you can think A “smart monitor” may have some relation to the smart home, but it is more like today’s smart TVs. LG MyView 4K Smart Monitor It has a built-in smart TV, complete with an app home page, just like your Roku or Google TV.
“Can’t I just use a web browser?” you might ask. If you can. This led me to wonder why you would need a smart TV interface on a device that can normally navigate any corner of the web, including direct access to streaming services. To my surprise, I liked using my desktop monitor as both a regular PC monitor and a (albeit imperfect) smart TV. I often preferred streaming apps built into a browser page. It created a nice separation between my work and my relaxation time, offering me some peace at the end of a long day.
Screen time
The 32-inch MyView is pretty well-rounded for its $600 price tag, considering it’s a 4K monitor (3840 x 2160 resolution) with a large, bright IPS display. It’s already down to $500, making it an even better value. It comes with a remote control, which is how you navigate the TV interface.
There’s a selection of picture modes accessible via the remote’s Settings button, ranging from a dim power saving mode to calibrated modes for watching movies and sports. They all do something different: Cinema and Sport modes increase the brightness to 100 percent but choose different contrast levels, while Auto Power Save reduces the brightness but uses a lot of local dimming to respond to your space. These modes are pretty standard fare in monitors. and Televisions.
The screen was bright enough that I typically chose power-saving mode, and local dimming usually hit between 10 and 15 percent brightness. I also turned on Eye Care mode, which reduces blue light on the screen, as long as a yellow-tinted screen wasn’t a problem for my tasks. All of this was much easier to access via the remote compared to the usual buttons you’d find somewhere in the corner (or on the back) of a monitor. No more guessing which button does what!
Photography: Nena Farrell
You’ll see fewer options if you connect the monitor to your PC using a USB-C cable with display support instead of HDMI: Live, Standard, Game Optimizer, and a couple of movie-related modes. There’s no automatic power saving option and I ended up manually dimming the brightness to replicate the mode I used when connected via HDMI.
The 60Hz refresh rate is a bit disappointing, but not surprising on monitors that aren’t specifically aimed at gamers. Whether you’ll notice it will depend on what you play; Baldur’s Gate 3 It still looked beautiful on screen, particularly with the Game Optimizer picture mode. I also liked to play stardew valley in it, although I found it better to play with the Standard or Auto picture modes, since the art style is not as dynamic. If you have a heavy gaming PC and play fast-paced games frequently, you’ll want to look elsewhere for a monitor that can support higher refresh rates.
Streaming is where this monitor shines. The large 32-inch screen feels immersive and cinematic when you’re sitting right in front of it. It’s big enough that even if you’re sitting a little further away it works fine, but if you sit more than 5 feet away it will seem too small. I spent a good amount of time watching Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, and Cinema mode did an excellent job of improving image quality. (It looked good even in Automatic mode.)