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LG 38WK95C Omni-Purpose Monitor Review
Intro
Ultra-wide monitors with a large diagonal over the past couple of years that we have gradually become accustomed to, but in its majority such models were purely gaming ones – and it is widely known that there are no higher requirements for image quality to such monitors. LG 38WK95C – is a "universal" home model, which is suitable for both games and video, and even for work with colors - thanks to the factory calibration.
Design concept
The monitor is made in a frameless style, but it still has a thin frame framing the screen - it is a strip of metallic color, encircling the body around the perimeter and distinguishing the "blackness" of the display and white glossy plastic on the back side.
The leg looks minimalistic - a simple pillar of gray color, it fits into an arch-shaped stand that seems too thin and delicate for a monitor with the weight of almost 8 kg. However, this "arc" is completely metal, and the monitor on it is reliable, the screen can be rocked if desired (which is not surprising, given its size and attachment only in the center point), but since the only control button is located strictly in the center (under the logo LG), even active menu navigation does not cause the image to "swing" from side to side, the display remains practically motionless.
The unit with connectors is located to the right of the foot in a small recess, all connectors are oriented horizontally, there is no concealment of cables (you can only "tie" them to the foot with a removable bracket) - fortunately, all cables complete with LG 38WK95C are white and harmoniously combined with the back wall, so the form of the monitor behind with the connected cables is quite accurate.
The monitor has two HDMI video inputs and one DisplayPort, it also has a mini-jack for connecting a headset and a USB hub with two USB 3.0 ports - and the input does not have a full-size connector, but a USB Type-C, which can also be used as a video input (while charging the laptop connected to it).
Control
To control the monitor, one four-way joystick is used, located on the lower edge of the center. A deviation to the left and right causes adjustment of the volume of the built-in speakers, pressing - a quick menu in which you can switch to another video input, activate the game mode, turn off the power and call up the main menu.
The first item here is fast settings, in which the most popular parameters for adjusting the image and adjusting the sound of the built-in speakers are concentrated, as well as switching off the screen while keeping the speakers working (peculiar mode of the speaker system). Next - the choice of the video and setting the mode "frame in the frame", followed by "Image" with all the relevant parameters (video mode selection, game settings such as including overdrive and AMD FreeSync), more fine-tune picture settings like gamma selection, color temperature and custom adjustment primary colors. And the last items are audio adjustment and system settings like sleep timer, power indicator off, factory reset, etc.
Functionality
The LG 38WK95C uses an IPS panel manufactured by LG Display with a diagonal of 37.5", a 24:10 aspect ratio and a resolution of 3840x1600 pixels. The density of the pixels is ~ 110 PPI (similar to the 27-inch monitor with a resolution of 2560x1440) - the size of the point is small enough, if you do not specifically look at it, only users with eagle eyes will be able to disassemble individual pixels from distance of half a meter.
In this monitor, a curved panel is used, the curvature radius is not reported by the manufacturer, however, it does not seem very small, on the order of 3000R - in other words, the "concavity" of the image is absolutely not felt, no visible distortions of the picture appear. On the contrary, with such a screen width, this helps to perceive the information "on the periphery" better, because when looking at a flat screen of such dimensions from a normal distance due to visual distortions (the difference in distance from the eyes to the center and to the left/in the viewing angles) the picture would be subjectively perceived as "convex".
The refresh rate of the screen is standard, 60 Hz, but there is the possibility of easy "acceleration" to 75 Hz. Like a number of other monitors with the same indicator, LG 38WK95C supports adaptive frequency technology AMD FreeSync (runs within 56-75 Hz), although it is not called gaming at the same time. The panel offers 10-bit color ("honest" 8 bits plus FRC) and covers 99% of the sRGB color space. Also support for extended dynamic range (HDR10 standard) is declared.
Like many other monitors, LG 38WK95C is equipped with built-in acoustics - two speakers of 10 watts each, located on the lower edge of the display. However, what is unusual in this model is the transmission of audio via Bluetooth, i.e. if desired, the monitor can be used as a "wireless speaker" for a smart phone. The sound quality is pleasantly surprised. It was at the level of small inexpensive multimedia speakers, with very decent average frequencies and fairly legible high. The basses are expected to be modest, but nevertheless they are there and for the most part are reproduced quite purely (the express test showed that the dynamics begin to play already at 80 Hz).
In addition, it is convenient to use this monitor as a single display for two computers working in the "Dual Controller" mode - it's a proprietary utility LG, which allows you to work simultaneously on two PCs, managing them with one set of "keyboard/mouse". You can download it from the official site (supported OS - Windows and Mac), after that you need to install it on both computers, one of them select "main", the second - "additional", connect them to the monitor and activate the picture-by-picture mode.
Image quality
The LG 38WK95C uses a semi-matte screen cover. It looks like usual matte at a right angle, but gradually becomes glossy as the viewing angle increases. Such coating allows to get rid of parasitic flares and reflections almost completely, and thus the image does not suffer from the crystalline effect caused by the anti-reflective coating of conventional matte displays.
Response time is standard for modern IPS-panels, 5 ms (GtG). In the settings there is the possibility of overclocking the matrix (the so-called overdrive), which increases the clarity in dynamic scenes.
Viewing angles are traditionally for IPS, and are very good; when the screen is strongly deflected, the brightness decreases and the image acquires a lukewarm tint, but as a whole the image retains its colors and saturation, the shadows are not brightened, no distortion of the color rendition is observed.
A useful feature for the players will be the "stabilizer of black" setting in the game settings - with it you can highlight the shadows and show the image hiding there, this will help in games where night reigns all the time. Also for gamers, a special "game" mode is designed, in which input delay is greatly reduced, so that the games management begins to feel more responsive.
Ultra-wide monitors with a large diagonal over the past couple of years that we have gradually become accustomed to, but in its majority such models were purely gaming ones – and it is widely known that there are no higher requirements for image quality to such monitors. LG 38WK95C – is a "universal" home model, which is suitable for both games and video, and even for work with colors - thanks to the factory calibration.
Design concept
The monitor is made in a frameless style, but it still has a thin frame framing the screen - it is a strip of metallic color, encircling the body around the perimeter and distinguishing the "blackness" of the display and white glossy plastic on the back side.
The leg looks minimalistic - a simple pillar of gray color, it fits into an arch-shaped stand that seems too thin and delicate for a monitor with the weight of almost 8 kg. However, this "arc" is completely metal, and the monitor on it is reliable, the screen can be rocked if desired (which is not surprising, given its size and attachment only in the center point), but since the only control button is located strictly in the center (under the logo LG), even active menu navigation does not cause the image to "swing" from side to side, the display remains practically motionless.
The unit with connectors is located to the right of the foot in a small recess, all connectors are oriented horizontally, there is no concealment of cables (you can only "tie" them to the foot with a removable bracket) - fortunately, all cables complete with LG 38WK95C are white and harmoniously combined with the back wall, so the form of the monitor behind with the connected cables is quite accurate.
The monitor has two HDMI video inputs and one DisplayPort, it also has a mini-jack for connecting a headset and a USB hub with two USB 3.0 ports - and the input does not have a full-size connector, but a USB Type-C, which can also be used as a video input (while charging the laptop connected to it).
Control
To control the monitor, one four-way joystick is used, located on the lower edge of the center. A deviation to the left and right causes adjustment of the volume of the built-in speakers, pressing - a quick menu in which you can switch to another video input, activate the game mode, turn off the power and call up the main menu.
The first item here is fast settings, in which the most popular parameters for adjusting the image and adjusting the sound of the built-in speakers are concentrated, as well as switching off the screen while keeping the speakers working (peculiar mode of the speaker system). Next - the choice of the video and setting the mode "frame in the frame", followed by "Image" with all the relevant parameters (video mode selection, game settings such as including overdrive and AMD FreeSync), more fine-tune picture settings like gamma selection, color temperature and custom adjustment primary colors. And the last items are audio adjustment and system settings like sleep timer, power indicator off, factory reset, etc.
Functionality
The LG 38WK95C uses an IPS panel manufactured by LG Display with a diagonal of 37.5", a 24:10 aspect ratio and a resolution of 3840x1600 pixels. The density of the pixels is ~ 110 PPI (similar to the 27-inch monitor with a resolution of 2560x1440) - the size of the point is small enough, if you do not specifically look at it, only users with eagle eyes will be able to disassemble individual pixels from distance of half a meter.
In this monitor, a curved panel is used, the curvature radius is not reported by the manufacturer, however, it does not seem very small, on the order of 3000R - in other words, the "concavity" of the image is absolutely not felt, no visible distortions of the picture appear. On the contrary, with such a screen width, this helps to perceive the information "on the periphery" better, because when looking at a flat screen of such dimensions from a normal distance due to visual distortions (the difference in distance from the eyes to the center and to the left/in the viewing angles) the picture would be subjectively perceived as "convex".
The refresh rate of the screen is standard, 60 Hz, but there is the possibility of easy "acceleration" to 75 Hz. Like a number of other monitors with the same indicator, LG 38WK95C supports adaptive frequency technology AMD FreeSync (runs within 56-75 Hz), although it is not called gaming at the same time. The panel offers 10-bit color ("honest" 8 bits plus FRC) and covers 99% of the sRGB color space. Also support for extended dynamic range (HDR10 standard) is declared.
Like many other monitors, LG 38WK95C is equipped with built-in acoustics - two speakers of 10 watts each, located on the lower edge of the display. However, what is unusual in this model is the transmission of audio via Bluetooth, i.e. if desired, the monitor can be used as a "wireless speaker" for a smart phone. The sound quality is pleasantly surprised. It was at the level of small inexpensive multimedia speakers, with very decent average frequencies and fairly legible high. The basses are expected to be modest, but nevertheless they are there and for the most part are reproduced quite purely (the express test showed that the dynamics begin to play already at 80 Hz).
In addition, it is convenient to use this monitor as a single display for two computers working in the "Dual Controller" mode - it's a proprietary utility LG, which allows you to work simultaneously on two PCs, managing them with one set of "keyboard/mouse". You can download it from the official site (supported OS - Windows and Mac), after that you need to install it on both computers, one of them select "main", the second - "additional", connect them to the monitor and activate the picture-by-picture mode.
Image quality
The LG 38WK95C uses a semi-matte screen cover. It looks like usual matte at a right angle, but gradually becomes glossy as the viewing angle increases. Such coating allows to get rid of parasitic flares and reflections almost completely, and thus the image does not suffer from the crystalline effect caused by the anti-reflective coating of conventional matte displays.
Response time is standard for modern IPS-panels, 5 ms (GtG). In the settings there is the possibility of overclocking the matrix (the so-called overdrive), which increases the clarity in dynamic scenes.
Viewing angles are traditionally for IPS, and are very good; when the screen is strongly deflected, the brightness decreases and the image acquires a lukewarm tint, but as a whole the image retains its colors and saturation, the shadows are not brightened, no distortion of the color rendition is observed.
A useful feature for the players will be the "stabilizer of black" setting in the game settings - with it you can highlight the shadows and show the image hiding there, this will help in games where night reigns all the time. Also for gamers, a special "game" mode is designed, in which input delay is greatly reduced, so that the games management begins to feel more responsive.
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