LG 27MD5KA‑B Ultrafine 5K review

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LG 27MD5KA‑B Ultrafine 5K

Table of Contents

MSRP $1,299.99

“LG Ultrafine 5K provides a uniquely intuitive user experience, but convenience comes at a price.”

Avg

Great, sharp image
Excellent contrast ratio
Unique intuitive user experience
Sturdy stand and durable frame

Against

It does not work properly with Windows
Average color accuracy
No hardware buttons
Totally ugly design
Short warranty

It’s finally here, the bold, beautiful 27-inch LG Ultrafine 5K. Designed as a collaboration between Apple and LG, this pixel-packed monitor has been built from the ground up to accompany the new MacBook Pro line.

With a stunning 5120 x 2880 resolution and unique design, the LG Ultrafine 5K inspires awe and skepticism in equal measure. Even with a 5K screen, it’s not without competition, and professional monitors make for tough competition. Can the new LG Ultrafine 5K topple the world’s first 5K monitor, the Dell UP2715K? Let’s find out for sure.

Love at first connection

For anyone with a new MacBook on their desk, the connectivity offered by the LG Ultrafine 5K will seem superb. For everyone else, prepare to buy a few keys. The LG Ultrafine 5K has four Thunderbolt 3/USB Type-C ports on the back and nothing else but a plug for the power cable. It’s a glimpse into the elegant simplicity offered by USB Type-C and it’s an absolute joy to use.

When you plug the LG Ultrafine 5K into your MacBook Pro, two things happen immediately. First, the monitor will start charging the MacBook, and second, the monitor will automatically set itself as the second display. This monitor showcases the best Thunderbolt 3 offers. After the LG Ultrafine 5K, using any other monitor seems like a chore, especially for MacBook users.

Additionally, Ultrafine 5K uses some standard MacOS features that add to the already luxurious experience.

With 5K resolution and 220 pixels per inch, even text looks like ink, smooth and sharp as a pen stroke.

When the Ultrafine 5K is connected to a MacBook, MacOS automatically detects and configures the monitor to act as a second display, as it does for most external monitors. Plus, when that massive 27-inch screen space is filled with windows and apps, MacOS will remember where they were if the laptop is turned off and on again.

To be fair, it’s important to emphasize that these two features are handled within MacOS, not on the monitor. Plug in a standard LG, Samsung or Dell monitor and the same thing will happen. What’s different here is the single cable experience. It’s a small thing, but combined with MacOS’ already intuitive implementation of the second screen, it feels smooth and easy. Windows goes back to where it was, and the monitor starts charging your laptop as soon as the Mac is plugged in.

Using it with a Windows 10 device is a different story. Windows is having trouble recognizing the monitor. The default is the wrong resolution, putting black bars on both sides of the desktop. Entering the Settings menu to change the resolution presents another problem. Windows does not recognize that this monitor is capable of 5K, and limits itself to 4K.

Frankly, the decision to design a monitor that only works properly with MacOS is an arbitrary limitation and hurts the value of the monitor. If you decide to switch to Windows or have to use a Windows machine for work, the LG Ultrafine 5K becomes almost useless.

A finger in the eye

The LG Ultrafine 5K is surprisingly robust. It’s heavy for a 27-inch monitor, due in part to its sturdy metal stand and base, which provide outstanding stability during everyday use. Even shaking the table barely got this thing moving.

After setting up the monitor, we took another look at it and wanted to make sure it was factory reset, which is usually done by pressing a button on the back to bring up the hardware menus. From here we can usually check the resolution, refresh rate, cycle through the brightness and color options.

However, we didn’t get very far with this monitor because there are no buttons on the Ultrafine 5K. No power button, no menu button, no hardware brightness controls, nothing. Apple and LG have sacrificed another essential feature in the name of simplicity. The hardware buttons join the headphone jack and USB Type-A ports in Apple’s mass grave of prematurely abandoned hardware standards.

Aside from the noticeable lack of buttons, it’s little surprise that the LG Ultrafine 5K is an Apple collaboration. It’s not stylish in part because most of its body is made of plastic instead of premium materials like aluminum. The bezels here are unusually large, too, and the extra-thick top — or bezel — makes the entire screen look like it’s upside down. Not a good look for a $1300 monitor.

Objectively striking

Full 4K screens are a feast for the eyes. Everything looks lush, hyperreal and incredibly detailed. The LG Ultrafine 5K takes image fidelity one step further and the results are stunning.

Switching back to any other monitor seems like smaller experience.

With the naked eye, the Ultrafine 5K screen is nothing short of superb. The text looks like ink, smooth and sharp like a line. Photos and videos are rich in detail, vivid and realistic. Not to mention, 5K content is simply breathtaking on this display. Even a simple landscape background becomes a convincing argument for the premium price of the Ultrafine 5K.

After a few tests, it’s easy to see why this display is so eye-catching — because it’s good right out of the box. At a contrast ratio of 1,020 to 1, the Ultrafine 5K gives everything a unique sense of depth, eclipsing even the stellar Samsung CFG791, which was 910 to 1.

Ultrafine 5K is also capable of reproducing an admirable 92 percent of the AdobeRGB spectrum. It’s not a perfect 100, but it puts Ultrafine in the same league as its closest competitors. The Dell UP2715K, for example, managed 96 percent. The BenQ PV3200PT and LG 27UD88-W 4K scored 72 percent and 77 percent, respectively.

For professional users, the four percent difference between the LG Ultrafine 5K and the Dell UP2715K could be a critical factor in deciding which monitor to buy, although both fall just short of a perfect 100.

Image used with permission of the copyright holder

In terms of color accuracy, the Ultrafine 5K managed a respectable average color error of 2.75, which isn’t bad compared to a typical desktop monitor, but a bit high for a professional monitor.

Just look at how it handles the competition. The Ultrafine 5K score of 2.75 is better than the LG 27UD88-W 4K, but significantly worse than the BenQ PV3200PT professional monitor. The Dell UP2715K is slightly better, but not by much.

All in all, the LG Ultrafine 5K looks great to the naked eye. Still, compared to other pro-level monitors, it falls a little short of the mark. To be clear, it’s not a bad screen by any standards. It simply fights in the arena where the best monitors are located and does not have a clear advantage over its competitors.

Not much room for improvement

So far we’ve talked about out-of-the-box settings. Many professionals use calibration to improve their monitors, so can a few tweaks fix the weak points of the LG Ultrafine 5K?

Its bezels are unusually large at the top, making the entire screen look like it’s upside down.

Not so much. Some displays have hidden potential that can be revealed through calibration, but unfortunately the Ultrafine 5K isn’t really one of them.

After calibration, we saw a small increase in overall color accuracy — the Ultrafine 5K’s average color error dropped from 2.75 to 1.96 — but that was about it.

It’s an improvement, but it’s negligible in everyday use and not quite enough to outshine other professional monitors. For example, the BenQ PV3200PT and Dell UP2715K saw significant improvement after calibration. BenQ PV3200PT went from 1.14 to 0.98, and Dell UP2715K from 2.15 to 1.41.

With Ultrafine 5K, what you see is almost what you get. Out-of-the-box performance is good, but not quite good enough to compare with other professional-grade monitors, and the calibration doesn’t do much to move the needle.

Big monitor, mediocre sound

The LG Ultrafine 5K has speakers, but they won’t shower your ears with rich, velvety sound, and they pale in comparison to the speakers in the MacBook Pro 15. Neither set of speakers, however, quite pairs well with external speakers or headphones. It’s a very narrow gripe, but it’s a bit unfortunate that the included speakers aren’t at least as good as those in the laptop it’s designed to pair with.

Warranty

The LG Ultrafine 5K comes with a standard one-year manufacturer’s warranty, with an important caveat – it’s covered by LG, not Apple. Although intended for use with a Mac computer, you cannot take the Ultrafine 5K to an Apple Store for repair. Apple recommends that users contact LG instead.

Even discounting the Apple Store repair, the warranty remains a disappointment. Most competitors offer a three- or even five-year warranty on monitors in this price range. We have had this complaint with past LG monitors and hope the company will reconsider its policy.

Our download

If LG removed the 5K panel from this display and put it in a thinner, prettier frame, then the Ultrafine 5K would be nearly flawless. That might seem small, but this is a screen that costs about as much as a new laptop, desktop, or half a MacBook Pro 15.

For a desktop monitor, the $1,300 price tag requires a microscope inspection. It magnifies existing flaws that cheaper screens could easily address and makes them look bigger than they are.

Is there a better alternative?

Dell’s 5K monitor is a bit hard to find these days, but generally sells for a bit more. It works with Windows and MacOS and beats the LG Ultrafine 5K in color range and accuracy, although it loses out on contrast. Ironically, it has a far more attractive aesthetic and pairs nicely with the new Mac – although you’ll need a video adapter.

If 5K isn’t a must-have, there are some great 4K options on the market. We still recommend the Dell P2715Q, which is half the price and offers excellent overall performance. The BenQ PV3200PT is also a solid option if you want a larger 32-inch screen.

How long will it last?

The Ultrafine 5K will likely outlast any laptop or desktop you use with it. This 5K display panel won’t become obsolete anytime soon. And while a longer warranty from LG would be nice, monitors are usually reliable. They often last more than a decade.

The downside is that the monitor didn’t work properly when we tried it with Windows. Buying this monitor means making a serious commitment to MacOS, one that might even outlast the life cycle of a newly purchased MacBook Pro.

Should you buy it?

Not. The LG Ultrafine 5K has a nice panel and looks beautiful at first glance. However, there are many brilliant 4K monitors available, and Dell offers an excellent 5K alternative. Other monitors work with Windows or MacOS and are often cheaper. What’s worse, Apple has already revealed plans to make “Pro” displays in 2018. Mac fans who want an Apple-approved monitor should be patient and wait for their arrival.

Editor’s recommendations

Categories: GAMING
Source: newstars.edu.vn

Links: LG 27MD5KA‑B Ultrafine 5K review – Tekmonk Bio, LG 27MD5KA‑B Ultrafine 5K review – Kungfutv, LG 27MD5KA‑B Ultrafine 5K review – Blogtomoney