PROS: FreeSync works really well, the IPS panel looks fantastic, UltraWide perfectly fits movies and works well with most games, Multitasking support, Dual-Input mode



CONS: Hard to find a con, but FreeSync is only operational in a limited fps range. It also requires a compatible AMD graphics card.



REVIEW:

This was my first serious gaming monitor. I researched the market in early 2015 and discovered my basic needs: Ultrawide, IPS, and Freesync/G-Sync. Unfortunately, no monitor like that existed at the time, but LG had announced and demonstrated their 29UM67 (29" variant) and 34UM67 (34" variant). The 29" is a good size for 1080p (similar to a 24" at 16:9), as the 34" is also 1080p and will have larger pixels (unlike its 1440p non-freesync cousin). It sounded too good to be true, so I had worries all the way up until it arrived at my door. As soon as I hooked this monitor up to my PC, my worries went away.



I'll start on the adaptive refresh rate technology that makes this monitor unique: FreeSync. Once I found the driver, it was a simple matter of enabling both the monitor's FreeSync setting and the AMD control panel setting. To test it, I found the "Windmill Demo" (see the picture), which lets you easily turn FreeSync on and off. The difference is astounding. Screen tear is gone with VSYNC enabled, but the stuttering that has plagued gaming for years is completely eliminated. It's a very free feeling to have played video games for years with annoying stutter, then see a windmill quickly moving across the screen without any stutter. I booted up Elite: Dangerous to test it in a real application and I can say it works! You may or may not realize that stutter in every video game out there (due to vsync) is hurting the immersive feeling of playing a video game. Every time the framerate skips or stutters, whether you notice it or not, it reminds the brain that you're watching footage of an artificial environment. As soon as that's gone, you almost get a eerie feeling of immersion. With smooth framerates on the screen, your brain is more convinced with what you see and it helps a lot. I'm not comparing this to the gold-standard immersion from Virtual Reality (VR), but to existing monitor technologies. It's something you really have to experience in person, and once you do (if you dislike stutter and screen tear) you may never go back.



My only complaint about FreeSync on this monitor is the limited range where FreeSync is active. I have my refresh rate set to 75Hz, and if there's a lot of activity on screen where the graphics card has to drop down to ~45fps, it may pop out of FreeSync and start stuttering again until the fps increases. I've worked around this by changing my in-game graphics settings so that they rarely drop that low in framerate. With an R9 290X, most games can run in High or Ultra without ever dropping that low. AMD's 300 series will likely handle this even better. Even with the fps floor, it's certainly better than current refresh rate technologies. It's simply that, at low framerates, this monitor reverts to being like any other monitor.



Now I'll hit on the other features for a short wrap up. The IPS display is fantastic. I've only owned TN panels before this one, but have been very picky about contrast, backlighting, and picture quality. This display handles colors very well, looks great in low light conditions, and doesn't suffer from backlight bleed or glow that has plagued other LG UltraWide panels (maybe I got lucky).



The monitor has a few built in features that are helpful. You can have two displays from two different sources side-by-side at the same time (see the picture where I have my PC displaying on the right and my PS4 displaying on the left). This can come in handy for certain situations. There is also an LG driver you can download that helps with multitasking. There are shortcuts that let you immediately pop multiple windows to even quadrants or sections of the ultrawide screen.



Overall, I'm very happy with this monitor, and it will stay as my main gaming and multitasking display for quite a long time. I actually bought a 16:9 TN monitor to use as my "road" monitor so that I don't have to ever unplug or move this amazing display.