Pre-Orders for LG’s 32UD99 Display Available: 4K, DCI-P3, HDR10, FreeSync for $999

LG and its partners recently disclosed the complete specifications as well as the price of the LG 32UD99 flagship consumer display. The 32-inch display will feature a 4K (UHD) resolution, support for HDR10, a 95% DCI-P3 color gamut, and support for AMD’s FreeSync that the manufacturer announced in December. Multiple retailers in the U.S. are now taking orders on the monitor with ETA in April or May. The price of the display is in line with other high-end consumer products, clearly emphasizing its positioning for enthusiasts and prosumers.

As reported, the LG 32UD99 is based on an IPS panel with a native 3840×2160 resolution that can reproduce 1.07 billion colors and cover over 95% of the DCI-P3 color space as well as 100% of the sRGB color gamut. The display supports HDR10 capabilities (LG does not disclose information about 3D LUT (look-up tables)) and comes factory-calibrated. The panel features 350 nits typical brightness, 5 ms response time, a 60 Hz refresh rate and 178° viewing angles. The display also supports AMD’s FreeSync technology that works in the range between 40 and 60 Hz via DisplayPort.

Judging by the specifications and feature-set of the 32UD99, we can guess that LG generally positions the monitor for different kinds of applications. The consumer standard for DCI is used by a number of consumer electronics devices, a variety of Apple devices and has good prospects to be adopted for televisions as well. While LG is not confirming that they’re going with the consumer version of DCI (as opposed to the digital projection version), it’s reasonable to assume that like their other DCI-capable monitors, the 32UD99 will follow the consumer standard as well. As with other DCI-P3 displays, we have to remind you that at present Microsoft’s Windows 10 needs better support for differing color spaces. That being said, HDR will be the most distinctive feature of the new monitor because it is still rare on consumer displays.

Gallery: LG32UD99 Display

When it comes to input/output capabilities, the LG 32UD99 is equipped with two HDMI 2.0a ports supporting HDCP 2.2 protection technology (these are the ports that must be used to watch content with HDR10), one DisplayPort 1.2 and one USB Type-C header that can be used as a video input as well for charging laptops. Like many flagship displays today, the 32UD99 comes with speakers – in this case 2×5 W. In addition, the monitor has a dual-port USB 3.0 hub and an audio output.

Amazon and B&H are now taking orders on the LG32UD99 for $999.99. Amazon promises to ship the product in 2-4 weeks, whereas B&H expects the display to become available in late May. Keep in mind that as of today LG does not have an exact launch date for the monitor and thus retailers may delay their shipments.

Related Reading:

• LG Announces 32UD99: 4K IPS Display with 95% DCI-P3, HDR and USB-C
• LG Introduces New UltraFine 4K and 5K Monitors
• BenQ Launches the SW320: a 4K Display with HDR for Professionals
• Dell Introduces UltraSharp UP3017 30-Inch Professional Display with 16:10 Aspect Ratio and DCI-P3 Color Space
• Dell’s 32-inch 8K UP3218K Display Now For Sale: Check Your Wallet
• ASUS Demonstrates ROG Swift PG27UQ: 4K, 144 Hz, HDR, DCI-P3 and G-Sync
• ASUS ProArt PA32U Display: 4K, 1000 Nits Brightness, 95% DCI-P3, 85% Rec. 2020

Samsung Investing in 3840×1080 and 3840×1200 Curved Displays at 144 Hz

One of the interesting elements in the new wave of monitor technologies is the types of ideas that panel manufacturers are coming up with. In the enterprise space, custom display configurations occur more frequently than we might expect, but for consumers there tends to be a line of standardization. Samsung, being vertically integrated, gives them the opportunity to experiment more than most. Even then, as a reviewer in the industry, one develops certain expectations of what might be coming in the future. Consider me stumped, as TFTCentral has delved into Samsung’s upcoming roadmaps and panel production schedules to pull out one or two surprises.

49-inch 3840×1080, or ‘Double Full-HD / DFHD’

For readers on the leading-edge of monitor configurations, ultra-wide displays in the 21:9 aspect ratio have been on the radar for about two years. These are monitors that have a 2560×1080 display, stretching the horizontal dimension of a standard 1920×1080 Full-HD monitor and make it easier to display modern cinema widescreen format content with less black bars. They are also claimed to assist with peripheral vision when gaming beyond a standard 1920×1080 display, or when curved, help with immersive content.

So chalk up some surprise when we hear that Samsung has an even wider format panel in the works. 3840×1080 represents a 32:9 aspect ratio, and the report states that this will be a VA panel with 1800R curvature and a 3-side frameless design. Putting that many pixels in a large display gives a relatively low 81.41 PPI. This panel will be part of Samsung’s ‘Grand Circle’ format, and by supporting up to 144 Hz it is expected that variants of this panel will be included with FreeSync/GSYNC technologies.  One figure to note would be the contrast ratio – 5000:1 (static), which TFTCentral states is higher than current Samsung VA panels.

44-inch 3840×1200

This panel is the equivalent two 24.7-inch 1920×1200 screens put side-by-side, and indicates which market Samsung would be aiming for. The specifications seem to be almost identical to the 3840×1080 panel, such as 1800R curvature, but in a 29:9 aspect ratio with 60 Hz and 144 Hz variants. Pixel density is slightly higher than the other panel too, given the higher resolution and lower diagonal, which gives 91.41 PPI. TFTCentral is listing these panels as having an 8-bit color depth (no word on FRC), and likely to be qualified on some amount of sRGB. Other numbers, such as brightness and response time, are still unknown.

An amusing aside, for any users looking for a 16:10 display, something like two of these stacked on top of each other might be suitable (albeit massive) if these panels also offer a 3-side borderless configuration. I know Ryan has been after a decent 3840×2400 display, but given our discussions with monitor manufacturers, there seems to be no 16:10 demand from consumers.

A bad mockup of two non-curved 16:10 displays

So while these two panels aren’t official announcements (they don’t even have official part numbers yet), and production will depend on how well these technologies scale. But by virtue of being on roadmaps and panel lists it is clear that Samsung has at least been doing research towards some wider aspect ratio displays. Information from TFTCentral is claiming mass production for both of these panels in September 2017, which means we might see some early announcements for retail-grade panels at Computex in June, or at IFA at the end of August with some pre-production run models. Full retail then might happen in the second half of the year, or along with further announcements at CES in January. 

Related Reading

• Dell’s 32-inch 8K UP3218K Display Now For Sale: Check Your Wallet
• HP Announces Omen X 35-Inch Curved Display for Gamers
• ASUS Designo Curve MX34VQ Incoming: 34″ Ultrawide Curved Display

Gallery: Samsung Investing in 3840×1080 and 3840×1200 Curved Displays at 144 Hz

Dell’s 32-inch 8K UP3218K Display Now For Sale: Check Your Wallet

Back at CES in January, Dell announced the next step in personal screen resolution advancements. The recent rise of ‘4K’ (or more accurately, Ultra-HD at 3840×2160) monitors has shown that there is a demand for high resolution interfaces beyond a smartphone. Back when UHD monitors in a 16:9 format launched en masse, prices were high ($3500-5000+) and stocks were limited – I remember back in 2013 testing the Sharp 32-inch 4K display at a vendor in Taiwan several years ago in one of the first pieces to test 4K/UHD gaming. The fact that this was the only UHD monitor that GIGABYTE had in their HQ was a testament to how new the technology was. Now, 24-inch UHD displays can be had for as little as $350. We may see history repeat itself with 8K monitors from today.

As always, the first Dell monitors off the production line are designed to be high-end professional monitors. The UP3218K goes in at higher than average specifications, such as 1300:1 contrast ratio, 400 nits brightness, but also offers 100% AdobeRGB, 100% RGB and 98% DCI-P3. The UP3218K is part of Dell’s UltraSharp range, which means we should expect the monitor to be color calibrated out of the box to within a given dE value, typically dE < 3.

Naturally a question pops up as to how to hook an 8K display up, especially will all the bells and whistles. The display uses two DP1.4 inputs to provide enough bandwidth, which means that we’re typically dealing with the internal controller stitching together two 3840×4320 displays, similar to how the early 4K monitors did (but with a few more years experience on how to do it). It is possible that Dell supports a single DP1.4 cable, which would most likely use Display Stream Compression 1.2 to offer a visually lossless image as a single panel, however one may suspect that given the target market for this panel, a truly lossless image is probably preferred, even when dealing with two input streams.

Overall an 8K monitor offers 33.2 megapixels of coverage, which in a 32-inch (31.5-inch) form factor gives 280 pixels per inch. 33.2 megapixels is four times that of UHD, which is 8.3 megapixels. Users wanting to play some AAA titles at 8K on this beast are going to run into walls with memory bandwidth very quickly, however eSports titles should run OK. Using some undocumented tricks, a pair of tests in our new set of gaming benchmarks for CPU reviews can render at 8K or even 16K without needing a monitor, so you might see some numbers in due course showing where we stand with GPU power on this technology. It’s worth noting that Raja Koduri, SVP of AMD’s Radeon Technology Group, has stated that VR needs 16K per-eye at 144 Hz to emulate the human experience, so we’re still a way off in the display technology reaching consumer price points at least.

From 2013 to 2016, the prices of UHD monitors fell from $3500-$5000 to $350-$500. Extrapolating this, users wanting an 8K panel on their desk in a more comfortable price bracket might have to wait until 2020 or so to get one. By then, 16K might exist, back at the $5000 price point. Maybe.

Dell’s UP3218K is now available to purchase on Dell’s website for $4999. Currently taking pre-orders, the estimated shipping date is set as April 17^th for US50. Linus from LinusTechTips should be happy, as they just invested in a pair of 8K video cameras. Time to submit my own acquisition request…

Image from Wikipedia