LG 38UC99 - 37.5'' 24:10 3840x1600 75Hz IPS FreeSync Strobing Backlight

lovelyhead · 26 Sep 2016 at 01:21

I hope this monitor has fixed the image retention issues of the 34UC88 / 98.

I am really looking forward to some proper in depth reviews for this monitor as there really is no truly great ultrawide available. They all have issues whether it is image retention, backlight bleed or just general QC problems.

Vega · 26 Sep 2016 at 20:00

I'm going to have to send a steady supply of coffee to the TFTCentral office!

Baddass · 26 Sep 2016 at 20:18

Vega said:
I'm going to have to send a steady supply of coffee to the TFTCentral office!

no need

review now completed and online. would have been earlier today had my PC not decided today would be a good day to blue screen and cause me an afternoon of grief!

http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/lg_38uc99.htm

lovelyhead · 26 Sep 2016 at 21:16

Great review! Does this monitor suffer from image retention?

Nexus18 · 26 Sep 2016 at 21:36

Not as good as I had hoped

- high input lag
- rather high pixel response time (in normal mode)
- contrast ratio not as good as other IPS monitors

Time to stop milking LCD and roll out the OLED monitors!!!!

RidingTheFlow · 26 Sep 2016 at 21:42

Yeah, scratch this one.

I still have some hope for LG's another upcoming panel - 144Hz 1080p 21:9 IPS.

jigger · 26 Sep 2016 at 21:48

Baddass said:
no need review now completed and online. would have been earlier today had my PC not decided today would be a good day to blue screen and cause me an afternoon of grief!

http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/lg_38uc99.htm

Hmm... very tempted just not sure I want to go first.

Did you try to extend the FreeSync range? If the screen could hit 85hz could the strobe also be run at 85hz?

Baddass · 26 Sep 2016 at 21:50

RidingTheFlow said:
Yeah, scratch this one.

I still have some hope for LG's another upcoming panel - 144Hz 1080p 21:9 IPS.

The 34UC79G is on our list to review very soon. Just waiting on first sample from LG

Baddass · 26 Sep 2016 at 21:52

jigger said:
Hmm... very tempted just not sure I want to go first.

Did you try to extend the FreeSync range? If the screen could hit 85hz could the strobe also be run at 85hz?

Not something I tried. Can have a look if you direct me to guide?

jigger · 26 Sep 2016 at 21:54

Hold on I've got a link bookmarked somewhere.

jigger · 26 Sep 2016 at 22:06

https://hardforum.com/threads/freesync-improved-hz-range-driver-mod.1872620/

Vega · 26 Sep 2016 at 22:36

Thank's for the review Badass!

It's a shame the panel turned out so slow on pixel transitions, and the scalar getting it's hands in everything causing lag...

Did you by chance see if the strobing backlight mode could overclock at all? IE: 76 Hz and up?

Was the input lag the same in 75 Hz Freesync and strobe backlight mode?

I'm not sure I could handle 75 Hz flicker...

x3sphere · 27 Sep 2016 at 06:38

I was considering getting this strictly for productivity when the price drops but frame skipping at 75 Hz on NV cards kills it for me. I'm sensitive to flicker so I think there's no way I could use the strobing option on the desktop.

Any chance you think they'll sort this out with a FW update or something? Probably unlikely considering the frameskipping was never fixed on the 34" ultrawides for Nvidia users.

Baddass · 27 Sep 2016 at 08:54

Vega said:
Thank's for the review Badass!

It's a shame the panel turned out so slow on pixel transitions, and the scalar getting it's hands in everything causing lag...

Did you by chance see if the strobing backlight mode could overclock at all? IE: 76 Hz and up?

Was the input lag the same in 75 Hz Freesync and strobe backlight mode?

I'm not sure I could handle 75 Hz flicker...

not tried any overclocking at all, not sure if i have time to do so but i might manage to take a look. The lag was the same regardless of refresh rate or blur reduction being active, i did check that

jigger · 27 Sep 2016 at 13:02

Apparently this program can unlock the VVR range. It's not meat to be a robust as the driver edit but it's less time consuming.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1574877/...tors-can-enlarge-hz-range-with-simple-hack/80

Vega · 27 Sep 2016 at 14:53

Baddass said:
not tried any overclocking at all, not sure if i have time to do so but i might manage to take a look. The lag was the same regardless of refresh rate or blur reduction being active, i did check that

I was just curious if you still had the monitor. If the refresh rate could make it to 80 or 85 the strobing may be a lot more bearable. I know it would be a long shot.

Baddass · 27 Sep 2016 at 15:47

having used strobing backlights at 85Hz on other monitors i don't think it would really help much. the flicker is pretty comparable to those models which do strobe at 85Hz so thats probably a decent indication for most people

x3sphere · 28 Sep 2016 at 23:22

I noticed you used a 970 for testing, any chance you have a Pascal GPU to test with the monitor? Just curious if the same frame skipping issues are present. It's a long shot, but Nvidia did change stuff on the DP side with Pascal since it supports 1.3.

Baddass · 29 Sep 2016 at 07:52

No sorry not got one available sadly

UberTiger · 29 Sep 2016 at 10:02

Looks as though there are some mixed replies in these threads.
For us casuals, would you actually recommend it Baddass?

Worth £1k?
For productivity?
For image/video editing?
Watching movies?
Okay for casual gaming?

Or would you recommend holding out for similar panels from other manufacturers and price drops on this size of panel?