Thankfully, its standard dynamic range performance is great, so even if you can’t get the nice dynamism of a brighter screen with HDR, the colors will still look true to life, with a sharp picture to boot.Īlso, because it’s only got a 60Hz refresh rate, it’s not ideal for gaming on if you’re already spoiled by the silky smoothness of a higher-refresh monitor like you’d find in some of the best gaming monitors (even the more affordable options). At best, it’s disappointing, but at worst, buyers might think they don’t like HDR or feel like, somehow, they’re doing something wrong by not getting the desired result. If you’ll forgive a little soapboxing, calling this HDR is a little bit of marketing deception and it’s confusing to people who buy it for that reason. The result ends up being a grayish, flat image, or the opposite of what HDR is supposed to promise. Without it, things can look fairly muted, which might be appropriate on, say, 1987’s “ Robocop” but can make more richly colored movies dull by comparison.īeing only a 400-nit display without local dimming (that is, hundreds or thousands of LEDs that turn on and off to increase contrast), you really can’t expect much out of the LG UltraFine 4K as far as high dynamic range goes. High dynamic range, or HDR, has been sort of a buzzy marketing term for a while - in a good, bright TV or monitor (think on the order of 1,000 nits), it can lend an extra dimensionality to video and images by raising the brightness of bright colors to make them pop while keeping shadows tuned lower, helping out with contrast. Speaking of which, the menu itself is a breeze to sift through when you need to make quick, on-the-fly adjustments to picture or power saving settings. Switching inputs is quick with the little control nub on the bottom edge of the display. There’s also a 3.5mm audio jack, so you can connect your computer speakers to it if you want. The monitor has decent port selection for video use, at least - two HDMI ports and a single DisplayPort option make it easy to use with multiple computers. True, it has no speakers, built-in webcam or USB hubs of any kind, but you can pick up all of those things separately, and if you’ve been shambling around as long as I have, you already have those things lying around. Although it shows its affordability in its limited port selection, cheap-feeling plastic and missing features, the consistent color and brightness spanning it makes it feel as though you’re using a much more expensive display when you’re not thinking about any of that. Wes Davis/CNN UnderscoredĪt $400 and often on sale for significantly less (I bought mine for $200), the LG UltraFine 4K is a great display for the price. The LG UltraFine 4K is equipped with two HDMI ports and a single DisplayPort. The effect is minimal, though, and I don’t really see it unless I’m trying to.Ĭheap where it needs to be with good port selection However, if you sit close to your display with the top bezel about at eye level, you’ll see dim, washed-out colors at the bottom eighth or so. The backlight is even across the screen, and color, as long as you’re looking straight on, is nicely uniform. That’s plenty for a decently bright room, but if you have a giant window behind you, it’ll probably look a little subdued. It’s also a bit dimmer - the MacBook Air can reach 500 nits brightness, whereas the LG only reaches up to 400 nits. Pre-calibration, it was a touch cooler in tone compared to my M2 MacBook Air, but afterward, it was more than close enough for blues. In the month I’ve spent with this monitor so far, it’s been crisp, with great color accuracy that makes it perfect for working with RAW images in Photoshop, though you may need to do a little work to get it there. It’s not going to perform as well as many of the pricier options, of course, but the difference is smaller than you’d think - at least for office or creative work. LG makes some of the best panels in the business, and that’s reflected in this display. The LG UltraFine 4K has great color accuracy and after calibration compared well to the M2 MacBook Air.
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