said, I don't believe they exist. I'll take a deeper look into the 34" and ultrawides a little more. Thanks again, appreciate your input. 👍

 

[InquiringMac]

Any Retina screens over 40" coming next year, please?

 

[cobaltlemon]

There are no options if you want an ultrawide monitor for proper use on macOS.

• I have a 49" 5120x1440 monitor. The text looks abhorrent on it. (109 ppi)
• I purchased the LG 40" 5120x2160 monitor, hoping this would solve my issues. It's much better, but the text is still blurry. Also, it only has a brightness of 300 nits, which is not very good. (139 ppi)
• I recently purchased a Studio Display. It looks gorgeous, and the text looks fantastic. The problem is that it's a relatively small monitor and a macOS 1440p monitor. You must purchase multiple monitors to compensate for the lost screen real estate. I plan to return this. (218 ppi)
• The final option is to buy a $4000 used Apple Pro Display XDR or pay $5000 for a new one. It still wouldn't be ultrawide, so attempting the same workflow wouldn't be possible. This seems crazy; why would I spend $5000 on a reference-like monitor to see sharper text on a bigger screen? (218 ppi)

After going through all of this, I'm stumped. I have no idea what Apple is thinking with their display scaling choice.

 

[resolutiontime]

There are no options if you want an ultrawide monitor for proper use on macOS.

• I have a 49" 5120x1440 monitor. The text looks abhorrent on it. (109 ppi)
• I purchased the LG 40" 5120x2160 monitor, hoping this would solve my issues. It's much better, but the text is still blurry. Also, it only has a brightness of 300 nits, which is not very good. (139 ppi)
• I recently purchased a Studio Display. It looks gorgeous, and the text looks fantastic. The problem is that it's a relatively small monitor and a macOS 1440p monitor. You must purchase multiple monitors to compensate for the lost screen real estate. I plan to return this. (218 ppi)
• The final option is to buy a $4000 used Apple Pro Display XDR or pay $5000 for a new one. It still wouldn't be ultrawide, so attempting the same workflow wouldn't be possible. This seems crazy; why would I spend $5000 on a reference-like monitor to see sharper text on a bigger screen? (218 ppi)

After going through all of this, I'm stumped. I have no idea what Apple is thinking with their display scaling choice.

Is your 49" monitor the Samsung G9? Have you tried a 110 PPI, IPS Ultrawide from LG or even Dell? Did that solve the text clarity?

 

[cobaltlemon]

Is your 49" monitor the Samsung G9? Have you tried a 110 PPI, IPS Ultrawide from LG or even Dell? Did that solve the text clarity?

The difference between 109 and 110 PPI makes no difference. You will not magically get clarity at 110 PPI.

The reported PPI of the XDR is not 220 or 218. It's 216. The Ultrafine 5K is 218, and so is the Apple Studio Display. I share this to show that there isn't a need for an exact match.

110 PPI does not solve text clarity. The lower the PPI, the lower the clarity. 110 PPI will always be worse than anything higher than that number.

109 is 1/2 of 218, which would be the perfect PPI.

But 109 PPI on a 49" monitor will put you much further away from a Retina experience. The whole point is so that you don't see individual pixels. That combination is going to be pretty bad. And generally speaking, the higher the PPI, the more crisp text will appear.