This CES, LG is doing more than just introducing an OLED desktop monitor and updating its gaming lineup -- word has been on the street for a while that LG is also making a 40-inch ultrawide, just like Dell, but there's a key difference with this unit: it features Thunderbolt 4, as the first monitor to do so (spotted by ComputerBase).
Of course, being a 40-inch Ultrawide, LG's 40WP95C is bigger than most other ultrawides currently on the market, with only the 49-inch ultrawides besting it, albeit at a totally different aspect ratio. LG's 40-inch panel has a rather unusual resolution of 5120 x 2160 -- which is the equivalent of a 4K monitor, but as wide as two QHD panels.
The panel is based on LG's Nano-IPS technology, has a light curve of 2500R, and is said to refresh at an equally unusual 72 Hz. Color space coverage is generous with 98 percent of DCI-P3 and 135% of the sRGB space, and the inclusion of HDR10 makes this panel ideal for video editors.
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Why is Thunderbolt 4 a Big Deal?
So the 40WP95C has Thunderbolt 4; what makes that such a big deal on this big monitor?
The long and short of it is: Thunderbolt 4 is the connectivity of the future. Eventually, USB 4 will land, full and complete with all the protocols and specifications. Still, until that time, the only equivalent available is Intel's Thunderbolt 4 -- packing up to 40 Gb/s of data throughput spanned across DisplayPort, USB, PCIe protocols, packed together with up to 100 W of power delivery (and a minimum of 15 W) -- all over a single cable.
Of course, we all know that USB Type-C was meant to do all those things, and while the port itself is appearing on more and more devices, the protocol situation is a mess, as it has been for a long time.
For a huge, high-resolution monitor like this, this kind of interface is important to maintain effective single-cable docking. (Video) editors using this display may want to connect their laptop to it, use the full resolution, and have all their (up to 20 Gb/s) peripherals connected to the monitor, including their storage subsystem. That's all possible through a single Thunderbolt 4 cable, all while also charging the laptop.
LG didn't announce pricing or availability for the 40WP95C, but considering Dell's 40-incher costs a mighty $2100, chances are LG's panel will cost at least as much, if not a bit more, because of its Thunderbolt 4 interface, as this gives it a higher refresh rate and more bandwidth available to connected peripherals.
