LG 5k died, Studio Display long-term reviews

It’s kinda like certain podcasts saying iPhone N is not a big enough improvement over iPhone N-1 when, per another thread here, most people are comparing at least with N-2 if not further back.

The biggest lacking factor in reviews for me, is that the vast majority are done with brand new products in the space of a few days at most. My last monitor looked great for the first year, then it headed quickly in the direction of terrible. See also, car reviews!

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Adding a datapoint to this conversation: I recently purchased a nanotexture Studio Dispaly for work (my office has three walls of glass, so glare and reflictions are inevitable). My home SD does not have the nanotextue glass. There is a very noticiable reduction in text sharpness on nanotexture version; to me it’s comparable to a high quality 4K display scaled to 2560x1440. (It’s still good, but if you’re into coding (lots of small text) then you’ll almost certainly notice it)

I’ll second this. My FIL has the nano texture display, and I can get used to it, but I prefer the glossy model. The way the light is diffused with the nano texture model can also increase distraction rather than reduce it, in my experience. I can still see the light; now it just looks like a big Gaussian blur has been added to it.

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Contemplating a Studio Display vs a cheaper panel.

The premium is pretty high especially for the height adjustment “upgrade” which I would need for my set up.

However with the other set ups would need a webcam/speakers.

I have two thunderbolt displays-- one of which has lasted for about 15 years without incident so I’m reasonably confident that the Apple display will last a long time.

Will be using as a dual display with my MBP and one of the thunderbolt displays.

So this is my long winded way of asking-- those of you who have the Studio Display-- would you still recommend it?

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Yep. If I had more desk space, I think I would already have purchased a second one too.

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I’m on the cusp of ordering a second one, just waiting for the powers that be to give me the nod :grinning:

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I’ve been happy with mine (I use an LG 5k and a Studio Display.) If your desk has room for a monitor arm, consider the VESA mount route since it gives you height adjustability at the price of the base stand.

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I’ve just got a second one too.

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Would definitely buy the Studio display again.
Best display I have ever had. Sure has some downsides but it’s really really nice to work with, especially when sitting many hours a day in front of it.

Price tag is fine for my usage and enjoyment everyday :slight_smile:

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I’ve got a triple-Studio Display setup on my desk at home. No regrets.

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Having owned multiple EVs at this point, I have to argue that your analogy is incorrect. The Tesla tax is for the cool factor, not for elegance. The Kia Niro, Kia EV6, Hyundai Ioniq, and Ford Mach-E all have much better “fit and finish” than the Teslas, and (almost all) for less money. Every time I ride in a Tesla I think - “Why didn’t they get someone who knows something about car interiors to help with this thing?”

Back to the OT:
I returned my Studio Display within 10 days. I love the 5k and haven’t been able to find that good of a panel on anything else I’ve bought. But the camera, sound issues, and ridiculous price for the stand made it hard to justify in my mind. I’m really hope the next round of monitors has something that’s a step above but at the same price.

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IMO you’re going to need a webcam and speakers with the Studio Display as well.

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I’ll be the contrarian and say this really depends. I have a couple very large studio monitors that are rarely on, except for reference listening. For day to day, I just use the Studio Display speakers. They’re fine.

Similarly, when I’m on video calls, I look better than everybody else does on the calls with the Studio Display’s webcam. It’s no contest. People will comment about it. I have a Canon R6 beside my desk and a bunch of different tripods I could easily configure to act as a video camera, but there’s been no need for me to do that (although it would undeniably look fabulous).

I think the negative reviews surrounding both the camera and the speakers are overblown, and that both are pretty good for a monitor. Would it be nice if they were better? Sure. But I wouldn’t make a recommendation to replace them for everybody.

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I have two (one at work and one at home) and I have barely had any issues. In the first releases, there were some issues with sound but these were fixed with updates.

As a testament to the quality of the display, I really notice now when I use 4K displays - it’s day and night. I have also found the webcam and speakers great. I’ve had a few people ask how the webcam image is so much better than other participants in meetings.

I’ve used them for photography at work and the color quality is incredible.

The downside is that they are much more expensive than most other monitors. I had a 4K 27" Samsung before and that only cost me 350€ and that lasted me 10 years. I only noticed the flaws in that when the Studio spoiled me.

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Just curious. What did you end up with?

Another data point: my LG UK850 display (4k, not 5k) abruptly died in a very strange way (no display, but the on screen menus were displaying garbage bitmaps instead of any recognizable font). The display was a little bit more than 2 years old and at the time I had a crunch and having an external display was crucial for me, so I got same day delivery of a Samsung M7 and the fried LG display went to the recycling lot. While the pricing was right, I am now very wary of LG quality control processes now.

Your mileage may vary, of course.

I had problems with an LG 4k in the same series. I’ve heard that the Best Buy SKUs had high return rates, too. The LG5k SKUs before the most recent round of manufacturing also had higher failure rates (and the current ones are still not ASD level builds.)

Absolutely yes. A Mac computer with a 27" display needs 5k resolution. The Studio Display’s display quality and build quality are excellent. The speakers are fine, no need for external speakers unless you are the type of really needs studio monitors. The webcam is just “OK” but I’ve made my peace with it. As @snelly described above, the convenience factor of the built-in webcam outweighs the hassle factor of setting up a dedicated external camera. Video quality for Zoom conferences is better than that of most other users.

The height adjustment is easily handled by a VESA-mount monitor arm. Or two, as pictured below. Plus, a desk-mounted monitor arm frees up desk space, compared to a traditional monitor stand.

And you really need two monitors. Just do it.

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I agree 100%.

I have other webcams, and the Studio Display is far better than all of them.

And, come September, when we upgrade to the next version of Mac OS, it looks like we will be able to zoom / crop the webcam picture and most of my webcam woes will have disappeared.

(That’s all related to my needs of course)

I have 2 Dell P2715Q (4k) monitors. They’re on a desk mounted, fully adjustable vesa arm. 2 of them, the mount, the Logitech Brio Stream, the Sonos amp, and the Philips tower speakers it is plugged into was a total cost of about $2400.