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LG UltraFine 5K Display: The perfect Cinema Display replacement?| Review
Apr 30, 2024
More Apple news: http://www.cultofmac.com I've finally got my hands on the 27" LG UltraFine 5K Monitor, after using it for the past 2 weeks, here's my full review. http://www.lg.com/us/monitors/lg-27MD5K-5k-uhd-led-monitor Follow us! Twitter: https://twitter.com/cultofmac Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cultofmac Instagram: https://instagram.com/cultofmac/
View Video Transcript
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Hey what's up guys, Stephen Cult of Mac here with my full review of the LG UltraFine 5K monitor
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It's a 27 inch 5K display which has been marketed alongside the 2016 MacBook Pro and
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is also the successor to the Apple Cinema Display as Apple worked very closely with
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LG to develop it. It's taken me a little bit of time to get my hands on it as upon release there were
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reports that WiFi routers were interfering with the display when they were set up close together
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But LG addressed those problems and have now added more shielding to prevent that from happening
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Let's start off with the design of the monitor. Just like the Apple Cinema Display, there's not a single button or switch anywhere to
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turn this on. Instead, it'll simply switch on when you plug it into your Mac and all the settings
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can be changed within system preferences. In terms of style, you're either going to love it or hate it
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There's absolutely no Apple styling in here so it's not going to match up to your MacBook
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Pros in any way. It's completely black apart from the logo on the bottom bezel with a larger chin on
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top for the webcam. The bottom foot is made of metal, making it super heavy and sturdy, although the rest
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of the display and stand is plastic. The bezels probably could have been thinner and LG could have spent a bit more time designing
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it, but the display itself makes up for any lack of design which I'll come back to in
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a minute. Underneath the bottom bezel is the built in speakers and grill
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The speakers by the way are great, I'd say they're comparable to the iMac
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The stand raises and lowers and there's a hinge on the back for tilting the display
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As for the display itself, if you've seen the 5K iMac in real life, it has a very similar look
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So much so, some people are convinced that it's the same panel. Whether it is or isn't doesn't matter to me though, as it's a stunning display
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It's 5K at 5120x2880 which means it's got about 218 pixels per inch with a 60hz refresh rate
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The blacks are super deep, colours are vibrant and accurate thanks to the P3 wide colour
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gamut and obviously because it's 5K it's crystal clear. Watching 5K video or even 4K video for that matter, looks like I'm looking through a window
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I've also got a different 4K LG display that I've been using for the last 6 months now
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and it's clearly night and day between them. Obviously the display is designed to work with the 2016 MacBook Pro, which means that's
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the only Apple device that can output 5K. As I don't own a 2016 MacBook Pro, I've been using it with my Mac Pro
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To get that to work with the display, I've had to buy both a Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 adapter and a Thunderbolt 2 cable which has set me back an additional $73
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The main disappointment though is that the Mac Pro can only output 4K, so I'm missing
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out on some extra resolution and I can only get sRGB instead of the DCI-P3 colour space
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That basically means it looks duller compared to when it's hooked up with the MacBook Pro
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which is a shame. Hopefully Apple can fix that this year by releasing an updated Mac Pro
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On the back of the display, there's 3 additional USB-C ports to help expand the amount of peripherals
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you can connect, as well as a single Thunderbolt 3 port. Through the Thunderbolt 3 port, I can plug in my MacBook Pro to transfer not only video
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to the display, but power from the display charges up the MacBook when it's plugged in
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which is great to have all that going on from one cable. Overall, it's a brilliant display
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The panel itself is stunning, there's plenty of height and angle adjustments and the design
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doesn't offend me, not that I notice any bezels or chins when staring into the display
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If you've got the 2016 MacBook Pro and need a larger display to connect to, this is the
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display for you. If you've got an older Mac, take a look at the smaller 21.5-inch 4K version
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There's no point buying a 5K display and only getting 4K. Well, that's it for this video, but if you'd like more information on the LG UltraFine
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Monitor, I'll make sure to leave a link in the description down below. Also, if you enjoyed this video, go ahead and give it a thumbs up and don't forget to
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hit subscribe so you don't miss a single video from Cult of Mac. I'll catch you in the next one
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