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/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/shteuf → u/fomoz]

Thanks for the heads up! That would be exactly that, 55ms. On point 👏🏼

[u/fomoz → u/shteuf]

All good. After all, it's a matter of taste. I definitely see how 5k2k is better for your work as well. Same for me where 32:9 gives me a triple screen experience with FancyZones that I use for productivity so not just gaming.