LG 34UM67: UltraWide FreeSync Review
by Jarred Walton on March 31, 2015 3:00 PM ESTLG 34UM67 Introduction and Overview
LG as a company has many products and certainly offers some strong competition. Their product line includes HDTVs and computer displays, smartphones and smart watches, fitness bands, home appliances, audio accessories, commercial AC and lighting, and numerous other offerings; in short, LG is a brand we’ve all encountered. Given their strong presence in the HDTV market over the years, computer displays should be a strong category for LG, and with one of the first shipping FreeSync displays, LG is at the front of the pack as far as new technologies are concerned. But being first doesn’t necessarily mean being best.
As the first FreeSync display to cross our desks, the LG 34UM67 has some good and bad elements. In many ways it feels like the larger version of the LG 29EA93 we reviewed a while back, albeit in an improved design and with most of the early 21:9 issues having been ironed out. The price is also lower now, so for less money you can get a more capable 34” display instead of 29”. But with FreeSync being the marquee feature, the supported refresh rates of 48-75 Hz can be something of a problem.
But let’s not jump too far ahead. Fundamentally this is a computer display, so let’s talk about the design, features, and other elements before we continue. After testing the two previous TN-based G-SYNC displays, the Acer XB280HK and the ASUS ROG Swift PG278Q, the change back to an IPS panel is immediately noticeable. From an ideal viewing location it may not matter as much, but get off axis at all and IPS is definitely superior. The color quality also looks quite good out of the box – not sufficient for professional use, perhaps, but definitely better than most lesser panels.
In terms of connectivity, LG includes multiple input options: DisplayPort, HDMI, and dual-link DVI-D are present. There are also two 7W downward facing speakers in the screen, with audio in/out ports on the back. One thing you won’t find however are any USB ports. The built-in stand likewise offers no height adjustment, rotate, or swivel – the only thing you can do is tilt it forward/backward. There is a 100x100mm VESA mount, however, so the stand at least can be replaced. From an ergonomics perspective, the built-in stand isn’t very good, but it does at least provide a good level of support (which is often an issue on budget displays).
Power is provided via a power brick, which is unfortunate and likely unnecessary – the bulk of the display should have easily allowed for placing the power circuit inside the chassis. There are also no cable routing features, so all the wires simply connect directly into the back of the display above the stand hinge.
Moving to the OSD (On Screen Display), LG offers plenty of options. The controls consist of a 4-way nub located at the bottom-center of the panel, and while it might not seem ideal I didn’t find it to be particularly problematic either. The nub also serves as the power button if you press it when outside of the OSD menus. All of the usual settings are present, including various color modes, brightness/contrast, the ability to tune the RGB output (and even a more advanced option that allows adjustment of six colors (Red, Green, Blue, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow – both hue and saturation can be altered), and input selection.
Areas where LG adds extras to the OSD include the PBP (Picture Beside Picture) mode, where you can do a split screen view while using two connections, gaming modes designed to improve (in theory) pixel response times and reduce input lag (DAS aka Dynamic Action Sync), and of course the option to enable/disable FreeSync. I don’t know why it’s necessary to inherently provide the option to disable FreeSync, though – if your GPU doesn’t support the standard, the display should simply function as normal with a static refresh rate.
I want to note that the DAS mode and FreeSync actually caused problems on at least one occasion, as the first time I booted with the display connected FreeSync was disabled and when I turned it on the screen went black and never came back on – I had to restart the PC but then things worked properly. DAS did the same thing when I turned it off at one point, though this time power cycling the display fixed the issue. After that, DAS mode was grayed out, and it’s not clear why that’s the case. Disabling FreeSync didn’t allow me to change DAS mode, but switching to one of the preset picture modes other that Custom brought back the option to change the DAS mode.
It looks like there’s are a few minor bugs in the display firmware, but personally I tend to set up a display and then rarely change things, so it’s not a huge concern. If you happen to regularly tweak the OSD settings on your display, however, you might find the current 34UM67 OSD to be a bit irritating. I also missed the option to adjust the OSD timeout; it's about 20 seconds with no way to make it any longer. As it stands, it’s neither the best nor the worst OSD menu that I’ve encountered, and in general it does what it needs to do.
LG 34UM67 Specifications | |
Video Inputs | 1x DisplayPort 1.2a 1x HDMI 1.3 1x DL-DVI |
Panel Type | IPS |
Pixel Pitch | 0.312mm x 0.310mm |
Colors | 16.7 Million |
Brightness | 300 cd/m2 |
Contrast Ratio | Not Specified (>600:1 measured) |
Response Time | 14ms |
Viewable Size | 34" |
Resolution | 2560x1080 |
Viewing Angle (H/V) | 176 / 176 |
Backlight | White LED |
Power Consumption (operation) | 53W Typical |
Power Consumption (standby) | <0.5W |
Screen Treatment | Anti-Glare |
Height-Adjustable | No |
Tilt | Yes, -5 to 15 degrees |
Pivot | Yes |
Swivel | Yes |
VESA Wall Mounting | Yes, 100mm x 100mm |
Dimensions w/ Base (WxHxD) | 830mm x 469mm x 173mm |
Weight | 7.3kg |
Additional Features | 2 x 7W speakers Audio in/out |
Limited Warranty | 2 Years |
Accessories | AC Power Brick DisplayPort Cable HDMI Cable |
Price | $649 MSRP |
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FXi - Monday, May 25, 2015 - link
It would have been helpful to list in the article what the "consistent" constrast ratio was. I'd be guessing it was more likt 750/800:1 given IPS performance in the past but while low and high are very useful, knowing where someone will likely land being somewhere in the middle of the road would be useful to readers. Only making a suggestion. I am always grateful for the things you DO include in your reviews and I read them pretty through and through.KarenS - Friday, July 24, 2015 - link
There are no VESA mounting holes on this monitor. Could you verify that you reviewed the correct one? I bought a "34UM67" and did not find any VESA mounting holes. The pictures on your site shows no mounting holes either.Jiffybag - Sunday, October 11, 2015 - link
How did he flatten the game curve when the monitor has no gamma controls? I bought this monitor and my gamma looks exactly like his pre calibration gamma image (starting high ending low) but as thre is NO way to calibrate gamma (only colour / white balance) I was unable to correct it? Anyone care to explain? Jarred?Jiffybag - Sunday, October 11, 2015 - link
Game = gamma (auto correct got me) :)My settings:
Backlight set to 20 (120cd/m2)
Black adjuster set to 0
Using i1Display Pro
Power savings etc all turned off
Colour calibration is good (all under delta 1.6)
Colour temp is spot on 6500k
Grey scale delta error all less than 1
Gamma set to "1" in menu
Gamma average is 2.2 BUT it's a diagonal line \ starting high (at 2.4) and ending at 1.9.
As there is no 10point gamma control I am unable to figure out how to flatten the gamma as there is no gamma controls? My HDTV has 10pt gamma control so I can raise 10/20/30 and lower 70/80/90 to flatten a curve, but this monitor has absolutely NO (ZERO) gamma controls so how on earth can he flatten it to such a decent flat line? I'm baffled? Unless he used the dynamic contrast adjuster (black level adjuster) and/or used his GFX card to make adjustments to his output, I'm unsure how he was able to do this. I'd love to know though if anyone can enlighten me :)
Jiffybag - Sunday, October 11, 2015 - link
I have a 34UM67 and it has VESA mounting holes, but no gamma correction control? :-/rya - Monday, October 19, 2015 - link
has anyone tried overclocking this monitor or altering the freesync range? I'd love to run freesync from 9hz - 80hz (or higher) if possible.