LG Electronics 34UM88-P 34-Inch 21:9 UltraWide Screen LED-Lit Monitor

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I bought this monitor to replace a 32” 1080p TV which has been serving as my main monitor. I also have another 27” 1080p monitor for a dual screen setup. I had my eye on the LG 34UM95 but I am not a fan of the aesthetics of its stand. I also wanted (still want) the curved Samsung S34E790C but my wife gets nauseous every time she looks at it. I took a chance on this flat-screen monitor because of it’s great looking base even though I could not find any in-depth reviews. Pros: -Size. This monitor is huge. I almost have trouble fitting another monitor next to it on my desk. It happens to be the same size vertically as my 27” monitor which is nice. -Resolution. The 3440x1440 resolution is great for a screen this size. I have another 29” 2560x1080 resolution monitor and it feels too much like a short monitor. This 34” screen definitely feels wide, not short. The monitor will push 60hz refresh rate on both HDMI and Displayport. -Picture. The colors are fantastic out of the box. I can’t see any backlight bleed common to IPS panels. -Stand. Great tilt and height adjustment. I can move the screen from 2.5” from the desk up to 7”. -Comes with a DisplayPort-DisplayPort cable and an HDMI-HDMI cable. Cons: -Wobbly. My desk isn’t that steady, so any movement of the desk is translated into a lot of wobble in this monitor. I don’t notice this much in the smaller monitors. Summary: Now all I need is a couple more of these monitors! EDIT Sept 2016: After 5 months this monitor is still working flawlessly. Since my original purchase, however, I have acquired the LG 34UC87M-B curved 34" monitor (pictured next to my LG 34UM88C) and the Samsung S34E790C curved 34" monitor. I really appreciate the subtle curves of these new monitors and I like how they make the screen edges more usable and less "far away". If you plan on having two 34" monitors side-by-side, making at least one of them a curved monitor is a must. I have the curved and flat LG monitors side-by-side (as pictured). I prefer to watch videos and play video games on the curved monitor, while I prefer to do photo editing on the flat panel. Other thoughts: Getting videos to play in the 21:9 aspect ratio while utilizing the full screen is a hassle. The Windows Store video player is the only online streaming platform I could find that easily goes true full-screen on this ultrawide format. Other streaming services will play HD movies in 21:9 format(ish), but will not zoom to be full-screen. See pictures comparing streaming HD movies from Windows Store and Google Play.

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For starters, I am not a gamer and I dont use it for sound. I am a Software Engineer. I use this for coding, databases, youtube tutorial watching, and watched a few movies on it. Ive had no problems with it at all. I use the thunderbolt connection of my 15" MacBook Pro. (Id love to get another one) Mostly what I love is the massive area I get while coding and looking at database tables. I dont really plug anything else into it to switch between inputs but it does support split screen and multiple inputs. No issues that Ive noticed with dead pixels or light bleed or anything like that. But Im a simple person when it comes to monitors and never have ran any extensive video testing on mine.

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This is hands down the BEST monitor Ive owned. First off, its massive. Like, significantly bigger then I expected. The screen real-estate is almost laughable next to my 1080. Pros: -Colors are vibrant, and accurate -Tons of real estate -Picture in picture with 2 separate PCs is an IT persons dream -No scaling (unlike 4k) -Protective layer over panel itself (clean grubby finger prints of peasants that touch my screen against my will) -Built in speakers are tolerable -GTA V looks INSANE at 21:9 (Running with a 980ti/4790k 4.4ghz) Cons: -Some back light bleed, definitely nothing major to complain about -Heavy. This is a set it and forget it monitor. My existing vesa mount struggled with the weight. -Included DP cable is junk. Feels like its made from happy meal plastic, caused some screen-tearing in game -On-screen display software is -OK at best. Needs work. That being said, the cons are gripes, nothing major really. Its a lovely monitor. Highly recommend.

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My first ultrawide was 29um67. It was freesync capable and in nvidia panel refresh rate displayed the 75hz option after activating freesync in the monitor settings. Great monitor, never had an issue with it. I then switched to 34um95 which had terrible flickering, half of display would go off sometimes, or half would display image like i just cracked it. Turn off/on was solving the problem. I sold it and bought another 34um95. This time no flickering issues at all, the only minor issue was if id have a browser open in the middle of the screen and try to scroll a page, id see vertical tearing right in the middle of the screen sometimes. I upgraded to 34um88 just because i got it cheaper than i can sell my old 34um95 for. I like the stand much better, its sturdier with a lot more adjustments. The black color of the stand is also better to the eyes than silver on the old one. I didnt notice vertical tearing in the middle of the screen yet which is an improvement for me. No flickering as well. Color reproduction seems to be excellent as it was on the old one. I thought that all the freesync capable LG monitors allow to switch to 75hz in the nvidia control panel after activating freesync setting, i was wrong. Unlike the older 29um67 monitor, i didnt get the 75hz option in the nvidia control panel this time. I went to the "create custom resolution" (overclocking) setting and typed in 75hz after activating "freesync". Everything seemed working fine. After setting v-sync on i was getting 75fps stable in Unigine 4.0. Then i learned about the testufo website and found out by taking pictures with DSLR camera at 1/5 shutter speed that this monitor skips the frames when overclocking it to 75hz. Actually any change above 60hz does frame skipping. I tried different DP cable, installing/uninstalling LG monitor driver, trying different picture modes, freesync on/off, nothing helped. This is a bummer since my older 29um67 was freesync capable as well and some people on forums achieved 80hz without frame skipping on it. Edit: I have both a certified 1.2 and the original Displayport cable and I found out this monitor flickers horizontally when displayport 1.2 is turned on in settings, same issue the 34um95 had.

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This monitor is amazing. Ive spent over a decade as an animator/designer using two monitors side by side. It was always an ugly setup, but kind of standard in my industry. Now that I have one giant monitor, Im never going back. This is one good look, massive, crisp monitor. In full disclosure, Im a bit of an LG fanboy. I think they just make excellent monitors. (currently own their 65 4K OLED TV too) The only thing I was initially bummed about was how YouTube and netflix movies look. While they are crisp, most of them are surrounded my letterboxing. (sometimes on all sides) BUT, everyone who buys this monitor and also uses the Chrome browser, you MUST get the chrome extensions that remove the letterboxing from Netflix and YouTube videos. Just search for them in the Chrome extension store. Now, whenever I view a youtube video fullscreen on this monitor, its edge to edge picture! Movie trailers in particular look amazing. (since they are usually ultrawide)

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Ive had a 34UC98 before this and absolutely loved the curve for that immersive IMAX theater and gaming experience. The only reason I got this was for the flat viewing angle and 0 distortion needed for graphical work. Other than that, there are not many monitors I can go back to after experiencing a 1440p ULTRAWIDE experience. For work: The amount of desktop space you gain from 1440p alone is quite huge, but to add the 3440 width of ultrawide is a complete game changer. The amount of web pages, data sheets, lists, graphics and videos you can put side by side to multitask and compare is so efficient and a complete must for anyone trying to maximize their workflow. The image quality is superb and the colors are accurate enough for my line of work as a part time graphic artist and web dev. For entertainment: Stunning visuals like always from LG and the wider viewing angles and field of view in most games nowadays is a huge advantage as well as adding to the overall immersion. Response time is decent and the freesync helps smooth out faster paced games for AMD users. Even without freesync, I would say this is a great addition to any pc station for its price. The monitor stands in my desk looking slick with its brushed metallic stand and the adjustable height and rotation helps me make easy adjustments depending on what I am doing on the pc. As a long time user of LG monitors and TVs, none of them have ever given me a problem and have been super reliable whilst always bringing an amazing price to quality ratio - this monitor is no different!

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This unit comes with an IPS panel, which is essential for 21:9 ratio. It benefits from not having a huge color shifting like the TN panel. Pros: * Accurate color * USB/HDMI/DisplayPort, tons of I/O options * USB supports fast charging. Was able to charge my phone at 10W * 60 Hz works with DisplayPort with no issue * FreeSync * Adjustable Stand Cons: * EXTREMELY CHEAP AND BAD BEZEL WORK! See below for more info * The stand is so tiny, any shake or pressure press on the desk will make the monitor shake * 100% Brightness/Contract out of the box * MaxxAudio doesnt work as advertised Out of the box, the panel is color-calibrated, which saves your time on adjusting the RGB mode. Also, it has no dead pixel. Maybe it is just my luck. However, LG uses really cheap silver paint work on the frame bezel. And it is plastic bezel rather than metal frame, which makes it so easy to get chips and dents. Mine has the paint scratched off during the setup, and then shows the white base plastic layer. This is un-excusable. Like how much you are actually saving from making such a change? The stand is also so offensively bad. It is not sturdy. As the monitor is adjustable in height, also you can tilt it. Imagine the center of gravity changes too much and then the stand wont hold it properly. Plus if you are like me runs a couple cables on the back, you might re-consider your choice. Overall, I would say it is bang for the bucks... But if you have a little bit higher budget, go find something else. I have another LG monitor which is $700, has the same material issue. But panel/display wise, totally work just fine.

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I purchased 2 of these monitors and stacked them for my workstation. Talk about amazing amounts or Real Estate for all my viewing needs. The image quality unsurpassed. Back light bleed is not an issue for me. I had an issue with the display port. CMOS - Bios could not be seen when connected via display port. I contacted LG and they were zero help. I found out after reading extensively about display port monitors that I had to have UEFI mode enabled in Bios for the display port to be recognized when booting to Bios. I also installed Windows in UEFI. Now the display ports worked as expected. I use these monitors for Music production, Photo editing and Video Production. Multitasking has become much easier. Colors are accurate and the images are remarkably clear. Now for the lack of quality control. You can see in the close up image that edge of the monitor close to the LG Logo is all dinged up. Both monitors had alike damage to the bezel finish. I contacted LG about this damage and again they showed zero concern and pointing the finger at the shipper or the seller. The packages were fully OEM packaged still in the boxes and sealed. No damage to the packaging. If you read the reviews you will see LG has many issues with quality control and LG monitors. I was able to cosmetically touch up the bezels on my own and the dings are now obscured. This was almost enough to get me to return both monitors, but the seller was so painfully slow to ship these monitors originally I vowed to never do business with them again. The seller showed very little concern when inquiring about monitor damage. Overall I am pleased with the monitors performance and they meet or exceed my personal needs. I will just have to be more selective who I buy from the next go around. If it is not sold and shipped by Amazon under the Prime agreement....I will not purchase.

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Update on 10/21/17: Its been about 10 months that I have had this monitor. The monitor started showing a vertical red line a month ago. The line is about 2/3rds of width from left of screen. LG customer service is hard to get. Will see how soon this issue can be resolved. But Im disappointed at the low mftr quality of this monitor. ---------------------------------------------------------- I bought this from local Frys after trying out one from an Amazon seller. I bought this monitor as an upgraded to my Dell 24" 1920x1200 UltraSharp Wide Sceen Monitor that I had for several years. And Im happy that I did the upgrade: - LG monitor has much more screen space and I can work on multiple documents at the same time. - The pixel resolution is just right. I was considering a 4K monitor (I have one at work), but the pixel resolution makes text too small for my comfort. - Colors are outstanding. Photos and Videos look amazing. I have not gone to the extent of checking colors with a colorimeter but might do that one of the days. :) One negative is that the quality of cable connectors can be poor. Thats what happened with the one shipped by Amazon seller and that I returned (Thanks Amazon!). So the five star rating includes rating for Amazons return service. :)

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The monitor is of course excellent - high level of contrast, excellent sharp text, and very easy to use. If youve been trying to use a 1080p monitor for doing side by side docs, and its over 20", you already know how the text is degraded, fuzzy, and harder to read. This monitor snaps it all back in focus. I am running it off the displayport in my HP 9840m laptop, using a displayport to HDMI adapter. I installed the drivers from LG online, and after a reboot it was correctly detected as an "Ultrawide LG Monitor" and recommended resolution of 3840x1440 was supported at 59hz. I had a shipping issue that was taken care of by the seller who personally called to make it right - thats top notch Customer Service, Ill be back for sure.

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