PC Convergence

Displays / PC Convergence / Television

LG MyView Smart Monitor: A 4K TV for Those Who Also Need a Premium PC Monitor

- by Avi Greengart - Leave a Comment

ThumbnailLG’s MyView Smart Monitor combines a 32" 4KTV, a 32" PC monitor, and an OS that theoretically allows you to do light computing. This is not a random combination, or simply about space saving, it reflects the reality that work, personal computing, and entertainment share key technical similarities and are often done in a shared space. I spent a few months with the 32” MyView Smart Monitor (32SR85U) to see how well LG has addressed each use case individually, whether a converged product makes sense, and, if so, whether LG’s approach is the right one. This review will focus on the TV and PC monitor aspects; for more on why it fails as a computing platform and market analysis, check out my report at Techsponential.

MyView: A 32” 4K Smart TV

The MyView Smart Monitor is a good TV for small spaces. It starts with industrial design and inclusion of a TV remote control. While many desk monitors are intended to be viewed only head-on, LG gave the MyView an attractive white plastic shell even around back that won’t look out of place in a kitchen or family room. (The black-on-white compliance logos on the webcam and the lack of a cover for the ports are the only real misses.) The MyView remote control has quick access buttons for Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+, along with LG Channels. The MyView remote control uses infrared instead of Bluetooth or proprietary RF schemes, but in practice this wasn’t an issue; the emitter appears to be quite powerful and the remote doesn’t need to be pointed directly at the monitor to work. The MyView is also LG Magic Remote Compatible, adding an air pointer and voice control capabilities. Techsponential’s reference TV is an LG C2 OLED with a Magic Remote; it’s fine, but MyView owners won’t be missing enough to justify a separate accessory purchase.

The MyView does not have an OTA HDTV tuner, but LG uses webOS across its smart TV line, so there is solid app support for all the big streaming options. Apple AirPlay 2 and HomeKit compatibility allow casting content from iOS or MacOS devices without an Apple TV. There is also a webOS Divx HD player for playing video files off of USB memory sticks. Still, the internal apps or casting are the best ways to get content to the monitor as there are just two HDMI inputs, and neither supports eARC.

I watched several episodes of Agatha All Along using the embedded Disney+ app and was mostly satisfied. Resolution was good enough to tell when the cast was approaching a forbidding castle; you could see where the road set ended and the green screen CGI started. The MyView’s colors shift significantly when viewed vertically off-axis, and the image gets washed out. Fortunately, this is also a desk monitor, so it is unlikely to matter in the real world: nobody is going to mount this over a fireplace – but you should keep this in mind if you plan to mount it higher or lower than eye level.

Like most modern flat panel televisions, the included speakers cannot reproduce much bass, and the midrange and treble are tinny. A soundbar is highly recommended.

However, considered just as a 32” TV, at $600, it is wildly more expensive than other small 4KTVs (Sony and Samsung have 32” 4KTVs at $500 before sales, and 42” 4KTVs start around $140). Unless you specifically need a 32” 4K set (and not 42”) and value use as a PC monitor, the pricing won’t make sense.

MyView: A 32” 4K computer monitor

The LG MyView is an excellent monitor for productivity and light content creation. The 31.5” 16:19 IPS panel has a claimed 178 degree viewing angle, and although there is definite color shift off-axis, the image is sharp and colors render nicely when connected to Windows or MacOS laptops. Color gamut is specified at DCI-P3 95%; while this isn’t designed for professional color grading, it should be excellent for productivity and content creation. There’s a nice anti-glare coating. In direct comparisons I found that it’s not quite as good as the $200 nano-texture option for the M4 iMac, but it is still effective at reducing glare. The MyView’s listed 1,000:1 contrast ratio appears accurate: black levels don’t approach OLED, but then neither does the price point. The MyView has HDR10, and at 400 nits I was able to see some specular highlights, but HDR is not this monitor’s forte.

Gray-to-gray refresh response time is claimed at 5ms, which is fine, but refresh rates top out at 60Hz, so this monitor won’t work for serious gamers. The fixed 60Hz refresh rate on both MyView monitors hurts LG’s case for converged entertainment with a gaming laptop, PC, or current generation game console. I suspect that if the current MyView line gets an upgrade for 2025, that is where LG will focus improvements.

The stand moves up or down by a few inches and tilts slightly forward and backwards; there is a VESA mount if you need more flexibility. You can connect a PC via HDMI or USB-C; an HDMI cable is included, but not a USB 3.2 Type-C Gen 2 cable, which you’ll need if you want a single connection that also powers a laptop at up to 90 watts. I did not have one on hand, so I tested the monitor over HDMI.

The inclusion of speakers is a bonus for a computer monitor. It lacks bass and fullness for music, but it’s a nice inclusion for things like YouTube instructional videos.

The magnetically attached webcam unfortunately is not accessible by connected PC’s (possibly unless you have that USB 3.2 Type-C Gen 2 cable). In my testing it was only available to the internal webOS apps – more on this below.

$600 is on the high end of the price range for a 32” 4K IPS monitor that only refreshes at 60Hz and lacks NVIDIA and AMD anti-tearing technology for gaming. However, the anti-reflective coating, reasonable brightness, good color reproduction, and internal speakers all add value. If this were just a computer monitor, it would be a bit overpriced, but not unreasonable.

However, LG also sells a similar monitor/TV combo that has many of the same features, the MyView 32SR73U, for $380. It lacks the webcam and only supports 65w over USB, has slightly less accurate color reproduction (DCI-P3 90% vs 95%), doesn’t have an anti-glare coating, and it isn’t as bright (250 nits vs 400). The consolation is that the contrast ratio is higher (3000:1 vs 1000:1). While the monitor itself isn’t as nice, as a combination product for roughly the same price as more basic 4K monitors or 4KTVs, that one will makes sense to many more buyers.

 

Conclusion

With the MyView Smart Monitor 32SR85U, LG is trying to combine three products in one: a relatively large 4K computer monitor, a relatively small smart TV, and a light computing platform, just add keyboard and mouse. LG succeeds at two out of three: it’s an especially nice productivity monitor, a reasonable TV, and a miserable computing platform. It makes sense for those who have shared spaces for work and entertainment like a home office/guest room or kitchen workstation.

Disclosure: LG sent over the MyView for review. HomeTheaterView has no financial relationship with LG and does not accept affiliate payments. A market analysis version of this review was also published at Techsponential: HomeTheaterView is a Techsponential company.

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Accessories / Audio / PC Convergence

Sonos Play:1 – Hands On

- by Avi Greengart - Leave a Comment

Speaker-size-speaker-chartSonos sent over a pair of Play:1 speakers for review. In my review of the Sonos PLAYBAR I found too many setup limitations, but I absolutely love the Play:1's. A single Play:1 fills any small or medium sized room with rich, clear sound, and it serves as a perfect entry point to building a full multi-room, multi-source music system. My full report for Current Analysis clients is up; here's an excerpt: 

Sonos notes that multi-room audio sales have been rising 80%
year-over-year, fueled by streaming music. With most consumer electronics
categories losing ground as consumers put more of their money into phones and
tablets, this niche has not gone unnoticed: Bose just announced a line of
app-driven WiFi/Airplay speakers (albeit without multi-zone capability), and
Samsung’s Shape is a direct Sonos clone. No matter: the Play:1 is half the
price of either competitor. Sonos sound quality is more than good enough, and
its proprietary WiFi-like mesh network works flawlessly, even in difficult
wireless environments. The Play:1 should not only help Sonos fend off Samsung
and Bose, it will reach down and pull buyers away from high end Bluetooth
speakers from Jawbone and Logitech.

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Accessories / Audio / Industry / PC Convergence

Onkyo Announces First MHL A/V Receiver

- by Avi Greengart - 1 Comment

MHL_logos_FNL
There is no indication of price or availability, so this "announcement" is almost comically vague, but it is interesting nonetheless. For the uninitiated, MHL is a standard that aims to simplify getting content from mobile devices (smartphones and tablets) while keeping the devices charged. The MHL folks were smart enough not to come up with their own unique connector/cable; instead it uses the HDMI or microHDMI connectors, and includes HDMI backwards compatibility. It looks like Onkyo's reciever will pop up windows showing you what content is available on the device, allowing you to easily push that content on to the TV. That doesn't seem like an earth-shattering innovation, but given the dearth of MHL-compliant televisions on the market – let alone installed in homes – it could be useful.

Of course, you'll need an MHL-capable phone as well. Here the news is good; there are only a handful of phones with MHL, but one of them is extremely popular, Samsung's Galaxy SII, and most of HTC's latest phones support it as well, including the EVO 3D at Sprint, Vivid at AT&T, Rezound at Verizon Wireless, and the Sensation at T-Mobile.

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Accessories / HDTV / Industry / PC Convergence

Roku Goes Retail

- by Avi Greengart - Leave a Comment

Roku-XD-Streaming-Player-1080p
It certainly took them long enough, but Roku is finally graduating from online-only sales to retail. It wasn't doing too badly in the old business model – Roku's status as the least expensive and easiest streaming media box allowed it to rack up over a million units sold. Still, Roku always seemed something like a secret that only technically savvy people knew about – and that is not the target demographic for a product designed for simplicity. No, the ideal retail channel ought to be something like Target. Or Best Buy:

Roku XD player is available for purchase at Best Buy stores nationwide and at BestBuy.com. With up to 1080p HD streaming support, integrated 802.11n WiFi and Instant Replay the Roku XD offers unlimited entertainment choices and incredible value to customers. The Roku XD has a list price of $79.99 and is available at Best Buy stores and at BestBuy.com for purchase today. Roku players can also be found at other leading retail stores including BJ’s Wholesale Club, Fry’s Electronics and RadioShack.

Best Buy, Fry's, and the Shack. Well, the good news is that those stores are where a shopper goes if they want an inexpensive box to stream Netflix (or MLB or NBA or any of Roku's other content options). The bad news is that it won't reach consumers who don't know that they want an inexpensive box to stream Netflix (or MLB or NBA or any of Roku's other content options). Hopefully a successful run at Best Buy will get buyers at Target and Walmart interested, because their customers are who Roku should be chasing.

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Accessories / DVD / HDTV / Industry / PC Convergence

Kaleidescape Ships Blu-ray Server (Sort of)

- by Avi Greengart - Leave a Comment

Server-1u-01 First a bit of background: Kaleidescape is a high end media server vendor. They make boxes you have a custom installer put in one spot, which connect over a wired network to smaller boxes your installer connects to each TV and projector in your home. You – or your installer – copies all your DVDs onto the big box, and then you can watch all your movies anywhere in your home. Basically, it's Sonos for movies for rich people. How rich? Kaleidescape was actually the reason I instituted a policy not to review anything I could not reasonably afford. Years ago Kaleidescape offered me a full setup to review; I refused because I didn't want to take out an insurance policy on a loaner, and I didn't want to take out a second mortgage on the chance that I couldn't bear to return it. A full Kaleidescape system in those days easily topped $50,000. Prices have come way down, but most systems will still end up in the $20,000 range with installation.

I had good reason to fear wanting to keep a system. I have used Kaleidescape at trade shows and have been consistently impressed. It is fully babysitter proof and requires no technical knowledge to use whatsoever. As all the movies are ripped to the system's hard drive(s), movies start instantly. However, its one downfall is that until now it only supported DVDs, not Blu-ray discs. As many installations include equally expensive HD projectors, this is a real problem.

Kaleidescape's first stab at the problem was adding Blu-ray support to the M500 player – one of the small boxes you'd have near your TV. That certainly enables you to play a Blu-ray disc (both at that TV or anywhere else in the house), but it still requires physically handling the disc every time you want to watch a movie and it is not all that much better than a regular Blu-ray player from Sony or Samsung. The whole point of Kaleidescape is access to any movie you own instantly thoughout the house.

Kaleidescape is now selling a partial solution to the problem: you can rip Blu-ray discs to the hard drive in the server, and it will play off the server (which means you can include it compilation video playlists). However, to appease the copyright gods, Kaleidescape still has to physically verify that you own the Blu-ray disc before playing any of its sweet 1080p content. To do so, you'll need a media vault ($1500), the ugly box pictured on the right, Kvault-10-01 which can hold up to 100 Blu-ray discs. You can add as many of these as you like, but each needs to be connected to an M-class player (like the M500). In short, Kaleidescape now allows Blu-rays to be treated just like DVDs, only there is a lot more complexity and kludginess involved. It's better than nothing, but it has to seriously pain Kaleidescape's management and engineering staff who have made simplicity and elegance a core part of the product's value proposition.

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