LG Reveals Massive 42.5-Inch Monitor That Can Fit Four Displays At Once

LG Electronics has unveiled a 42.5-inch display that’s capable of showing four displays on a single screen. The LG 43UD79-B is now available to pre-order in the United States for $697 from some retailers, and it will start shipping on May 9.

The LG 43UD79-B features a 42.5-inch IPS panel with a non-glare coating and a contrast ratio of up to 1000:1. The display itself has a screen resolution of 3,840 x 2,160 (UHD 4K). It comes with a standard refresh rate of 60HZ, peak brightness level of 359 cd/m2, 8ms gray-to-gray response time and viewing angle of up to 178 degrees horizontally and vertically, according to AnandTech.

It’s biggest feature is that it is able to output from up to four devices at once. On the back, the 43UD79-B features two HDMI 2.0 ports (4K @ 60Hz) and two HDMI 1.4 ports (4K @ 30Hz). This allows users to split the screen into four, 21.5-inch 1080p full HD vertical or horizontal sections. Users also have the option to display just two or three sections in varying sizes. There’s also a basic picture-in-picture (PIP) support so users won’t be forced the split the display.

The display also comes with one USB Type-C 3.1 port with DP Alt Mode for using DisplayPort, and one DisplayPort 1.2a port (4K @ 60Hz) that has AMD FreeSync support. Speaking of FreeSync, the display also comes with other gaming features like Game Mode, Black Stabilizer and Dynamic Action Sync Mode.

Although its size and features will surely attract gamers, the massive 42.5-inch IPS display’s 60Hz refresh rate kind of bogs it down. BenQ’s full HD 1080p Zowie XL2540 has a refresh rate of 240Hz, while Acer and Asus have both released their own 4K monitors with refresh rates of 144Hz, as pointed out by The Verge. Still, those added gaming features might be enough to balance things out, and it’s capability to display four different sections is unique on its own.

LG claims that the 42.5-inch display can support 1.07 billion colors. However, it wasn’t mentioned to have a 10-bit panel. It’s being speculated that LG might be using an 8-bit panel with A-FRC to achieve the 10-bit color depth.

The LG 43UD79-B also has a built-in Dual Controller support. This means that users can plug two computers to the monitor while using a single pair of mouse and keyboard, as explained by The Next Web. Users will be able to achieve this with two downstream USB 3.0 hubs with KVM switch.

As for audio, LG has teamed up with Harman Kardon to place a 2x10W stereo speakers. There’s also a headphone jack, an RS-232C connector and a remote control. The included stand is pretty basic, and will only allow users to make tilt adjustments and not height.

The LG 43UD79-B display still doesn’t have official pricing information in the U.S. yet, but LG’s press release states that it will sell in Japan for 83,000 Yen (around US$745) starting on May 19.