A screen diagonal of 38 inches, a QHD resolution of 3,840 x 1,600 pixels and a high refresh rate of 144 Hz characterize the new LG UltraWide monitor, which also wants to score with modern connections and a convincing color display. Our LG 38WR85QC-W Review reveals whether the monitor is worth it.
Technical data
| The product | 38WR85QC-W |
| Display size | 38 inch |
| Resolution | UWQHD (3,840 x 1,600 pixels) |
| Screen refresh rate | 144 Hz |
| Panel type | IPS |
| Screen surface | Non-glare (matt) |
| Aspect ratio | 24:10 |
| Brightness | 450 cd/m²; DisplayHDR 600 |
| Contrast ratio | 1.000:1 |
| Screen colors | 1.07 billion |
| Color space | 98.0 % DCI-P3 |
| Viewing angle | H: 178° / V: 178° |
| Curvature | 2300R |
| Response time | 1.0 ms (GtG) |
| Connections |
|
| Audio connections | not available |
| Integrated speakers | 2x 7W |
| Color | White color |
| VESA suspension | 100 x 100 |
| Weight | 10.5 kg |
| Power consumption | 36.5 W (SDR) / 94.8 W (HDR) |
| Standby consumption | 0,5 W |
| Special features | Adaptive Sync; AMD FreeSync Premium Pro; NVIDIA G-Sync compatible; KVM switch |
| Price | € 1,209.00 * |
LG 38WR85QC-W Review: Scope of delivery, design and workmanship
- all important cables included
- quick and easy to assemble
With a weight of 14.3 kg, the packaging of the LG 38WR85QC-W is a real heavyweight, although the package can also be lifted alone thanks to the practical carrying handle. The individual components are securely packed inside the box.
In addition to the monitor itself and the stand with stand, LG includes a whole range of cables with the 38WR85QC-W. Thanks to the power cable, HDMI cable, DP cable, USB A to B cable and USB C to C cable, you are immediately prepared for all eventualities, while a practical holder enables neat cable management.
With a length of 1.5 meters, all cables are not too short, although two meters would have been a little more comfortable and would have allowed for more flexibility in positioning.
We’ll skip the assembly part as far as possible, as this is quick and easy to do without the need for tools. Screw the stand and stand together, insert into the back of the monitor and the solution is ready. Top.
Design and workmanship of the LG 38WR85QC-W
- elegant design in white color
- pleasant feel; convincing ergonomics
- good workmanship with slight weaknesses on the stand
The LG 38WR85QC-W scored highly in the test with its simple yet elegant design. With its white color scheme, the display blends very pleasantly into a bright setup, while the display edges at the top and on both sides are almost borderless.
What immediately catches the eye is the comparatively huge stand. It has a square design and is 30.7 cm wide and deep, offering enough space to place a mouse and a TKL keyboard on it. At 0.9 cm high, it is pleasantly flat and offers a secure hold thanks to four rubberized feet.
Despite its large screen area, the monitor itself is almost graceful and slim in direct comparison. Without the stand, the display measures 896.4 mm x 394.4 mm x 110.1 mm (width x height x depth), while the stand changes the dimensions to 896.4 mm x 483.9 mm x 306.8 mm.
In terms of ergonomics, the LG 38WR85QC-W can be rotated between -15° and 15°, tilted between -5° and 25° and adjusted in height by 110 millimeters.
As is usually the case with ultra-wide monitors, a pivot function is not offered. In general, the ergonomics are very good, so that everyone gets the right picture for them. The LG display surpasses the excellent Alienware AW3423DWF (our test) once again, especially in terms of tilt.
However, the LG monitor is slightly inferior in terms of workmanship. Don’t get the wrong idea: It is still of a very high quality, but the transition between the stand housing and the display seems a little fragile, while the height adjustment is a little too smooth in my opinion. But that’s complaining on a very high level.
Connections, features and operation
- modern and generous selection of connections
- Connections on the rear are difficult to reach
- slightly wobbly picture connections
- USB-C with PowerDelivery for up to 90 watts
The LG 38WR85QC-W integrates most of the connections quite centrally at the back, which I don’t think is the ideal solution. This is because the cables protrude from the housing at a right angle, while the ports are almost impossible to reach once the monitor is in place.
So if you often have to switch HDMI, DisplayPort and the like, you have to turn the monitor around regularly. However, this is quite subjective. If you only connect the display once anyway, this is less likely to bother you. I find the ports on the underside of the aforementioned Alienware display much better placed.
Accordingly, most of the ports are slightly recessed on the back of the monitor. These are
- 1x RJ45 LAN
- 1x USB-C (incl. DP Alt mode)
- 1x DisplayPort
- 2x HDMI 2.1
- 2x USB-A 3.0 downstream
- 1x USB-B 3.0 upstream
- 1x power connection
On the other hand, it is commendable that the LG 38WR85QC-W also has three additional USB ports on the underside – directly to the right of the control joystick. Two additional USB-A 3.0 ports and a USB-C port with DP-Alt mode and 90 watt power delivery are used here.
Unfortunately, there is no jack connection for headsets and headphones. The monitor is operated exclusively via the aforementioned joystick, which also functions as an on/off switch or opens the on-screen display for the settings.
One criticism is that the DisplayPort and HDMI connections seem a little wobbly and the plug has a little play. Accordingly, the cables, like the power cable, really need to be pressed firmly into the connections.
To my surprise, the power cable detached itself after a short time during my test when I adjusted the height of the monitor. However, with a little more pressure, this no longer happened.
The features of the LG 38WR85QC-W
- high UQWHD resolution (3,840 x 1,600 pixels)
- convincing color space coverage; good speakers
- absolutely suitable for gaming thanks to 144 Hz and picture synchronization technologies
LG is positioning the monitor as the successor to the popular 38WN95C-W and has not only given the new edition an RJ45 port, but also a KVM switch. The latter is of course particularly practical when working from home if you want to connect several devices to the monitor and don’t always want to have to move the mouse and keyboard.
The LG 38WR85QC-W uses a 96.5 cm or 38 inch Nano IPS panel with a resolution of 3,840 x 1,600 pixels in 24:10 format. A 2300R curvature ensures strong immersion, while 450 cm/m² brightness, a DisplayHDR600 certification and 98% DCI-P3 color space coverage give hope for convincing picture quality.
LG sees the display’s core competence primarily in the business segment. However, a refresh rate of 144 Hz, a grey-to-grey response time of 1 ms and image synchronization technologies such as Adaptive Sync, AMD FreeSync Premium Pro and NVIDIA G-Sync Compatible certification undoubtedly also testify to the monitor’s suitability for gaming.
The manufacturer has also equipped the monitor with two speakers tuned by MaxxAudio, each with an output of 7 watts, which achieve a surprisingly good sound and a decent maximum volume.
Although the speakers clearly lack bass and the treble could do with a little more detail, the sound is absolutely fine for integrated monitor speakers. Of course, they are no substitute for real speakers, but the integrated speakers are certainly sufficient for surfing the web or watching videos.
The picture quality of the LG 38WR85QC-W
- convincing picture quality in office, media and games
- visible halos when displaying blacks; IPS glow barely present
The picture quality of the LG 38WR85QC-W surprised me positively as soon as I switched it on for the first time. Even the factory-calibrated picture scores with clear details, rich colors and a good contrast ratio.
LG sets the “User” picture mode at the factory, which can be replaced in the monitor’s OSD with ten other modes such as Vivid, HDR Effect, sRGB/DCI-P3, two gaming modes and two individual calibrations.
As is typical for IPS, the display scores particularly well with its excellent viewing angle stability. Of course, the contrast ratio of 1,000:1 is nothing to write home about, but it is absolutely fine.
Due to its sheer size and resolution, the LG 38WR85QC-W naturally only has a pixel density of 109 ppi. Nevertheless, I was pleasantly surprised at how sharply the display is able to show fonts and even small details.
An initial test run using the EIZO monitor test delivered good results, although the purely black test image showed quite large, albeit not unusual, halos (blacklight bleeding). However, you hardly notice this in everyday use and it also largely disappears in dark gaming scenes. The monitor also has IPS glow under control very well.
I was somewhat surprised that the LG 38WR85QC-W offers the option of setting the resolution to 4K (i.e. 3,840 x 2,160 pixels) in the Windows display settings – although the monitor can actually only handle 1,600 pixels in height. A brief test was then immediately acknowledged by the monitor with an error message and a distorted image.
So let’s go back to the maximum of 3,840 x 1,600 pixels and give my NVIDIA Geforce RTX 4080 Super a real workout with the 38WR85QC-W.
And I have to say: subjectively, I really like the picture quality. In gaming mode and when consuming media, the monitor cuts an excellent figure and scores with convincing sharpness and a pleasing HDR display. However, the contrasts should be a little deeper; without HDR, the blacks feel a little too gray.
It should also be noted that the full 144 Hz (144.05 Hz, to be precise) is only provided via DisplayPort. There is slight ghosting in very fast scenes, but this is kept absolutely within limits.
Lab test of the LG 38WR85QC-W
As part of the LG 38WR85QC-W test, I took a close look at the monitor with the Datacolor SpyderX Elite. The first test focuses on the color space coverage, whereby the display almost achieves the manufacturer’s specifications with 95% DCI-P3 and 100% sRGB, although it remains slightly below this. For color-critical work, the DCI-P3 picture mode provides a remedy, in which I was able to achieve the promised 98% DCI-P3.
Let’s continue with the tone value curve. It is noticeable that the LG 38WR85QC-W does not offer any options for selecting different gamma settings. We are therefore stuck with gamma 2.1, which the display masters perfectly.
At its peak, the monitor achieved a brightness of 468.7 cd/m² in my test and even slightly exceeds the manufacturer’s specification. However, the contrast ratio does not reach the full 1000:1 – only 880:1 is achieved at maximum brightness.
In terms of color homogeneity, i.e. the uniformity of the color distribution, the LG monitor ranks at a good level. However, there are deviations of DeltaE 5.7 and 5.4 in the upper left and lower right corners in particular, which decrease when the brightness is reduced slightly.
However, this sounds more drastic than it actually is. Deviations of DeltaE 10 are by no means rare here and even fast gaming monitors such as the AOC Agon AG405UXC(our test) achieve higher deviations.
However, the LG 38WR85QC-W is not quite as good when it comes to luminance homogeneity, which shows the even distribution of brightness. Here, regardless of the brightness setting, there are deviations of over 30 percent, which extend to the upper left square.
This means that with a brightness setting of 100% in the center (the maximum), you get 249.1 cd/m², while the picture in the upper left corner is significantly darker at 174.1 cd/m² and details are lost.
The color fidelity is much better. With an average value of DeltaE 1.85, the monitor is in a really good position. With a little fine-tuning in the calibration, this value can be improved even further.
OSD settings
- clearly arranged OSD
- Picture settings with explanation
- Brightness adjustment directly via joystick
I really like the on-screen display and the general operation of the LG 38WR85QC-W. The menu is clearly structured and clearly laid out and extends to a strip across the full height on the right-hand side of the screen.
Pressing the joystick takes you to the quick menu, where you can choose between input source and picture mode or call up the complete settings. It is also possible to adjust the brightness directly by moving the joystick up or down without having to go to the menu.
You can then make all the settings in the menu itself, and these are also explained in an info box at the bottom of the screen. Various settings can be saved as your own calibrations and then called up directly via the picture menu.
The LG 38WR85QC-W also has the option of deactivating Deep Sleep mode, which is particularly useful when using multiple displays (and something I sorely miss on my Alienware monitor).
LG 38WR85QC-W Review: Conclusion
The LG 38WR85QC-W is a convincing ultrawide monitor that can play to the strengths of its size and high UWQHD resolution not only in everyday tasks or when consuming media, but also when gaming thanks to its strong gaming features.
I particularly liked the picture quality, even though visible halos and slight ghosting deduct points here. On the other hand, the design, generous selection of connections and the convincing feel are pleasing.
If you are looking for a hybrid monitor that offers a little more than the typical UWQHD, the LG 38WR85QC-W is a convincing feature set, but it is anything but cheap.
LG 38WR85QC-W
Verarbeitung
Bildqualität
Features
Preis-Leistungs-Verhältnis
87/100
Large and elegant ultrawide monitor with high resolution, many connections and good picture quality for all areas of application, including gaming. Slight points are deducted for the visible halos and hard-to-reach connections.
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