A Spectrum One you can ACTUALLY Buy! 144Hz 4K HDR
Dough sent me the new Spectrum One 4K with an updated Gorilla Glass with DXC display, and I’ve used it for a couple of weeks with my MacBook Pro. It’s very similar to previous Spectrums, with one very important change in how you can get it.
The display
A 27-inch 4K display, bright and beautiful. The new optional Gorilla Glass with DXC gives you the benefits of glossy, like more sharpness and contrast, while cutting way back on glare. There are still reflections when you or something behind you is lit, but with the display on and in use, you don’t see much.
The body is all plastic like its predecessors, but it’s one of the best-looking displays out there: slim bezels all around, no logos or crazy lights, and a power button and on-screen-display joystick with a slew of ports on the back. The stand is sold separately, two pieces of metal, pretty solid, with height adjustment and 90° rotation. With my usage it’s very stable, with basically no wobble.
- Sharpness: a 27-inch 4K is 163 ppi, sharp at native 4K or scaled to 1080p.
- Brightness: up to 450 nits for SDR, plenty for anywhere I’d use a desktop display, and HDR600 compatible, up to 750 nits peak, which made HDR videos look really good.
- Dimming: 16 dimming zones turn on and off for contrast. HDR content was enjoyable, but they don’t offer much benefit, since something is always lit across most of the screen.
- Color: 98% of P3, and very close to Apple’s own displays out of the box.
UGREEN sponsored this video, with its Nexode Pro 100 W GaN charger.
Refresh rate and ports
Variable refresh rate, similar to ProMotion on MacBook Pros and iPads, configurable in macOS settings. You can turn on an on-screen FPS counter and watch the rate change as you play games that support high refresh. There’s also 1 ms response time, G-Sync and FreeSync support, and backlight strobing. Beyond games, it’s nice for everyday scrolling and animations; motion just looks smoother.
Four display inputs: two HDMI 2.1 ports, a DisplayPort, and DisplayPort over USB-C. I use one USB-C cable to my MacBook for data, video and up to 100 W of power. There are extra USB 3.1 ports for a mouse, keyboard or SSD. Connect one computer over USB-C and another over HDMI or DisplayPort plus the USB-B connection, and you have a full KVM: your peripherals switch when the display does.
The Mac scaling issue
The biggest issue on a Mac isn’t Dough-specific; it’s all 4K displays. Apple likes elements to stay the same size on any display, so an icon is the same size on a 15-inch MacBook Air and a 5K Studio Display. On a 27-inch 4K, native resolution makes things too small, and Retina pixel-doubling makes them a little too big. What I want is the size macOS prefers at 27 inches, and you can choose it, but then text isn’t as crisp and edges get fuzzy, because you’re scaling to a non-1:1 resolution. Zoomed in, the pixel-doubled text is sharp and the scaled text is fuzzier. Not everyone cares, and if you’re happy with the size, great.
The big change: you can actually buy it
You should now be able to order it from a reputable store, B&H. That’s a massive and much-needed change, because Dough, formerly Eve, has a not-so-great reputation. I won’t spend long on it, but they’ve had trouble shipping orders for years. Being able to order from B&H and use them for returns or canceling a backordered order is huge for consumers.
On support, I’m still on the fence. A couple of years ago I bought an Eve Spectrum off eBay because they kept delaying my order. The joystick on the back fell apart, and I couldn’t get anyone to help. I emailed and tweeted and never heard back. On this one, in HDR, I noticed a slight zone-dimming issue causing a horizontal dark area. I reached out to Dough, and they’re promising a replacement. I think the company is working hard on shipping and support, and I’ll let you know how it goes.
Verdict
Not a lot differs technically from other versions, but if you like glossy and want reduced glare, this should help.
Links
- UGREEN 100W Charger: Ugreen Nexode Pro 100W Charger(15% OFF )
- Ugreen Nexode Pro 160W Charger(15% OFF )
- Ugreen Nexode Pro Series(15% OFF)
- Ugreen US Official Store (15% OFF )
- Buy the Spectrum One from B&H
- Buy the M3 MacBook Pro
- Apple Studio Display vs Eve (Dough) Spectrum 4K
- My Charging Partner: Ugreen Amazon store
- https://www.threads.net/@jerryschulzeonyt
- My iPhone Art
- Grovemade Desk Mat and Knife (save 10% JERRY10)
- UNLIMITED Cloud Backup for your Mac with Backblaze
In this video
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