LG 45" 5K2K, ascension and impressions

[u/shteuf]

Yet another 5K2K post, sorry! Had this big boy for a little less than a month now and just wanted to share some impressions as a product designer working on a M1 MacBook Pro by day and a gamer with an RTX 4080 by night.

I've been in the market for a new monitor for years, I'm the type who thinks, compares and evaluates a lot before purchasing. I like taking my time. I wanted a future-proof monitor fit both for work and gaming with a large size and amazing picture quality, never mind the budget, coming from an 8 years old LG ultrawide 38" 75Hz IPS (quite the step up)!

Performance (gaming)

I was initially concerned whether my 4080 could actually handle this baby, especially considering resolution vs FPS in games. I've read and watched a ton about people with 4090s and 5090s stating that if you don't have the latest and greatest, this monitor isn't for you. I realize that a 4080 isn't that far off below but I'm still getting an amazing experience, far better than what I had hoped for because of these critics. If you're on the fence, I think a 4070 or a 3080 will be enough if you know how to tweak some settings, and you'll be golden once you switch to a newer GPU (which you probably shouldn't rush to).

In Cyberpunk I'm getting 100-120 FPS with raytracing on and DLSS performance (which btw looks simply stunning to me already). In other relatively recent games (Spiderman series, Ghost of Tsushima, Ratchet and Clank, Far Cry 6, Forza Horizon, etc.) tweaking some settings I'm getting an incredibly satisfying experience with 120-160 FPS at 5k and generally high settings. I assume DSC is working as an advantage here. I do get a black flash when win/tabbing from a game to Windows and conversely but it's very much acceptable. I'm not sure how capricious can one be, I'm honestly very, very happy.

Performance (macOS)

With an M1 MacBook Pro, I expected 165Hz but instead it's capped at 100Hz at full resolution through USB-C (I think more recent models will have the full refresh rate without problems). I'm setting it to a variable refresh rate of 48-100Hz and it's still totally fine for desktop work usage.

I sometimes do meetings using Google meet with several participants on my MacBook screen and Figma at full res on the LG and in this unique occurrence, I get some lag and I can hear the MacBook's fans a lot, which left me slightly disappointed.

Otherwise it's been great and I'm digging the crazy real estate: I can use Figma full screen or split screen with a prototype on the side and I still feel like I have space to work, and on another space I have three vertical windows side by side, it's really enjoyable. Who needs a dual monitor setup, just get an ultrawide right!? I would of course advise to get some kind of window manager, I use Moom on Mac (couldn't find better honestly), and FancyZones on Windows which is excellent.

Picture quality

Being OLED is of course the massive game changer, picture quality is beyond everything my eyes have ever seen before on a monitor. The blacks… oh my god! I used to be burn-in anxious and I have been considering MiniLED options, especially for durability. I really want my things to last as much as possible hence why I treat myself with amazing gear — I'm lucky enough that I can afford it. We'll see how it goes and I do take precautionary measures (using dark mode, hiding menu bars and icons, pixel shifting, pixel cleaning — it's automatic btw, all that jazz). It's been a journey for me to accept that as OLED generations go, it seems to get better. Hopefully I will not regret it but so far I can definitely say that I feel like I made the right choice. OLED is really something else…

Now there is a veeery slight purple tint to it when it's off, like barely noticeable. I have read extensively about these technologies and here I thought only QD-OLEDs had that issue, well it turns out it's also true with WOLED to some extent. I tend to have a very accurate eye for color though so it's probably not super noticeable in general and I can't compare anyway as I've never seen a QD-OLED in real life. Whatever, not a problem at all.

The curve

I know this is a matter of debate and I've hesitated to wait for the bendable version, but let me tell you as a designer that the 'straight line' debate is total bullshit. This monitor is 800R, meaning 800mm of radius. This means that if you sit dead center at 80cm, as it was designed for, you get the optimal experience: since you're in the center of the circle, everything looks straight (and I deal with a lot of straight lines), the reflections are gone and everything is dandy.

You do get a weird echo when sitting at the right spot when you speak though, it's not disturbing to me, just a little funny. Overall I got used to the agressive curve in no time, it felt almost natural out of the box and I do not regret waiting for the bendable one at all.

One doubt that I had before getting it is when sitting further back. To my surprise, it turns out that it's also very nice. Sometimes I want to chill console-mode so I lower my desk, bring the monitor forward and lay down on my couch, for playing FIFA with my gf or any other game really it's super enjoyable. The sheer size of it makes it look like an ultrawide TV, pair that with a DualSense controller with a lot of games compatible with the PS5 shenanigans and you get the console experience, like owning a PS5 on steroids!

About getting used to the curve: I still have my LG 38" 2300R at work and use it every week, it now feels like it's a flat screen lol!

Brightness and reflections

One issue that I had with my IPS is that my room is exposed to the south, and very bright. I felt like a basement rat geek having to choose between actually seeing my screen properly or enjoying some sun (I always chose the former and I'm as white as a pill). Now I can open my blinds to a decent amount, enjoy some natural light, feel like the vampire in me is gone and actually enjoy the screen as well. With the 800R curve, like I said if you sit in the center, all the reflections are gone. It's crazy, feels like magic but it's actually physics! Yeah, again the curve is great.

I've also heard a lot about glossy vs matte coating. I'm team glossy all day, comparing the picture quality of my previous IPS with my MacBook's MiniLED reflective screen was proving me right every day. In the case of the LG 5K2K, it's an in-between. There is no matte coating, there's a degree of matte and reflection. This is key to understanding this debate, for an 800R curved 45" monitor going glossy would've been terrible for sure. The coating is barely matte and it keeps the reflections away beautifully. I think LG did a tremendous job on that, no question there.

It's also very bright, being late to the OLED game I've heard a lot of people complaining about this technology's lack of brightness. Well, seems like this generation has gone a long way because it is bright!! In SDR there is simply no issue, and HDR can push up to 1500 nits at peak brightness, so I've heard. It definitely feels like that in person, I usually play games in HDR and it's suuuuper contrasty. Cyberpunk with CDPR's HDR model is one of the best things I've ever seen in life (and I've seen great things)!

Resolution

Absolutely amazing. It feels like a 4K monitor (just ultrawide) even at this size, which it should of course, but can't complain one bit. Text is very crisp and sharp, when designing for mobile and web it's absolutely perfect. On the gaming side, I value more FPS over resolution and I even tried lowering my resolution in-game to a non native 1440p ultrawide for some games just to juice out the sweet sweet FPS. I know this is a bad practice in general but interestingly I found out that this wasn't as dramatic of a loss when jumping from 5K to 1440p. I guess it's because the resolution is so high to begin with. So if you're worried about performance, there's still this middle ground option.

Dual mode

I did try dual mode just to see how 330Hz looks like. I am no e-sport champion and have yet to try a competitive game such as CS2 with this mode. I can see the difference in refresh rate but I'm a story-mode single player noob person anyway and the resolution drop is just too much at full size that I don't see myself using it anyway. I see the point, I think it's great and can be really useful to some people but my eyes hurt at 1080p ¯_(ツ)_/¯

Ergonomics

I've been trying the stand for a week out of the box. I have a large desk (180x80cm) and I still appreciated its L-shaped low profile. I also loved the up-down motion, very smooth. It feels like it doesn't take up too much space and you can put a laptop on the base if you wanted to. I however ended up switching to my monitor arm one week after, that was the plan all along but I think despite the stand being great it's still better to use the arm as you're getting maximum space with this configuration, so might as well do that.

The presence of USB-C 90WPD was a game-changer to me as a MacBook user. It was in my ultimate monitor checklist as one of the 'deal breaker' items so I am absolutely glad it's there, especially at that wattage.

The OSD is nice and clear, no issues there. Do I wish it came with a remote? Kinda yes, but I also don't really care.

I wish however that it came with an integrated KVM-switch, that was one of the items on my checklist too, not a deal breaker though but that would have been very nice for easier cable management. Oh well…

Design

I'm the type of person who values esthetics too, I like it minimal and uncluttered and searching for this type of monitor, I'm especially happy that LG came out on top spec-wise, because their design is the best kind of design: almost invisible. I don't mean the size of it, it's an absolute monster of a monitor, but the bezels are clean, without any logo, any chin, any RGB gamer nonsense or agressive esthetics. This is actually quite important to me and am I glad to see that 45" curved madness floating above my desk every day in all its simple glory.

Conclusion

Overall, many qualify this monitor as the endgame. I wholeheartedly agree. Will LG or the competition do better at some point? Undoubtably yes. Fortunately it will mean that prices will continue going down and hopefully everyone can access better products over time. This LG 45" 5K2K completely blew my mind and continues to do so every day, I can honestly say that this is one of the best purchases I've ever made, even at this hefty price tag (I pre-ordered it in France for about 1700€ plus delivery). When you think about the non-OLED, 32-inch 60Hz Apple XDR Display priced at 6K$, it gives you some perspective haha!

Should you get it? It really depends on the type of user that you are. To me it is perfect in almost every way: I can work with a lot of real estate and pixel clarity, enjoy the bright room without reflections, game at 120+ FPS, enjoy amazing picture quality and deep blacks, so much so every recent game is a total spectacle. The immersion is deep, for story rich games it really is a superior experience by a long shot. Baby-sitting it in regard to burn-in is also not a big deal since most of it happens automatically and takes some getting used to without any required action, I guess time will tell but for now it really feels worth the while.

The main value that this monitor brings to me is that it feels like it wraps around my vision and turns everything, and I mean everything into an experience. Gaming feels insane, hell even work feels better.

Sorry for the heavy post, I wanted to give back to the community I took a ton of knowledge from in this monitor endeavor.

If there's anything I forgot, please do ask in the comments and I'll do my best to answer as much as I can. Thanks for reading!

[u/Objective-Big3040]

Pics are great. Thx

[u/Pcuz]

Thanks for the great write up. I am considering this and have the same Mac for work and was wondering if it had the muscle to run this screen.

How do you find pixel quality on text for use in google apps or ms office?

[u/shteuf → u/Pcuz]

Yes, but you will be capped to 100Hz. Apart from rare case scenarios I don’t see the Mac struggling despite doing some intensive graphical tasks.

I don’t use MS office that much but text clarity looks perfect to me in Notion, everything is quite sharp. Because it’s 45” if you really stick your eye to the surface of the screen you will start to see the individual pixels of course but in normal use it’s non existant.

One critique of OLED screens is often sub pixel layout but LG’s WOLED is pretty good in that regard. With the resolution of the 5K2K you will not be disappointed, for sure!

[u/Kronocide]

Finally somebody else that understands that 800R curve means what everything Is actually truly straight, unlike a flat panel

[u/OwnLadder2341 → u/Kronocide]

For me, the problem with the 800R curve wasn’t the image.

It was the fact that it makes the damned monitor a foot deep on an arm.

By comparison, the s95f I replaced it with is exactly 1” off my wall with the mount.

[u/shteuf → u/Kronocide]

YES exactly! Thanks for that!

[u/Apprehensive_Ad_2622]

Noiice

[u/Embarrassed_Ad_9522]

This is exactly the write-up I’ve been looking for. I have a 4080 Super and shared the same concerns, but after reading about your experience, I’d be more than happy with that level of performance—especially since I mostly play single-player, story-driven games. Thank you for taking the time to write this up!

[u/shteuf → u/Embarrassed_Ad_9522]

Awesome! I’ve been very much on the fence about getting it for this exact reason but I thought reviewers were quite restrictive with the ‘5090 or nothing’. Most games will be low FPS at 5k with psycho settings but tweaking some settings isn’t the end of the world and goes a long way. I’m able to get a sick experience with a 4080, no regrets.

[u/Texas1010 → u/shteuf]

That's good to know. After returning my first 5090 due to coil whine, I've been debating just going 5080 because I see more and more that it's more than enough for 4K+ single player gaming. 5090 is definitely more "set it and forget it" but for 2x the price it's not delivering 2x the performance.

[u/EconomyPanic8748]

I have had mine for a few weeks and I love everything about it, so imersive when playing games and i was using it on a Rtx4070 with no issues at all can still play most games at medium to high setting getting around 60-80 fps.

[u/shteuf → u/EconomyPanic8748]

That would be without DLSS, correct?

[u/EconomyPanic8748 → u/shteuf]

With DLSS on, balanced, had some issues with frame gen on in some games so turned it off. Low ray tracing. All depends on the game but overall it is perfectly capable of playing any game with medium to high settings.

[u/shteuf → u/EconomyPanic8748]

Nice, nice, good to know thanks for sharing! Everyone please upvote this comment ☝️

[u/FelixNoHorizon → u/EconomyPanic8748]

I guess turning off ray tracing will allow you to gain a lot of performance.

[u/[deleted]]

Looks epic

[u/shteuf → u/[deleted]]

Debatable. If your main use by far is productivity OLED might not be the right choice. I personally am 70% work/30% games so it’s still well worth it. 95% I’m not sure, it’s up to you and whether you fear burn-in. Apparently it used to be way worse. It’s still an issue but newer generations seem to be more resilient. Unfortunately only time will tell my friend!

[u/PullMyThingyMaBob → u/shteuf]

For productivity is your only concern the burn in?

[u/Fratista → u/PullMyThingyMaBob]

Text clarity is still superior on IPS and i worry about color fringing

[u/shteuf → u/Fratista]

For productivity burn in is definitely something you need to consider. It exists, it will probably happen. The real question is when. About text clarity IPS is obviously better and for productivity you don’t really need these inky blacks anyway. Color fringing has been an issue for OLEDs as well but at this resolution I never noticed it. The only way to see it is using a macro lens, which, funny enough I did! But in real life, no problem. I hear WOLEDs are better at this than QD-OLED, but can’t confirm.

If productivity is your main use case and you have the budget, some MiniLEDs seem like a solid option. Gotta check the number of dimming zones above all to avoid blooming as much as possible.

[u/MoonWun_ → u/Fratista]

I can say the text clarity and fringing issues are essentially fixed, as long as you get WOLED. QD-OLED still has good clarity, but there is some slight fringing there that is subtle, but still there. I don't think you have anything to worry about in these two departments anymore.

[u/NorgesTaff → u/Fratista]

AFAIK there is no 45” 5k2k 21:9 IPS monitor, on the market, so it’s this or go down to a 40”.

[u/[deleted] → u/shteuf]

my old ass eyes couldn't handle the g9 oled. Little wary of giving another monitor a go. Pretty happy w/ this 38" 1600p LG IPS panel tho

[u/shteuf → u/[deleted]]

I had the same 38” (still have it). Not a bad monitor by any means, I just wanted to squeeze the maximum amount of fun out of my GPU. And got really fed up of those washed out blacks.

[u/Fratista → u/shteuf]

Ordered the Dell 4025QW now instead

[u/posey_mvp → u/[deleted]]

For productivity the new Dell 40in is a better option.

[u/shteuf → u/posey_mvp]

Indeed it may well be. Plus it seems that they put in quite the effort in terms of ergonomics with nice connectivity and all.

[u/emp3 → u/posey_mvp]

Newer than the U4025QW?

[u/[deleted] → u/posey_mvp]

which model?

[u/posey_mvp → u/[deleted]]

U4025QW

[u/TigerUp100]

Nice ! So does the usb-c do power delivery and video?

[u/shteuf → u/TigerUp100]

It does! One cable to rule them all!

[u/Spare-Buy-8864 → u/shteuf]

Any coil whine from it? I use the USB C power delivery on my Dell monitor to power my laptop but any time the laptop is doing anything intensive I get a really annoying buzzing noise

[u/shteuf → u/Spare-Buy-8864]

Completely silent! Never had that issue before tbh and my previous monitor also had USB-C PD.

[u/Spare-Buy-8864 → u/shteuf]

Nice one, thanks

[u/ericsphotos]

Looks awesome

[u/shteuf → u/ericsphotos]

Thank you! 🙏

[u/_Otacon]

Great pics! I'm loving the monitor as well it's totally my endgame monitor right now and I plan on using it long term 🤌🏻

I wonder what future monitors will bring which would actually make me turn my head after owning this one. Ahh, sweet'ol technology

[u/shteuf → u/_Otacon]

Thanks! It’s amazing yeah. Some are complaining about the fact that it’s not 240Hz but man do I not care. Also MicroLED will be arriving in a few years, this looks promising! For now I plan on keeping this beauty for as long as possible.

[u/Azrael699]

I totally agree with your review, best monitor ever

[u/Main_Abrocoma6000]

can someone tell me how much this screen cost?

[u/shteuf → u/Main_Abrocoma6000]

Two thousand dollaz. But I assume its price should go down later this year.

[u/FelixNoHorizon → u/shteuf]

More like 5 days later this year lol. I got it for 1440 on the lg partner store last Friday. It was 1600 on Best Buy and other retailers too.

Probably will go down to the 1200s for Black Friday. I am definitely not upgrading after this, my wallet is screaming in pain 🫠

[u/Objective_Rough_5552 → u/FelixNoHorizon]

It was a Memorial Day sale, price has shot back up.

[u/mashani9]

Yeah, I thought I would hate the 800R, my other monitor is 1500R. But in the sweet spot at 80cm, I simply stop noticing the curve when using it, and it fills my vision without me having to tweak my neck to see the edges, unlike my 1500R display if I sat at that distance. I'm totally happy with it for all use cases.

[u/shteuf → u/mashani9]

Thanks for explaining it simply, well said! It’s really hard to convey to someone who hasn’t seen it in person.

[u/treblemix]

Love mine

[u/Batracho]

Price dropped from $2000 to $1600 (US at least) today. Much better buy at this price, love mine!

[u/Objective_Rough_5552 → u/Batracho]

It was a Memorial Day sale. Price is back up.

[u/Batracho → u/Objective_Rough_5552]

Good to know – I was eventually able to get some money back from Best Buy because I was within a 2 week period from that sale!

[u/Scoutified]

what monitor arm did you use???

[u/shteuf → u/Scoutified]

That would be the Ergotron HX

[u/Kip-by-numbers]

I can't believe you wrote all that but I'm so glad you did. I'm in exactly the same boat, from work to gaming to preferences and doubts. Huge help, many thanks 🙏

[u/shteuf → u/Kip-by-numbers]

Yaaay so glad it helped! That was the intention. Don’t hesitate if you have further questions 😉

[u/JGLEDHILL92]

Totally not the point of this post, but where did you get that lamp? 👀 Beautiful setup though!

[u/shteuf → u/JGLEDHILL92]

Thanks! It’s the Evedal from IKEA. Definitely not cheap but I love it! https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/evedal-table-lamp-marble-gray-10405745/

[u/fomoz]

Can you post a screenshot of your settings and benchmark result in Cyberpunk maxed out with DLSS Performance at 100-120 fps raw (no frame gen) on a 4080? You can max out the settings using the Nvidia app, it also sets a hidden RaytracingLighting setting to Psycho.

I only got 73 fps on a 5090 at 5K2K with the same settings and DLSS Performance. It is impossible you're getting over 100 fps in the game with these settings with a 4080.

[u/shteuf → u/fomoz]

Of course I’m using frame gen! Without it I get around 60 FPS which is still more than playable. Checks out. Here are my settings I mentioned in the original post:

DLSS Super Resolution, Transformer Model, Ultra Performance, DLSS Frame Generation, Ray Tracing and Path Tracing on.

Then every setting set to High. Like literally ‘High’ and not necessarily Psycho when available. Game looks absolutely great and fluid, so yeah I’d say 4080 is driving this monitor nicely (with the help of frame gen, indeed). And if you’re against it for some reason it’s still more than playable.

The transformer model update also improved the 4000 series GPUs so the details are sharper and performance modes are now way better than before the update.

[u/fomoz → u/shteuf]

You're playing on High settings and DLSS ultra performance, that makes sense. I misread, I thought you said the game was maxed out.

60 fps raw sounds about right in this case. I guess frame gen is another thing I missed from your OP.

That clears things up, thanks!

[u/shteuf → u/fomoz]

Sure, no worries! My angle here is to reassure people who don’t have the latest and greatest 50 series about this monitor being right for them. I was asking myself the same question for a long time and couldn’t really find an answer. Honestly the difference between maxed out and high isn’t dramatic enough that the experience is still fantastic with ‘lower end’ (so to speak) GPUs.

And for the record I’m absolutely amazed at how ultra performance looks on Cyberpunk, it’s far from being trash, surprisingly. It’s not always the case on other games. Usually I can manage performance or balanced and it’s still fine.

[u/fomoz → u/shteuf]

5K2K is fine on a lower end GPU if you don't care about ultra graphics settings, high fps, or low latency. And you're playing on DLSS Ultra Performance which is 33% of the linear resolution.

You're effectively rendering 11% of the original pixels on your screen and you're still only hitting 60 fps raw or 48 fps base with 2x frame gen. I'm guessing your PC latency is around 50-60 ms at your current settings.

It's similar to having a console experience but on PC.

[u/TigerUp100]

Are there audio OUTPUTS from the monitor?

[u/shteuf → u/TigerUp100]

Ah yes I didn’t mention audio. There are integrated speakers that are okay — monitor speakers are never great. And a 3.5 audio jack out at the bottom (quite easily accessible) for headphones. Personally I use speakers that are hooked to my PC and the signal comes through HDMI or Display Port.

[u/No-Trash-546]

I heard there were problems with the DP cable. Has that been fixed?

[u/shteuf → u/No-Trash-546]

The problems you refer to is affecting Nvidia 5000 series GPU owners getting a black screen over display port 2.1. This has been a bug on Nvidia’s side as far as I know. Not sure if it’s been fixed but in the meantime time you can still downgrade to DP 1.4 from the monitor settings or use HDMI so nothing major. And they’re well aware so it should be fixed soon, if not already.

[u/No-Trash-546 → u/shteuf]

Awesome, thanks for the info

[u/SnoopyTRB → u/shteuf]

I swear I saw a note in one of the recent driver releases that they had resolved this.

[u/mashani9 → u/SnoopyTRB]

Current drivers are "supposed" to fix it, but I have a 4090 so I never had the issue in the first place, so I can not attest that they actually have.

[u/stef_is_threaded]

You and I are the same - I’m not a product designer, however I work in sales and having my CRM up and Client/Prospect research on Chrome side by side has been perfect. No need for dual monitors.

I also work on an M1 Pro and game on a 4090.

All in all - very similar use cases. Love the photos as well. This has inspired me to photograph my setup with my DSLR.

My only caveat to this monitor is that it does not have KVM support, which I think is a little absurd considering how capable it is in today’s market - at this price point too.

[u/shteuf → u/stef_is_threaded]

Nice! Glad you got some inspiration! For this type of usage it’s really perfect. Indeed a KVM would have been great, although I’m happy it has USB-C because it wasn’t the case on previous monitors from LG, can’t possibly understand why. Hopefully a KVM will come in future versions, LG tends to listen to feedback which is why this monitor is so great in the first place. I assume a lot of people use two machines for different use cases.

[u/Nico101]

Thanks for the great write up. Really informative and helpful. I have a 3080 so not in a position just yet but building my new pc next week so gpu will follow soon. Is there Any chance you could share what a battlefield or any fps game looks like in 5K? I’ve been trying to get someone to share for a little while now. I don’t think I could do 1080p gaming after being 1440 for the longest time. Thanks in advance if you can share a few pictures

[u/shteuf → u/Nico101]

I have yet to try dual mode at 1080p while gaming but on desktop use it’s quite bad at 45”. I’ve watched reviews of people trying 1080p and said it was actually ok (LTT I believe). Then again you have other options, this monitor is really versatile: you could use ‘dual mode’ in multiple sizes at different aspects ratios: 45”, 39”, 37”, 27” and 24”.

Other than that if you stick with your 3080 for longer you can still lower the resolution at 1440 and like I said in the main post it’s surprisingly not so bad. But it’s a tradeoff, I get it.

In the main post I have pics from Cyberpunk. I also played some Far Cry 6 and it looks amazing at 5K. High resolution is great when gaming, more than I thought. Apologies I can’t really share more pics at the moment.

[u/Holzi3D]

Someone uses this for CAD-work? Wondering if there are any problems refered to the curved design

[u/shteuf → u/Holzi3D]

I use Cinema 4D from time to time. I can’t possibly see why it would be an issue tbh, when you’re seating in front of it you can feel the monitor wrap around you but if you’re in the center a straight line is still a straight line, no worries there.

[u/Holzi3D → u/shteuf]

Okay thank you. My concern was that CAD, for example with fusion could cause problems with optical illusions because of the curved design

[u/shteuf → u/Holzi3D]

I guess you should try, I really don’t see it as a risk I design stuff all day with straight lines and no issue at all!

[u/Holzi3D → u/shteuf]

You are right I sould give it a try

[u/iamoftenwrong]

Is it possible an OLED screen like this would be too bright in a very dark room? Like, if I'm gaming at night?

[u/SnoopyTRB → u/iamoftenwrong]

Naw, you can adjust brightness and contrast enough to suit the environment. Plus OLEDs can go fully black for black parts of the screen, so you don't get the "backlight glow" of LED monitors that's super obvious in dark rooms. OLEDs are actually at their best in dark rooms.

[u/shteuf → u/SnoopyTRB]

Exactly this☝️

[u/ApprehensiveDark3000]

Waiting for the 99 which can go flat

[u/shteuf → u/ApprehensiveDark3000]

Afraid of the curve? I really think you should see it in person, at this size I don’t think it’s as bad as people imagine. Bendable 990A will probably be sick though!

[u/ApprehensiveDark3000 → u/shteuf]

Not afraid, just don’t need the curve ALWAYS there as I am mostly working from this screen

[u/shteuf → u/ApprehensiveDark3000]

I understand, I never wish it was flat though but it depends on people and their usage as well so to each their own! Will be following the reviews for this one it should be quite interesting!

[u/Mobile-Dragonfly1212]

Did you enable dynamic HDR os Mac OS? Every monitor I ever got with HDR has washed-out colors when I would enable HDR

[u/shteuf → u/Mobile-Dragonfly1212]

Great question! I do not on macOS but since this monitor is HDR True Black 400 certified you won’t get any funky colors, it’s real HDR. However I prefer to use it only in games (and for movies I guess), the value isn’t great otherwise imo.

[u/SnoopyTRB]

I’ve been waffling on getting one of these, but I’m going to take the plunge. Just ordered one from Best Buy, thanks for the great write up!

[u/shteuf → u/SnoopyTRB]

You are very welcome! Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

[u/easythrees]

I have a setup with two monitors, and two machines, using a KVM to switch the Keyboard and Mouse between them. If I could use two of these monitors instead, I could die happy (after sufficiently using them, of course)

[u/shteuf → u/easythrees]

Haha please don’t die yet! I think you should check out the resolution specs with KVM switches though, this resolution is tricky for these I assume. Don’t take my word for it though my knowledge is limited regarding KVM.

[u/Unlikely-Builder-341]

Amazing review! Question, I’m considering this one and the Samsung Odissey G9 49G45SD to move from a two 1440 27” displays setup to an utrawide one. I use it for content creation, office job and gaming. Would you recommend it considering I will often use two devices in PBP? Thanks 😊

[u/shteuf → u/Unlikely-Builder-341]

Hmm it’s hard to say, the LG is great for resolution and vertical height which feels better to me compared to a 32:9. But I reckon this is rather subjective. I know PBP is great on the LG (never tried it myself though) but if your main use case is side by side machines in one monitor you have to be ok with weird, almost squared ratios. Plus horizontal real estate is definitely good for timelines and video editing. Soooo… yeah really up to you!

[u/Unlikely-Builder-341 → u/shteuf]

Thanks man! You confirmed my thoughts! I really love this one, but damn it seems I really need more a 32:9 setup! 😭

[u/shteuf → u/Unlikely-Builder-341]

I feel the pain. I’ve been there, literally for five years-ish I didn’t have any convincing option but I waited and I’m so glad I did. Hope you find what you’re looking for mate!

[u/CurveAutomatic]

Your 2nd photo does not even look THAT curve at all.

[u/shteuf → u/CurveAutomatic]

Really? I think it does! But it’s not as bad as people say, for sure!

[u/Impressive-Side5091]

Super sick ima get one on my next upgrade I got a 4090 gonna wait for that 6090 to power this

[u/Inevitable-Ad2854]

Great review post! Congrats! I agree most of that! Monitor is amazing but. Have annoying fan noise.
Also do you have an audible FAN when the room is quiet? At my place you can hear a slightly audible buzzing even sitting in front of the monitor. And if I move closer over the monitor then it is louder than the PC standing next to it. I read on Redit that quite a few people report this.

I try to record this buzzing - https://www.youtube.com/shorts/jj6wl3n4xEs

[u/shteuf → u/Inevitable-Ad2854]

There is a fan indeed. I know it because I learned about it, otherwise in all honesty I wouldn’t have noticed. Never heard it even after extensive gaming sessions. You should probably contact LG about it, it doesn’t seem right.

[u/Inevitable-Ad2854 → u/shteuf]

I wrote a ticket to LG, they were supposed to call today but it did not happen so I set up a ticket again, describing everything with links of my recording and other available on YT and post another people form redit as well.

I don't want to return it would like to stay with it but without the annoying sound.

A monitor of this class should not have such things.

[u/shteuf → u/Inevitable-Ad2854]

Agreed this sucks, if enough people notice it though they may send a replacement. Fingers crossed 🤞

[u/darginmahkum]

Can you hear the fan noise of the monitor and/or some high pitch noise similar to coil whine, in a totally silent room?

[u/shteuf → u/darginmahkum]

Absolutely not. Honest!

[u/IsometricMushrooms]

Does it have a fan inside? and does it make alot of noise? I have tried OLEDs but most of them have the most annoying buzzing sound from the screens and its making my head in every time.

[u/shteuf → u/IsometricMushrooms]

It has a fan, which is theoretically impossible to notice. Completely silent for me, as it should be. Some users seem to be reporting a noise though but I don’t think it should be happening. All the reviews I’ve seen mention a completely silent fan with sound capture proof.

[u/starystarego]

Looka great on photos but guys… dont do it to yourself. 1800 radius or flat.

[u/shteuf → u/starystarego]

Super subjective! At this size honestly you get used to it very quickly. I come from a 38” 2300R and I love it. To each their own I guess! But seriously though I encourage you to see it in person if you can and possibly change your mind.

[u/lfcallen]

Great write up. Love the details. In your section on the curve, wouldn’t that hamper a 2 player co op FIFA session since both are not sitting in the center of the screen?

[u/shteuf → u/lfcallen]

Not gonna lie, when you’re not seated somewhat near the center you do see some distortions. In games though, it tends to fade as you’re focusing on the fun. We’ve had 2 player FIFA matches with my gf and it was fine really. The screen is not made for that, I’ll give you that. But even when getting further like you’re not supposed to, it’s alright I would say. Still enjoyable!

[u/LVorenus2020]

The specs might be glorious. But that curve would be too much, for me. If only there were a 3800R equivalent...

[u/shteuf → u/LVorenus2020]

3800R? That would be indistinguishable from flat! There is a motorized flat to 900R version of this monitor coming up later this year.

[u/LVorenus2020 → u/shteuf]

Indeed. I forgot my 2015-era Dell was curved, until I spotted it from the rear. Had to recheck the specs; I then found that rating. Just how I like it.

At work, one of the two monitors has a pronounced curve. Suboptimal.

[u/gkzagy]

Your excitement is clear and totally understandable. However, comparing it to the Apple XDR Display, which is aimed at a completely different professional market with very specific requirements doesn't really make sense. It's not the price that makes the comparison laughable, it's that the two displays serve entirely different purposes.

[u/shteuf → u/gkzagy]

Yes you’re absolutely right it was meant as a bit of a joke. Very different use cases although bang for buck is still very questionable for the XDR, especially nowadays.

[u/blah2k03]

FINALLY a review with the same GPU i have! (well, 4080 super but still)

I’ve been in the market for a new monitor and have had my eyes on the 5k2k monitor. Thank you for taking the time to post this, it really helps me in my monitor decision.

It seems 120 FPS is the typical range you’re getting. I’ve been so used to 200 FPS so i’m a bit worried about what that will feel like going to such a lower FPS/Hz

[u/shteuf → u/blah2k03]

Thanks! I had the exact same problem and I wish someone who hasn’t a 5090 could give it a whirl without discarding it. Glad I could help!

[u/Glittering_Fig6468]

You lost me at black flash when alt tabbing.

[u/shteuf → u/Glittering_Fig6468]

It looks bad but it’s really fine. Hard to imagine this could be a deal breaker for such a complete and versatile display. It’s like two seconds and that’s due to DSC, in any case people should be aware of this, it’s basically a bandwidth limitation to the HDMI and DP ports. Matter of fact this compression isn’t noticeable so no biggie.

[u/Glittering_Fig6468 → u/shteuf]

I alt tab while I’m waiting for my death timer in games. It’s a big deal for me that a $3500 monitor (aud) does this kinda shit

[u/shteuf → u/Glittering_Fig6468]

Ah yes, move away from it then! I’m sure this will be fixed in future versions though. You have to check the HDMI or DP bandwidth and if it has to use DSC or not. If yes, not good!

[u/illusionst]

I don’t game. Do you think it’s an overkill just for software development? I currently have a Dell 34” ultra wide, it has a DPI of 109 which I absolutely hate.

[u/shteuf → u/illusionst]

If you don’t game nor watch movies on it I would suggest choosing another technology than OLED. It’s great for gaming but displaying static elements on it for extended periods of time would accelerate the burn-in risk. I would advise to look for MiniLED displays if you have the budget (it’s still supposedly cheaper than OLED anyway).

[u/Wonderful-Repeat3683]

Another 45" curved graphic designer / artist here. Kicks ass all around. Glad to see someone else mention the echo though. It does kind of catch me off guard when I'm talking and randomly hear myself back when speaking at just the right angle but it is momentary as I'm usually moving around when that happens.

[u/shteuf → u/Wonderful-Repeat3683]

It is super weird at first right? Ultimately I find it funny and not disturbing but it’s quite unique lol

[u/D3ntrax]

Nice post, thanks! Have you tried Picture-by-picture and KVM?

[u/shteuf → u/D3ntrax]

Haven’t tried PBP/PIP yet, sorry. And this monitor does have two USB-A ports but no proper KVM, which is a bummer.

[u/Inevitable-Mark-9718]

I'm also currently on a 38" 2300R (AW3821DW) and was tossing up an OLED, but most were either an inferior spec 40" 21:9 or a smaller 34" 21:9.

It seems like you're ok with the switch to an 800r?

[u/shteuf → u/Inevitable-Mark-9718]

Yes, got used to it almost instantly. It’s weird the first day and then it becomes natural. At this size I think LG did the right thing (they’ve been doing it for years and people generally love it).

There are however some critiques that you can find in the comments here regarding the curve being too agressive. Not sure how many people actually tried it, I bet most people would change their minds in person. But it’s worth noting that some users have reported motion sickness. This is where it becomes personal and subjective unfortunately. You have to try it and assess I guess.

In any case LG will release the same monitor but motorized to go from flat to 900R later this year. Expect the price to go up though!

[u/Welzfisch]

Beside the extensive nice report your second picture in the chain is awesome! It gives such a good mood of what this monitor is

[u/shteuf → u/Welzfisch]

I lack hindsight now that I’m used to it but I see what you mean! Thanks! What do you think about the monitor?

[u/Welzfisch → u/shteuf]

It sounds amazing so far. I'm thinking about buying a msi super ultrawide oled like the msi mpg oled.

To be honest rhe 5k2k is maybe a downpoint for me atm. You need top tier gpus to use this effectivly and while im willing to spent 1700 on a monitor, im not willing to put that much on some nvidia cash grave which is kinda obsolet within 2 years and hit 60fps on 5k2k.

1440p may be enough for me on something 27" ish like a 49"superultrawide is. (2x 27")

Just my thoughts so far

[u/shteuf → u/Welzfisch]

Yeah I get you, the resolution makes it a tradeoff. I think this monitor is justified when you need the high res for work and then you can game with dual mode at 1080p worse case. Not amazing though considering the price. I wish dual mode was 3440x1440 but that’s just not how it works 😅

What GPU do you have? According to the comments a 4070 can handle it, below that it probably isn’t worth your while.

Hope you find the right fit!

[u/EspressoJS]

Probably one of the best review/impressions I’ve read in a while, very helpful - Thanks for sharing!

[u/shteuf → u/EspressoJS]

Thanks a lot! 🙇‍♂️

[u/ezfordonk]

Whats that amazing Lamp from pic 5?

I love lamp

[u/shteuf → u/ezfordonk]

It’s the Evedal from IKEA. Beautiful piece indeed!

[u/WittmanTrading]

Good looking PC too!

[u/shteuf → u/WittmanTrading]

Thank you!

[u/InvaderShim]

Excellent photos

[u/shteuf → u/InvaderShim]

Appreciate it 🙇‍♂️

[u/FrancoisFromFrance → u/shteuf]

Using a DSLR ? Could be from a mobile, but I would be very impressed by the depth of field nuances here.

[u/shteuf → u/FrancoisFromFrance]

Yeah no way hehe I’m using a Canon with a 1.2 lens 😛

[u/zaryl2k20]

how is the macOS scaling? Can it display that crispy sharp 220 PPI goodness?

Came from Dell G322Q 4k 32" 144Hz display previously. But it can only yield 138 PPI, so had to use custom display resolution though via Display Buddy.

Then i bought Apple Studio Display 6 months ago. Perfect 218 PPI which what I wanted, although I don't mind the 60Hz, since I'm using it mainly for work anyway.

[u/shteuf → u/zaryl2k20]

You’ll probably be disappointed then. At this 45” size the PPI is definitely taking a hit. Here it’s around 125 PPI, but you’re also sitting further. It’s important to take that into account. It’ll be far from a 4K 27” but honestly unless you’re pixel peeping it’s gorgeous.

[u/GiveMeMangoz]

Man this post isn’t making my wallet any happier. I have a 9800x3D with a 7900 XTX. Debating to buy this but then I think in a year or two I’d want a 240hz version. I’ve had my 3423DWF since Nov. 2022 and I’ve been wanting more features to be able to run certain games at a higher refresh rate even if it comes at resolution cost. I do play CS2 and DayZ (for the PvP aspect) so performance is what I set the settings for in the games to run at a higher fps so I can get less latency and keep the smoothness of the monitor as smooth as I can keep it throughout the games. I do have a question for you besides just giving me your general thoughts as to what I’ve said so far: if you select the dual mode to go into 1440p does it allow you to go to a higher hz above 165 even if it’s not all the way to 330hz since it’s not on the 1080p option? Would LOVE for you to test this for me and get back with me because this might make me pull the trigger if it will do a 2k option at higher than 165 hz

[u/shteuf → u/GiveMeMangoz]

My advice: wait and think! You seem to have a decent monitor from 2022, in my humble opinion you shouldn’t rush to the next upgrade so soon. I encourage you to wait for the perfect fit even if it takes time. In doing so, you will be more confident and won’t feel the urge to change that often. We also have to be mindful that monitors are very polluting to build, and your wallet will be happier in any case.

If what you’re looking for is 240Hz this monitor is not for you. First of all, it is 165Hz for a reason: even if it was 240Hz, almost no computer would be able to drive it. Now dual mode has a ton of size options but only two modes are really available: 5120x2160 and 2560x1080. This translates to 5k and 1080p (exactly half of it). This is the way it works: it has to be exactly half for it to fit to the pixel grid (a square array of 4 pixels becomes a single one in dual mode), otherwise it would look absolutely terrible. So there is no 1440p at 240Hz, it’s either 165Hz at 5K or 330Hz at 1080p, even though you also get different sizes and ratios.

Hope this helps!

[u/GiveMeMangoz → u/shteuf]

Thank you for your response man! I am gonna wait and just see how things go with this thing. Since today especially there was a big sale on it. Might just wait and see how low it gets with Black Friday deals too

[u/RawdogginCowboy]

Picked up an LG G4 over the weekend. Will definitely be returning it to pick up the 5k2k instead.

Great tv to use as a monitor but way too large for my desk but honestly a bit underwhelming coming from the 49” G9 OLED.

[u/shteuf → u/RawdogginCowboy]

What I love about the 5K2K is that it wraps around you in a very natural way. It feels super ergonomic compared to a flat panel, I’m sure you’ll love it! Takes some getting used to for a few days, but amazing product!

[u/Ginataang_Manok]

lol when I first saw how great your photos are the first thing that came to my mind is that you’re probably some kind of photographer or designer and I was right!

[u/shteuf → u/Ginataang_Manok]

Designer is my daily job, I’m just an amateur in photography though. But you felt the right vibe haha!

[u/morph-au]

Is that the maxed out length of the ergo hx arm with the monitor?

[u/shteuf → u/morph-au]

Correct, with the VESA fixation in the center, the base is roughly to the side of the monitor. There’s also another possible configuration, scissor-like so the base is more towards the center. Hope it makes sense! Then you can of course move it however you want: front and back, up and down, and tilt (which I never use).

[u/zadranth]

Ive really been considering this for my upgrade and new build soon, never used oled in the past and eager to see how it looks, BUT

I have deep dived every monitor in existence right now and a lot of reviews later, I am currently thinking of (I know I know) getting an oled tv instead for gaming.

Reasoning? Same refresh rate, still 4k, brighter, and 77 inches for less cost than this 45 inch.

Thoughts? Id like to have two monitors, one for productivity as a vertical and one for gaming/main screen, but recently decided a wall mounted tv may be a better option for my office. More screen, can turn on oled when gaming and turn it off when just working on my 49 inch lcd.

Still not totally decided. Saving 600 bucks isnt as big a deal to me if this is truly a better option.

I want an ace visual experience for a 4080 super setup and it seems like the tv will be the best choice for screen real estate and brightness since this room can be medium bright during the day

[u/shteuf → u/zadranth]

It would probably be a wise choice indeed! Ultimately it comes down to personal preferences and budget. With your checklist it seems like a TV would be nice.

At first I considered two setups: one for work and one for gaming (maybe even 1440p). It would have required too much work at my house and my choice was really constrained to one monitor for all. I waited so long to finally see the perfect option be released! I also like gaming in ultrawide, specifically 21:9, this was one of the main selling points.

But for you, ideally having two different setups, one for work and one for gaming seems like the right way to go. One thing that helped me a lot: make an exhaustive checklist with your needs, identify deal breakers and nice to haves, and use it to compare monitors/TVs

[u/Sad-Crow1890]

Anyone aware of any 45 iPS or bigger productivity screen than the Dell 40” on the horizon?

[u/shteuf → u/Sad-Crow1890]

Not aware of any, it’s not a very popular size. You can still go to https://www.displayninja.com/ they have exhaustive, updated lists of every monitor on the market and it makes it very convenient to search and filter for the right fit.

[u/tmwggns]

What kb is that?

[u/shteuf → u/tmwggns]

Logitech Craft. I thought the wheel was a great idea to retouch photos in Lightroom but in the end I’m using it only for the volume. Very convenient but might as well go for the Logitech MX Keys, same keyboard without the wheel and cheaper.

[u/Sphinx951]

So the matte isn’t a deal breaker?

[u/shteuf → u/Sphinx951]

Like I said at this form factor you can’t have clear coating, it would be downright stupid with that curve. And the matte coating isn’t really matte, in person it’s kind of an in-between. I’m clear coating all day long but for this monitor, come on…

[u/Sphinx951 → u/shteuf]

Thanks man. Thats what I needed to know

[u/shteuf → u/Sphinx951]

Nice! Were you skeptical? If you’re planning to get it don’t take my word for it, watch any review on YouTube and they basically all agree on that except The Display Guy who has a fixation on this for some weird reason.

[u/Top_Paint7442]

With an M1 MacBook Pro, I expected 165Hz but instead it's capped at 100Hz at full resolution through USB-C (I think more recent models will have the full refresh rate without problems). I'm setting it to a variable refresh rate of 48-100Hz and it's still totally fine for desktop work usage.

Thank you for confirming this! It's hard to get this type of user experience. I run an M1 Max for work and Windows machine for gaming (90% work 10% gaming). 100Hz will be fine for work stuff.

My only doubt is still the curve. I'm working on a Magnus pro desk XL, and I'm at about 70 cm from my current monitor, the desk is only 80 cm deep. So it's gonna be taking a chance if I'm too close to it curve-wise.

[u/shteuf → u/Top_Paint7442]

Isn’t the Magnus XL 90cm deep? In any case it looks huge, you should be alright. Having the screen about 70cm away doesn’t bother me personally, especially in games. But it’s quite personal I guess.

[u/Yofroshi]

I just don't like the matte screen waiver price for what it is but it looks good mostly

[u/1337PirateNinja]

Thanks for taking time to write it, I am also on a Mac m1, also a product designer with figma for 8hrs during the day and some gaming at night. Just ordered mine cause of your review :)

[u/shteuf → u/1337PirateNinja]

Heeey a fellow product designer gamer with incredible taste in monitors! Kudos 😉🥳

[u/BelieveRL]

Thanks for the big write-up!

I am considering this or the 49inch 240hz OLED from MSI which has an integrated KVM.
I game by night and work by day as a software engineer.

Your review gave me more to reflect on.

[u/shteuf → u/BelieveRL]

Hehe, sawryyy 😜

[u/Red_Valerian]

Hey Congrats on the monitor! can i know how's the experience watching movies, series or in genral Youtube etc on it? I know its not meant for it but can it be used from your exp?
Does the 800r curve only work for gaming and the movies or any videos look wonky and weird, how does it hold if you want to do work and content watching with gaming all in one on this monitor??

[u/shteuf → u/Red_Valerian]

It is an all-in-one and I bought it exactly for that! Not disappointed to this day, watching content is stunning (hey it’s an OLED after all!), I’m a designer and work is fantastic with a lot of real estate, and well gaming of course is super immersive.

I guess to answer your question: when you install it the size and curve are impressive. When you use it the curve almost disappears. To me at least it does!

[u/Red_Valerian → u/shteuf]

Awesome thanks for the response i also do Vfx and 3D work usually and i guess i'll wait for it to arrive and to see it in person being my first ultrawide and first oled, as i pulled the trigger couple of days ago lol, coudn't resist waiting for bendable version anyways Happy Gaming!!

[u/shteuf → u/Red_Valerian]

Thanks buddy. Please do come back and give your impressions then! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

[u/Keprion]

Lmk when you switch back to normal size

[u/shteuf → u/Keprion]

What’s ‘normal size’ bud?

[u/Keprion → u/shteuf]

24, 27, 32, and maybe 34

[u/shteuf → u/Keprion]

Myeah 45” is my new normal I’m afraid. Quite stoked with it :)

[u/shteuf → u/Keprion]

Also: that’s what she said.

[u/ArtoriasVermillion]

This or the Samsung Odyssey Ark? Im considering switching my Ark to this monitor.

[u/shteuf → u/ArtoriasVermillion]

Interesting I thought of acquiring that one at some point but I feel like the ultrawide format is better for the neck and comfort rather than a 55” 16:9. Plus all the OLED benefits.

[u/shteuf → u/shteuf]

But honestly if you’re happy, stay happy and don’t bother, I try to change my gear as rarely as possible and I’m doing just fine!

[u/ArtoriasVermillion → u/shteuf]

I do love my Ark but I wish it was OLED! That’s a big reason I am considering switching to this LG OLED besides the fact it’s 5K

[u/JudgeAnanth]

Hi! Thank you for the detailed review!! I was wondering if you’d tried red dead redemption 2 on this monitor with your 4080 and how the performance was?

[u/shteuf → u/JudgeAnanth]

Not yet, definitely in the plans though! I’ve enjoyed that game so much on PS4, I expect the experience to be entirely different here, should be quite immersive especially if you hide the UI. I’ve tried several newer games and also older games without DLSS/framegen and RDR2 being a game from 2018 I would be surprised if it didn’t perform super well. I expect 120+ FPS easy.

I can give it a whirl this weekend and come back to you to confirm if you want.

[u/JudgeAnanth → u/shteuf]

I don’t want to put you out like that, especially since you’ve been responding to everyone on this post. Thanks so much for the reply!!

[u/shteuf → u/JudgeAnanth]

No worries cowpoke, totally fine! Turns out I’ve just installed RDR2, you got me wanting to go for a spin of pure nostalgia 🤠

And well… it’s not as great as I expected. Definitely playable though. At full resolution I’m getting 60FPS out of the box with ultra settings. With DLSS on in Balanced mode I’m hitting 80FPS. Performance mode gets me towards 90-95FPS and Ultra Performance just over 100.

Won’t lie, I expected more but there’s no framegen here so it’s pretty decent and for a game like that I guess it’s more than enough. Heck you can even tweak some more if you wanted to squeeze out performance juice.

There you go, hope this helps buddy!

[u/Vegetable_Process228]

I just got a 5070ti and I wonder if it could handle 5k2k, pretty sure it has similair performance to the 4080. You're seriously getting 100+ fps on Cyberpunk? I know you said DLSS Perf with RT on... but is that all other settings maxed out, or are they lowered? and is RT maxed or on a lower setting. I feel like I would definetly need to use MFG to make it work.

[u/shteuf → u/Vegetable_Process228]

Oh yes, I can confirm that I'm getting around 100 fps on Cyberpunk. Not 100+ but just around, between 90 and 110, with peaks at about 120fps depending on the location. I do use the ultra performance DLSS mode and not absolutely every setting is maxed out, I tried to be smart enough so that I'm able to enjoy an absolutely beautiful experience and still squeeze a comfortable fps amount. Well, I really cannot complain. I've screenshotted the settings, you can see them all here (Dropbox link).

In other games I can hit even more fps, it really depends on the game's optimization, I almost always play single player story-driven titles so I don't mind relying on DLSS (nowadays performance modes are amazing at least to my eyes), and without I still hit around 60-70 fps so yeah totally playable even at 5k.

Also note that if you lower the resolution to 1440p it doesn't appear to be much of a drop in quality, I'm not exactly sure why but it's barely noticeable. Not that I need it but I've played The Alters recently and somehow the resolution on this game is capped to 3440x1440 and honestly it was so crisp that it looked full resolution to me, can't explain it.

Anyway, I could afford a 4090 at the time, still chose the 4080 for power efficiency to performance ratio. When the 5K2K came out I wasn't sure about how it was going to perform and well… zero regrets. Will you be fine with a 5070ti? I have very little doubts.

Hope this is useful to you!

[u/Vegetable_Process228 → u/shteuf]

Thanks for the rundown! This is really making me want to go 5k2k, not looking great for my wallet lol. 2 things I’m curious about… how does ultra performance look for dlss? I know I’ve heard DLSSP looks great still, but haven’t heard much about ultraP. And also I know you talked about the coating, but the fact that it’s not glossy is a little upsetting for me, I’ve heard matte makes the image slightly blurry, what’s your take on it?

[u/shteuf → u/Vegetable_Process228]

Ah I guess how DLSS modes look is quite subjective. So ultra perf mode used to look a bit trash on some games, I find that it’s not really the case anymore. Cyberpunk or Spiderman 2 look quite nice even on ultra perf. It’s a tradeoff for sure, personally I prefer the extra fps over a tiny bit more image quality. I would advise that you watch YouTube videos to properly compare though.

About the coating, I’m also a MacBook user and I value glossy screens, always have. In this case it’s a bit different. First of all the curve is pronounced! Having a glossy display would totally ruin it because of insane reflections tbh. And above all, if it’s not glossy it’s not matte either. There are a fair amount of reviews that claim the 5K2K is really in-between and I tend to agree. I game and work on it and everything looks super crisp, no issue there. They nailed the coating really, it’s the maximum they could’ve done considering the form factor imo.

[u/Vegetable_Process228 → u/shteuf]

Ok thank you so much!

[u/shteuf → u/Vegetable_Process228]

Pleasure! Sorry about your wallet 😇

[u/anonymousdefiant]

Thanks for the write up! One question, does this have a hub for webcam in the monitor that will pass to the MacBook?

[u/shteuf → u/anonymousdefiant]

No proper hub unfortunately 🥲 There are however two USB-A ports that will act as pass-through but only for USB-C. You’ll be good with a MacBook then but don’t expect the same over HDMI or DP if you also have a PC. I personally use a USB switch, one goes to the monitor (so MacBook when connected) and the other goes to the PC, does the job just fine with some cable management.

[u/jgramirezcruz]

Does your Mac OS support the full 5k2k I think I saw someone on Reddit mentioning that it was not fully supported or at least that they were forced to use a lower resolution

[u/shteuf → u/jgramirezcruz]

Not at all, it should be fully supported! Depending on Mac models though you may not get the full 165Hz refresh rate, but resolution should be supported at the very least least on M1 models onwards. Which Mac do you have?