LG 34UM68 Review

The is a 34″ ultra wide screen monitor from Korean manufacturer LG. Ultra wide means that it is slightly wider and shorter than a normal 34″ wide screen monitor, so bear this in mind when doing your research. It is a 1080p, ie high definition, resolution monitor that will give you plenty of work and gaming space.

This monitor includes FreeSync, the gamer friendly technology that will give you a smooth tear free game session.

There is a smaller 29″ version available too if you don’t have the space, or money, for the larger model. You might also want to think about a QHD (1440p) screen when looking at large ultra wide monitors.

Build Quality

The 34UM68 is a good looking monitor, whilst it is clearly going to take up a lot of desk space it still manages to look sleek and unobtrusive. Don’t get me wrong, you’re going to need a decent desk to stand it on, but there are other models that seem to take up more of your precious desk space.

These ultra wide monitors need a good stand to support them and the LG doesn’t let us down, owners report that it is sturdy and easy to adjust without requiring oodles of force to lift or tilt. Don’t underestimate the usefulness of ergonomic adjustment – I am currently stuck with a fixed height monitor and it has to live on a pile of books!

You can hook this up to your graphics card with either HDMI or DisplayPort connectors. There is also a headphone socket to bring the noise of battle direct to your ears!

Performance

The IPS screen ensures you get an excellent picture quality even at wider viewing angles. Traditionally this technology has slower response rates but the quoted 5ms transition time means this is good to go for gamers.

Owners report back a decent gaming experience. Not only does the ultra wide format help give you that extra edge, for example in CS:GO you get a little extra perspective to play with, but the input lag on this screen is nice and low giving you a great responsive feel. That said there have been reports of “light bleed” on this model so watch out for that.

The LG comes with built in FreeSync that operates with a range between 40 and 75hz. FreeSync adaptive synchronization technology ensures that this monitor will change its framerate to match the output of your graphics card (within the quoted range). Trust me, this is a useful bit of technology and can lead to nice smooth tear free game play. You’ll need a compatible video card which means a modern GPU from AMD. If you have Nvidia card it will work with this monitor but you won’t be able to use FreeSync. You might want to consider monitors with Nvidia’s G-Sync instead, but these do tend to cost more.