LG UltraWide 29WK50S Review: The Dual Monitor Replacement

Ultrawide computer monitors are nothing new, in fact they have been around since 2014 or so but have only risen in popularity more recently. These monitors offer a 21:9 aspect ratio, making them wider but not taller than typical 16:9 displays. This allows for more horizontal screen real estate which makes them better suited for workloads that require many windows placed side by side. Prior to purchasing the 29WK50S I was using a 23″ and 21″ LG monitors, both 1920×1080 @ 60 Hz which were adequate for me. As I’ve continued spending more time on my computer since I’ve been working from home I started looking at upgrading the displays along with the mount they were on since it was not height adjustable and I couldn’t get the displays to a comfortable eye level. I knew that UltraWide monitors existed but always knew they were quite expensive, until now. The 29WK50S offers a 2560×1080 IPS panel at up to 75 Hz with FreeSync and 99% sRGB colorspace support for just under $200. After spending a week with the 29WK50S I can confidently say this is a fantastic bang for the buck UltraWide that can easily replace dual 23″ screens. Brightness and color reproduction is superb, bezels are pretty thin, and it has two HDMI outputs for easy dual computer connectivity. It’s pretty great for programming since I can have VS snap to half of the screen and a browser with Stack Overflow or documentation open in the other. If I need to read or edit a really long line of code I scan snap it to take up the entire horizontal space of the display and view the line without really scrolling. The only drawback I’ve noticed so far is watching videos from sources like YouTube, since most were recorded in a 16:9 aspect ratio. This means black bars on the side of the video but thanks to LED backlighting you don’t notice it too much. For games that do support 21:9 such as GTA V and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare the experience is very immersive. Although the display supports 75 Hz refresh rate with FreeSync, I wasn’t really able to utilize it due to FPS constraints caused by the GTX 1050 Ti in my system. Overall, the 29WK50S is a great display and a great entry point to 21:9 displays.

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