LG’s newest monitors support HDR and include an ultrawide 5K model

LG is planning to showcase a handful of new monitors at CES next month, including an ultrawide 5K display that bears VESA's DisplayHDR 600 badge, one of three new HDR certifications.

The new monitors use panels based on Nano IPS technology for better color reproduction and brightness.

"Nano IPS technology involves the application of nanometer-sized particles to the screen’s LED to absorb excess light wavelengths. This greatly enhances the intensity and purity of on-screen colors for a more accurate and life-like viewing experience," LG explains.

It sounds like this is LG's answer to Samsung's Quantum Dot (QLED) technology, which Samsung uses on its higher-end (and pricier) displays.

There will be three models initially. The first is a 32-inch 4K monitor (32UK950). LG says it has a peak brightness of 600 nits and is capable of displaying 98 percent of the DCI-P3 color spectrum. It also has local dimming and 10-bit processing, though the latter doesn't necessarily mean it's using a true 10-bit panel.

Keep in mind that the DisplayHDR600 standard isn't identical to HDR10, which is common in today's TVs. HDR10 requires a peak brightness of 1000 nits, which these models don't hit. Read more about HDR standards here.

This is LG's first monitor with a built-in Thunderbolt 3 dock supporting 4K daisy chaining, allowing users to connect two 4K monitors. It can also charge some laptops via Thunderbolt 3, up to 60W.

LG will also be showing off its 34-inch ultrawide 5K monitor (34WK95U) with a 21:9 aspect ratio. It's essentially an ultrawide version of the aforementioned 4K display with same number of vertical pixels, but in a 21:9 format with a 5120x2160 resolution. Beyond that, LG didn't offer up many specifics, though did say it's also DisplayHDR 600 certified.

The third Nano IPS model is a 1440p gaming monitor (34GK950G) with G-Sync support. LG did not share any other details, nor did it discuss pricing on any of its new monitors that are coming. So, we'll have to wait and see.

Paul Lilly

Paul has been playing PC games and raking his knuckles on computer hardware since the Commodore 64. He does not have any tattoos, but thinks it would be cool to get one that reads LOAD"*",8,1. In his off time, he rides motorcycles and wrestles alligators (only one of those is true).