LG 29EA93 Monitor Review - Rev. 1.25
by Chris Heinonen on February 12, 2013 8:49 PM ESTWith the 29EA93 being targeted towards gamers, where it can offer a wider field-of-view for games in comparison to standard 16:9 monitors, the poor lag performance of the original model was a big issue. Serious gamers would not put up with that, and so it was not connecting with its target market. With the new revision, lag is virtually non-existant. With the caveat of having to test at 1920x1080 instead of 2560x1080 due to CRT limitations, the LG exhibited 1ms of input lag with my testing. Previously we saw 27ms of input lag, so this is a completely different level of performance. Testing with the HDMI input and not the DVI input led to the same results.
Disabling the game mode only introduced another 1-2ms of lag, but at the expense of image quality, so I would leave it disabled. The total lag from input and pixel response was between 9 and 15ms. I say between because the LG 29EA93 appears to have a scanning backlight that doesn’t match-up perfectly to the refresh rate. Because of these different blanking intervals, the refresh rate of pixels can change slightly, so there is a range of response times instead of constant ones.
I also tested lag using a lag tester from Leobodnar.com, which uses an HDMI output and runs at 1080p resolution. Using a photo sensor it flashes a pattern on the screen and then senses the flash, then updates the screen to have the total lag time. Using this device I got the same results as with SMTT, between 9.6 and 15.8 ms of lag. The downside of this method is there isn’t a separate input and pixel lag time test, but it works much faster and seems to be highly accurate in my testing of it. Unless there is significant feedback about SMTT being superior to this, it might be the method I use in the future.
Due to interest, here are some screenshots showing the difference between 1920x1080 and 2560x1080 in games. I will attempt to add some more before returning the display.
Compared to the previous version, power use is 2 watts higher with both maximum and minimum backlight. That's close enough to be simple variance between units, so we won't worry about it.
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Kittihawk - Thursday, June 6, 2013 - link
It's a good screen but another way of looking at it is not that it's ultra-wide but that it's ultra-cropped - sadly my old Apple Cinema 30inch display failed and I go this one to replace - loosing about 1/4 of the screen size.Some really frustrating things you need to know - there is no display port cable in the box. That is really bad because, LG, the money I use to pay you comes from being productive and I lost a day of editing while I figured out that I needed the cable and ordered off Amazon. Additionally I was really confused about not being able to get the full resolution on the VGA connection until I worked out that without a 'display port' cable you will not get the full resolution. Also your graphics card will also need to support the higher resolution sizes and even then it may not fit exactly and you will need secondary software to tweak. That might all be obvious to the computer nerds who make these things but its not to the average end user.
Also the 'really clever cardboard box' quoted by Chris (Chris Heinonen ) was absent - instead the usual polystyrene menace - so I think Chris you were a bit duped at times by LG. In addition there was a strong formaldehyde plastic small from the new monitor - not good in a bedroom, but soon became undetectable.
There was also a dead pixel - never had that with any of the Mac screens I use (I have five).
Despite all that I like it - mainly because the lower height allows me to look out of the window behind and day dream instead of doing my work!
Manub - Friday, July 12, 2013 - link
I just received mine and while checking the service menu it states V1.33.lawrencejob - Monday, July 22, 2013 - link
I bought it on Saturday for £350, Amazon.just came by to thank you: this was an excellent review and instrumental in my purchase.
One thing to add: I wasn't very impressed by the black levels (although I've yet to calibrate it properly) and the device does a remarkable job at looking both too small and enormous at the same time (by my calculations there's only a little between this and a 32" TV with 21:9 content).
lawrencejob - Monday, July 22, 2013 - link
Should probably have proof-read that before sending it.forserum - Thursday, August 1, 2013 - link
LG_Monitor_Software_TCF_Ver2.7.8_SS_ver6.1.On lg site they told me it will get the latest firmware
jezzer - Tuesday, August 27, 2013 - link
how to tell if it is a rev 1.25? anyone knows? thxCDubbs - Friday, September 13, 2013 - link
Has anyone seen benchmarks on the 29EA73 or 29EB73 coming out next week? Did they carry over the improvements from this model? It is being released at a lower price point and I am trying to determine where the compromises were made. Newegg has it on pre-order for 499 with a $50 store credit gift card.arijit.ray81 - Wednesday, November 27, 2013 - link
What's the version of DisplayPort on this? Is it 1.2?