{"id":3619,"date":"2014-12-19T21:11:33","date_gmt":"2014-12-19T11:11:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reckoner.com.au\/?p=3619"},"modified":"2017-09-30T13:04:16","modified_gmt":"2017-09-30T03:04:16","slug":"review-lg-31mu97-31-cinema-4k-monitor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reckoner.com.au\/reviews\/review-lg-31mu97-31-cinema-4k-monitor\/","title":{"rendered":"Review – LG 31MU97 31″ Cinema 4K Monitor"},"content":{"rendered":"
This LG monitor is way too fancy for me.<\/span> If this monitor was a wine, it would be Penfolds Grange – but all I need\u00a0is a box of goon<\/a> to get drunk. The LG 31MU97<\/a> is 31″ of actual<\/em> 4K, Adobe RGB calibrated, 10-bit colour depth goodness. As a result, it ends up costing a fair bit more than a traditional “4K” monitor. If you know what these things mean, the asking price probably isn’t so steep.<\/p>\n LG Australia kindly sent me one to drool over in the privacy of my own home, after checking out my 4K monitor buyers guide<\/a> – I strongly suggest you read that before reading further. Reckoner rarely gets stuff to review unprompted, so I didn’t say no! However, reviewing this monitor to its full capacity is out of my league. I don’t do the professional level work this monitor is designed for. I’m a monitor slob, crawling on my hands and feet, dribbling away at the shiny lights, oblivious to the finer details. Don’t expect an Anandtech<\/a> level of in-depth analysis here.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Let’s get this part out of the way now: the LG 31MU97<\/a> has an RRP of $2499 and is around $2200 on the street. That’s a lot of coin for a monitor. When you can get 28″ 4K monitors for $500 and 40″ ones for $1,000, or a Retina iMac for $2699, what’s so good about this monitor to make it worth the same as two<\/em> 40″ 4K displays and change?<\/p>\n First reason is that it’s proper 4K, not marketing person 4K. Like I said in the 4K buyers guide, 4K can mean two things – Ultra HD or Cinema 4K<\/a>. Ultra HD is the “cheap” 4K or what looks like is the mainstream 4K and what will end up being called 4K for eternity. It’s 3840×2160 pixels and has a 16:9 aspect ratio. Cinema 4K however, is actually 4096×2160 – a 19:10 ratio. I really like this. I’ve never seen 4096×2160 pixels in the same spot before (unless you count the time I saw a remastered version of Blade Runner in 4K at the Astor Theater – that was cool)<\/em>, so to have that many pixels on my goddamn desk is mouthwateringly delicious.<\/p>\n The other reason this monitor sells for $2200 is its superb colour accuracy. For yobbos like me, it’s not that obvious compared to a “normal” monitor that this 10-bit LCD panel can display 99.5% of the Adobe RGB colour gamut and 97% of the DCI-P3 colour standard. But if you do work which requires you to see all the colours in those gamuts and ensure what’s on your screen actually resembles what you’re outputting, then you will certainly appreciate this monitor.<\/p>\n Taking it out of the box, it’s just like any other monitor. It’s got a decent stand which is fully adjustable, up\/down\/rotate and if you don’t like it, has a normal VESA mount that you can use to attach to any stand you like. Also in the box is this factory calibration sheet:<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Included is a USB 3.0 cable, Mini DisplayPort to DisplayPort cable, a HDMI cable and even a power cable. Good thing it comes with a MiniDP to DP cable too, as the 3M one I got off eBay 3 years ago had weird artefacting when running at 4096×2160. Swapped the cable with the one from the box and it didn’t come back. Don’t use cheapo eBay cables with your $2500 monitor, I guess.<\/p>\n Aesthetically the monitor is fine – a relatively thin bezel, a subtle LG logo. The stand is inoffensive. On the back is a three port USB 3.0 hub, which worked fine from my limited testing. Wrote to my external Time Machine HDD at max speed. They’re in an extremely awkward spot though – it’d be nice if a port or two was on the side of the monitor. There’s two HDMI ports, so you can switch between inputs from the monitor’s control panel, rather than buying a switcher, which is nice. A Mini DP port is on the monitor too if you have a Mini DP to Mini DP cable, or you want to use the included MiniDP to DP cable and your computer has a DisplayPort output.<\/p>\n There’s speakers on this monitor but they’re rubbish. The built in speakers on my MacBook Pro are better. It’s nice how the audio can be sent over DisplayPort though – and with the 3.5mm socket on the back, you can plug in a pair of headphones and simply switch your audio output in your OS.<\/p>\n Also in this box is a little flyer with info about OS support for 4K resolutions:<\/p>\n