# 5k vs 4k monitors



## PeterG (Nov 19, 2020)

I am looking at changing my external monitor and looking at a 27 inch monitor (thinking 32 inch may be too big). Is there much of a benefit going for a 5k rather than 4k monitor.  I have read there are disadvantages to a 5k at that size " Extreme pixel density makes image evaluation much more challenging "?


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## mcasan (Nov 20, 2020)

I am moving from 27" iMac 5k to Mac mini hooked to Dell UP3216Q.   Give me the 32" screen anytime.    Much as to do with the distance your sit from the screen and if you have multiple apps open at the same time or will do one app full screen.


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## PeterG (Nov 22, 2020)

mcasan - Many thanks. I am using a  4k laptop (about to move from a  Microsoft Surface Book to Dell XPS 15 inch) and have two separate monitors, but they are only 1920x1080, so not much use for Lightroom. Therefore looking to upgrade one of the monitors. 32 inch seems enormous for my desk. I thought that I would get more benefit for Lightroom from going for the 27inch 5k rather than the 32 inch 4k.


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## clee01l (Nov 22, 2020)

PeterG said:


> I thought that I would get more benefit for Lightroom from going for the 27inch 5k rather than the 32 inch 4k.


You need to consider the GPU in the computer.  You need a speedier GPU with more VRAM to handle 5K.  Mac sure that your  laptop can handle the 5K before you spend your money

The 4K 21.5" iMac comes with Radeon Pro 555X with 2GB of GDDR5 memory.   The 5K 27" iMac comes with Radeon Pro 5300 with 4GB of GDDR6 memory.   The reason is for video performance.


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## PeterG (Nov 22, 2020)

It has an NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1650 Ti 4GB GDDR6.  Dell tell me it can run 3 monitors including an  an 8k monitor.


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## davidedric (Nov 22, 2020)

1920 x 1080 no use for Lightroom?  Mine is a bit bigger 1920 x 1200, and we get on fine, though I suppose my standards are modest.

I'm sure I'm not alone, though,


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## Johan Elzenga (Nov 22, 2020)

davidedric said:


> 1920 x 1080 no use for Lightroom?  Mine is a bit bigger 1920 x 1200, and we get on fine, though I suppose my standards are modest.
> I'm sure I'm not alone, though,


When I create tutorial videos about Lightroom or Photoshop I set my screen to 1920x1080 because that is the size of Full HD video.


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## Conrad Chavez (Nov 22, 2020)

1920 x 1080 works fine, but it can be a little cramped because Lightroom Classic can’t show as many side panels at once, vertically. So you might scroll more often because you can’t see as many folders/collections/options at once. Also, at 1080 pixels tall minus UI, a vertical image is displayed with so few pixels that it’s hard to do any detail work without magnifying. 1920 x 1080 is the minimum size in the Lightroom Classic system requirements.

Higher resolution displays are nice because all of the above problems are reversed: You can see more side panel information at once, and a vertical image at Fit magnification show more detail. But what Cletus said is important, not only because your graphics hardware must be able to draw 4K to 6K worth of pixels fast enough. 4K equals 8.3 megapixels, and 5K equals about 15 megapixels. This is important because of what we’ve observed about Lightroom Classic performance: Performance complaints seem to go up on higher resolution displays, and it’s thought that this is at least partially related to the sheer number of pixels Lightroom Classic has to re-render with every edit. For comparison, my 27" 2560 x 1440 pixel display is just 3.7 megapixels to update, and I often wonder if that’s a major reason Lightroom Classic seems to perform well on my unremarkable Core i5 CPU.

Related: The higher the display resolution, the bigger your 1:1 previews and default Standard previews are going to be, so if you use those preview sizes and the size of your Lightroom Classic previews file already takes up  a significant part of the free space on your storage volume, decide how you want to handle that if you increase your display resolution. For example, change default preview sizes or migrate to a bigger volume.



Johan Elzenga said:


> When I create tutorial videos about Lightroom or Photoshop I set my screen to 1920x1080 because that is the size of Full HD video.



That is an example of where 1920 x 1080 is the right thing to do. A big problem with video tutorials is that some people demo with their large displays set to 2560 x 1440 or higher, so when they post their videos, menus and tools are too small to see on smaller displays. When a video tutorial is 1920 x 1080, everything is easy to see on most display sizes…so thanks for doing that!


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## Replytoken (Nov 22, 2020)

Conrad Chavez said:


> Higher resolution displays are nice because all of the above problems are reversed: You can see more side panel information at once, and a vertical image at Fit magnification show more detail.


While you do get more side panel information with higher resolution monitors, a physical size bump may also be necessary unless you are fine with everything being smaller.

--Ken


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## Gnits (Nov 22, 2020)

Remember having spent the money on a 5k screen, bought/upgraded a gpu to help drive it, your existing cpu has now to work harder to create increasingly large previews... so if trying to process a large number of raw files places an increasing batch processing load on the cpu and disk i/o. 

So adding high res, large monitor creates extra load on all main hardware components.


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## mcasan (Nov 23, 2020)

Can't wait for my M1 iMac to arrive on Friday.   Based on all the Youtube reviews I have seen, the Mini can do a 4k or 5K monitor at 60Hz using its integrated GPU.   I will hook it up to a Dell UP3216Q at 4K.


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## TimothyKemperle691 (Nov 24, 2020)

@mcasan - that is exactly what I plan on doing.  My PC is getting to the point where I am having issues and instead of building a new one I plan on going to a M1 Mac Mini.  I currently have a 32" monitor (1920 x 1080) and a 27" monitor.  I am considering upgrading the monitor from dual screens to a ultrawide screen.  I would have the room for a 38" (Viewsonic VP3881) on my desk and measuring it out it is close to the current setup I have, however, I would be able to push it further back on my desktop which would be even better.  

My question - How is it to use Lightroom on one ultrawide versus dual displays.  As a side note, due to Covid I am working from home with the same monitor and utilize a KVM switch...it would likely be beneficial to use one monitor for this was well.


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## Zenon (Nov 24, 2020)

What I found with my 5K monitor is smaller Jpegs look bad. More jaggies unless you downsample to about a minimum of 3600 on the long side. Some sites don't allow that size so if I post a smaller file I not sure what others are seeing. Jpegs opened in PS are sized correctly but are half the size to what I was used to seeing on my old screen. It was an adjustment.


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## PeterG (Nov 24, 2020)

Zenon - What size is your 5k monitor? Would you buy a 5k rather than 4k again?


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## Zenon (Nov 24, 2020)

2019 - 27" iMac. When I replace it I may not have any choice. If was was going to do it again I'd probably get the 5K again. While it as a little frustrating at first  I do like the resolution and I developed work arounds. One site resamples poorly so I upload full size files to Flickr and link full size tp the site. It downsamples and looks good but they are a little big. I keep experimenting with different sizes to post. If I want to see how my final results look exporting from LR 3,600 looks good on the screen in preview. I double the size to view it in PS although don't  use PS much these days. I just send files from LR for advanced cloning.


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## mcasan (Dec 10, 2020)

Ended up replacing my Dell UP3216Q with a Lenovo P32u-10.   It is 4K, wide gamut, and does TB3 with passthrough.   So I connected the monitor to the Mac mini and on the other side of the monitor I have my Netstor enclosure (houses the RAID set) and a G-drive HDD which is used for Time Machine backups.  The monitor has 3 year warranty.  It originally listed for $1399 and is on sell at Lenovo for $699.


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## mariah1902 (Dec 29, 2020)

Yes it is true so go for 4k. 4k monitors are good enough and you will never be in need f 5k monitors. Most of the videos that you will be playing normally would be 4k or 1080p so why would you waste your money on 5k?. Wait for 1 more year then you can buy it when all the people will be using 5k as regular video quality. Even when I play videos online most of hem are 1080p so why would I bother to buy a 5k tv?.


PeterG said:


> I am looking at changing my external monitor and looking at a 27 inch monitor (thinking 32 inch may be too big). Is there much of a benefit going for a 5k rather than 4k monitor.  I have read there are disadvantages to a 5k at that size " Extreme pixel density mak


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## Bluebamboo (Feb 11, 2021)

To my mind 27" 4k is the sweetspot, on a 32" then 5k may be a good option.


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## TimothyKemperle691 (Feb 11, 2021)

I ended up purchasing a ViewSonic 38" Ultra Wide monitor. (VP3881).  Since I have been working from home the monitor has a dual purpose of connecting to my work laptop as well as for my personal use.  I like that I am able to break the screen into multiple grids (usually 3) for work.  I also like the use with Lightroom.  I am contemplating switching to a Mac Mini M1 once Lightroom fully supports it but currently on my PC Lightroom works great.  

The monitor also filled out my desk perfectly...almost looks like it was built for it.


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## Bob_B (Feb 11, 2021)

I settled for an ASUS ProArt 32" 4K. Pricey, but I think it'll satisfy my needs, and I wanted to go with one single monitor with my new computer build.


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## PeterG (Feb 11, 2021)

Bluebamboo said:


> To my mind 27" 4k is the sweetspot, on a 32" then 5k may be a good option.


Are there any 32 inch 5k monitors, I can't find any?


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## Bluebamboo (Feb 11, 2021)

PeterG said:


> Are there any 32 inch 5k monitors, I can't find any?


That's a good question, I just assumed there was as the thread seemed to allude to the fact there is a choice.
There is always the Dell UltraSharp UP3218K 32" 8k at a bargain $3999


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