LG 34UC98: a curved monitor, wide, design and pre-calibrated in the factory

Presentation

With the 34UC98, LG has somewhat revised its copy by improving certain points of the 34UC97 monitor. The foot is now adjustable in height and the design is more refined. The two Thunderbolt ports, allowing the integration of the monitor in a chain of Thunderbolt devices, pass to the standard 2.0 and are compatible with DisplayPort 1.2. This monitor will be marketed during February 2016 at a price of around € 1,200.

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Ergonomics

The design is classic and efficient with an aluminum stand and fairly thin screen edges. The slab is matte, which limits reflections. IPS technology, the latter measures 34 inches diagonally and opts for a 21: 9 format. It displays a UWQHD definition of 3440 x 1440 px.

The foot is adjustable in height by 11 cm and the screen tilts by -5 ° to + 15 °. LG ignores the rotation of the monitor and the pivot mode allowing the transition to portrait mode.

The back entirely shiny white.

The back of the monitor is made of glossy white plastic. It is not sensitive to fingerprints. The connectors assembled on the back of the monitor consist of a DisplayPort, two HDMI 2.0 inputs (HDCP 2.2 compatible), two Thunderbolt 2.0 ports and two USB 3.0 ports, one of which supports fast charging. On the audio level, this monitor has two 7-watt speakers offering a perfectly correct rendering at low volume, as well as a headphone output. Small precision, the power supply is external. Another drawback is that the stand does not have a cable management system; the vision of these harms the refined spirit of the design of this monitor.

The joystick is always the most pleasant way to navigate the settings. Pressing the button allows you to change source, mode (presets) and access the settings (brightness, contrast, sharpness, overdrive, FreeSync, gamma, temperature, etc.). The menus are readable and navigation is done quickly. On this point, it is a flawless for LG.

The use of the monitor in office automation is very pleasant thanks to its definition of 3440 x 1440 px. It keeps a good resolution and readability with a recoil of about 60 cm. Picture By Picture mode allows you to display two sources side by side, switch between the two and quickly switch between them.

With the brightness pushed to the maximum (299 cd / m²), the LG 34UC98 consumes 53 watts. This value is reduced to 32 watts once the brightness is set to 150 cd / m² on our test pattern. The relative consumption is therefore only 77 W / m². It is one of the least greedy monitors in our comparison (100 W / m² on average).

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Colors and contrast

Default: average gray temperature 6.629 K

Default: gamma curve at 2.4

Default: Delta E medium at 2.5

By default, the LG 34UC98 monitor offers a very satisfactory rendering with an average temperature of 6,630 K and faithful colors (Delta E = 2.5). Only the gamma leaves something to be desired with an average of 2.4 and a curve that is not very stable.

Manual setting: average temperature at 6,660 K

Manual adjustment: gamma curve at 2.3

Manual setting: Delta E medium at 2.1

The OSD settings can reduce the average gamma value, but this results in a large temperature drift. The most efficient manual adjustment is simply switching to Cinema mode by lowering the brightness to 31 in order to obtain a white at 150 cd / m². The average temperature then drops to 6,660 K and the Delta E to just 2.1. The average gamma value drops a little (2.3), but keeps the same profile.

Calibrated: average temperature at 6,640 K

Calibrated: gamma curve at 2.2

Calibrated: Delta E medium at 1.5

Screen calibration stabilizes the gamma curve with a perfect average of 2.2. The average temperature is still as good (6,640 K) and the colors as faithful as ever (Delta E average at 1.5). You can download the color profile from Focus Numérique.

Equipped with an IPS panel, the LG monitor is fishing due to its lack of contrast. Black only goes down to 0.16 cd / m², which translates into a contrast of less than 1,000: 1 while the best VA monitors exceed 3,000: 1 (Eizo Fortis FG2421).

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Reactivity

The LG 34UC98 monitor does not use pulse width modulation (PWM) to adjust its brightness. The PWM plays on a variation of intensity of the LEDs in a cyclic way, which can be perceived as flickering by certain sensitive people. In some rare cases, PWM can cause eyestrain and headaches. So there is no such problem on this monitor.

The reactivity is correct for an IPS panel with an average persistence measured at 11.5 ms. It is not as good as IPS monitors for gamers or as models equipped with a TN panel, but it is sufficiently reactive to play in good conditions. The overdrive (response time) is here set to "medium", the setting to "high" causing a phenomenon of reverse ghosting not very marked, but clearly visible.

Finally, the delay in the display is imperceptible (11 ms), so there is almost no lag between the sending of the image by the graphics card and its display on the screen.

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Conclusion

LG has reviewed its copy and offers a more advanced 34-inch monitor. The foot is finally adjustable in height, failing to offer rotation, while the IPS panel is well calibrated and responsive. If the diagonal of 34 inches offers appreciable comfort, the curved panel remains a bias not always judicious for office automation. The LG 34UC98 is however the best finished 34 inch curved monitor on the market. Its Thunderbolt connectivity will appeal to Mac owners while FreeSync compatibility will appeal to players.

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