LG - 38WR85QC-W

Similar concerns as you have. I managed to nab the 2024 refresh of the 38" LG on sale and it was an amazing upgrade for my workflow.  I really wanted to have (somewhat confortably) 3 windows side by side. Before that I had a 27"-1440p monitor. Tried a 34"-1440p but it was not wide enough pixel wise for three windows. I was used to splitting in two on the 27" and that is 2560px wide so about 1280px per window, which comes to 3840px for three windows of the same size. 4K it is. Tried a 32"-4k but it was too small to actually see anything without scaling and >40" monitor for productivity with >60hz don't really exist as it is more or less TV teritory.  So I finally ended up with the LG. Productivity wise it was a huge boost, the extra height is an added bonus.  Games, if they support 21:9, are amazing, but be aware that it is closer to a 4k screen ( About 75% of 4K. In practice it is a 40" 16:9 4K that had a band of about 500px cut off the top). I personally don't mind the IPS or the PPI as it is very simillar to my old 1440p screen. 

I got also the **LG 38WR85QC-W** three weeks ago. The swinging monitor stand is driving me crazy. It's because I use a height-adjustable desk, which unfortunately swings a bit. So @[Sehbanaliakbar](https://www.reddit.com/user/Sehbanaliakbar/) please let me (us) know which monitor stand or monitor arm do you use. It looks so clean at your desk.

Not cheap because it appears to be one of the only 21:9 1600p models still out but I’m very happy with this downsizing from a 42” C2. https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1817894-REG/lg_38br85qc_w_38_qhd_hdr.html

This. I recently bought this monitor as well and i am loving it so far. Didn’t want to buy OLED because of burn in issues since i play MMORPG where there are lots of static elements. Also couldn’t bear Black Smearing on VAs which most of 34” Ultrawides come with. I also wanted 1 monitor setup and a bigger screen (was using 34 VA before) and 38 was like a sweet spot.

LG 38WR85QC or Dell 4025DW. The LG has a KVM and USB-C DP, 1600p, a very good screen, 144 Hz, decent HDR, and good VRR for gaming. The Dell has Thunderbolt 4, 2160p, also a good screen, 120 Hz but is not as good at VRR gaming (according to rtings). Also driving games at that resolution is a challenge for any PC which doesn't have a 3080 or better... Also it's double the price. So if gaming is important and you can live without 4k resolution, then get the LG. I went for it and am happy. :)

Awesome! I've just gotten my new (and first) ultrawide this week - LG 38WR85QC. I was looking for jack of all trades - I'm doing 80% productive work (office) on my monitor, but also gaming, though it's a distant second to productive work. Still, I wanted something wide, suitable for work, great image quality and at least some HDR capability, and in the end I went for the 1600p WR85. Still, I was long debating internally if 2160p wouldn't be better, since I'm mainly working. And I was also debating internally if I should try OLED, but ultimately I was a bit scared of burn in. So I'd love to get a chance at comparing the WR85QC to the 5k2k GX9, especially for my productivity use case. :) As for the sweet spot... well, the 38" I currently have feels very good, a bit bigger than 34, but not super huge. So... around 40ish I'd say.

I have the WR85. The panel is nice and plenty of connectivity. KVM is a nice bonus. If you don't need KVM and the ports aren't a deciding factor just go for the GN950 IMO.

Got this screen aswell, thanks for all the input here since as people say there wasnt much indept reviews. Had it for a month soon, the only way I could be happier is with just slighly more aggressive curve. I have a 1000R 49" samsung at work, I also use 1800R screens at the regular there so I know what I prefer. Since this is a smaller the 2300R is good, but for me about 95% comfortable. 2000R or 1800R is what I would bend it to if I could to make it 100% (again, for me). This is just the perfect middle of the-ground do it all-screen that doesnt break the bank completely. I was considering the beast, 57" Neo, aswell as the 49" inchers that all have their individual and collective problems.... the risk of bad QC and also the 57" not having a GPU in the world that can take that to comfortable frame rates just made me eventually come to my senses and order this for hassle free living. I have yet to try the KVM-functionality out, had some problems initally connecting everything up and just wanted to get it running at that time so switched to regular connections (everything in my pc) . Very little WFH so mostly stocks and gaming so far but now after the holidays I will try to get the KVM working with my worklaptop.

Still enjoying it, found a new found love for gaming with this screen and 7900xtx. Enjoying helldivers and cyberpunk at the moment. Havent done a ton of productivity stuff yet, but I do well without the second screen.

Its great for gaming. 144hz, perfect size etc, good colors, great resoution. It's many pixels and demanding, but compared to 4k it gives you \~20% more fps. Dont notice any hum, coilwhine or what some people were mentioning but I keep the screen <50 brightness. Don't notice any with it at > while testing. But my computer is not dead silent

Just got the 38WRQ85C and love it, great monitor with a ton of productivity features.

It’s a great monitor for productivity. IPS, 144hz, integrated KVM switch, USB Hub, PBP/PiP, USB C PD.

after months of research I also went with the LG 38WR85QC-W. In short, I use 80% for productivity and 20% for gaming. so saddly oled really wasn't an option for me. Was also looking at the Acer X38 (slightly better than the LG, but think they stopped making it and the $$ was crazy). after spending time on rtings and having some ai assistace in highlighting the differences between brands/models (there are so many). I learned that many of the other displays lacked a solid combination of refresh rate (to low), color depth and advanced display features (for gaming) to be viable candidates. the added usb-c, kvm and speakers of the LG was also great (perfect to use for google meets so I don't have to turn on my Klipsch). TL;DR, LG makes a very good display with loads of features. I'm very happy with my purchase and have been enjoying the monitor for work and play. hit me up if you have any questions on it.

34 inch was little small for me when using split screen. I went with https://www.lg.com/us/monitors/lg-38wr85qc-w-ultrawide-monitor. This monitor is great for work. Having all peripheral connected to monitor and USB C PD has reduced so much clutter on my desk. I only want to use 1 large monitor and this is perfect for me. larger than this is not for me. 144hz is plenty for me for occasional gaming. It is an IPS monitor so no need to worry about burn in. It has decent speakers for background music during work as well.

Bought LG 38wr85qc-w couple of months ago. It has it all. Using it for software development with my Macbook for work and for gaming with my own PC. It has a KVM switch, 144Hz, AMD freesync. And a bunch of usb ports. Missing nothing.

I was in a same situation that I wanted to simplify my monitor setup. 80% work, 20% gaming. Was also considering the option of a 32" display. At the end I bought a 38" LG IPS display with 144Hz, Freesync, KVM switch, bunch of usb ports. So to speak the perfect allrounder. Ok, the producivity part is nice but damn, gaming is so much fun, pulling you into game, especially with FPS games. Want to also try Civ6 some time, is probably also nice to have a broad view. One of the best investments ever, every cent worth it.

Well, currently playing Doom Eternal that supports widescreens, no black bars and it's awesome on the 38" display. Besides that Half Life 2 and warhammer boltgun are the only fps games that I have :). And Borderlands 3, if you count that also as fps.

I recently bought the first one. Is one of the best purchases of my life, for real. It's the perfect allrounder. You can even game on that (has even freesync) without sacrificing any productivity related features.

Yeah I did! It’s been great, and people were right, it’s a pretty good resolution for both work and gaming. Only downsides are that it’s still decently bright even at the lowest brightness, and that it often makes an annoying sound. It’s very much like the “computer is thinking hard sound” of older computers. It isnt noticeable with headphones, but if i’m just chilling without music on or anything it can get to me sometimes. I’d still have gotten it if I knew about that though, and the built in KVM feature more than makes up for it.

Yeah I wonder if all of them have it, or if it’s just super common. What’s weird is if you set the brightness to like 40-50 or so (which I think was around what it was set to by default, IIRC), the coil whine all but goes away. I don’t understand why, because you think it would put more load on the monitor to make things brighter. Maybe it’s the opposite, where 40-ish brightness is the standard, and to go much lower or higher, it has to work harder in some way? I feel like LEDs don't work that way, but I admit I don’t know much about hardware engineering… Edit: Just tested it at 40. Yep, the whine is 99.5% gone, but it’s like staring at the sun…

I also have the LG 38 and it is nice. Using primarily for gaming and not using the USB-C or connectivity since I rarely plug in the laptop and have another solution for that anyway

Err, for some reason your text didn't show up when I replied. I have the LG and it's great for productivity, you can get three windows side by side at native res. As for ethernet, a simple dongle can be plugged into one of the monitor's USB-A port and this will be shared via the thunderbolt port if you're using it. Great for macOS (use BetterDisplay)

I have tried a lot of monitors in this "category" and ended up sticking with the 38WR85QC. Tried OLEDs, VAs and IPSs. Out of all the IPS panels I tried it was the one that looked best for me. And with the combination of an internal PSU, easy access to ports and great connectivity I thought it was the best allrounder.

If smearing is truly your fear then LG 38wn95c or 38wr85qc are your best bets. These would be safe options.

I was aiming at tve 38WRQC just becuase of the integrated KVM: having the possibility to seamlessly working on both work laptop and personal PC would be a big plus for me (plus less cables around).

The monitor you described is called the Samsung Neo G9 57-inch Mini LED minus the kvm and usbc part. I would look at the lg 38wr85qc

LG 38 is the best one from this lot for me.

I have the Alienware 3225qf. At times I wish it were brighter and an UW (I do appreciate the glossy oled though). My favorite display resolution was 3840x1600 on my old lg 38GL950G-B. I was perfectly fine without oled and regret the switch. Sadly it’s a discontinued model and the current variant 38wr85qcw is too distracting. The white bezel stands out and the “dimming zones” are distracting. I’ve see the 5k2k in stores and the semi gloss display doesn’t seem bad but the oled brightness still feels lacking.

LG38WN95C-W Rev2 and its newer version, the 38WR85QC-W are a great middle ground for primarily productivity. They run at 3840x1600, are cheaper than the newer 5k x 2k monitors, and have higher refresh (144 Hz) and no OLED concerns. The slightly lower res also makes them better to get higher FPS in games. You can also see the entire screen at a glance versus the IMHO crazy 49” sized monitors.

After months of research and analysis paralysis, finally pulled the trigger on this beast. I was concerned that the contrast of the panel will not be good as per reviews. Coming from an old ViewSonic monitor that I've been using for the last 6 years, I am glad to say that the contrast is a huge improvement as well.

Thanks! Yeah they just launched it this year I think, which is why it was hard to make a decision. It's quite expensive here because of import taxes and I was very hesitant. But it turned out perfect for me!

Yeah not ideal placement. There's a wire connecting them and it's basically stretched out fully. Don't want to place them in front because the wires will make it look messy. So that's why I just left them there for now lol.

Hey. This is easily the best monitor I've ever had, and one of the best purchases in my workspace. I was worried the curve will pose a problem in my design work but quite the contrary. I legit forget it's a curve. It's so natural. The contrast is also good enough for me. All other monitors I've used were lower spec than this so I can't really give an in-depth review of this compared to other monitors of its class but personally I'm super happy with it.

True. I think the brightness is at 50% in these pictures.

Same, i passed on Oleds and everything else for the LG 38WR85QC. I still can't find a reason to upgrade to anything else out there.

I use the PiP on my LG 38WR85QC-W on the daily. 100% must have feature for any future monitor. The side by side mode unfortunately doesnt work with my intel mini pc for some reason either get black bars or no display when forcing the correct resolution.

Totally agree on the LG 38wr85q-w. Best monitor for productivity and gaming currently in the market. FYI Beach camera has the 38WN95C-W (same panel and everything, just without KVM and HDMI 2.1) open box for $499.

I'd like a 34-38" ultrawide with either mini-led or IPS black that doesn't suck! 😆 I am not happy with ANY of the current offerings. Manufacturers have moved away from developing fast IPS panels in this category and the only real option is the LG 38wr85q which is $1,200 and has shit contrast. I love OLED but I'm paranoid of burn in, so I don't keep anything in the same spot for more than 2 minutes. It's exhausting and probably unnecessary, but I don't want my $800 investment turning to e-waste.

I think LG has a relatively newer version of 38" in IPS. It's the W model. I've worked on both 34 and 38 ultrawide and the 38 is way better. You really grow to appreciate the extra vertical height that 1600px gives you.

Just order the 38 inch. lol

Sorry for the confusion. Mine is custom made. It is from China. 38inch, Nano IPS with 144Hz Refresh rate.

If youre going ultrawide for the sake of actually having a large screen to work with, your best choice would be to go for a 38in because they scale better and have 3840x1600 resolution. And their color accuracy is usually top notch. There's no real good reason to use 34in UW outside of gaming when 38in exists and is a better resolution size for scaling. I have the MSI MEG 38inch, but previously had the LG38G nanoIPS. Same panels in both monitors, my LG just got killed by a brown out.

Tbh my guy, I have a 38 LG 144hz monitor I use for work (the newest one but I can’t remember the monitor number) and a AW3225QF for gaming. When I occasionally game on the 38, the difference between it and oled is pretty minor unless you are playing a very dark game. I’ve been playing a lot of Lost Epoch on it and quite frankly, it looks nicer to my eyes.

The same panel is used in the LG 38" widescreen monitors. I'm having one of the Lg with freesync instead of g-sync

I think the sweet spot is in the 45-50" range for a 5k2k monitor. I've been wanting something in that range for a very long time now. I have a 38" 3840x1600 LG monitor now, and as great as it is, I would love more size and resolution.

I had a similar 34" 21:9 LG monitor and I found it too small for my liking (the height/vertical FOV felt too narrow). I prefer larger screens). So I switched it for an LG 38" 21:9 instead, which felt way better.

I always considered 38" at 3840x1600 to be the sweet spot in terms of ppi and vertical screen real estate. The GX9 is an upgrade to both which makes it the top choice until the higher ppi 39" versions arrive later this year

I went from 2 22" displays to 1 49" Samsung CRG9. The 49" was great for work productivity but for gaming I found it to be too short (not tall enough). I sold the 49" and now have a centered 38" (3840x1600) "main" display and an off center 27" (2560x1440). For my uses, the 38" is excellent for both work productivity and gaming and I use the 27" on the side for comms (Email, Teams, Discord, etc.)

I have the 39" LG oled and the 38" lg IPS display that is 3840x1600. For games, the benefits of oled and a higher refresh rate far outweigh the smaller resolution of the 39. I love it and will never go back. Another advantage is that for fps games, 3440x1440 is much easier to drive to high refresh rates. My 3090 was hovering around 110 in CoD MW3, and is significantly better than that around 160+ I may still play Civilization on my 38", but for everything else, 39" is great!!

The 38 inch lgs fit the bill

Same, 38" LG for both work and gaming and love it - but considering 27" OLED maybe this year, because even 4080s struggles to get high enough fps on higher settings in new UE games.

THIS! I have a LG 3840x1600 38" - perfect! Just wish it was 144Hz. I refuse to go down to 1440P.

I have a 38” LG with a slight curve, maybe 1500R and I really like it. I keep thinking I want to do the LG 5k 45” but it has an extreme curve and I am a bit worried it’s too big for what I need. I mostly use my PC work type productivity but play games on it as well. If you think 45” is too big, look at a 38” or 40”. However, these sizes don’t seem that prevalent.

3840x 1600, 144hz, 1ms. 38” LG

In follow-up of my previous post: https://www.reddit.com/r/ultrawidemasterrace/s/3pdB5GfzyG Update: down from 4 to 2 - LG 38" and Dell 40" remain. Was able to order the LG 38", and it arrived this yesterday. First impression; • ⁠Size is nice, but would not say no to 40" either. Drawing programs, CAD/Vectorworks/Sketchup are very nice full screen! Far better overview than before. • ⁠21:9 is a good ratio! Not too high, not too wide. • ⁠Curve is small, but dont need more. I don't have the impression my straight lines are curved at all. • ⁠3840*1600 resolution at 110ppi is better than expected (come from an 188ppi laptop). I'm a bit further away than from the laptop so at first impression definitely pleased with the quality. Text sharpness is what it should be. • ⁠Brightness is running at 60%, which is more than bright enough for me. In HDR mode i had to put it at 100% to be comfortable. There is an auto brightness function but its rubbish at first glance. • ⁠when standing I have to put the monitor at highest height, I would not mind a few additional centimeters here... First conclusion (LG38" vs Dell40"): Since no additional brightness is needed, the LG already has a slightly higher refresh rate and response time, and KVM functionality is not the highest priority; the Dell's advantages remain a few additional inches, and the far superior resolution. So, if in a week or so I'm ok with the size and resolution of the LG I will stick with this one I guess... Also this was an open box deal for €850, which would make the Dell x2 in price without a discount. Do they often give discounts? No longer on my list is the LG40". Found a used one with 1y warranty remaining for €800. Since I currently have brightness at 60% the 240cd/m² would be ok, but I'm afraid of the 72Hz... Also at this 5120x2160 resolution I might be pushing the GPU too much? Although I'm planning to buy a RTX 4080 Super of RTX 5070 Ti...

I've been rocking a 38 LG and I absolutely love it. I originally had dual 1080p 32s, and then Upgraded to a 34, hated how small it was, returned it and got the 38. I rock a vertical 27 next to it, and this is my all time favorite setup I've ever had.

Hey LG! I’ve had the 38” LG IPS and now have the original 45” OLED! I’d say my sweet spot is probably the 45”. It has the perfect vertical resolution and the curve is super immersive. While I currently only use it for gaming I think it’d be cool to do a review of the 3440x1440 and the 5k2k side by side in productivity apps to help clear the muddy waters in the PPI conversation. Thanks!

Try to have a look at the screen sizes in a store before you buy. I had my mind set on a 49" but after having a look at it, it felt like it lacked screen height. I settled for a 38" LG 3840x1600 instead as it suited me better. If I were to buy a screen today I would have a look at the 5k2k screens and see if I like them.

Agree - noticeable improvement on my 38 3840 x 1600

Same I'm running a 38" LG as well, excellent monitor I've been desperately waiting for an OLED variant

I've got an LG 38" ultrawide and I really couldn't go back to anything lower, so that is my current sweet spot. I am terribly curious about the next generation of incoming OLEDs though, especially since my screen has a scratch on it that is impossible to ignore.

I guess you can put it to preference…. I don’t like 27” 4k.. text is too small and trying to get text to look good and not be too big to lose the 4k size…. It’s just not good. Basically, a 3440x1440 at 39”.. the text will be bigger. The actually benefit is just bigger size but the use screen is still the same as a 34” 3440x1440. If you want a bigger monitor and proper resolution, look at 38” 3940x1600 or the new 45 5k2k. When looking at monitor, you shouldn’t just look at size … you need to look at resolution to size. 4k - 32”+, anything smaller may give more ppi but the actual image size will be bad visually.. if you can’t see it well since it’s too small, what’s the point. 34” - 3440x1440, this seems to work really well. It’s not just me but many others who use it. Higher res may work for this size but… it may have the same issues as too high res for the size. We won’t know until it comes out and people try it. 38” - 3840x1600, this seems to be a proper size to res. It’s also a great work size due to the higher height resolution. The unfortunate part .. it’s not a standard size so they are expensive and most are older models. Nothing new for this size/resolution. 39” - these are mostly cheaper 3440x1440 due to bad resolution to size. There are more expensive versions as you can see but not worth it in my opinion. -other res may exist but the most likely one is 3440x1440 49 - 5120x1440, 2 1440p monitors basically. This is a popular 32:9 monitor size and from users… it seem to work well. This may get 5k2k versions and that might work really well thought the size maybe a little different. There are other sizes but those are the basic ultrawide sizes that I have seen. -57”, this is a nich size for ultrawide so didn’t add this. If you got this, you know you want it.

LG 38” that is IPS and 1600p. I absolutely love it. Slightly more vertical real estate than 34”, great for daily office use and solid for gaming as well with the 144Hz. I of course wish I could turn it into an OLED on command but I didn’t want to deal with poor text clarity and burn in concerns.

Grabbed the refreshed LG 38” and really love it. Not perfect and I of course wish I could switch it to OLED when gaming, but it’s the ideal productivity/gaming monitor for me.

I upgraded from a 34" to an LG 38" and I think 38" is pretty perfect. I'd have a hard time getting anything wider on my pretty large standing desk unless I ditched my speakers

I bought the 38" LG last year and I love it. I thought 360cd/m2 wouldn't be bright enough but I woke up my PC the other night and it was dark in my room, holy balls, I literally had to squint to use the damn thing. Very good for gaming. I think the 40" might be better for productivity but I got a steal on the 38" LG so I don't regret it. Since it's still under native 4K it's fairly easy to drive for gaming.

The LG 5K2K on my desk is such big step up from the LG 38” UW IPS. I’m spending way too much time on gaming since I upgraded. Love it!

I tried both the LG38 and Dell U40. The panel uniformity on the LG38 is hot garbage. I've exchanged it once: Here is a picture of a "good" one at 100%. Yes, exposure time exaggerates the IPS glow, but all four corners are bleeding and visible in 0% brightness: [https://preview.redd.it/another-ips-panel-bleed-post-v0-bx3habx7jxge1.jpg?width=4029&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6220f6cda81c169866e6b680f7d24ec7227ada1c](https://preview.redd.it/another-ips-panel-bleed-post-v0-bx3habx7jxge1.jpg?width=4029&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6220f6cda81c169866e6b680f7d24ec7227ada1c) The replacement was worse, with bleeding all over the bottom edge in addition to the four corners. Here is a picture of my current Dell U40 at 100% and overexposed. It's nowhere near as bad in reality and at 30% brightness the bleed is not visible. [https://preview.redd.it/dell-u4025qw-black-uniformity-v0-d7b3jlu2skie1.jpg?width=3705&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b5ae8c87109c9b46c221db57186414632b80352d](https://preview.redd.it/dell-u4025qw-black-uniformity-v0-d7b3jlu2skie1.jpg?width=3705&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b5ae8c87109c9b46c221db57186414632b80352d) Note how the blacks are black and not blue.

Using a 38 3840x1600 and works great. Imo it will be fine until series 7k.

I hope that’s true. I’m a fan of the 38”, but 39” seems good. Will keep holding out

Ultrawide, for sure. The standard-ish 3440\*1440 I found a bit small, so I went with a 38" 3840\*1600. I do think my next will be a 5Kx2K, though. Many games won't support it, but you can run 16x9 if they don't just fine.

GUI monitor can be whatever you want. However, generally, people recommend having your reference monitor in the center, so having a GUI monitor to left and to the right of it makes more logical sense. I run a 38" LG ultrawide and a Flanders DM250 to the right of it.

I have a 42" c4 OLED after having a 38" LG ultrawide and I'll never go back. I have a 4080 driving it. I know it's a personal preference but I like having the real estate back on the top and bottom.

Is it really worth over 2x the price of the LG38? Imo those 38 inch panels (LG and AW38) are the GOATs for a mixture of productivity and gaming. I use an AW38 and my use case is exactly the same as yours.

38in LG ultrawide it’s IPS 🔥 gentle curve

Lookup va black level smearing before you go with a VA panel. I'd recommend checking out a video of say the Dell 34 inch VA panel as that's basically what you will end up with. Specifically look up black level smearing on any VA panel you are browsing. If you go cheap it could be worse than that. If you can't stand the black level smearing an IPS should be midrange for the price. There are plenty of options at 144 Hz. If you can get one I'd say go for the LG 38 inch 1600 p monitor as that is my daily driver for 3 years. I actually own the Alienware one but it's the same panel just 144 Hz and I'm not sure how common Alienware is as a brand in Europe. Otherwise you can go with an OLED 34 inch but they are expensive. I'd guess easily $1000 Euros. Imo increase your budget a bit for your monitor of choice. It's gonna usually last you 5 years. So an extra $200 can go a long way for peace of mind.

I have a 9800x3D and just got a 9070xt and I play on a 3840x1600 38" ultra wide, it's dope

Having used a 38" 3840*1600 extensively for work I've been waiting for a long time for an OLED ultrawide to meet or beat that resolution. I'n my opinion anything less than 1600 vertical pixels is insufficient for productivity usage so I've been extremely excited to try 45" at 5k2k for some time!

Their great, I had an LG 38” Curved UltraWide QHD+ (3840 x 1600) for many years and I found that great as well. 1600 is the min vertical I'm okay with personally