AndrewWhat Is The LG 38” UW Monitor?
Ok, let’s get this out of the way. Here is the ridiculously long name of this product. LG 38” UltraWide 21:9 Curved WQHD+ Nano IPS HDR Monitor with Thunderbolt 3 and G-SYNC Compatibility. The model number for the version I’ll be going over is the 38WN95C-W.
Great, that’s done and behind us. This monitor isn’t the latest and greatest monitor out there (it’s a few years old), it doesn’t come with all the LED bells and whistles like some gaming monitors. This monitor has become the ultimate WFH upgrade for me though. Before this I had myself a 27″ LG monitor. Don’t get me wrong, it was / is a great monitor. But I found myself wanting more screen, so I started looking at adding another 27″. For my day job I work in the consulting / tech world and find I need more and more content open at one time. After some searching I landed on snagging an UltraWide monitor. With that in mind, let’s jump into what I do and don’t like about it, it’s time for the LG 38” UltraWide review!
Features Of The LG 38″ UltraWide Curved Monitor
- 38″ WQHD (3440 x 1440) Curved Nano IPS Display
- The curved 38″ 21:9 screen ratio of this Quad HD+ (3840 x 1600) Nano IPS Display features realistic, accurate color and enhanced contrast, clarity and detail at wide angles. It’s not 4K but it looks wonderful!
- DCI-P3 98% Color and VESA DisplayHDR 600
- Nanometer-sized particles of the Nano IPS display enhance color intensity and purity, combined with 1ms response times. This combines with the color gamut P3 98% that offers a wider color range on display. While VESA DisplayHDR 600 brings creations to life.
- IPS 1ms (GtG) 144Hz Refresh Rate
- NVIDIA G-SYNC compatibility reduces tearing, and input lag by matching up to 144Hz refresh rates to the graphics card. This IPS display also a 1ms response time. (*Compatible with RTX 20 and GTX 16 graphics cards. Older GPUs will not support G-SYNC compatibility.)
- Tilt/Height/Swivel Adjustable Stand (if you don’t upgrade to a mount)
- Customize your setup in seconds. Raise, lower, tilt, swivel — the stand has a flexible ergonomic design to easily adapt to your environment and working style. A simple press-and-click improves productivity and efficiency, while saving space.
- Thunderbolt 3 Connectivity
- Thunderbolt 3 transfers data faster than ever with speeds up to 40 Gbps. It also displays smooth 5K video, all while charging your laptop. (even though the monitor isn’t true 5k)
What I Like About The LG 38″ UltraWide Curved Monitor
There are three solid features about this monitor that I like, dare I say love. One, being a Macbook Pro user for work, I love that it has built in Thunderbolt 3. This means I can free up my CalDigit T3 hub for my Mac Mini M1. Avoiding a long rant, this ended up keeping me from spending a few hundered dollars on a hub for my Mac Mini, so I did have that in mind while purchasing this monitor.
The second thing I enjoy is obviously the size, it isn’t so big that I feel like I’m sitting up against a TV like a kid watching their Sunday cartoons. But just large enough that no matter what I’m doing it feels like I’m fully immersed and almost wrapped in the content.
The third and this ties into the size of this monitor, I am so happy with the Picture By Picture feature. This is essentially split screen or dual controller. Allowing me to have both of my computers up at once or perhaps one of my computers and my Xbox, really any combination of the four video inputs. This may seem silly and overkill but throughout my day I found myself with my old monitor consistently jumping back and forth between inputs to check on something between my work computer or my personal computer. This lets me keep them both up and open if I need and turns this one monitor into two.
What I Don’t Like About The LG 38″ UltraWide Curved Monitor
I suppose the first thing I will say is although I have come to feel it was worth it, that initial purchase price was a bit tough to accept….it’s spendy. For this price I wish it was true 4k resolution and not their WQHD, however it’s still plenty sharp for work and play and gets the job done.
I do NOT like LGs menu system and their physical dial / knobby thing to navigate the menu. I wish changing inputs or adjusting video types or really anything wasn’t all piled under one button and a bunch of menus. With something this large you can easily have a few buttons on the underside to handle some quick input changes or settings adjustments. I’ve even seen other monitor options that take the TV approach and add a remote (Samsung).
The stand that comes with it is the same wobbly cheap stand that all LGs have. It looks wonderful but with a monitor this size I would get wicked bouncing when I was typing, and you can ask my wife, I’m not an aggressive typer. It resulted in me buying a Vivo mount for it (as seen in the photos). Now I will admit I would rather have it on a mount because I like the way it looks, but that’s an added expense worth thinking about.
Warning, this one is super tiny and personal, but I do not like that the back is white plastic. I know this is how nearly all of LGs monitors are, but why? This probably wouldn’t be a huge issue if I was able to put my desk against a wall, but as it is today, that’s not the case.
I’d say if it’s not obvious with this list, there isn’t much about this that I don’t like enough to say that this was a poor purchase.
The Cost
As I mentioned in my dislikes, this is a spendy monitor. Coming in at $1,599.99 before taxes and any warranty / protection plans, it’s an investment. But for me I looked at it that way, it’s an investment for myself and the area I spend 8-12 hours a day thanks to my day job and side projects.
I think when it was all said and done my out the door cost was just shy of $1900 and add on the $100 for the monitor mount. However, as I mentioned with one of the items I like being the Thunderbolt 3 built in and allowing me to use my CalDigit hub for my other machine, this honestly “saved” me about $200-$300. So again thinking of it as an investment it extended my work setup in more ways than just being a bigger screen.
Final Thoughts
My final thoughts on this are pretty straight forward. If you are looking for a near top end or rock solid monitor investment and you want size and something gamer friendly, spend the money and snag one. Here’s a link (the prices are going up and down due to supply issues) LG 38″ UltraWide Curved Monitor.
If you need more screen real estate and you already have one monitor you like, you can get a really great 27″ LG 4K option or even a 32″ LG 4K monitor that will cost you significantly less if you don’t care for the size and some of the features such as the thunderbolt input being gone.
As always, the choice is yours and I hope my little review gives you something to think about. If you have ANY questions or comments be sure to leave them below or hit us up on Twitter to discuss.
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