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Hands-On With LG's 32-Inch 4K UltraFine Ergo Display

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LG offers 4K and 5K UltraFine monitors designed in partnership with Apple, which can be purchased through the Apple Store as an alternative to Apple's own super expensive Pro Display XDR, but those haven't been refreshed since 2019 and the 4K model is sold out from Apple's site.


LG also makes other UltraFine monitors not promoted by Apple, including the new LG UltraFine Ergo, which we thought we'd check out in our latest YouTube video for those looking for newer LG technology.

LG's new UltraFine 4K Ergo monitor comes in at 32 inches, which is larger than both the 27-inch 5K UltraFine and the 23.7-inch 4K UltraFine displays that Apple offers in its online store. It's also affordable, priced at just $699, which is the same price as the currently unavailable 4K UltraFine sold by Apple.

LG's Ergo display earns its name because of its flexibility. It can be swiveled, pivoted, tilted and adjusted to match any desk setup and usage scenario, and it's simple to set up thanks to the C-clamp that attaches it to a desk.

Height is adjustable from 0 to 130mm, and just as an example, it can be swiveled up to 280 degrees, it pivots up to 90 degrees (and can be used vertically) and it offers 25 degrees of tilt in both directions. It can also be extended or retracted 0 to 180mm. Make sure to watch our video up above to see its versatility in action.

The clamp design includes an off-center monitor arm, which leaves space below the monitor for desk items, and it has a modern design that fits well with most decor.

There's a USB-C port with power delivery up to 60W, two HDMI ports, two USB-A ports, a DisplayPort, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. That 60W power delivery is ideal for the 13-inch MacBook Pro or 13-inch MacBook Air, and while it can charge the 15 or 16-inch MacBook Pro models, it might not be able to keep up with peak usage. In that situation, you might need to use the dedicated charging cable and power adapter that come with the Mac.

As for display quality, we found it to be decent in our testing. It's not the quality that you would get from something like an iMac because it doesn't have the same high pixel density, but it is comparable to other monitors at its price point.

Color accuracy was good, and it offers 350 nits of brightness and a 1000:1 contrast ratio. It's a 60Hz display with a 5ms response time, so it's not ideal for gaming.

Though this is a rather large monitor at 32 inches, it's still ideal for most desk sizes because of its versatility and ability to be positioned in multiple ways. Higher display sizes are useful for multitasking with multiple windows, and we found it to fit three large windows comfortably.

All in all, minus the lower pixel density, this is a solid monitor at its price point and is worth checking out for those who are in the market for a new display.

Article Link: Hands-On With LG's 32-Inch 4K UltraFine Ergo Display
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2020/09/02/lg-ultrafine-ergo-display/
LG's new UltraFine 4K Ergo monitor comes in at 32 inches, which is larger than both the 27-inch 5K UltraFine and the 23.7-inch 4K UltraFine displays that Apple offers in its online store. It's also affordable, priced at just $699, which is the same price as the currently unavailable 4K UltraFine sold by Apple.
Click to expand...

But other 4K displays start at half that. Including, in fact, an LG UltraFine: literally $349.

And this one has even worse ppi, at just 137.
 
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JRobinsonJr said:
Seriously? I have a 34” LG ultrawide curved and love the size. Too bad it doesn’t come in 4K or 5K equivalent resolutions. I don’t get why OEM’s keep high-res monitors so small.
Click to expand...
I used to have a Dell 34" Ultrawide curved and replaced it with a flat LG 34" Ultrawide 5K. And it is mounted on a Humanscale M8 arm.
 
  • Disagree
Reactions: jimthing
centauratlas said:
And what about a stand if you don't want it clamped to the back or side of the desk?
Click to expand...
I’m wondering the same. Back of my desk is enclosed and a clamp won’t work.

Although I guess after reading the comments, there are better options out there.
 
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I'd be interested to know what the scaling options get you. If it's exactly pixel doubled, it would be acting like a 1080p display at a larger-than-needed size. But is there a scale offered that provides a good alternative to the 27" 5K display? Still better than standard resolution, but able to display a decent amount of content?
 
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ddurkee said:
I'd be interested to know what the scaling options get you. If it's exactly pixel doubled, it would be acting like a 1080p display at a larger-than-needed size. But is there a scale offered that provides a good alternative to the 27" 5K display? Still better than standard resolution, but able to display a decent amount of content?
Click to expand...
in my 27" 4K there's several scaling options all using the native macOS settings, all of which look good (not bad and blurry like a 1440p display)
 
JRobinsonJr said:
Seriously? I have a 34” LG ultrawide curved and love the size. Too bad it doesn’t come in 4K or 5K equivalent resolutions. I don’t get why OEM’s keep high-res monitors so small.
Click to expand...
Because from typical viewing distances of a display on a desk, any larger and the field of view would be too wide and users would suffer from neck pain from having to look up and around so much, and affects viewing angles near the edges when you're sitting so close. Furthermore, a 34" ultra wide is very much different than a 34" standard display. It's basically just two smaller displays with a seamless border in the middle, and it also wraps around you more with the curve which helps with viewing angles on the edges.
 
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I really want a 5K 32" monitor to use HiDPI mode and not have any odd scaling. 4K at 32" just seems pointless to me, 4K should be ~21-24" or ~42-48" nothing in between unless you are just gaming/watching movies on it.
 
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Squuiid said:
32” at 4K, which is essentially 1080p pixel doubled, is far too big IMO.
We need more competition in the 5K res.
Click to expand...
Mac users are used to pixel doubled retina output, and justifiably so. Retina rendering eliminates pixelation.

I think the reason why PC users have largely ignored retina, that is, 27" QHD (2560 by 1440, or 109 pixels per inch) for gaming and 31.5" 4K (3840 by 2160, or 140 pixels per inch) for productivity, is that PC users seem to prefer using non-scaled native resolution.

140 pixels per inch makes UI elements a bit small but still usable. Let's take 16" MBP for instance, which has native resolution of 3072 by 1920 (226 pixels per inch). It scales various output resolution to native resolution to give more screen real estate. Its "More Space" resolution of 2048 by 1280 yields 151 pixels per inch and "Default" resolution of 1792 by 1120 yields 132 pixels per inch. So using LG UltraFine Ergo at 4K resolution should be very usable for many people.
 
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Does anyone think Apple is going to re-enter the consumer display business with a cheaper and less high end ProDisplay XDR offering?

Asking because I need one for my Mac and would prefer an Apple display, but Apple just don't want to cater to those needs anymore.
 
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Pretty weak review, but if you want a decent hardware review MacRumors is never gonna be the place to go. You never see MR tell you not to buy a product, no matter how bad it is. Everything is always "solid" and they'll always look for something good to say, no matter how poorly the item does at its core purpose.

For displays, there are many other sites that'll go far more in-depth and are going to give it to you straight, in addition to having far more knowledge and other products to compare to.
 
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I've wanted a high quality secondary 4K display that I can easily share between my iMac and my Windows machine, and this might be the one finally.

I've always hated the fact that LG's 5K display *only* has USB-C and doesn't work with PCs.
 
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You say it’s not suitable for gamers because it’s only 60hz, but what Mac is capable of playing games at decent settings at 4K and getting 60FPS? Heck, most Windows PCs would struggle with that. You could lower the settings or the resolution, of course, but for me and, I suspect, most gamers, 60FPS is fine, and 4K looks great. I think you’re taking the subset of gamers for whom frame rate is top priority and assuming all or most gamers feel that way, which I think is wrong.
 
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