Hands-On With LG's 32-Inch UltraFine OLED Pro Display

[MacRumors]

LG in December announced the launch of its new 2022 32-inch UltraFine OLED Pro display, and in our latest YouTube video, we went hands-on with it to see how it compares to Apple's Pro Display XDR and whether it might be worth picking up depending on the price point.

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Officially named the "32BP95E," the display features a resolution of 3840 x 2160, so it's 4K, and it's OLED with all of the benefits that come with OLED technology. It's technically 31.5 inches, but LG is rounding up to 32.

The LG OLED Pro display is designed for professionals, and it's not unlike the Pro Display XDR in that regard. It boasts impressive color accuracy, and it's limited to 60Hz so it's definitely a display for creatives and not for gaming or content consumption.

It looks similar to most other LG monitors, and it comes with a solid selection of ports like USB-C, 2 DisplayPorts, an HDMI port, three USB-A ports, and a headphone jack. It offers tilt and height adjustment, and it can be used vertically.

There's also a monitor hood to reduce glare and built-in color calibration tools, both of which are upgrades from the prior model, but there are no real standout features even though it does look impressive. Make sure to take a look at our YouTube video for a full feature overview and to see it in action.

LG has not released pricing or provided details on when the display is going to be available, but the prior model cost $4,000, so it's not going to be cheap when it comes out.

For those who might be interested in this display, there are rumors that Apple is working on its own Apple-branded display options that could come out in 2022, so it may be worth holding out on a purchase to see how rumors progress.

Current information indicates that there are 24, 27, and 32-inch displays in the works. The 32-inch display is likely to be a Pro Display XDR replacement, but the smaller displays are expected be more affordable (possibly around ~$2000) and closer to replacements for the now-discontinued Thunderbolt Display.

Article Link: Hands-On With LG's 32-Inch UltraFine OLED Pro Display

 

[Stars&Stripes]

Why would you put that thing around it...

 

[Michael Scrip]

Why would you put that thing around it...

It keeps glare off the screen.

Very common for this type of professional monitor.

 

[Realityck]

Guess we have to wait and see what the next XDR monitor is priced at. Both the LG models that were announced that included this model is 4K.

LG launches 27 and 31.5-inch 4K UltraFine OLED Pro monitors - VideoCardz.com

LG Electronics 2022 LG UltraFine OLED Pro Monitors for Creatives Set New Standard for Picture Quality Boasting Accurate Color Reproduction and Outstanding HDR Performance, Newest Displays Are Ideal for Editing High-Resolution Images and Videos SEOUL, Dec. 17, 2021 — LG Electronics (LG) is once...

videocardz.com

 

[ckelley]

Why would you put that thing around it...

To minimize glare from above or other sources around it, very common in color accurate workflows.

That said, wish this monitor came with 120Hz capabilities like their OLED TVs, it would be the perfect replacement for me to have one monitor for work and play connected to my Mac and PC. The smallest OLED TV that LG makes is 48", though the 42" is coming this year it's still too big for me to use while working.

 

[james2538]

The 32-inch display is likely to be a Pro Display XDR replacement, but the smaller displays are expected be more affordable (possibly around ~$2000) and closer to replacements for the now-discontinued Thunderbolt Display.

Apple's definition of affordable monitor clearly differs widely from mine. There's no reason this should cost more than the current 27" 5K LG Ultrafine. For gods sake just pull the computer bits out of the iMac and sell that.

 

[fs454]

I don't really understand why the prices and specs of these are what they are when 48" 120hz OLEDs are available for a thousand bucks and are incredible panels for the money. Suddenly when you go below 48" it becomes a "monitor" and the price and availability go haywire. I understand that some of these are reference style monitors for color accurate work but that doesn't quite explain why there aren't 24-32" OLEDs for mass market consumption without a hefty pro price tag. Is it just impossible to make these with the same yield due to the pixel density on smaller panels or something? Doesn't seem to hold Apple and the other manufacturers back from making large screen OLED phones and tablets.

 

[fs454]

Apple's definition of affordable monitor clearly differs widely from mine.

Just pull the computer bits out of the iMac and sell that. There's no reason this should cost anymore than the cheapest 27" iMac.

I agree here - even a 27" miniLED shouldn't be $2k IMO. I don't understand why monitors are crazy these days - humanity has made affordable LED arrays before and they do it very well with TVs above 48 inches without charging thousands and thousands of dollars.

 

[NBAasDOGG]

I don't really understand why the prices and specs of these are what they are when 48" 120hz OLEDs are available for a thousand bucks and are incredible panels for the money. Suddenly when you go below 48" it becomes a "monitor" and the price and availability go haywire. I understand that some of these are reference style monitors for color accurate work but that doesn't quite explain why there aren't 24-32" OLEDs for mass market consumption without a hefty pro price tag. Is it just impossible to make these with the same yield due to the pixel density on smaller panels or something? Doesn't seem to hold Apple and the other manufacturers back from making large screen OLED phones and tablets.

LG OLED TVs use garbage W-RGB pixels and this monitor uses native RGB pixel layout. Huge difference when it comes to motion, image and text clarity.

 

[jasoncarle]

Why would you put that thing around it...

Found the person who doesn't need this monitor...

 

[Love-hate 🍏 relationship]

o

LG OLED TVs use garbage W-RGB pixels and this monitor uses native RGB pixel layout. Huge difference when it comes to motion, image and text clarity.

oh you sure all of LG tvs use w-rgb?

ig it's still better than...what was it again? BRG or sth? like pixels put in different array,used by some BenQ monitors

 

[DummyFool]

It's not really on the subject but I don't understand why some professionals needs that kind of color accuracy. Maybe because I am a programmer and not an artist. I can understand that you don't want your yellows looking orange and vice versa but this kind of accuracy is probably over 50 times what my eyes could see.

 

[JPack]

400 nits

I don't really understand why the prices and specs of these are what they are when 48" 120hz OLEDs are available for a thousand bucks and are incredible panels for the money. Suddenly when you go below 48" it becomes a "monitor" and the price and availability go haywire. I understand that some of these are reference style monitors for color accurate work but that doesn't quite explain why there aren't 24-32" OLEDs for mass market consumption without a hefty pro price tag. Is it just impossible to make these with the same yield due to the pixel density on smaller panels or something? Doesn't seem to hold Apple and the other manufacturers back from making large screen OLED phones and tablets.

For one, OLED TVs don't have anywhere near the brightness of OLED monitors.

OLED TVs claim something like 1,000 nits, but only if a small portion of the screen is bright. The moment you want a large portion of the display to be bright, it drops to around 150 nits or less. These professional monitors can stay at 400 nits even when APL is high.

The second is obviously PPI. It's easy to make a big display with low density pixels.

 

[DummyFool]

I was not comparing to a TV but a decent $900 monitor versus one that is $4000

 

[Lucas Curious]

3840 x 2160 in 32 inches? No thanks. LG had retina panel monitors in 2016. So why sell this crap still 5 years later? I'm not a fan of fuzzy text.

 

[Realityck]

It's not really on the subject but I don't understand why some professionals needs that kind of color accuracy. Maybe because I am a programmer and not an artist. I can understand that you don't want your yellows looking orange and vice versa but this kind of accuracy is probably over 50 times what my eyes could see.

Generally when you are editing/grading/mastering digital shot content you want it to be done as accurate as possible using professional grade monitors, before it is shown on large screens for further screening/proofing of the video or film before release.

 

[Love-hate 🍏 relationship]

400 nits


For one, OLED TVs don't have anywhere near the brightness of OLED monitors.

OLED TVs claim something like 1,000 nits, but only if a small portion of the screen is bright. The moment you want a large portion of the display to be bright, it drops to around 150 nits or less. These professional monitors can stay at 400 nits even when APL is high.

The second is obviously PPI. It's easy to make a big display with low density pixels.

tbf brightness of this monitor doesn't look that high either .maybe 400niys with 50% APL ,but still limited to hdr400 which imo sucks a lot

I mean ,as he said, TV can reach 800 nits or more (LG C1) in HDR mode ,which over 25% APL I think?

 

[jasoncarle]

It's not really on the subject but I don't understand why some professionals needs that kind of color accuracy. Maybe because I am a programmer and not an artist. I can understand that you don't want your yellows looking orange and vice versa but this kind of accuracy is probably over 50 times what my eyes could see.

Really? You can't figure that out? Your eye is far more sensitive than anything we have developed so far.

The Human Eye is So Sensitive It Can Detect a Single Photon

You may think you're no good at seeing in the dark, but your eyes are actually incredibly sensitive. In fact, according to a new study, the human eye is

petapixel.com

 

[Hans_J]

My thougts exactly! I have the 5k verson and its much less money.

 

[jasoncarle]

3840 x 2160 in 32 inches? No thanks. LG had retina panel monitors in 2016. So why sell this crap still 5 years later? I'm not a fan of fuzzy text.

I am reading this on a 4K LG ultrafine and gosh if it isnt fuzzy at all...

 

[jasoncarle]

Maybe these companies just need to market these monitors to Apple customers differently...

New tag line, With this monitor you can flex on all your Apple homies at Starbucks who don't have one...

 

[appleArticulate]

3840 x 2160 in 32 inches? No thanks. LG had retina panel monitors in 2016. So why sell this crap still 5 years later? I'm not a fan of fuzzy text.

Yep. Long passed the point where pixel doubling is anything less than standard.

 

[alpi123]

It keeps glare off the screen.

Very common for this type of professional monitor.

Does it really? I have the same and it only keeps the glare off from the borders of the screen lol... like just 1-2 inches and that's it, it's not magical or anything

 

[jasoncarle]

Apple's definition of affordable monitor clearly differs widely from mine. There's no reason this should cost more than the current 27" 5K LG Ultrafine. For gods sake just pull the computer bits out of the iMac and sell that.

This isn't an Apple monitor...

 

[CWallace]

oh you sure all of LG tvs use w-rgb?

Yes. LG OLED televisions use a white OLED that is then passed through either a Blue, Red or Green filter.

Samsung does something similar with their new QD-OLED panels launched by Sony, where all the pixels use a Blue OLED and then Quantum Dot technology to convert that blue light to Red and Green.

These LG professional monitors use "true" RGB OLEDs from Japan OLED with a Blue OLED, a Red OLED and a Green OLED.