14 DAY TRIAL // Two years ago, everyone was raving about 3D displays, then in 2013 the 4K resolution took its turn. Now, curved panels are the main trend, which means they will be quite numerous at IFA 2014, the trade show taking place in Berlin, Germany between September 5 and 10.
Admittedly, there were quite a few curved displays at last year's IFA as well, especially in the large exhibition halls of Samsung and LG.
There are still some types of curved displays that haven't been introduced yet, however, so LG intends to remedy that at the upcoming trade show.
Which brings us to the company's latest announcement: at IFA 2014, LG will introduce the first ever IPS 21:9 Curved UltraWide monitor.
UltraWide stands for the very wide aspect ratio of 21:9, which is a fair bit wider than the cinematic 16:9 shape, which is the norm these days.
21:9 isn't particularly popular yet, but it might be adopted more and more by curved screens, since the extra width mitigates the slightly narrower viewing field.
The new LG IPS 21:9 Curved UltraWide Monitor bears the model number 34UC97 and has a diagonal of 34 inches.
It is not, however, a 4K screen, as much as that may surprise people. Instead, it has a native resolution of 3440 x 1440 pixels.
Not that there are any true 4K resolution 21:9 high-end displays. They tend to employ panels of 5120 x 2160 pixels most of the time, and are suitably expensive because of it.
The LG Curved UltraWide Monitor is supposed to be equally well suited for consumers and professional businessmen alike, even “entertainment enthusiasts” as LG calls them.
Mac users will be especially pleased to learn that, in addition to normal video inputs and USB 3.0, the flagship 21:9 Curved UltraWide Monitor possesses Thunderbolt 2. With four times the speed of USB 3.0 (20 Gbps vs. 5 Gbps), it lets you not only stream to it from your Mac, but also daisy-chain multiple 34UC97 for a larger, multi-display view of whatever you're working on.
Finally, LG included MAXX AUDIO and 7 W stereo speakers, just in case you don't have a big audio system at home. Unfortunately, LG did not reveal the price and exact availability date. Those details will probably be withheld until the IFA show itself.
As you may see in the press release below, LG has prepared two other monitors. One is the Digital Cinema 4K Monitor, a 31-inch 4096 x 2160 pixels display called 31MU97. The other is a Gaming Monitor called 24GM77 and featuring a Full HD screen, 144 Hz refresh rate, low latency, and a Game Mode to change between three optimized settings with a single hotkey press. There's Black Stabilizer tech too, for deeper blacks.