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Hands-On With LG's Latest UltraFine 4K Display With Thunderbolt 3 Support

manu chao said:
Scaled modes look better, the higher the native dpi of the monitor are (nobody ever complained about the native scaled mode of the Plus iPhones, but they had 401 dpi screens). The question is are the dpi high enough on this monitor for it to look good enough?
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Newsflash: its not going to be as good as 5k, but the number of 32" 5k displays on the market at the moment is somewhere between nought and zero (unless there's some specialist options out there that cost less than $1/pixel)

I've got a 28" 4k and "looks like 1440p" actually holds up reasonably c.f. the 5k iMac next to it. Not as good, of course, but acceptable. 32" is also getting to the point where "raw" 4k starts to become usable, so the scaled modes could just be a fallback for when your eyeballs raise the white flag.

There's also the whole issue of how far you like to sit from the screen.
 
Will this work with older Apple laptops? Like Mid 2014 Retina MacBook pro?
 
kerplunknet said:
Sorry if I'm pointing out the obvious, but you're aware that LG Screen Manager software (version 2.31) is different than the LG Display firmware (version 3.04), correct?
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Yes, but I don't get your point?

There is no update to the firmware following updating to the MAS version of screen mgr 2.31, then trying to update the firmware afterwards: it stays the same at this 3.04 version.
Instead going to mgr 2.31 just removed the layout options tab from the left hand side. Why would they do that, hell only knows? I don't use it so happen not to be bothered, but for the ones that do, it's another sucky move from LG's crap (non)engineering people!
 
I use this monitor with my 2018 15 MBP with Vega 20. It’s really fantastic. So clear and so much space. It occasionally, upon waking my MB, needs to have the USB cable unplugged/replugged to get it to detect the MB. But relatively rare, and never has issues once I am up and running. Between the screen and the MB’s screen, there is so much workspace for palettes and tools.
 
Martius said:
Current state of monitor market is truly horrible. Same plasticy ugly design. The stands are shaking even if you just slightly touch the desk. How many people are using the monitor in vertical position? Is really necessary to build that functionality in almost every monitor stand?

27" Thunderbolt Display was the last amazing monitor available on the market.
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Very agreeded. The panels have gotten better but the casing has gotten worse. We now have to put up with wobbly LCD displays.
 
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dwsolberg said:
I have a 5k ultrafine (the original one), and the screen is truly wonderful. However, the screen occasionally flickers when connected to my MBP, the ports sometimes stop working, and the monitor makes an odd popping noise periodically when connected.
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I've heard about that problem and it turned out to be the cable. I don't remember what the issue was but it's a cheap fix if you want to google it.
 
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*sigh*

Getting a Retina monitor is a big bag of hurt.

4k at 32 inch is just ridiculous for anything except gaming. Too many pixels for 1x, way too few for 2x. Who wants to run their display at 1.2x??

And then 60W? Many people who want a screen this big probably aren't using 13 inch laptops, either, are they?

It feels like my only options are that 3 year old LG 5k, and some 4k 24 inch monitor without even Thunderbolt. I really hope Apple delivers on their Pro monitor. I don't even care about the price anymore …
 
foobarbaz said:
Too many pixels for 1x, way too few for 2x. Who wants to run their display at 1.2x??
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Your eyesight may vary - I'd say that anything above 27" starts getting usable at 1x. I have a 28" 4k (secondary display on my iMac, used it as the main display on a hackintosh for a while). (a) if my eyeballs were 10 years younger I'd be happy using it at 1x, 32" would be even better and (b) I mostly use it at 'looks like 2560x1440' which is perfectly good for most things and shows far more detail than an actual 1440p screen would - and there are a couple of intermediate modes that would be great at 32" and couldn't happen on a 1440p screen.

Also, even in 2x modes, its only the window furniture, icons and system fonts that are chunky - any app with a zoom of font size setting can be adjusted to fit exactly as much content on screen as your eyes can take.

foobarbaz said:
And then 60W? Many people who want a screen this big probably aren't using 13 inch laptops, either, are they?
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Why not? There are whole vistas of human endeavour that benefit from lots of "screen estate" but don't need the CPU/GPU grunt of a 15" MBP. Large spreadsheets, vector graphics, writing code, DTP and WP on multiple/complex documents... I've certainly used a 13" + 27" combo - several of my colleagues use Airs with 27" displays.

The 60W thing is largely because the 15" MBP is about the only laptop in the universe that both needs the full 100W and can only be powered by USB-C. Bigger power supplies cost more, take up more space and give off more heat - this display isn't aimed specifically at laptop users or Mac users, let alone users of 15" MBPs.

USB-C (with no alternative) is great for phones (that have to combine multiple functions into one port), pointless for high-end laptops with space for plenty of ports. Apple use it on high-end laptops but not on their phones. Go figure.
 
MacRumors said:
LG recently debuted a new 32UL950 32-inch UltraFine 4K display...
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Meanwhile, Apple debuts a new Mastercard to buy it with.
[doublepost=1553594890][/doublepost]
kerplunknet said:
Where are you getting these cables? You want to make sure it's a certified Thunderbolt 3, 40 Gbps, 100W cable. Cost for 6.6 feet cable should be about $50-60.
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Sounds like you've been using the wrong credit card. Perhaps if you used an Apple credit card your cables would last longer.
 
32" is just too big for my taste -- and if it IS that big it better have a lot more than 4K pixels. The 27" iMac 5K really hits a sweet spot as far as I'm concerned.
 
Would love to actually see MacRumors review the usability of this monitor. I jumped all-in and bought two of these to run a dual-monitor setup via daisychain immediately. I came from the Apple-marketed LG-designed 5G monitor which, while felt like a plastic piece of junk and had some significant technical issues upon launch, turned into a pretty great monitor. However, I jump back-and-forth with a PC laptop for certain projects and wanted a monitor that could handle a PC environment.

Despite information I read elsewhere (including YouTube), daisy chain does work well with Apple MBP and these monitors. So, the 32UL950 in dual-monitor setup works great for my MBP and my HP notebook. However, these monitors are more than frustrating to use with a MBP.

First, they are sluggish as hell. Going back-and-forth between screens feels super clunky. Lots of lag and unresponsiveness. I was told that downloading the LG screen manager app would help with this. It doesn't.

Second, no sound control from the Mac whatsoever. This is a major PITA if you receive lots of calls during the work day. You have to get used to manually reaching under the monitors to adjust or mute/unmute your volume. No way around it. Apple Music controls and wireless keyboards do not work. Not sure what is more frustrating between this and the sluggishness.

Third, I consistently have issues with one of the screens (usually last screen in the daisy chain) not turning on, turning-on with low resolution, or displaying super colorful graininess/lines when plugging/unplugging my MBP. This is similar to the issues experienced by myself and others with the LG UltraFine 5k monitor. Do not have this issue with my HP.

Given the price point and these issues, I regret jumping in on this technology. Wish I would have waited. It's sad that Apple has given up on their own monitors. I dearly miss my old Thunderbird display and how it just worked.




MacRumors said:



LG recently debuted a new 32UL950 32-inch UltraFine 4K display, but this latest model, priced at $1300, wasn't designed in partnership with Apple.

It still shares quite a few design similarities with prior UltraFine models, though, so we thought we'd check it out in our latest YouTube video to see whether it's a solid option for the purchase price.


The LG 32UL950 UltraFine Display features a black front panel with slim bezels and a curved base with a plastic monitor arm. It's tilt and height adjustable, so you can get it into the perfect position, and it can even be used in portrait orientation.

lg2.jpg

As with many LG displays, it's VESA compatible so you can mount it on the wall to save desk space. It is equipped with two USB-C Thunderbolt 3 ports, which can be used for fast data transfer, 60W charging for your MacBook, and daisychaining an additional 4K monitor if desired. There are also two USB-A ports, a DisplayPort, an HDMI port, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and built-in speakers.

lg4.jpg

The 4K display of the LG 32UL950 UltraFine is great, with crisp, detailed images and sharp text, though it's not quite as nice as the 5K UltraFine that LG offers in partnership with Apple.

This is a 32-inch display, but it's not ultrawide, and it has a resolution of 3840 x 2160 at 60Hz. Running this display at full resolution makes the on-screen elements quite small, so buyers might want to use it at 3360 x 1890 or 3200 x 1800 instead. Other display features include HDR and DCI-P3 support for excellent contrast and color.

lg3.jpg

For content creation or digital media, the LG 32UL950 is a solid choice, but it's not the greatest for gaming because it maxes out at 60Hz. It does support Radeon FreeSync and Dynamic Action Sync, though.

LG charges $1300 for the display, but it's available on Amazon at a cheaper price of $1100. That still makes it more expensive than LG's 5K monitor, so it's not going to be for everyone.

Make sure to watch our video up above for a closer look at LG's new UltraFine display, and let us know what you think of it in the comments below.

Article Link: Hands-On With LG's Latest UltraFine 4K Display With Thunderbolt 3 Support
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As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
Pretty pleased with the monitor, excepted that it doesn't charge my MBP 15" 2017 at all !!!!
It barely helps maintaining the charge, but that's it !!!

Gonna return it and have a closer look at the 34WK95U... (85W charging)
 
@RMCRipSystem can I quizz you bit about your daisy chaining...?

I want to buy this monitor to hook-up and power my MacBook Pro 13". On the second tb3 port I want to plug in my Drobo 5D thunderbolt 1 storage (with a tb3-> tb1 dongle) and on the Drobo 5D out port (tb1) the tb1/2 -> ethernet dongle...

Would you have any idea if your daily chaining problems are bandwidth limited? If so, would you reckon that my chaining setup would cause problems?

PS: The IO form the Drobo 5D should be OK since it very even goes close to saturating a tb1 connection...

Cheers,
fb3
 
foobarbaz said:
*sigh*

Getting a Retina monitor is a big bag of hurt.

4k at 32 inch is just ridiculous for anything except gaming. Too many pixels for 1x, way too few for 2x. Who wants to run their display at 1.2x??
/QUOTE]

You are making massive assumptions here based your use.... Attached is what I am working on... Tend to have 3 Spaces running too... 1. Email / Browser 2. Cinema 4D 3. After effects

All running at 7680x2160 in Dual screen.

"4k at 32 inch is just ridiculous for anything except gaming."
CAD
3D animation
Design Work
Audio work ( lots of control panels )
Game Design
Electronic Design.
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