Like Ken said, even though I have been a Mac user since the beginning, my reaction to the Studio Display said to be “unbeatable” was “oh, that’s just an Apple Store employee moving units.” I wouldn’t call it “unbeatable” but on the other hand, the Studio Display is definitely not a “wrong” choice if you can afford it.
If someone handed me a Studio Display, I wouldn’t push it off the desk. From what I’ve read, it does perform well for general creative applications. That Rtings website I mentioned earlier called the Apple Studio Display “the best 5K monitor we’ve tested.” The Picture Quality section of
their Studio Display review does praise its overall color accuracy, with only “OK” black uniformity” but “great” gray uniformity. So, Martin, if you’re super happy with the Studio Display, don’t let our comments make you think it needs to be returned or something, keep using it. It’s still better than a lot of alternatives.
Quote from the Rtings Studio Display review:
“The accuracy before calibration is simply exceptional. There are hardly any inaccuracies to the colors and white balance in the sRGB mode, and the color temperature is nearly spot-on with the 6500K target.…The accuracy after calibration is remarkable as you won't notice any issues, but it isn't that much better than before calibration.”
It also mentions “remarkable gradient handling” (no banding). They did say the white balance and gamma are not quite as good in the full P3 gamut mode. But it sounds more than acceptable overall. Tom’s Hardware also reported a nice low delta-E for this display.
But if someone is on a budget, or if 5K is not a requirement, many other displays become candidates. It’s a very individual choice because for example many of the Studio Display features don’t support its cost for me, because I already have a webcam, a Thunderbolt hub with lots of ports, and a good set of computer speakers. So I focus my budget on the color side of displays, and less on the non-color features.
The reason I posted the reply earlier with all of the questions is that there isn’t a single display that’s best for everyone. Depending on the use, some would be better served with a display less expensive than a Studio Display (like an accurate Dell or BenQ sRGB display), while others doing very color-critical work should consider even more expensive pro-level displays with tight QC and hardware calibration, such as the upper-end models from Eizo and BenQ.
(I use an NEC PA-series SpectraView with my Macs, but I’ve heard that NEC, who is now Sharp NEC, has discontinued the PA line after many years. BenQ appears to have taken their place as the less expensive alternative to what some consider the gold standard, the
Eizo ColorEdge line.)
