LG 27UL500-W... What is happening here?

mfennings

So I picked up this monitor a couple weeks ago thinking it would be alright for my eyes due to it being flicker free. However, it is uncomfortable to look at. It seems to be causing all sorts of effects, from eye strain to brain fog. Maybe it's just me though. Maybe I have to give it more time.

Anyone else have similar effects with this or any other LG monitor?

Donux

mfennings I personally think its a bit too cheap in price. 300 usd/eur its for 27 inch QHD max. Anything more expensive or with higher specs at same price is big red flag for me. And for 32 inch 4k, you are looking at 600 minimum. That is if you want to get true 8 bit without flicker. But who knows maybe I am wrong, as 4k has been for a while now, so price should be going down. I would write to LG directly to clarify if its true 8bit monitor or not. Depending on your question and their response detail, it is actually legally binding, meaning that if you get 6 bit + 2 FRC monitor, you could potentially claim your money back if there are no other routes.

qb74

mfennings
There is a possibility that you may be suffering from WCG-based (KSF/PFS or QD) WLED backlight eye strain, which most desktop-sized higher density displays employ.
Do you have a list of displays which worked for you?
Take a look at this article to understand the history of LED backlights

Clokwork

The description says it has an HDR option that they describe as a HDR effect, yet advertised as HDR10. I wonder what that entails. In order for an 8 bit monitor to do HDR, I believe it has to dither to provide the necessary colors.

tomek

Someone on forum recommended it and I'm using it now with Mac mini m4 connected thru USBc.

For me usable only with BetterDisplay, setting at day around 40% of brightness more give me strain, at evening around 25-30%.

In color mode - BetterDisplay: 8bit(it's true deep for this monitor) and dithering off, HighResolution: on, And setting protection : ON

In display settings - LG display menu: Contrast: 75%, Sharpness: 60%, Color gamma: Settings 2, Color temperature: C2, DFC: Off

This work for me as a daily driver.

tomek

Donux It's good display. Good sharpness and colors.

I've tried 1440p Lenovo before and LG is 10 times better.

It's 10 bit - 8+FRC

Donux

tomek Well it could be then if you are sure on this. Generally I consider buying from any company that actual makes the panels by itself is a very positive thing. But monitors from Lenovo, HP, Dell, ... is kind of odd situation, especially if you are looking for "bread and butter", not so much influenced by superficial stuff such as outer casing quality, stand/clamp features, menus etc.

tomek

So I use this with 8bit setting

Donux

tomek I was tinkering with these settings a lot, but came to conclusion, maybe its better to send 10 bit signal and switch of dithering. Then monitor will pickup 10 bit signal and will not try to upscale using FRC. Eventually however I lost my patience with apple silicons, because so far test performed in other thread shows exactly what I thought - macbook apple silicons generate flicker no matter what panel or display you use and it is abnormal flicker in comparison to intel apples.

tomek

Donux I've tried 10bit. It give some strain so this FCR should do some thing to picture. 8bit no strain an can use it for whole day.

Donux

tomek Have you tried intel macbook on it? That would be very interesting test to bring some more data into overall equasion. I recall days where I have worked in companies with mac mini and absolute crap monitors that are probably 90 or less sRGB. And windows was absolute torture in any setup. I am even tempted to that 2019 or 2020 intel 16 incher with AMD graphics in 2025. Would cost me around 1000 eur/usd decent one. It has PWM, but it is super high, I doubt it would cause any problems.