Though relatively high costs is a perennial complaint about Apple’s popular Studio Display, the 5K resolution monitor with a fair number of bells and whistles continues to gain fans willing to pay. Today’s setup belongs to a gamer with a MacBook Pro and a gaming PC, plus a Studio Display and a 240Hz OLED monitor.
He said if the house caught fire and he could only choose one display to save, it’d be Apple’s.
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Even Mac and PC setup’s killer 240Hz OLED monitor can’t touch Studio Display
The 27-inch Apple Studio Display packs an impressive panel coupled with a six-speaker system and studio-quality microphones.
It’s not as beautiful as Apple's Pro Display XDR, but the Studio Display costs thousands less.
- Crystal clear 5K resolution
- Excellent color accuracy
- 12MP Center Stage camera
- Expensive
- Lacks HDR
- Height-adjustable stand costs extra
Redditor Kokimo69 showcased the dual-computer, dual-display setup in a post entitled, “4K 240Hz QD-OLED + 5K Studio Display.” He uses a MacBook Pro with both the 27-inch 5K Studio Display and the 27-inch Asus ROG 240Hz OLED monitor, which features 4K resolution. But only the latter, high-refresh-rate screen gets use with the gaming PC, which is out of the frame in the photograph.
“My PC is to the left of this image,” Ko said. “My Macbook is centered between the two displays. This makes it easier for my brain to associate both displays with the Macbook, but only one display (left) with the PC.”
“And which of the monitors is better in the picture?” asked a commenter, echoing a common question in the post.
“If a fire broke out and I could only take one monitor with me, I would take the Studio Display,” Ko replied. “The OLED has high refresh rate and dark blacks, but aside from that the Studio Display wins every other category.”
Studio bests 240Hz OLED monitor for these reasons
So he went on the describe how Apple’s display wins for the following features, especially related to better text clarity due to the higher pixel count:
- Sharpness
- Design
- Built-in speakers that are just stunning for a display
- Built-in mics
- Built-in webcam
- 600 nits of sustained brightness (which is more than the OLED)
“Even the colors of the Studio Display give the OLED a run for its money. They are very rich and punchy considering it’s “old” LED technology,” Ko added. “Problem is, all that goes out the window when I want to play games, since that is PC only. The OLED is king there.”
And when someone asked if he finds text clarity much different between the two monitors, he said, “observable differences, yes; meaningful differences, no.”
The question of scaling
Another commenter brought up a common concern about scaling.
“What about scaling? What size is the 4k? Do you use the 4k with 1x scaling?” they asked. “I’d really like a higher res high refresh rate monitor. But I’m afraid that the text would be too small with 4k 1x and too blown up with 2x scaling.”
Ko replied: “Both monitors are 27 inches. Technically the 4K monitor is 26.5 inches. I use standard scaling on the Studio Display (aka 5120×2880 scaled down to 1440p). I use 1440p scaling on the 4K monitor as well, so both displays are identical in scale. I agree that running a 4K display at 200% scaling (i.e. 1080p) is too large, but native 4K is too small. 1440p is a good middle ground.”
What about brightness?
Another person pointed out the brightness differences between the two displays — 600 nits max on Studio Display, 250 on the OLED — and wondered if it bothered Ko.
“It only becomes an issue during the brightest hours of the day. This desk is located in a sunroom, so it’s not surprising,” Ko replied. “They both still hold up well, but the Studio Display’s sustained 600 nits of full screen brightness is the clear winner when it comes to brightly lit working environments.”
He added that his experience with more than half a dozen OLED displays over the years is they’re always brighten than LED or LCD displays, “so the argument that OLED displays shouldn’t be used in bright spaces never made much sense to me. Just make sure you turn off energy saving mode on the OLED and you should be just fine.”
Shop these items now:
Asus model PG27UCDM features a blazing fast 240Hz refresh rate and 0.03ms response time for gaming, plus a custom heatsink, Neo Proximity Sensor, G-SYNC compatibilty, 99% DCI-P3, true 10-bit color, DisplayPort 2.1a and a 3-year warranty.
Computers:
- 14-inch M2 Pro MacBook Pro
- 12.9-inch iPad Pro
- PC laptop
Displays:
Input devices:
Audio:
Furniture:
- Autonomous standing desk with Vivo pull-out tray/platform
If you would like to see your setup featured on Cult of Mac, send some high-res pictures to [email protected] (iPhone pics usually work fine). Please provide a detailed list of your equipment. Tell us what you like or dislike about your setup, and fill us in on any special touches, challenges and plans for new additions.
