// HACKER NEWS — CYBERSECURITY
The Kuycon P20 – 28" 4500x3000px 3:2 monitor
The desire to own an Apple Studio Display has probably been hanging over most Mac desktop users since time immemorial (well, since 1998 at least, but most people are more familiar with the “modern” 2022-era look) for two reasons:
And I, too, have always wanted one. But economics and insularity are part of the reason I never got one, although that hasn’t stopped me: I’ve always been curious about what it would be like to use a credible approximation of one, but with a twist: I like taller displays.
And now, I can confirm that this is probably the best single monitor set-up I’ve used for a long while:
Disclaimer: Kuycon supplied me with a P20 free of charge (well, actually two, but that’s part of the story) and this follows my review policy.
Getting here took several months. The first panel flickered, and pressing on a corner of the monitor improved things. I suspected a partially disconnected internal connector, but couldn’t confirm the cause, although I very strongly suspect shipment damage.
I returned the first unit, but the replacement arrived without a stand, so I couldn’t use it for many weeks. And then I went on vacation, and that further delayed things…
I finally set it up (again) on our living room desk (the space I now retire to whenever I’m not working, either due to needing clear separation from work or to my 3D printers making the office too noisy) and have now been using it properly for a few weeks.
First of all, I’ve always been a fan of the Microsoft Surface Studio–not the computer itself (which was far too feeble), but its screen size and 3:2 aspect ratio. Its 4500x3000 resolution was also exactly the same as the Kuycon P20.
My preference for taller displays goes back a long way–all the way back to the huge, monochrome 4:3 DECstations I used in college, and I still prefer those proportions to the modern 16:9 default that we seem to be saddled with in this age of video consumption.
Second, I’ve been using LG panels and a combo ultrawide and portrait setup at my office desk for quite some time now, largely because ultra-wides, despite their popularity for gaming and video editing, are actually a slow-burning hindrance when researching, writing or coding because of their comparatively limited screen height.
I use my portrait display for coding, researching, final page layout stuff, and, increasingly, CAD and 3D modelling.