LG Announces the 34UC79G: 34-Inch Curved 21:9 Display with 2560 × 1080 Resolution, 144 Hz Refresh Rate for $700

LG was one of the first suppliers to bring displays with 21:9 aspect ratio to consumers a couple of years ago, and at IFA 2016 the company introduced its new ultra-wide monitor for demanding gamers, the LG 34UC79G. The gaming display offers an interesting mix of features, combining a curved 2560×1080 panel with support for AMD’s FreeSync technology, and a maximum refresh rate of 144 Hz.

Drilling down, the LG UltraWide 34UC79G’s differentiating features are clearly meant to be its curved panel and refresh rate, courtesy of a new panel from LG. High refresh rate curved displays have been rare up until now, with entries such as Acer’s Predator Z35 and ASUS’ ROG Swift PG348Q essentially being overclocked versions of older panels. Looking at LG’s new panel under the hood, we have AH-IPS panel with a resolution of 2560×1080, a 5ms GtG response time, a peak brightness of 300 nits, and a contrast ratio of 1000:1. The panel is capable of a native 144 Hz refresh rate, making the 34UC79G a pretty exclusive monitor.

LG positions its 34UC79G as an “ultimate” solution for gamers, which is why the trade-off between high refresh rate and high resolution seems to be reasonable, at least until LG Display starts to produce ultra-wide panels with higher resolutions and increased refresh rate. LG claims that the monitor supports the range of dynamic refresh rates between 50 and 144 Hz, which seems to be a good implementation of AMD’s FreeSync technology.

To connect to PC, the LG 34UC79G can use an HDMI or one of two DisplayPort 1.2a connectors. The monitor also has a dual-port USB 3.0 hub to connect a mouse and a keyboard (it even has a special holder for their cable management). Besides, the company also integrated two 7 W speakers with MaxxAudio surround technology into the display, which could be useful for those, who do not have enough desk space for sizeable speakers.

The LG 34UC79G display is already available in the U.S. for $699.99, other markets are expected to follow shortly.

Gallery: LG 34UC79G: 34-Inch Curved 21:9 Display with 3440×1440 Resolution, 144 Hz Refresh Rate and a Nuance

LG 38UC99 Announced: 37.5-Inch Curved 21:9 Display with 3840×1600 Resolution

This week at IFA in Berlin LG introduced a new flagship UltraWide display. The new monitor is called the LG 38UC99 and it’s LG’s largest UltraWide display to date, with a diagonal size of 37.5 inches. With a horizontal resolution of 3840 pixels, and support for 99% of the sRGB color gamut, LG appears to be positioning the monitor as one well suited for displaying UltraHD content filmed in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1 or 2.40:1. Gamers aren’t left out either, with support for AMD FreeSync being included as well.

The basic specifications for the panel are listed below. There aren’t any big surprises as far as the panel goes, with a resolution of 3840 x 1600, a 5ms GtG response time, a peak brightness of 300 nits, and a contrast ratio of 1000:1. When you look at the monitor as a whole there are a few interesting points. The monitor has a built in USB 3.0 hub, which is generally expected of high end monitors, but in this case there are two USB Type-A connectors as well as a USB Type-C connector. LG has noted that the Type-C port can charge mobile devices, but there’s no word yet on whether they support high wattage charge modes as part of the USB Power Deliver spec.

The monitor also has two 10W speakers, and it can be paired with smartphones or other devices via Bluetooth to play audio wirelessly. I would expect that most users interested in buying the LG 38UC99 for watching movies will also have a good set of speakers to go with it, but the feature is there for users who may not have enough desk space to fit such a large monitor and a sizeable pair of speakers.

LG can really be credited with bringing 21:9 displays to market in any significant capacity. A few years ago it was just a niche form factor, and prior to that it didn’t really exist at all. Since then it has been adopted by many different users, including fans of movies, gamers, and users looking to improve on productivity without having to set up two separate displays. In the case of the 38UC99 the display is curved, which may limit its appeal among some groups, particularly those who need proper accuracy for geometry displayed on the monitor like users doing computer assisted design work.

Right now the LG 38UC99 doesn’t have an official price, but several reports have stated that it will cost $1499 at launch. That places it strictly in high-end territory, but that’s not really a surprise for a monitor of this size with these specifications.

Sources: LG, DisplaySpecifications, TechCrunch.

Acer’s Announces Predator Gaming Displays with Tobii Eye-Tracking Technology, Up to 240 Hz Refresh Rate

Acer has introduced three new Predator gaming monitors equipped with Tobii eye tracking technology at this week’s IFA trade show in Berlin, Germany. The new screens are the first gaming displays to incorporate sensors from Tobii, but apart from them, they also offer very high refresh rates as well as NVIDIA’s G-Sync dynamic refresh rate technology.

The Tobii EyeX technology was first demonstrated at CES 2013 (at the time it was called Tobii Gaze) as an alternative means of input from the traditional mouse or keyboard. The EyeX sensor is equipped with IR LEDs and an RGB camera to track eye positions and gaze points, where the EyeChip SoC as well as the EyeX software use the data from those sensors to control cursor in Windows or camera orientation in games. The polling rate of the EyeX sensor is 60 Hz and typical eye to application latency is specified to be around 15±5 ms. Tobii’s tech is compatible with Microsoft’s Windows Hello and typical Windows apps.

While the eye tracking technology can speed up interaction with certain programs and even make life easier for people with disabilities, developers of software compatible with EyeX are primarily focused on games. In fact, there are around 40 games that support Tobii’s EyeX eye-tracking already (including Deus Ex: Mankind Divided and Tom Clancy’s The Division). Given the current positioning of the technology, it is absolutely logical for Acer to integrate the EyeX sensor into its Predator displays.

Initially, Acer will offer three gaming monitors with built-in eye tracking: the Predator Z271T, the Predator XB251HQT and the Predator XB271HUT. All three displays feature NVIDIA’s G-Sync technology, but the manufacturer does not reveal exact dynamic refresh rate ranges. As for other peculiarities, all three monitors feature at least one DisplayPort 1.2 input as well as distinctive design with red and black color scheme.

The Acer Predator Z271T is based on a curved 27” VA panel with FHD (1920×1080) resolution and a 144 Hz maximum refresh rate. The product will be available in EMEA in October with prices starting at €799.

Gallery: Acer Predator Z271T

Meanwhile the Acer Predator XB251HQT features a 24.5” TN panel with FHD (1920×1080) resolution, a 240 Hz refresh rate, and an ultra-thin bezel (which Acer calls ZeroFrame). The pricing and availability timeframe of this one remain unknown at this point.

Gallery: Acer Predator XB251HQT

Finally, the Acer Predator XB271HUT has similar design to the XB251HQT (so, it has similar controls as well as the ZeroFrame ultra-thin bezen), but uses a 27” TN panel with WQHD (2560×1440) resolution and a maximum refresh rate of 165 Hz. Expect this display to be available sometimes in December for €899 in Europe.

Gallery: Acer Predator XB271HUT

The monitors are not exactly affordable, but it’s worth keeping in mind that the EyeX eye tracker costs $140/€119 when sold separately, and the displays feature rather high refresh rates along with G-Sync. Otherwise the integration of eye tracking into gaming monitors is an interesting move in general and a way to differentiate Predator displays from competing products. So it will be interesting to see whether the new screens will become popular among gamers, and how much of that market is willing to pay the price premium for the functionality.