The pandemic has led many to work from home and often with laptops. Some have opted to upgrade their workstation by bringing into play an external monitor to be connected to the Mac or PC, others have also invested in a new, small desktop computer. In the external monitor market in recent years, alongside solutions for professionals in the world of video and graphics and solutions for gamers, a genre has also been created dedicated to those who need a lot of space to work more comfortably in multitasking mode. A real “control center” to maximize work needs that now also include infinite video calls and remote application sharing.
We decided to build a station of this type too, using an LG 35WN73A monitor, a device with a generous 35-inch screen, a particular 21: 9 form factor (therefore very enlarged, like a cinemascope, but we will see it better in a moment) and the particularity of also having a USB-C socket in addition to two normal USBs, two HDMIs, a DisplayPort and the headphone output. However, the monitor lacks built-in audio speakers or a webcam.
We tried this monitor first as a dock for our laptop (a MacBook Pro 16), by a ThinkPad X1 Nano from Lenovo and then we turned it for a couple of weeks into a fixed configuration with a Mac mini M1.
The monitor setup
Very large packaging of course, but the work of Lg packaging is simple and inside the device under test we found the transformer, the stand (which can be assembled simply by turning a screw wrench and hooking it with a click to the Vesa attachment of the screen) and the monitor itself. The base is very solid and allows you to raise, lower and tilt the monitor forwards or backwards (slightly) but not to rotate it or turn it on its sides. The semi-arched stand is visually nice and light, but it tends to take up desk space and most importantly it pushes the monitor forward a bit. Be careful because a 35-inch screen, however curved, still requires a distance of about 50 or more centimeters.
The monitor body, which has minimal edges, is made of excellent plastic, resistant and does not creak. The monitor is anti-glare, which means that it cannot be cleaned with water and you have to be careful of fingerprints. A handy clip holds the wires in place and, being able to use the USB-C port with Thunderbolt, you can dock your Mac or ThinkPad without having to think about it again. To this end, we used a set of wireless keyboard and trackpad for Apple devices, creating a very light and cable-free solution on the desk. For the ThinkPad we put a wired mouse and keyboard attached to the monitor’s Usb ports, creating a very “clean” environment.
Finally, the solution with the Mac mini is more flexible because it is possible to hook the mini also with HDMI and, theoretically, hook up a second video source to the other HDMI port and use a “split view” mode via software. However, the monitor is not able to function as a split for keyboard and mouse, that is, it is not a KVN system, at least for Macs.
Some technical and performance data
We have not tested color accuracy with external tools, however Lg’s certification for coverage of an extended sRGB color gamut with factory-calibrated rendering is reasonably reliable. However, it is not a 5K monitor suitable for color weighing in video post production, but it was not designed for that. The monitor, on the other hand, has a 100Hz refresh rate, is a 3440×1440-pixel Quad HD and covers the equivalent of two 1720×1440 monitors. The maximum brightness of the monitor is however limited (300 cd / m²) in the face of 5ms of response time, a 99% sRGB color gamut, 16.7 million colors, a viewing angle of 178/178 degrees and a contrast dynamic 5M. The screen is also compatible with AMD FreeSync, has a black stabilization mode, a reader mode, is flicker safe and has a well-developed DAS mode.
Lg’s product is quite light: 6.5 kg without bracket, 8.2 kg with bracket and the package weighs “only” 12.2 kg. The dimensions with the stand are important as mentioned but above all horizontally (831.6x573x250 , 9 with stand and 831.6 × 372.7 × 94.1 without) while the power consumption is limited: on average 39 watts if you don’t also plug in the Mac, at which point the USB-c can drive another 60 watts.
The great multitasking
Compared to a traditional monitor with an aspect ratio of 16: 9 (Pc world) or 16:10 (Mac world) a solution like that of this LG is a real revolution. Here, in fact, two different factors are added: on the one hand the curvature of the screen (also present in more traditional monitors with a 16:10 form factor) which makes the use of such a large monitor more enveloping and comfortable, and on the other hand the very large horizontal dimensions. At first it was unsettling to work with such a large monitor. This reporter is used to using multiple virtual desks to divide the different activities he does on the computer while keeping reasonably large windows, and this kind of super-wide screen division makes no sense.
After a few days of use, especially with the Mac mini, the idea was to keep two separate work environments: a desk for the terminal part and for programming work and another with everything else. In this second space, the horizontal mapping made it possible to organize on the left e-mail and open documents still to be used, in the center the pairs of documents in progress and web pages to be consulted, and on the right the vertical chat windows (Messages and Telegram). With this organization practically the whole working day has always been under a single glance, with a small revolution from the point of view of productivity, especially for those used to systematically working on traditional screens or on a laptop.
The importance of the Mac mini
Within the monitor test, the yield obtained especially with the Mac mini should be mentioned. After connecting a pair of external speakers, the “ultrawide” position of the monitor was exploited to the maximum by the power but above all by the elasticity of the Mac mini with basic configuration (M1 8 + 8 core processor, 8 Gb of Ram and 265 Gb of SSD) which made it very good both for productivity programs (the office suite of Apple and Microsoft) and for other more “heavy” activities, up to gaming. We tested with Rise of the Tomb Raider, which runs in emulation because it is still not native to Apple Silicon, with very high settings without problems.
For the inevitable web conferences and videocalls, with Zoom, Teams and Google Meet, the lack of a webcam was felt but we were able to remedy it for free using the iPhone as an external camera thanks to the excellent software Camo Studio that even in the free basic version solves the problem in a more than decent way. However, there are many different ways to reuse your cameras capable of making videos or other devices such as tablets and mobile phones as a webcam. However, the lack of an integrated webcam made itself felt.
Secondary cinematic effects
The monitor, as mentioned, was not born to be a gaming tool or the center of a home theater solution. However, the fact that it has a 21: 9 ratio very close to the 2.39: 1 used by Hollywood allows for good surprises when connected to good speakers. Using the Mac app on Netflix we watched Django Unchained full screen, shot by Quentin Tarantino on 35mm anamorphic film with excellent performance even if the monitor is certainly not a home theater size.
In conclusion
After the test, putting the monitor back in the package to send it back to LG, it was very difficult to readjust to a workflow that was not based on such a large horizontal virtual space. The main advantage of a solution like this, based on an ultra-wide screen, is given by the flexibility of the space and the possibility of paradoxically having a minimum footprint thanks to the use of the USB-C port as a hub. You connect the laptop, you don’t even need to have a wireless keyboard and mouse-trackpad because the monitor has the necessary USB sockets, and you can work without problems. Then when you finish in a moment the desk is cleared and the laptop in the bag.
In times of lockdown, however, the best and most reliable solution is that of a small fixed and the Mac mini has demonstrated the extreme flexibility and power even of the entry level version of the new processor made by Apple. The management of a large monitor with an impressive amount of pixels (just under 5 million) was done without the slightest hesitation or hesitation. The color rendering, the fluidity of the animations and the video (in 100 Hz mode) and the adjustable brightness of the screen were excellent. Finally, a note for the minimalist controls of the LG screen: a small joystick hidden under the lower frame of the screen allows you to access a minimalist and very clear menu: few options but complete and easy to understand allow you to choose and customize color profiles and manage the panel of the Korean house. An approach of this type, which minimizes the complexity but maximizes the flexibility of the product, is the third strong point of this monitor after its video rendering and very generous horizontal aspect ratio. In online stores (Lg or Amazon) the price fluctuates between 500 and 600 euros.