Ableton Forum

Found a good deal and I want to upgrade to a 28inch - 4K monitor. Is Live 10 suitable for 4K monitors or the GUI will look super tiny?

Any 4K users in here? Opinions?

Did you try the search?
There was definitely some issue with running 4K displays at some point. You'd need to tweak some settings; on some machines it would require lot of fiddling etc...
This topic doesn't show up anymore so I guess this was improved in the last 2 years or so. I don't remember correctly. You should definitely do a search.

I did search, but I founds threads 5 years ago, so as you said technology and DAW's evolved. But I would like to have opinions from actual users in 2022. There may be issues with third party plugins or even Live. I find hard to believe that there are no 4k users among this forums in 2022.

last email wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 14, 2022 9:45 pm

Found a good deal and I want to upgrade to a 28inch - 4K monitor. Is Live 10 suitable for 4K monitors or the GUI will look super tiny?

Too tiny! IMO 4K requires 32" at least ... and btw G-Sync displays seem to lead to issues outside gaming world.

I have a 28" Samsung and at 4K resolution I have to sit like 3 inches away from the screen to read the desktop icons. 4K aint all that its cracked up to be unless you're talking 32"+ displays. Sure Ableton/Logic/Cubase are able to fit EVERYTHING on screen, but good luck reading the text in the Arrangement or the mixer at that point. 27" and 2K is perfect, 4K is going to give you a headache unless you've got some Superman vision.

I use a 27inch 5k iMac and Ableton looks glorious with no issues

Terrorbeat wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 15, 2022 3:59 pm

I have a 28" Samsung and at 4K resolution I have to sit like 3 inches away from the screen to read the desktop icons. 4K aint all that its cracked up to be unless you're talking 32"+ displays. Sure Ableton/Logic/Cubase are able to fit EVERYTHING on screen, but good luck reading the text in the Arrangement or the mixer at that point. 27" and 2K is perfect, 4K is going to give you a headache unless you've got some Superman vision.

If i don't use the OS's scaling, sure - everything looks tiny on my 4K LG.
But using the macOS's 'Looks like 2560 x 1440' option (or Window's 150% scaling) it looks great, like 2K res but sharper.

garyboozy wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 15, 2022 4:55 pm

Terrorbeat wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 15, 2022 3:59 pm

I have a 28" Samsung and at 4K resolution I have to sit like 3 inches away from the screen to read the desktop icons. 4K aint all that its cracked up to be unless you're talking 32"+ displays. Sure Ableton/Logic/Cubase are able to fit EVERYTHING on screen, but good luck reading the text in the Arrangement or the mixer at that point. 27" and 2K is perfect, 4K is going to give you a headache unless you've got some Superman vision.

If i don't use the OS's scaling, sure - everything looks tiny on my 4K LG.
But using the macOS's 'Looks like 2560 x 1440' option (or Window's 150% scaling) it looks great, like 2K res but sharper.

Which is exactly how mine is set.

Yup, another vote for MacOS scaling. Looks sharp and crystal clear on my 4K monitor.

Shift Gorden wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 15, 2022 11:49 pm

Yup, another vote for MacOS scaling. Looks sharp and crystal clear on my 4K monitor.

Just watch it if you're using built in Intel GPUs.. The Mac actually upscales the display signal to 5K in this case and then scales it down to 2K (4K down to 2K is an uneven scale factor so it upscales it). My poor Mac mini had some hiccups with the MacOS GUI in general running at 'looks like 2K'. I bought an eGPU last month and threw the RX570 from my Mac Pro in it and that took care of that problem and actually knocked about 20% off the CPU meter in my Live projects on top of it..

Shift Gorden wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 15, 2022 11:49 pm

Yup, another vote for MacOS scaling. Looks sharp and crystal clear on my 4K monitor.

garyboozy wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 15, 2022 4:55 pm

If i don't use the OS's scaling, sure - everything looks tiny on my 4K LG.
But using the macOS's 'Looks like 2560 x 1440' option (or Window's 150% scaling) it looks great, like 2K res but sharper.

Actually I’m on windows 10, but they do offer up-scaling features. How many inches are your monitors?

Terrorbeat wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 16, 2022 2:26 am

Just watch it if you're using built in Intel GPUs.. The Mac actually upscales the display signal to 5K in this case and then scales it down to 2K (4K down to 2K is an uneven scale factor so it upscales it). My poor Mac mini had some hiccups with the MacOS GUI in general running at 'looks like 2K'. I bought an eGPU last month and threw the RX570 from my Mac Pro in it and that took care of that problem and actually knocked about 20% off the CPU meter in my Live projects on top of it..

I don't have a dedicated GPU. My pc has a Ryzen 7 pro 5750ge with a built in Radeon graphics. Jumping to a 28" or 27" 4K monitor, and using Windows 10 upscaling to 150%, am I risking to jump in any issues?

last email wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 16, 2022 7:10 am

Shift Gorden wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 15, 2022 11:49 pm

Yup, another vote for MacOS scaling. Looks sharp and crystal clear on my 4K monitor.

garyboozy wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 15, 2022 4:55 pm

If i don't use the OS's scaling, sure - everything looks tiny on my 4K LG.
But using the macOS's 'Looks like 2560 x 1440' option (or Window's 150% scaling) it looks great, like 2K res but sharper.

Actually I’m on windows 10, but they do offer up-scaling features. How many inches are your monitors?

Good point, Terrorbeat. There is definitely a GPU impact on Mac when using Live. Those fans go a little nuts (I have a high spec MBP whatever the last model was before the M1).

last email - my monitor is actually a 42" Sony Bravia, mate. I sit about a foot away from it.

last email wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 16, 2022 7:10 am

how many inches are your monitors?

27"