AMD FreeSync And LG 34UM67 Widescreen Monitor Review

You’ve seen the specifications, now let’s take a quick tour of the LG 34UM67 with AMD FreeSync. As we’ve mentioned, this is an ultra-widescreen display, with a 34” (diagonal) IPS (In Plane Switching) panel packing over 2.76 megapixels.
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The LG 34UM67’s actual dimensions measure about 32.7” wide by 18.5” tall, and it’s about 6.8” deep with the stand attached (without the stand, the monitor itself is only about 3.2” deep). And in total it weighs about 16.1 lbs. There are very thin bezels around the top and sides of the display, but there’s about a 3/4” bezel along the bottom. The entire display and the bottom portion of the stand are glossy black; the back edge of the stand is clear. Overall, the display has a very clean look in our opinion, but it offers zero adjustments—the panel is fixed into the stand, so no portrait mode here. That’s probably a deal breaker for some of you, but because this monitor has an IPS panel with 178 degree wide viewing angles, tilt adjustments are less of an issue.

The LG 34UM67’s response time is a mainstream 14ms, brightness is rated for 300cd/m2, it covers 99% of the sRGB color gamut, and the panel features an anti-glare, matte coating. There’s also a pair of 7W speakers built in, which actually did a surprising job producing rich audio. You won’t get the kind of deep bass you would with a sub-woofer, but for basic computing tasks, they’re more than up to the job.
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The back of the monitor is one massive, glossy expanse that curves inward around all of the edges. There is no visible venting, because it’s unnecessary—the power supply is external and the monitor is LED backlit and doesn’t produce a lot of heat. A large LG logo is silk-screened at the top and a rectangular cut out at the bottom is home to the display’s various inputs and outputs. This type of configuration isn’t ideal in our opinion, because cables jut out perpendicular to the back of the display. Compounding matters, there are no cable management features to speak of, save for a plastic clip that attaches to the back of the stand.
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Both sides of the LG 34UM67 are clean, with no features to speak of. Along the bottom, however, there is a single button / joystick with a whitish-blue LED that’s used for everything from turning the panel on to navigating its on-screen display. This is one of the 34UM67’s strong points in our opinion. The button offers good tactile feedback and navigating the monitor’s various menus is very easy.
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Those ports visible on the back of the display include a DVI input, a full-sized DisplayPort input, an HDMI input, an analog audio input (though audio is also supported through HDMI and DP), a headphone output, and the power jack. Though it’s not visible, because it’s recessed and mounted flush to the back of the display, there is another HDMI input at the far left.

We should point out that some of the advantages AMD FreeSync has over NVIDIA’s G-SYNC are laid out here. G-SYNC enabled displays pack only a single DP input, which doesn’t support audio. FreeSync is compatible with these standard monitor features, though you must use the DisplayPort to actually enable FreeSync.

Marco Chiappetta

Marco Chiappetta

Marco's interest in computing and technology dates all the way back to his early childhood. Even before being exposed to the Commodore P.E.T. and later the Commodore 64 in the early ‘80s, he was interested in electricity and electronics, and he still has the modded AFX cars and shop-worn soldering irons to prove it. Once he got his hands on his own Commodore 64, however, computing became Marco's passion. Throughout his academic and professional lives, Marco has worked with virtually every major platform from the TRS-80 and Amiga, to today's high end, multi-core servers. Over the years, he has worked in many fields related to technology and computing, including system design, assembly and sales, professional quality assurance testing, and technical writing. In addition to being the Managing Editor here at HotHardware for close to 15 years, Marco is also a freelance writer whose work has been published in a number of PC and technology related print publications and he is a regular fixture on HotHardware’s own Two and a Half Geeks webcast. - Contact: marco(at)hothardware(dot)com

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