LG - UltraGear evo 45" 5K2K OLED 165Hz 0.03ms G-SYNC FreeSync Premium Pro Gaming Monitor with DisplayHDR400 TRUE - Black

I have an LG 49” ultrawide OLED I use at work as my second monitor. Even at home I had a 34” 240Hz ultrawide I used for gaming with my new Alienware desktop. But while I love the ultrawide for gaming, it falls short a bit with the literal short horizontal resolution, 1440… THIS having the full 2160 is going to be a real treat on my Nvidia 5080… My gaming crosses a lot of genres, first and third person shooters like Halo, Destiny, the Horizon games, Elder Scrolls, Fallout, etc. Then there’s various RPG games, and even things like the Lego games. Unboxing was simple. The stand was on the top level of Styrofoam, so I assembled that, lifted out the monitor itself to get the protective wrap off, snapped the stand in place, and had a good way to maneuver it. But I was really surprised at the AMOUNT of curve here. Not at all like any of my other curved screens. This one wraps around at a serious angle I haven’t seen before, as they advertise for a peripheral vision view. My setup won’t let me sit that close, so I won’t have quite that experience. I had already removed my 34” and was able to get this in the same location that was. The only reason it fit was due to that excessive curve. They include a little instruction booklet with it, which I very much approve of, I really dislike when companies just have a QR code and you have to go dig everything up online. But I laughed at one of the drawings they had on it, and am including it in my photos. In the image, they have what looks like a tiny little USB power plug for this – when in reality it’s a huge power brick. And that was a bit of a disappointment. The previous monitor I had here didn’t require an external brick, just a standard computer power plug going into it. Now I have to figure out where to bury this big brick out of the way on my gaming / music desk. I initially had an HDMI cable running here, so I just used that for now to see how things worked. Powered it on, booted up my Alienware, and it came right in with the correct resolution and the max 165Hz refresh rate. Gsync enabled without issue. It brags about AI sound enhancing voices and key audio cues – but maybe my games I was playing didn’t support it, since Destiny 2, Ghosts of Tsushima, Horizon, none of them really sounded good at all. The sound was so flat and tinny and was more of a distraction, so I went back to my soundbar with my subwoofer. Changed to the Display Port 2.1 from the HDMI I had been using since I’ve always had better consistency with Display Ports for gaming compared to HDMI, and it worked just fine. With my Nvidia 5080 in this Alienware gaming system, everything at high still keeps the framerates hanging on the highest end for the most part. And even when it drops some it hasn’t dropped enough to actually impact anything. I also capped my framerates a few FPS below the max here. Screen is great at subduing reflections. AI Scene Optimization – supposed to detect content and adjust picture automatically. I did see proof of this even while gaming, and it is distracting and horrible. Game mode does NOT change anything for that as I had hoped. I’d think Game mode would set things so there’s none of this kind of randomness happening – keep the view consistent. Nope. So after a few days of dealing with the annoying AI trying to “compensate” all over the place, I disabled it. Got fed up with the color changes while I’m in the middle of a game. And without that AI bit running, it’s SO much better. I was enjoying Destiny 2 for a few days, but that one is annoying as it randomly shifts back to 3440x1440 of the Alienware 34” this replaced. So a few times I’ve had to redo the game settings to get it running at native resolutions again for some reason. I started launching other games, forcing the resolution change for them as well. Horizon Forbidden West was amazing, highest settings and looked great, smooth movement. Same with Assassins Creed Origins. Assassins Creed Odyssey was totally unplayable though – just horrible. All settings were the same as worked wonderfully for Origins, but nothing I’ve tried so far has made Odyssey playable although plugging in my Alienware 35" again it played well. But I can’t duplicate it on any other game. But since this is one of the games I just replay every few years, I’m not wasting time yet trying to get to the bottom of it. The color on here is amazing. I just LOVE game moments with a lot of bright colors and black around, because the black on here is every bit as good as anything should be with an OLED. And even with it only at half brightness (I always avoid torch mode on OLEDs) it still looks amazing. While the games scale things a bit so it’s not quite as noticeable with the 2160 vs the 1440, but when just running windows, it’s a HUGE difference, and I absolutely LOVE it for that. I love all that extra real estate for my programs. Especially for spreadsheets and RDP. The toggle button on the bottom rear works consistently. No failed presses or no instances of it doing something other than what I intended, as I’ve experienced on some other monitors. And there are plenty of options here between the AI things, the gaming options, and the screen setup options that you should be able to customize things as you like. You even have different user slots for settings. I miss having the USB uplink and several USB ports on the old monitor I had, simply for convenience. But since I had to redo my whole gaming / music room setup to fit this well, I simply rearranged things so they could go to the PC instead. With the adjustments for tilting each way as well as height, it's easy to get this just where I wanted it. I'm not a fan of overlays so I haven't done much with the ones on here, but there are many options here in the built in menu for people who want the information. I have nothing to really take advantage of it, but the option to drop it to full HD and go to 330Hz may make this an even easier choice for some people. I'm also a fan of the options for built in OLED care. I've changed this to NOT be on my main switch that I control via Alexa to turn on my gaming / music system, just so that when I'm done and I turn it off, the pixel refresh and such can go as it wants, when it wants. When I'd power it off with everything else, I'd often see messages when turning back on that the OLED maintenance was interrupted. And again, just in windows, not gaming - still a gamechanger. I've spent several years with my 49" 5120x1440 and LOVED the wide resolution but always felt limited by the 1440. So, in every respect, no matter if I'm pulling up various things for editing music, or doing things for work with RDP sessions, office documents, this is SUCH a huge noticeable difference. I can't find anything to complain about here. In every respect, it's the best monitor I've ever used.

Highlights: * Native resolution of 5120 x 2160 (5k2k) * AI upscaling for lower resolutions * Good built-in speakers * Nice on-screen menus with easy navigation * Can display 2 inputs at same time side-by-side or PiP * Beautiful OLED HDR colors and contrast * Wide curve adds immersion to everything * Built in 2-device USB-A hub * Includes USB/Thunderbolt, DisplayPort and HDMI input cables Considerations: * Heavy and awkward to adjust due to curve * No built-in camera * On-screen menu doesn’t include model or serial number * HUGE 360W power brick to find room for * Parabolic effect makes your voice echo weird This HUGE 45” ultra wide curved monitor adds a level of immersion to everything you do for work or play. I remember when 40” TVs were considered large and 30” monitors were a luxury. Whether you’re gaming, watching media or just trying to get stuff done on your computer, this LG UltraGear monitor will be the beautiful window into everything your computer offers. Let’s start with the basics. At 45” diagonal (39” edge to edge) wide, this monitor takes up a significant amount of desk space whether on its substantial included stand or a VESA mount on a heavy-duty monitor arm. Its native 5k2k resolution is the same number of pixels tall as a 4k monitor/tv and nearly 2,000 pixels wider than UHD/4k. That huge canvas allows for more multitasking, larger windows or a more fully-immersive full-screen video or game. The curve is really tight which serves several purposes. The bend keeps the stuff on the edges about the same distance from your face as the part in the middle so everything is in clear and easy focus. The curve also adds to the immersion making you feel like you’re enveloped in the screen. And lastly, the curve prevents most glare from being reflected to your eyes. The OLED panel has bright and clear colors and deep blacks with HDR enabled. Blacks are absolute and the refresh rate keeps high-speed games fast and fluid. The built-in AI engine will also do a good job at upscaling lower-resolution content to the panel’s native resolution for cleaner visuals of everything you throw at it. Same can be said about the audio if you choose to use the panel’s built-in speakers although I still prefer separate speakers or a good set of headphones. While this monitor is not optimized for work productivity, it will definitely help you keep more windows open or allow for much larger windows while you work. There is no built-in webcam or microphone, but you can show two separate inputs on the screen at the same time either side-by-side or picture-in-picture. I primarily use this monitor for work and media consumption. For work, I appreciate not having to constantly overlap windows or work in smaller workspaces with tons of scrolling. With a 45” 5k2k canvas, I can keep nearly everything I need open to the size I want without overlap. For gaming or media consumption like watching streaming content, the screen fills my entire field of view and makes everything look like I’m at an IMAX theater. Separate inputs are available for USB/Thunderbolt, DisplayPort and HDMI with cables included for all 3. If you connect to your computer via USB/Thunderbolt, you can have a wired keyboard and mouse plugged in to the monitor and switch all 3 with the single input cable and an external KVM switch. It took me a few minutes to get used to the sheer size and curve of the screen, but now I just turn my neck to pan across this ultra wide panel. I have it connected to my latest-model Mac mini which drives it at full native resolution. If you’re able to mount it where you can also see the back, there are colorful backlit accent elements to add to the visual appeal even from the rear. The accent light settings are controlled in the on-screen menus and allow you to choose the color, have it cycle colors or just disable it. A few things to consider with this monitor…. Firstly, it’s HUGE so be prepared for the desk space you’ll need. The included 350W power brick is also huge and you’ll need to find a spot for it on the desk or the floor nearby. Given the considerable curve of the screen, it’s a bit cumbersome to life or move - just be careful not to flex it too far. My only real complaint/suggestion is regarding the really nice animated on-screen menus. They are controlled by a 5-way joystick on the back just behind the bottom middle of the screen. They are really colorful and easy to navigate, but unless I missed it, there is no listing in the menus of the monitor’s model number or serial number for easy reference without having to pivot the screen around to look at the sticker. As a side note, the extreme curve of this monitor makes your voice echo with a parabolic effect. If you are talking during a gaming session or speaking to someone nearby in-person, your voice will bounce off the curve back to you differently than it would with a flat monitor. Nothing wrong, but just be aware that this is going to happen. There are also tons of customization settings to get the most of your games or whatever else you have plugged in. Overall, this fantastic monitor will pull you into the screen and make everything you do on your computer feel like you’re right there. It completely occupies your entire field of view with bright clear images in HDR with perfect OLED colors. It’ll look best if your computer can handle its native resolution, but the monitor will also upscale nearly anything lower and still look amazing. Fast gaming, movies, multiple windows for productivity - it can handle them all without breaking a sweat.

A coworker of mine runs an LG OLED 5k2k and during a Zoom session he shared his desktop and dwarfed my Samsung G9’s puny 1440p vertical resolution. At that point, I knew that I was in for a new screen. Here are some quick points & a more thorough review following … Good: 4k @ 160Hz HD / 1080p @ 330Hz Resolution (5120x2160) Weight (no stand) Hefty Stand (if you aren’t using a mount) USB-C can power MacBook Air M4 LED Lighting on Rear OLED Care Quick press buttons (customizations) Bad: Nothing Meh: Rear cover Sound Wake up time In the past month or so, I’ve found myself with a few items of new tech that rate an unapologetic 5 Stars; here’s another one – with the understanding that this review is based on usage in the first two weeks. Unboxing was easy given you leave it face down while it’s being assembled. In my case, I used an existing monitor arm that was holding up my (much heavier) Samsung Odyssey G9 49in Widescreen. Taking my time, I adjusted the arm location and then mounted the monitor to the desk portion with little effort and as it was lighter, there was no issue. I went through the menu options to see what it had going on & found a bunch of AI Boost menu items related to upscaling, scene optimization and sound. Skipping ahead a bit but to me, the sound just isn’t great. Then again, if you’re using your monitor for sound while gaming - I can’t say you’re any more of a serious gamer than I am; I prefer IEMs these days (the Sony Inzone E9s are pretty solid). At first, I had an issue with USB-C and 4k with my Mac Mini M4 Pro - and Googling recommended HDMI - which, since it has an HDMI port, I elected to go with and 2160p was selected without issue. After a week or two, I tried my MacBook Air M4 via USB-C and had no issue at all with 2160p so who knows - a fluke. 2160p / 4k vertical is an amazing height; UHD/2k/1440p is fine, but to multi-task gaming & work … 2160p is the best vertical, in my not-so-humble-opinion. I started off using the display for primarily work, mapping my window positioning keys and realizing how much more room I have over 1440p. In no time, I moved onto gaming and brought the Asus TUF gaming laptop over & connected over USB-C, pressed the under-the-screen button that flipped it to gaming mode (HD @ 330Hz), which made me realize that I needed MOAR FPS as 180 wasn’t even scratching the surface of what this monitor had to offer. But, I’m all out of extra FPS. Playing primarily E-Sports these days, Forza 5 & 6 were in the mix during the initial usage times. I found that setting everything to 1080p wouldn’t let me use the entire screen; maybe I missed a setting but I was more interested in getting this thing going and ended up sticking with it and perhaps I’ll look into if it’s even possible to use an aspect ratio that lets me use the entire screen. Snappy screen responses to camera changes, no tearing - this monitor gave an amazing gaming experience. But again, I’m no pro – for me, this is a super enjoyable screen. In my first few weeks, there were no issues gaming, no issues using it for work; no issues whatsoever. My only observation for something not my favorite, is the wake-up from sleep mode causes it to come on, drop out, then come on again - I wonder if this will be some kind of firmware update in the future. Man, do I really dig this screen. If you can (it’s not a cheap screen) - go get one!

Absolute garbage for this price. I am just gonna completely forget LG exists. This is second time I was trying LG monitors. Do you a favor and get an asus gaming monitor or Dell for work or productivity.

Used this on a Mac mini and it works great!! Refresh rate is amazing and the OLED provides perfect image. I would highly recommend this monitor. Make sure you have the proper cables to connect to Mac as not all cables can handle the high refresh rate.