LG 34UM95 Monitor Review
by Chris Heinonen on June 18, 2014 7:00 AM EST21:9 monitors have done a good job of filling a couple niche positions in the marketplace. For someone that wants a single display to watch movies and use with the PC, the aspect ratio can work well. With many games, the wider field-of-view enhances games with more information on screen at once and a more immersive experience. Where they have fallen short is with their vertical resolution of 1080 pixels. Running two applications side-by-side makes everything feel cramped. For regular office work a 27” display for the same price has provided a better user experience.
Now we have the first 21:9 aspect ratio monitor with 1440 pixels of vertical resolution, the LG 34UM95. That provides the same vertical area as a 27” display but 3440 horizontal pixels instead of 2560. The larger size makes running two programs side-by-side equivalent to dual 20” displays at 1720x1440, or a 6:5 aspect ratio. Furthermore, the additional real estate makes it much easier to use for non-gaming or movie use. From spreadsheets to word processing, image editors to web browsers, the additional vertical space makes a large difference.
The LG 34UM95 is also the first non-Apple display to include Thunderbolt support. With three integrated USB ports you can use a single cable to drive the 34UM95 display and connected devices from a Thunderbolt equipped computer. An additional Thunderbolt connection allows you to connect another device directly to the 34UM95 as well. Unlike the Apple display there isn’t an Ethernet port, but there is integrated audio.
For traditional video cards the display includes a DisplayPort input and two HDMI ports. The HDMI ports are still revision 1.4a so they cannot support 60Hz refresh rates at the monitor's native resolution, but DisplayPort will run at 3440x1440 at 60Hz without any issues, including audio support. The monitor includes a full color management system with a 1-point white balance. As with previous LG displays, I have found that the CMS doesn’t work well and should be avoided. It improves the 100% readings but makes everything below that worse.
The 34UM95 includes two “Reader Modes” designed to make reading documents on-screen easier. In use what they do is pump up the red in the white balance. Since most displays ship with an overly-blue image by default, and people are used to that, this will help those people. If you have the display calibrated correctly, you wind up with an image that is very red and large errors in gamma and grayscale. Since these are easy to enable and disable in the menu system, if you like them it is easy to utilize it.
LG 34UM95 | |
Video Inputs | 2x HDMI 1.4a, DisplayPort |
Panel Type | IPS |
Pixel Pitch | 0.2325mm |
Colors | 1.07 Billion |
Brightness | 320 cd/m2 |
Contrast Ratio | 1000:1 |
Response Time | 5ms GtG |
Viewable Size | 34" |
Resolution | 3440x1440 |
Viewing Angle (H/V) | 178 / 178 |
Backlight | LED |
Power Consumption (operation) | 56W |
Power Consumption (standby) | 1.2W |
Screen Treatment | Anti-Glare |
Height-Adjustable | No |
Tilt | Yes, -5 to 15 degrees |
Pivot | No |
Swivel | No |
VESA Wall Mounting | Yes, 100mm VESA |
Dimensions w/ Base (WxHxD) | 32.7" x 18.5" x 6.8" |
Weight | 17 lbs. |
Additional Features | 3.5mm stereo out, 2x Thunderbolt, 2x USB 2.0, 1x USB 3.0, 2x7W speakers |
Limited Warranty | 1 year |
Accessories | DisplayPort Cable, HDMI Cable |
Price | $999 |
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acejj26 - Wednesday, June 18, 2014 - link
The graph on the top of page 6: "Processing Lag Comparison (by FPS)" and then you have the units on the graph in terms of ms. At a quick glance, it looks like there is 18 FPS of lag which would be ridiculous.inighthawki - Wednesday, June 18, 2014 - link
The only thing ridiculous about it is that it makes no sense because FPS is not a measurement of time, it's a rate.ERJ - Wednesday, June 18, 2014 - link
Dang'it...we've been waiting a month for these to come back into stock (except for the price gougers) and you posting a review is not going to help the situation :)Gambit2K - Wednesday, June 18, 2014 - link
I ordered one this morning to replace my three 23" 1080P NEC screens. Bought them for Eyefinity and have used eyefinity once in 3 years :)RagnarKon - Wednesday, June 18, 2014 - link
Bought three Dell 23" screens for the same purpose. Used Eyefinity four times, and then stopped using it. Now I'm down to two monitors (rarely used the third).BUT, I can get behind this 21:9 monitor. Not ready to order yet though, price too high.
jslater - Wednesday, June 18, 2014 - link
Unless I'm mistaken, this monitor comes with Thunderbolt 2, and not Thunderbolt 1 - do you know if it'll still work alright on an older Mac with only Thunderbolt 1 though?mackjam - Wednesday, June 18, 2014 - link
I was wondering the same thing. According to this form it does work. http://arstechnica.com/civis/viewtopic.php?f=19&am...crazysurfanz - Wednesday, June 18, 2014 - link
thanks for that link, lots of good information there.DrKlahn - Wednesday, June 18, 2014 - link
I bought a Dell 21:9 (1080) last year. My work machine has 3 1080 monitors, but I don't have the desk space to replicate that at home. This lets me see about a monitor and a half when remotely controlling my work PC. Which is a big improvement. The extra width makes it feel somewhat like a 3 monitor setup. The resolution isn't crazy, so it's not hard for the video card to drive while gaming. Editing video on it is great. The extra width gives you a lot more room to play with timelines. The vertical resolution is no more constraining than a normal 16:9 1080p monitor. Of course the extra resolution of this monitor would only make it better. Just wanted to chime in on using a monitor with this aspect ratio in the real world.cknobman - Wednesday, June 18, 2014 - link
Now just get the price down below $600 and I'll be interested.