One Monitor for Everything: Mac, PC and PS5

I’ve got another monitor in the studio. And this one is interesting.

On paper it’s meant to be pretty much the same as the Studio Display XDR. Same 5K resolution. Same number of dimming zones. But it’s a third of the price. And unlike the Studio Display, you can plug in a PC, a PS5, whatever you like. So there’s a lot more you can do with it.

The question I wanted to answer was simple. Is it actually as good?

This is the LG UltraGear evo GM9. Here’s how I got on with it.

Out of the box

First thing that caught me off guard was the power brick. It’s huge. Genuinely ginormous. It’s a shame it isn’t built in, because you’re going to have to hide that thing somewhere.

In the box you also get cable management clips, an HDMI cable, a DisplayPort cable, and a USB-C to USB-C cable. That USB-C cable is the one you want for a MacBook. It carries data and power, so you get a proper one cable setup.

The base of the stand is big and heavy, and it’s metal, which is nice. Best part is the setup is screwless. Clicks together in a few seconds.

It is a matte panel though, not glossy. I prefer glossy, so that stung a little at first. But matte finishes have come a long way. I run a matte OLED gaming monitor in my own setup and it looks amazing. Matte used to be a real compromise. Now it’s barely one. And if your room has a lot of light, matte is what you want anyway.

It’s a thick boy. It’s not OLED, so it doesn’t have that skinny profile. Against a wall you won’t care.

Plugging in

I connected my MacBook with the included USB-C cable. I’d recommend using that one, because it’s built to give you the full 5K and everything just works.

And it did. Straight away.

It looks really good. Super sharp. Even as a matte panel it looks vivid, and next to my MacBook display it holds its own. It’s got that pop of contrast you expect from mini-LED. The only thing I noticed is the colours looked a touch more yellow than my Mac. More on colour later.

The wallpaper on screen is the 3D Circles Wallpaper Pack from PlatSupply. If you like it, check them out.

Why 5K is the real story

Most people don’t understand how good 5K is for productivity.

At 27 inches you’re getting 218 pixels per inch. On a Mac that means perfect scaling when you run the 2560×1440 option, because it scales up cleanly to the 5K panel. Text is razor sharp.

Here’s the part people miss. 4K is 8.3 million pixels. 5K is 14.7 million. That’s a huge jump in screen real estate. I’m coding, designing, editing video and editing photos every single day, and having that extra space is genuinely useful.

Some people want 32 inches instead of 27. That’s personal preference. For a few people it’s a dealbreaker. I think 27 inches is a great size for productivity, especially at 5K, and it’ll be fine for most people.

The refresh rate is a highlight

This does 5K at 165Hz, which is brilliant if your GPU can push it.

My M4 Max MacBook Pro hit 144Hz at 5K over the included USB-C cable. Over HDMI I could get the full 165Hz at 5K. I stuck with USB-C because it gives me data and power over one cable, and HDMI only gives me data. For most people 144 vs 165 is not something you’ll notice, so I was happy to make that trade.

Then there’s Dual Mode. It lets you switch to 330Hz at 1440p. If you’ve got a PC and you play first person shooters or anything fast, that’s a great experience on this thing.

Mini-LED is the reason to buy it

This has mini-LED with 2,304 local dimming zones. That’s one of the best counts of any monitor this size.

What that means in practice is the blacks can go properly black. Like OLED, it can turn the LEDs off in dark areas, so the contrast is excellent. Honestly, I think this is one of the best reasons to even consider this monitor.

Because OLED still has two problems. Brightness and burn-in. My friend Ali from Optimum Tech did a video on his OLED after 3,000 hours and there was some burn-in. Nothing major, but it was there. If you use a monitor hard for productivity with the same menu bar, dock and static elements sitting there all day, burn-in will come eventually. Mini-LED doesn’t have that risk.

Where it falls short

It’s not perfect, and there are a few things to keep in mind.

Brightness maxes out at 1,250 nits. That surprised me, because the Studio Display XDR does 2,000. I don’t know why LG didn’t go all the way. 1,250 is still bright, and it’s fine in a well-lit room, but it’s a real gap.

There’s also a brightness bug. When I push the settings it gets super bright, almost too bright. Then over time it slowly dims. It’s so gradual you don’t notice at first, and then suddenly you realise it isn’t as bright as you set it. It feels like a software issue, and I hope LG patches it.

The corners and edges are dimmer than the middle. That’s common on IPS panels, but it’s a bit more noticeable here. Once you’re actually working you forget about it, but it’s worth knowing.

Then colour accuracy. Out of the box this isn’t calibrated well. I’m spoiled by the Studio Display XDR and the MacBook display, which Apple ships incredibly accurate. This isn’t that. If you’re doing photo editing, video editing or design work, you’ll be disappointed until you calibrate it. You’ll want a colorimeter to get it right. Just go in knowing it won’t look right on day one.

The thing the Studio Display can’t do

Here’s the big one. Ports.

You get HDMI and DisplayPort. So you can plug in a games console. I hooked up a PS5 and there were no scaling issues. The PS5 only outputs 4K, but the monitor just scales it up to fill the display with no loss of sharpness. It looks amazing.

You cannot do that with a Studio Display XDR. This is a huge point in the GM9’s favour. One monitor, and it does everything.

GM9 vs Studio Display XDR

If I compare them directly, the Studio Display XDR is the better panel. I was hoping LG would match it and it doesn’t quite.

The design is the obvious miss. The GM9 is mostly plastic with LED lighting on the back and a bit of a gamer look. The Studio Display is aluminium and looks stunning, but that build is a big part of why it costs what it costs. Then there’s brightness, 1,250 vs 2,000. And colour accuracy, where I’d pick the Studio Display every time for serious editing.

But the Studio Display XDR is more than three times the price.

You can get the GM9 on Amazon right now for around $1,000. I know $1,000 is still a lot of money. But for everything you’re getting, I think that’s a bargain. There’s nothing else quite like it.

Who it’s for

If you want one monitor that’s great for productivity but can also handle a games console or a gaming PC, this is one of the best choices out there right now.

It’s not perfect. But there’s no such thing as a perfect monitor.

My personal ideal is two monitors. That’s what I actually run. A Studio Display XDR for productivity, and an LG OLED that goes up to 480Hz for gaming. But not everyone has the space or the budget for two displays.

If that’s you, the GM9 is the next best solution. And it’s a really good one.

The quick verdict

What I liked:

• 5K at 27 inches is brilliant for productivity. 218 PPI, perfect scaling on a Mac, and way more screen space than 4K.
• Mini-LED with 2,304 dimming zones gives you deep blacks and great contrast, without the burn-in risk of OLED.
• HDMI and DisplayPort mean you can plug in a PS5 or a gaming PC. One monitor that genuinely does everything.

What I didn’t:

• Colour accuracy out of the box is poor. If you edit photos or video, you’ll need to calibrate it first.
• 1,250 nits is well short of the Studio Display XDR’s 2,000, and there’s a brightness bug that slowly dims the panel over time.
• The build is mostly plastic with a gamer look, and the power brick is huge and external.

Not perfect. But at a third of the price of the Studio Display XDR, and with the flexibility to run everything, I think it’s a bargain.