There’s no shortage of portable monitors that can be used as a second screen for a laptop, tablet, or smartphone on the go. But most stick to the 16:9 aspect ratio commonly found in laptops (and TVs).
The Lukos is a bit different – it’s a portable monitor with a 3840 x 1100 pixel IPS LCD display featuring a 32:9 aspect ratio that measures 14 inches diagonally. It also has kind of a chunky design and a high price tag, but an interesting set of features including the ability to display content from up to four devices at once.
Up for pre-order for $419 and up through a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign that ends today, the Lukas is expected to begin shipping to backers in April, but it’s always worth taking promises made during crowdfunding with a grain of salt.
Update: The Kickstarter campaign has ended, but folks who missed out can still pre-order through an Indiegogo InDemand campaign that shows an estimated ship date of May, 2022. Or, if you’re looking for something a little more affordable, a number of other 14 inch, 3840 x 1100 pixel displays are available from Chinese sellers for around $150 and up.Â
The display features 100% sRGB color gamut, 300 nits brightness, a 2ms response time, and a 60 Hz refresh rate. It has stereo speakers. And the Lukos has a carbon fiber case/stand that allows you to adjust the height and angle of the display when you’re using it, or fold it up like a laptop when you’re not, so the base acts like a protective cover when you want to throw the Lukos monitoer in a bag.
You can also apparently rotate the screen for use in vertical orientation if you want an ultra-tall display for perusing social media or other content that makes sense in a timeline-like view.
In addition to an unusual aspect ratio, the Lukos has an unusually high number of inputs including:
- 1 x DisplayPort 1.2
- 1 x DisplayPort 1.4
- 2 x HDMI 2.0b
- 1 x HDMI 1.4
- 1 x USB Type-C
You can use any four of those ports at once to connect up for four devices and view content in split-screen mode with either two virtual 1920 x 1100 pixel screens or four 1920 x 550 displays (which seems a lot less useful, honestly).
There’s also a 12V DC power input, a 3.5mm audio output, source, volume, menu, and power buttons, and a fan switch that allows you to toggle active cooling when needed. The Lukos also works with a remoter control that lets you adjust brightness, audio, and other settings including split-screen modes without pressing buttons on the display itself.
via VideoCardz
Hello!
I just found about the Lukos ultra wide portable monitor crowdfunding in Kickstarter and I looked up the one in indiegogo and turns out that 1 is a fake campaign. If anyone is looking to resell 1 I am very interested in buying it coz this will be greatly useful for my remote work.
First picture doesn’t match all the other pictures (which clearly show all of the ports on the TOP edge, which is horribly awkward). That alone would be a deal-breaker.
On a side note, this looks very similar to the 2nd screen on the Asus Zenbook Pro Duo and ROG Zephyrus Duo. The form factor and size are VERY handy (I own the Zenbook version)…. but this price is a non-starter. Also considering the bare panel element really is not that expensive, even for the 4k OLED version. You could DIY something very similar for much less, and end up with a close to the same function product (if not superior in some ways).
I thought $99 seemed reasonable until I saw the cabling nightmare.
Looks like people are running out of ideas.
About time…
Best,
Steven B.
I know, nobody ever want’s to hear about pixel densities, but i’ll tell it anyway: 284dpi
These portable screens have been increasing in the last few years. At least crowdfunding ones are.
I guess I’m not the target audience though. I just can’t see myself lugging one around nor using one over a regular 2nd monitor.
There’s too many red flags on their Kickstarter page. In several places they refer to the resolution as “2160p”, or 3840×2160. Neither can be true, it’s very clear the resolution should be 3840×1100.
I don’t think the people running this Kickstarter have any technical knowledge of this device, and they certainly didn’t have any hand at designing it.
Looks like one of those situations where the crowdfunders are just ordering a white-label product from a Chinese OEM, and they don’t want to front the money themselves, so they are asking people to pay upfront.
It’s even more obvious when you look at their comparison chart where they show it next to the “Unauthorized Beta Version”, which is likely their attempt to confuse people who realize that this product is already being sold elsewhere by other vendors (maybe Aliexpress/Taobao or something). And then they lie about the resolution of their model to make it seem superior?
Based on the fact that they’re located in Shenzhen, I really have to question many of the specs, including the use of “carbon fiber”. In China, electronics are rarely made of real carbon fiber when they claim to be.
Searching for the resolution on Aliexpress turns up essentially this. Inputs on the side, but fewer. Half the price.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003281703735.html
Looks like the same basic thing to me.
If you use Google Image search you can find some more high resolution images of this thing, and the construction of it looks really questionable.
It looks like it’s basically just a bunch of laser-cut panels that are bolted together using some L-brackets. It really looks like a DIY electronics project. It doesn’t look like it would survive even a drop of water.
https://imgix.bustle.com/uploads/image/2022/1/25/e11b45d2-1693-490b-9c20-58a1969c5ee2-lukos-image-04.jpg
Yeah, it’s wide, but it’s also kinda too small to actually see all the details you’d want out of ultrawide desktop monitors. It’s not even faster than 60Hz.
I think I’d rather just use a Nexdock 360. They’re cheaper, even, and you can just buy them now with no risk of crowdfunding.
“kinda too small to actually see all the details”
Yeah, especially considering the fact that the cables stick out of the top, so you’d need to push this thing far back to sit underneath your monitor, if you don’t want the cables obstructing your main monitor.
Lets see how long that barrel-connector DC power plug lasts sitting in a vertical orientation like that, with the weight of the cable pulling it. Those connectors don’t last nearly as long as USB.