LG Electronics 31MU97C-B 31-Inch Screen LED-lit Monitor

What is up with LG??? Because of my various works in media(photo & video) and in writing, I often update my TVs and monitors. This is perhaps the 10th LG TV or monitor I have owned, and besides one plasma TV that was probably a lemon, LG has not ceased to amaze and impress me with their prowess in make excellent TV and monitor panels. I also have a 2014 55" OLED TV, and even with the advancement of TV technologies two years after, besides other LG OLED TVs, it still has the best image quality I have ever seen on a TV. Believe me, even the very best of HDR LED technologies cannot come close to OLED - put on the least compressed Blu-Ray movie you can find, and you will quickly realize what I mean. As for monitors, I also have the  LG Electronics UM65 34UM65 34-Inch Screen LED-Lit Monitor , and before buying this 31" monitor, I gave that 34" the award for the best image quality I have seen on a monitor. And this also includes having a  Samsung U28E590D 28-Inch UHD LED-Lit Monitor , Samsung S34E790C - 34-Inch Curved WQHD Cinema Wide (3440 x 1440) Professional LED Monitor , and  Samsung 32" WQHD LED Monitor (S32D850T) . Although we are not at the stage of OLED monitors, LG IPS technology is the best as it gets for now. I am not including elements of input lag, refresh rates, etc. - I am just talking about pure raw image quality. The images literally seems to be popping right out of the screen, a phenomenon I witnessed for the first time using the LG 34UM65. Seriously, there is just something about LG and their voodoo magic of making superior OLED and IPS panels.Other positive elements of this monitor is that:* It includes decent speakers - this might not be a big deal, until one day you're in a bind and you've misplaced your headphones/earphones, and your external speakers break. Many other premium monitors from Samsung and LG themselves don't have speakers, and having some is always better than none. They are 5 watts each, and are pretty decent.* The physical adjustment options include height, tilt, and rotate. The difference in the lowest and highest height is about 4.75 inches/12 cm. It can tilt up and down, and when combined with the height adjustment, is a great combination for when you want to turn your desk into a standing desk without the need to have a dedicated stand-up desk. Whenever I do this, I just replace my keyboard and mouse from the keyboard tray to the desktop. You can also buy a laptop tray to further hoist your keyboard. Finally, it can rotate 90 degrees from landscape to portrait orientation for people in the news/writing professions.Here are some things I didn't like:* The output options are two HDMI 1.4, one regular and one mini Displayport 1.2. The latest versions are HDMI 2.0b and Displayport 1.4. Version 1.2 Displayport can still output 4K resolution at 60Hz, but HDMI 1.4 cannot, and for this monitor, it can only go up to 24Hz, which is fine for watching movies, but not good enough for video editing or computer gaming. These "standards" are more software based than hardware based, so it is disappointing that LG has chosen not to update their premium monitors yet. Samsung has done so, with their U28E590D 28" 4k monitor, the other main monitor I am using.Something of note is the resolution of this monitor is 4096 x 2160 pixels, which is the "real" 4K resolution, called Digital Cinema 4K. 4K TVs and most 4K monitors have a resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels, which is officially called UHD, or ultra high definition. So you actually get more pixels on this monitor, and because it is 31 inches instead of the UHD monitors at 32 inches, the pixel density is greater on this monitor. However, on the flip side, you do lose one inch of screen size.You can read many professional reviews online if you want to be more sure or nitpicky, but this monitor passes my eye test with flying colors. When I first turned it on, it practically blew me away. If pricing was not a factor, I would say that this is the very best monitor I have ever used, and it is by far the best image quality I have ever seen.Below are some links to help you learn more about it. Please delete the space between the .com - I had to add them because Amazon does not allow direct links in reviews.4k. com/monitor/a-review-of-the-lg-electronics-ips-digital-cinema-31mu97-b-31-0-inch-screen-led-lit-monitor/reckoner. com.au/2014/12/review-lg-31mu97-31-cinema-4k-monitor/youtube. com/watch?v=I4p7b21zUN4eoshd. com/2015/04/lg-31mu97-dci-4k-display-review-10bit-4096x2160-ips/Hope these, and my review, help you! Good luck!

Trying to be as detailed as possible here. I could have used some good reviews before making this purchase. I have been shopping for a high res 4K monitor for our Mac Pro in our recording studio for over a year. I had hoped apple would release a retina Cinema Display but we couldn't keep waiting for something that won't happen most likely until 2017 given the current state of technology early 2016.There really are no good options right now for 4K monitors which is the first time I can remember in 15 years you could not spend some good cash to get a high end screen. I think we found out why there have been so few options available in this true 4K monitor market.We have 4 monitors - 3 apple 27" cinema displays and an lg 34uc97 cinema with thunderbolt in. This would be our fifth so this is a side by side comparison from a non-graphics every day use perspective. Our main uses are Logic X, Ableton 9, Final Cut X a suite of audio plugins, web browsing and YouTube. That being said I would consider myself to have a high attention to detail and quality so I'll try to keep this neutral and to the point.We connected this monitor to our Mac Pro using the included dp to mini dp cable included with the monitor as we wanted to get the highest refresh rate and read the bad reviews regarding this aspect. This allows for direct connection to an apple thunderbolt port. ***** Note: this monitor does not work at all if you try and use a thunderbolt cable you need to use the included cables. No issues like others had getting this physically hooked up.We could not get this monitor calibrated beyond included factory options due to the fact that the true color software did not work on our late 2013 Mac Pro. This seems to be a known issue given the little googling we did but we got frustrated and gave up after 45 minutes so we could have missed something but it wasn't for lack of trying as we really wanted this monitor to work.*** the comparisons below were with this monitor one step below its maximum ultra 4K resolution. The reason was we found it impractical to use this monitor at full scaling because everything on the screen is so small it has you straining even when very close to the monitor. Granted The monitor looks absolutely incredible at full resolution. We were very excited initially because this was why we bought it! ...to get the clarity and extra screen real estate with true 4K resolution. We were really bummed after sitting behind this monitor in regular use as we REALLY wanted to use it in true 4K mode. It just isn't practical and I think we now understand why very few options exist at this resolution because unless you are editing photos we can't see anyone being able to use this at full resolution for everyday use. It does look slightly crisper when scaled back one step to the same resolution as all other udhd displays but not noticable enough to outweigh the other issues. Color and black issues were there regardless of scaling.VS. LG 34uc97Winner - 34uc97.-Out of the box the lg 34uc97 cinema had much better deeper truer blacks.-Whites were a better tone. The 31mu97 monitor had a reddish tone across all settings that was very obvious and incredibly distracting and unacceptable in our opinion. Especially obvious comparing side by side with the other monitors.- screen real estate in non scaled udhd resolution. We find the 34uc97 the best format for audio work. The screen area is the exact same height as the apple Cinema Display but the lg 34uc97 gives you and incredible extra 8.5 inches in width which is amazing when using audio or video editors with timelines. This 31" lg gives you an extra 1" in height and takes away 4" in width.-Unfortunately the issues with the 31mu97 made us appreciate our other displays.Vs. 27" apple Cinema DisplayWinner 31mu97-the clarity, screen size, and overall build quality have this monitor beating apples 27" Cinema Display. Not a shocker given that lg makes the lcd panel in apples product. If you want a large monitor and are deciding between the two this 31" wins hands down and is cheaper also! Granted the black levels are not as good but the other benefits outweigh this.* if you will be using this lg side by side with another monitor the white temperature might bother you. It looks reddish/yellow in hue vs the other monitors.Overall this is an amazing monitor in build and clarity if you can use it at full scaling. You may be able to adjust black and white levels if you can get the true color software from lg to work. It's not possible with any of the settings in apples preferences or the monitors menu settings. Also important to note is that if you need this monitor further than 5' in cable length from your computer this likely won't work at full refresh and scaling rates as you will need a third party cable that is not guaranteed to work.

I received this product with absolutely no light bleed. I have some IPS glow, but that does not matter as it is completely uniform. I calibrated perfectly with an X-rite Pro and DisplayCal with Argyll. I wish I purchased the Z version for the thunderbolt ports, but it was not in my budget and I figured since this was a newer product, the quality control was going to be better.The quality control, at least for me was certainly better. The joystick knob is actually very intuitive and the build quality of the stand is absolutely above and beyond what I expected. I was actually going to Vesa mount it, but have forgone that option and now using the stand because it is actually a better solution. The speakers weren't nearly as bad as I thought and actually sound okay. I sometimes use them actually for non-intensive applications like Youtube videos.If I had one thing to complain about, it is that there is magenta color shift when viewing a part of the screen at an angle. This does not bother me too much as God has invented the neck and man has invented a chair with wheels ;) . I have a perfect screen with a very tolerable white point, with multiple profiles for D65, Gamma 2.2 at 100% SRGB, 100% Adobe RGB, 100% Rec. 709. and 97% (yes 97%) DCP profiles. Excellent product if you cannot afford the Eizo or FSI panels, or alternatively, saving up for them.

Received this monitor from Amazon. I set it up immediately as I needed it right away. The packaging though was in rough shape, all of the content bags were open and poorly stored.I took pictures of it all just in case. I believe what I have is a repackaged monitor and not a new one that I had paid in full for. The monitor itself works well with my MBP late 2013. The quality of the screen is what I had expected. The quality of the packaging and contents though had me worried.