For instance, if you’re still using Apple’s Thunderbolt Display on a regular basis, you won’t notice much of a difference as far as text fidelity is concerned. If you don’t use a Retina display on a daily basis already, then such a predicament won’t even be an issue for you. After about a week of constant usage, my eyes began to get used to reading text that was just a tad blurry when compared to my MacBook Pro. I really wanted to make it work, though, so I persevered through a little bit of eye strain. Going from Retina to non-Retina can be taxing on the eyes for sure, especially when reading text. Having such little real estate pretty much negates the benefits of having an UltraWide display, so the best choice is to try to live with the “non-Retina” look of the monitor.Ĭould I do it? Well, I’d be lying if I said it was easy. Sure, you can use third-party utilities in an attempt to enable HiDPI mode, but then you’d still be looking at a max resolution of 1720 x 720. How “Retina” HiDPI mode would look on the UltraWide - not practicalĪt 3440 x 1440, the 34UC98 doesn’t really have that luxury.
Because these monitors have enough real estate to run in HiDPI mode, you get the benefit of a large screen that looks as good as your MacBook Pro with Retina display with regard to text sharpness. That’s what makes 4K monitors, and to an even greater degree, 5K monitors, so desirable. That issue, of course, revolves around clarity.Īs someone who is accustomed to Retina (HiDPI) displays, transitioning back to lesser clarity was going to present the biggest challenge. How does this new display fit into my workflow? Does having a so-called UltraWide display make a difference? The issue with resolutionīefore I even received this monitor, I knew that I would have to overcome one major issue if I was going to be able to use it long term. LG’s 34UC98 UltraWide IPS monitor is not only extremely wide at 3440 x 1440, but it’s curved as well. With this in mind, I’ve been looking forward to going hands-on with a 21:9 display. The extra horizontal real estate is also a nice option for watching movies shot with a 2.39:1 aspect ratio. With the recent popularity of extra-wide 21:9 monitors, I’ve come to understand that width can make a major difference in managing timeline-based editing workflows as well. When it comes to editing video and audio, the bigger the monitor the better. As someone who uses timeline-based apps such as Logic Pro X and Final Cut Pro X on a regular basis, horizontal display real estate is incredibly important to me.