Ultrawide Monitor for UX Design | LG 40WP95C-W

Is a curved ultrawide monitor acceptable for professional design work? Let's find out! I brought diagrams!
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Intro 00:00
Setup 00:32
The Monitor 04:12
2 Week Review 04:53
Ultrawide Fullscreen 05:24
Ultrawide Multitasking 07:19
Reflections 08:50
09:56 Gaming
Verdict 10:58
Outro 12:47
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[@eshanmathur4874]

Dude, thank you so much for doing review from a productivity and design standpoint. Most importantly, thank you for highlighting that WORKFLOW - what windows go where and why. Almost every review of every ultrawide is super high level and doesn't actually get into what those workflow improvements are. Also, so many of these reviewers do gaming or YouTubing as their day job, which is not most folks.

[@bradjones1316]

Best review I have seen on this monitor. Great job! Convinced me to order one.

[@HygieneHiphop]

Yes-nice to hear some folks specifically covering UX usage. I'm currently using an APple STudio Display (work provided) and it's great, but could totally use more real estate.

[@sangrybird]

i just got this monitor about 4 days ago and the biggest game changer has been the smoothness of the text. i didn't realize just how much time i spend reading and writing for my job, and the clarity has made all the difference for me. great video!

[@waynesang]

Glad to hear it! I love leaning back and reading on this thing, so much nicer than hunching over a laptop or smaller display!

[@MadLadsAnonymous]

Are you using it with a Mac? If so, how's the resolution scaling?

[@genswarc]

⁠@@MadLadsAnonymousIn the video he's on Mac, and I would be also curious to the scaling thing - Issue, hardware pressure etc!

[@DawahDigital]

Mate, you have great skills in video creation. I wish you well.

[@waynesang]

Thanks so much!

[@cybermuse6917]

Quality review with great clarity on UX functionality rather than a spec sheet! Like like like!

[@patrickduchene3181]

Bought this yesterday. I have owned many LG monitors and loved them all. This is a great monitor but unacceptable that such an expensive monitor only has 300nits of brightness. Text is nice and clear and the 72hz is not much higher than the standard 60 but was amazed that it did feel noticeably smoother.

[@EdwinZamorano]

This is the review i was looking for, thanks for the breakdown.

[@DctrGizmo]

I’m getting my first ultrawide for my work from home and personal use and this is exactly what I was looking for since I’m a graphic designer. Glad to see this form factor working well for you!

[@RegieSaberon]

I was looking for a monitor upgrade for a couple of weeks now ranging from 30" to 49", mainly for productivity and coding. Thanks for this video this helps me decide.

[@honey2badger]

thanks for doing a review. Its not the monitor I'm getting but it answered alot of questions i had for its general purpose. This video helped me decide the jump would work for my needs.

[@sharingmatters]

Wow. What a perfectly brokendown story. Great designs, logical arguments, well structured. You should have more subs :)

[@yasam9311]

thank you for your elaborated video. those 5K2K curved monitors are my dream for my software programming work. but I simply can't afford them. One 5K2K monitor is priced almost equivalent of four 4K monitors here in my country (5K2K is 34K Turkish Liras, 4K monitor is 9K Turkish Liras) so I went with buying two 4K monitors, one for me and one for my sister (who is also a computer science graduate) I totally payed 18K, which is almost half price of a single 5K2K curved dream monitor..

[@newgoblin49]

Hey your video was so in depth and I’m super impressed with the diagrams , keep doing good work , may god bless you my child

[@jmanjr]

Great review, was exactly what I’m looking for…. “Forget the silly specs, just tell me how you like it and what you like about it..”. Thanks Wayne

[@cy2386]

Thank you for this really comprehensive review that answered all my questions - your humour is also right up my alley too 😂😂

[@XcessCapital]

Finally a real use review. Thank you so much. I'm sold.

[@michaelb.hortonrealtorgrim5922]

Thank you Wayne for that very good review! I currently have a Dell 34" ultra-wide but finding a little more room side to side is really needed. I do video and photo editing occassionally but mostly its spread sheets and real estate documents. I never thought I would say this 34" is manytimes 'cramped'. I had been looking at this 40" LG and like it has, hopefully anyway, more color pop and better clarity with the 4k res.

[@waynesang]

Glad you like it! It's quite nice to never really feel cramped, and do side by side windows more often as it's so comfy.

[@mjscpr]

That to me was the best review of the screen, I watched about a dozen.

[@dotvhs]

I recently moved from 22" 1080p 60hz to 27" 4K 144hz monitor and I love it. Speaking of gaming - I didn't even consider ultra wide monitors as they actually don't work very well in many games, especially old ones (but even some of the new games too), so that's something worth remembering. Great video though :)

[@waynesang]

Nice! That’s a good upgrade. Jealous of the high refresh rate!

[@yzniinja]

so thorough the figma window and website window examples was so helpful thanks!

[@ItsJustMeStevie]

Thank you so much for this video. I’ve been working on a 16” MBP for a year now and the eye strain and multitasking has mosdef become an issue. Motion design, video editing and audio are my major tasks and I can see how this would definitely help me. Will be getting it myself. Thanks again!

[@NenadSapungin]

Nice looking monitor! Can't wait to upgrade to an ultra wide. LG 40WP95C-W

[@renatolovato]

I decided to buy this monitor when Apple launched the new Apple Studio Display. I was so pissed off because I really expected Apple would launch something outstanding, and maybe an ultrawide monitor. Still, instead, they ended up making only a better version of the LG Ultrafine 27". On the other hand, this monitor is fantastic. You have a much more real state, basically (or almost) you are combining two 27" monitors in one. The only cons I see are the audio and its brightness (only 350 nits is not enough). Btw, great content, congrats!

[@waynesang]

Thanks a lot! Yeah definitely not perfect, but still happy with it many months later!

[@J_McPhearsom]

I’ve known I (and my eyes) wouldn’t be happy till I had a 5K2K since they came out, but couldn’t justify a $1,500-$2,100 monitor. I recently found out that there is another manufacturer using these panels, other than LG, Dell, or HP. It’s Lenovo, (ThinkVision P40W-20) and because they are lesser known, can be found MUCH cheaper than the Dell or LG, while having same panel, and newer features, like multiple thunderbolt 4 ports (in/out). Just won bid on one for $888 on EBay, (open box, like new, not used) and finally got into a 5K2K for half the price!

[@waynesang]

Wow that's great! I couldn't find that when I was looking a few months ago, but glad to hear about that!

[@crypt0w1tch]

You’re an angel! Headed to eBay immediately 🏃‍♀️

[@lcax8804]

Great video. About the brain doing funky stuff, actually on Flat 43inch monitors because the center usually much closer than rest of the screen, it can even be perceived by brain as convex in the middle towards you.

[@ghasemelyasi8552]

Thank you for this review! I found it to be pretty helpful to me.

[@robdiaz]

Such a great review 👏👏👏

[@yasam9311]

09:17 I strongly advice computer users to use RGB lights behind the monitor. Any light "behind you", which can be a ceiling bulb or a lampshade on your desk, might cause glare on your screen. But if you use lights that are "hidden" behind the monitor (on under your computer desk) those light sources won't cause any glare on your screen, and imroves your viewing quality significantly. I use four seperate RGB wifi light bulbs, one behind my monitor, two of them are under my desk, and one is mounted on my desk lamp (but this desk lamp is inverted, so it only lights up my ceiling) all my light sources are hidden, I can't directly see them. they supply light only by "reflection through the wall or ceiling" and this reflected light strongly reduces eye strain while working.

[@waynesang]

Yeah I agree. I only use a light behind me when filming as it looks nicer in my shot, but otherwise all dark behind me too.

[@IgorAntarov]

Thank you for the quality review!

[@djrajieee3]

Appreciate this no-nonsense review! Wish you had an affiliate link, ill be picking one of these up 🙏

[@waynesang]

Totally forgot to add that! But so glad you found it useful! Enjoy!

[@RoadRallyLife]

Coming from a 27" BenQ 4k for professional work for years, ended up pulling the trigger.

[@user-qv3mj4we6n]

Great review, I’ve never used YT for reviews but this was great. Where is your light in the background from on the shelf? It’s lovely :)

[@AmsterDanTheAmerican]

Hi, great video. Thank you. I am in the process of making a decision about a 43" to 49" Dell/LG specifically for productivity at home. I am in sales and typically work with 3-8 windows open at any time, all of varying sizes. Apps used are word, excel, sales force, browser, etc. Ideally, I'm looking to keep as many of those windows open in their separate space so that I don't have to toggle between them. Because I can't really find any of these monitors "in-the-wild" to look at them, I was wondering your thoughts on whether a 43/45" like the Dell 16:9 vs LG 21:9 vs Dell 49" 32:9 .

[@RoadRallyLife]

Great review, appreciate your hard work - here's a curveball for you - what is the difference between this model and the seemingly identical LG 40BP95C-W? The latter is a few hundred cheaper and offers a 3 year warranty - which the mainstream version doesn't, which for a $2k monitor is shocking.

[@waynesang]

That... is a good question. I didn't know about this, and looking through I can't spot the difference. I can't actually see both when I look on the LG site, I wonder if the one you mentioned is replacing the one I reviewed... wish I had an answer for ya!

[@eguachomedia]

Thank you so much for this video. I bought it because of it. Could you share your picture mode and the rest of the configuration? I noticed some flickering with the custom profile mode.

[@jacquelynnacopoulos1278]

Hello, Congratulations Cool 👍👏👏👏

[@PatrickVannie]

Thank you for the great video. I am currently using a 27 inch monitor myself and am interested in this ultrawide from LG. Could you tell me the width and heigth of the visible screen size of this monitor ? Found a lot of data but could not find the actual screen size. Thanks in advance

[@JohnSmith-zl8rz]

You mention "eye strain" but the only way to get perfection is the Apple 5K retina! I hate all 4K monitors on the market, I work on UI/UX and the studio display looks not as as great the MacbBookPro XDR screen but close.

[@weblearningd2294]

What is the optimal resoution value i should use for figma and webbrowsering? Thanks!

[@shanesmane]

Great video and breakdown Wayne! I am also looking at getting this monitor and have a couple questions! 1. Does the text shrink or feel small to you? 2. Is sharing your screen on zoom easy to do compared to regular ultra wide monitors? I know with most ultra wide you can’t share screen like you could on a 21:9 ratio monitor since they are 16:9. But since this is a ultra wide at 21:9 I would assume you wouldn’t have this problem

[@waynesang]

1. I've set my scaling to a step higher than default just to text is more comfortable for me. In the past I never scaled up because I didn't want to lose space, but this has plenty of space! 2. Technically it's fine on Zoom so far! But I avoid sharing full desktop, as I think res is reduced for them. I usually share app windows only, and I have a shortcut to resize windows to 2/3rds width (close to 16:9, but not exactly). Makes it easier for people to view. This is great because I use the extra space on the side to put the video call thumbnails so I can see everyone's faces nice and big, works out really well. No overlaps.

[@cihanh6908]

Does ddc/ci commands work? That is can you control brightness and/or volume using third party apps like lunar?

[@fashion4thesole409]

Are you using Mac? Is the text crisp? I’m a graphic designer and wondering if this monitor would be a good option for me.

[@MadLadsAnonymous]

Samsung needs to make a QD-OLED panel in this size and dimension that can do 120 Hz and 1000 nits. Hopefully in a few years.

[@waynesang]

Yeah same. I'd love an OLED again, had a TV years ago. Still waiting for the right specs plus confidence in burn-in protection (for productivity anyways, lots of static elements on screen).

[@DarylCrow]

Thanks for the review! When gaming did you run into any issues with selecting the native resolution or did you have to select a lower resolution? Any additional thoughts around the resolution when gaming would be appreciated.

[@waynesang]

Hi Daryl! I used to game at 4K with upsampling assistance like DLSS. This higher resolution performed fairly similarly! That upsampling tech is amazing these days. However some games like Tunic had me search for a widescreen fix to use the full screen. But there’s plenty of fixes out there, wasn’t bad at all. I was worried before as well but it’s been fine! Oh and I have a 3080ti so that’s a big factor. Would want 3080 or above I suspect to hang at the native res.

[@erkydi]

Thanks for the indepth review, also a product designer here that uses Figma for work. I also need widescreen real estate for my music production. Might consider this one also, however the price is kinda hefty and I've never used a curved monitor either. Have you tried any other models or other brands?

[@waynesang]

Nah haven't tested others, just did a lot of research. Honestly if I wasn't doing video work and stubbornly sticking to 4k, I would consider 1440px high ultrawides which are much cheaper, and with more variety. And maybe when OLED burn in doesn't scare me, I'd try that in the future too.

[@DicaireBH]

Do you plan to compare with 42” 4k monitor like the Dell? The extra screen space might be useful for multitasking and excel spreadsheet

[@waynesang]

I've thought about going bigger! To be honest my desk size is almost limiting me. I'd try bigger, but for me it should be further back, and I'm out of room. Maybe in the future!

[@riccardoatwork5291]

Do you have any idea what is the oldest model of macbook pro that will be able to use this monitor.. even compromising on resolution... I have a very old one but I waiting for the M3 to come up to buy a new macbook, but my 27" external monitor broke and I would love to get this one , but I am afraid that my old laptop won' t be able to use it...

[@waynesang]

Sorry I'm not sure! The monitor compatibility is hard to find for Macs. I would be a little careful with anything older than an M1 Mac personally.

[@kiench]

Wayne do you feel the text is too small if you use the native 5k by 2k resolution. If you do scaling I think it gets blurrer? Thanks.

[@waynesang]

I think someone with better eyes than myself could use it at native, but long term for me it'd be tiring. But possible, unlike using a 27" 4k monitor at zero scaling. For what it's worth, I'm ok with the decreased sharpness from scaling because I can keep the monitor further away. I only notice if I lean forward (which I try not to do with a 40" monitor!).

[@foundlost5583]

Do you find the brightness sufficient? Does the brightness need to be cranked up to max to be adequate? I use a 4K LG and only need to set it at 65%.

[@waynesang]

Yep! I'm next to a window, and during the daytime it's great. At night it's actually too bright at my 90% setting (but I forget to dial it down after hours).

[@mayamoto]

Thanks for the review. I am wondering what is the resolution your monitor is at in the video (OSX)?

[@waynesang]

Hi! I've scaled to 3200x1350 (I opted for larger due eye strain preferences).

[@howimade3309]

get the neo g9 57. 40 is too small for 2023

[@ranrise]

Did you try a 32 4k? Issue is, this monitor is such a terrible value at current Amazon price of $1350. In comparison, a decent 4k 32inch with 90w type-C can be found for half that price. And if you are going above $1k, new QD-OLED 4K 240hz monitor again with 90w type-C and hdmi 2.1 can be found for $1199, and it's the newest best monitor tech out there, compared to this LG only 72hz IPS with inaccurate colors in comparison to the OLED (it's good color for an IPS display I'm sure). Also, reviews indicate this thing takes 7-8 seconds to wake, is this your experience? And if so does it not bother you? Like you are waking your laptop and it would take what seems like a year to just fire up.

[@stepahinigor]

Hey thank you for the video! Finally found a review from the designer and I can ask an important question that you will definitely understand :) What resolution do you use? I mean it has a resolution of 5120×2160 (only 140 ppi), whereas my Macbook Pro 16 2019 has 3072 x 1920 (226 ppi) which is near the same height. So physically it's a lot bigger, by height, but in pixels not so much. On a macbook I use true 2x resolution 1536x960 because, mmm, I am old fashioned and I just see blurry pixels if the ratio is fractional (although there is more information, more UI fits...), that is not going to be a perfect pixel. So with this monitor I don't understand what resolution I would have to use to be comfortable. So I'm thinking, what resolution should I use on a monitor like this? Fractional? Will I be able to get used to blurry pixels, icons, 1 pixel borders... Its ppi just doesn't seem physically suitable for true 2x resolution like monitors with 200+ ppi (still no ultrawide, only LG Ultrafine 5K and Apple Studio Display). Actually true 2x resolution was the default when Apple's retina screens came out, but later they changed the default resolution to fractional "more space" and I accidentally found out about it when I decided to set up the new macbook as new rather than migrate with the old settings.

[@waynesang]

I have gotten used to the fractional scaling, but for me this is very much about viewing distance and my own vision (and eye strain!). I'm trying to sit further back than I used to (too many years being a foot away from a small, high DPI laptop). My MacOS scaling is set to more space than default (3200x1350). When I stick my arm out, I don't even touch my monitor, that's how far I am. If I get too close I have tot turn my head to see the sides. :D I know MacOS scaling is imperfect, but it never bothered me too much, I got used to it. But honestly when I design, I'm zooming in and out a lot anyways, or previewing on a native device for mobile work. Overall, it doesn't bother me, and the space trade-off is worth it!

[@giotek8]

Thanks for the review. How was eye strain running native 5k2k in menus and text etc? I’ll be mainly using this for PS, LR, Resolve and some music production stuff. Gaming might be like 10% But eyes aren’t what they use to be, so I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go 5k2k then scale need be, or go for the 3840x1600 @144hz model. Would appreciate your opinion.

[@waynesang]

In both OS X and Windows it's been good! Windows recommends 150% scaling default (same res, but UI elements scale up) and that's been good. On OS X the default was actually too big, I made it a bit more smaller. The DPI is lower than my old monitor but I just get to sit further back now. Less eye strain, no squinting or leaning forward anymore. Been great ergonomically for me.

[@giotek8]

@@waynesang awesome! Thank you for the detailed and prompt response. Much appreciated

[@njfootball4953]

Please can you share a download link of your wallpaper it looks way too great :D

[@waynesang]

Sure! Can't find the source, but uploaded to imgur. imgur.com/a/1Rj5ouP

[@donnorman6526]

I am confused is this considered 4K or 2k then? I have 4 monitor and I am afraid I will lose the crispiness

[@waynesang]

It's basically a 4k res, 32" screen, but with added width. So you don't lose crispness from a 4k screen of that size, just more space.

[@olivierleirman411]

What monitor arm do you use?

[@ThePakovia]

What kind of led stripe do you have behind the monitor? I see that it is synchronized with the content

[@waynesang]

I’m using Hue Light Bars! One on each side. After this video I got one more, attached to the monitor, centre top. Their software syncs up on my Mac and pc, works well!

[@IgorAntarov]

@@waynesang That's Hue Play, or another kind of bars? (I had two hue plays and they were making high pitch noise on 100% brightness on some colors)

[@waynesang]

@@IgorAntarov Yep these are Hue Play bars (I have 3 on the back of my monitor now). I haven't noticed a high pitched sound, but I also often wear headphones (and sadly higher frequencies aren't as audible to me anymore 👴🏼).

[@IgorAntarov]

@waynesang Thanks, good to know. I liked them very much, but I had to return them for that reason. So I'm looking for an alternative.

[@lightmeetslens]

Awesome overview, I was just considering a new monitor and wanted a bit of extra space. Is the cost worth it?

[@waynesang]

For me I think so, assuming a 5 year or so lifespan at least! It was also on sale when I pulled the trigger (but still dang expensive). I think we both have strong visual use cases where it's more justifiable. Think it'd be sweet for photo work! Can always try and return!

[@davidviloria7737]

yes

[@tek_soup]

is it NATIVE 10 Bit? i look manual and asked lg, not really a strait answer. also, i just wish it was atleast 100 hz.

[@waynesang]

Sorry I don't know either re: native 10bit! And yeah the refresh rate is low. One of the tougher compromises. Hoping for a monitor one day that does it all, along with refresh rate!

[@PaulSebastianM]

There's also 3180 x 1600 @ 38", did you look at those?

[@waynesang]

I did! My sticking point was the vertical resolution coming from native 4k screens. I still wanted to be able to see 4k in full. Honestly it was close though, because those are way more affordable.

[@weblearningd2294]

Hi, the lg ergo line is compatible with this monitor? If not can you offer me one? Thanks a lot!

[@waynesang]

Hi! I'm not 100% sure, but from what I see the Ergo stand doesn't support enough weight. I bought a heavy duty monitor arm (VIVO Premium Aluminum Heavy Duty Monitor Arm for Ultrawide Monitors). Ultrawides of this size are generally too heavy for regular arms.

[@weblearningd2294]

@@waynesang thanks a lot your Help!

[@Led.on.YouTube]

What specs (CPU/GPU) were you running with the games you played on this 5k2k? Nice review

[@waynesang]

Back when I recorded I had a 3900x and 3080ti. Most games were fine too! Recently upgraded to a 4090 and 5800x3d. Only some games like Cyberpunk are much different. And thanks!

[@Led.on.YouTube]

@@waynesang Thanks for the quick reply! Are you still loving and using this monitor 3 months later?

[@Led.on.YouTube]

​@@waynesangHow did you connect your desktop tower to your monitor? USB 3.2 into the Thunderbolt port?

[@waynesang]

@@Led.on.KZbin My Macbook uses a Thunderbolt (into a TB hub, that then connects to the monitor). My PC connects via Displayport. I also sometimes connect a PS5 via HDMI, but PS5 doesn't do ultrawide.

[@Led.on.YouTube]

@@waynesang does the monitor act as a KVM, or do you have to plug in separate devices to your PC when using it via DisplayPort?

[@stephenprice7502]

What monitor arm are you using?

[@waynesang]

You can find it on amazon by searching "VIVO Premium Aluminum Heavy Duty Monitor Arm for Ultrawide Monitors". Def need a specialized arm as it's heavier than regular monitor arm weight limits!

[@DavitTigranyan]

It is not 21:9 It's 24:10

[@matthewcastonguay2759]

What stand are you using for the monitor ?

[@waynesang]

I'm using the "VIVO Premium Aluminum Heavy Duty Monitor Arm for Ultrawide Monitors". Def need a heavy duty for this monitor. I will say the cable management is a bit crappy, but it works well otherwise!

[@martinaupperle220]

What Graphic Card do I need for the 5k ?

[@waynesang]

For non-gaming, almost anything will do! I mostly use it with my M1 Mac. For gaming I first used a 3070 and it was ok at 5k res, I just couldn't do max settings. More like high/med depending on game. For max settings, 4080 or 4090.

[@gambno99]

My usb c port broke…

[@waynesang]

Oh no! That sucks! I'd think LG would take care of that via warranty, but that's still a pain to deal with. Especially sending back stuff. :\

[@monkeymdude]

less music please.

[@amaranth6174]

You mean lower music, I think the music fits in perfectly, slightly a little loud

[@sijigs]

It’s fine. Calm down lol