I’ve spent the last 18 months working from home, using my MacBook Pro with an additional 14″ USB-C Dell Monitor. I bought the USB monitor a while ago, I wanted something portable that would give me additional screen space but in a portable and compact unit.
Last week I moved into a new office. With more space available to me I decided I’d return to the setup I used for years. MacBook Pro, with an additional larger monitor as my primary display. I’ve got an Apple Magic Trackpad and Magic Keyboard that I’ve had for years, still going strong. But I needed a new monitor to complete the setup.
Having always used Dell monitors I opted for the 27″ 4K model S2725QS. It’s the HDMI version rather than USB-C, and as 4K monitors go it’s at the cheaper end of the spectrum.
Unfortauntely, it’s the first Dell Monitor I’ve been slightly disappointed with out of the box. The image appeared dull, lacking in vibrancy, and I had weird ghosting issues and a kind of patchiness.
Fair enough, I’ve moved from using my 2025 MacBook Pro which has the best screen I’ve ever seen, to this new monitor. They were bound to be different. But I was pretty close to putting it back in the box and returning it. Here’s what I’ve done to get the best out of it.
Monitor Settings
Brightness/Contrast: Set brightness to 100%. It’ll use more power but it better matches my Mac. Contrast is currently 80%. I may change that, but this feels about right for now.
Color: I’m using Custom Color but actually have everything set at the defaults.
Display: Sharpness is set to 100, Response Time is ‘Normal’, Dark Stablizer is ‘2’ and Smart HDR is turned off.
Mac Settings
In the Mac Display Settings I’ve opted for the middle resolution (3008 x 1692). The refresh rate is set to 120hz and the color profile seems best using sRGB IEC61966-2.1.
Good Enough
Being a long-term Mac user it’s easy to forget quite how good their displays are compared to almost anything else. I don’t have the budget for a fancy Apple display, but had hoped that this new Dell would be good enough. And honestly, it is. Of course it is. Having a large 4k monitor is a luxury, not a necessity.
I’ve also grown used to ‘plug and play’. Back in the day we were used to fiddling with the settings to get things working right. These days we expect things to just work. And sometimes they don’t.
I put this out there to help anyone else who has this setup and wonders why the screen doesn’t look right. I hope the suggested settings above help.