Great 4k Budget-friendly monitor: LG 32UL500-W

The LG 32UL500-W monitor offers a very simple design that is fitting for most workplace settings. The stand is a variation of their ‘ArcLine’ design and style and looks nearly similar to the LG 32UL950-W’s. Compared to some other recent computer monitors, the edges are on the thicker side, getting it a far more budget look.The LG 32UL500-W’s build up quality is very good. It’s mainly plastic, except for the feet, which have metal under the silver plastic covering. The tilt hinge is secure, and the monitor does not wobble much. It doesn’t truly feel especially premium, but there are no problems with the building.
The LG 32UL500-W has a great contrast ratio to provide deep blacks, helping to make it perfect for dark rooms. It’s a little bit lower than the advertised 3000:1 contrast; nevertheless, this can fluctuate between individual units.The HDR maximum brightness is sub-par. It’s again very consistent through different content, but it’s only slightly brighter than in SDR and not adequate to make highlights stand out the way they should in HDR content.
The LG 32UL500-W’s horizontal viewing angles are enough, quite decent for a VA panel. It should be great for sharing content casually or playing co-op video games; on the other hand, it might not be ideal for sharing work that usually requires excellent image precision because there’s some gamma shift almost as soon as you move off-center. There is also an unusual behavior with the brightness as it gets brightest around 10 degrees to the right, but it should not affect image quality unless of course you’re continually moving all-around.
The LG 32UL500 has outstanding gray uniformity; however, this may vary between units. Dirty screen impression is really minimal, but there are a few spots that appear darker, mainly along the edges. That said, there is not a big difference between the lighter and darker areas and shouldn’t be visible in most content. Uniformity is a little bit better in near-dark scenes, but the backlight is more visible along the left and right edges.
The LG 32UL500-W monitor has an superb SDR color gamut. It covers the entire sRGB color area used in nearly all content, and it has exceptional coverage of the Adobe RGB color space used for photo editing and enhancing.The LG 32UL500-W is great for office use. It gives you a lot of display screen space for multi-tasking, and text looks extremely sharp regards to its high image resolution. The viewing angles are well enough, good for sharing text documents, but it isn’t ideal if you need to share work that requires perfect image accuracy and reliability. Sadly, even though it has very good reflection handling, it doesn’t get very bright, so glare can be an problem in well-lit rooms. Also, the ergonomics are terrible because it only allows for tilt adjustment.
The LG 32UL500-W PC monitor is really good for game playing. It has a large screen and high resolution to provide an impressive video gaming experience, but it’s better suited for slower-paced games because the response time is on the slow side. Input lag is very low, and it supports variable refresh rate technology to reduce screen tearing. It has a fine contrast ratio to produce deep blacks, making it fantastic for gaming in the dark. The viewing angles are adequate, good enough for co-op gaming, as long as you don’t mind a slightly inaccurate image.
The LG 32UL500-W is a very good monitor in general. It has a large screen and 4k resolution that make it a very good choice for work and media consumption. However, it’s hard to place the screen the way you like because it has bad ergonomics. Also, glare might be an issue because it doesn’t get very bright. It has low input lag and VRR support for gaming, but the response time is a bit slow, so images seem a little bit blurry in fast-moving scenes. The fact is, it can’t provide a true HDR experience because of to its low HDR peak brightness.
The LG 32UL500-W is excellent for media usage. It has a 32 inch screen and a 4k resolution to give you an stunning viewing experience. It can produce deep blacks, making it a great option for dark rooms. The viewing angles are quite good for a VA panel and should be fine for sharing content casually, but images still look slightly inaccurate when viewed from the side. At the same time, the stand does not allow for swivel adjustment, making it harder to place the screen to your best viewing position.The LG 32UL500-W is a good monitor for gaming in HDR. It has a large 4k screen that feels very immersive, as well as a high contrast ratio and good HDR color gamut. However, it doesn’t get bright enough to make highlights stand out, and it lacks a local dimming function. It has low input lag and VRR support, but the response time(4ms) is only respectable, which results in more motion blur in fast-moving games. Photo: LGThe LG 32UL500-W is a very good budget-friendly 4k monitor. It offers you plenty of screen space for multitasking, and it delivers amazingly sharp images and textual content. It’s much better suited for a dark to moderately-lit room, as it can produce deep blacks but doesn’t get bright enough to overcome glare. The viewing angles are well enough and should be good for sharing text documents; however, there’s still some loss of image accuracy when viewing from the side, so it’s not the best option if you need to share work that requires precise color reproduction. It has low input lag and variable refresh rate (VRR) support if you want to game on it, but the response time is a bit slower, which results in blurrier images in fast-moving scenes. Regrettably, the ergonomics are terrible as it only allows for tilt adjustment, and even though it supports HDR, it does not get bright adequate to produce highlights appear. Price: $349.99

The LG 32UL500 monitor works with AMD FreeSync with a 40-60Hz VRR (variable refresh rate) range over both HDMI and DisplayPort when using the ‘Extended’ FreeSync engine.
This specific technology takes away screen tearing and stuttering by synchronizing the monitor’s refresh rate with your GPU’s frame rate as long as your FPS is within the VRR range.
It furthermore works with suitable NVIDIA cards over DisplayPort through the G-SYNC Compatible mode if you have a GTX 10-series or maybe newer graphics card while all AMD’s recent, and even many older GPUs, support FreeSync.
When using FreeSync with an NVIDIA graphic card, your mileage may vary relating to the overall performance. Some units work without any problems, but some others only work when using the “Basic” FreeSync range of 48-60Hz VRR range.
To easy access the OSD (On-Screen Display) menu of the LG 32UL500 monitor, you can push the joystick located below the bottom bezel of the screen or download and install the On-Screen Control desktop software.
Helpful functions include Screen Split for multi-tasking, a variety of picture presets (FPS, RTS, Reader, Dark Room, etc.), and innovative picture adjustment tools such as 6-axis hue/saturation and gamma configurations.
You can also adjust the color temperature manually, modify the image sharpness, and choose between EBU, SMPTE-C, and Rec709 color spaces.

Black Stabilizer is accessible as well, which can modify the gamma curvature to make objects in shadows much more visible, which is excellent for FPS games.
Finally, note that the LG 32UL500 monitor provides a flicker-free backlight and an built in low-blue light filter.

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LG 32UL500-W monitor specs:

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