LG 29EA93 Ultrawide Display - Rev. 1.09
by Chris Heinonen on December 11, 2012 1:20 AM ESTLG 29EA93—Display Uniformity
Display Uniformity is where I am really worried about the LG 29EA93. It has a wider panel than anything typically produced, which means a whole new backlighting system than has been used before; that can easily lead to irregularities compared to a 16:9 panel. The ANSI uniformity test using a 5x5 grid was truly revealing when looking at the white uniformity on the 29EA93.
With the center set to 200 nits, the average of the surrounding zones was a very nice 200 nits, giving you a far more uniform center of the image than any monitor I’ve used to date. The outside edge has an average light level of 193 nits, making it far brighter than most monitors outside edges. Overall the average brightness for all 25 zones was 195 nits, which is the best result in quite some time. For white uniformity, the 29EA93 is truly a cut above.
Black uniformity is excellent as well, with only a couple spots that are a bit brighter than other zones, but an average result across the display of 0.19 nits with a center of 0.186 nits. The two lower corners have a bit of backlight bleed that is visible when a black screen is up and they measure the worst of anywhere on the screen. Overall, even when the different ratio isn’t accounted for, the 29EA93 scores quite well here.
Contrast uniformity is just excellent on the whole. Only one zone out of 25 falls below 950, and 22 of the zones are above 1000:1. The average contrast ratio for the whole screen is 1046:1 and is a really superb overall number for an IPS panel. I would say that the LG is one of the more uniform panels I’ve tested to date, with contrast ratios that are better than most displays on the whole.
Color Uniformity is also quite good, other than the lower-right corner, which is where there is the most visible backlight bleeding on the display. The average dE across the whole display is a solid 1.87, and the worst corner is only 2.63 as well.
Overall, the LG 29EA93 is the most uniform consumer monitor I have tested to this point and does a remarkable job overall. I was worried at first that the different aspect ratio might lead to worse performance in this area, but it seems that whatever LG had to engineer for this works remarkably well and produces an overall uniform image across the whole display.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
90 Comments
View All Comments
Rick83 - Tuesday, December 11, 2012 - link
Yes, if you come from 2 19" screens, you actually gain vertical pixels, instead of losing them, compared to a 27" screen.Also, who uses their 27" screen in portrait orientation? That line kind of struck me as a bit out-there. Even pivoting a 24 inch screen is laborious.
Blibbax - Tuesday, December 11, 2012 - link
It's common to have a landscape main monitor and a portrait secondary monitor. But yeah, I never actually pivot a monitor while using it.cheinonen - Tuesday, December 11, 2012 - link
I have a 27" monitor on an arm and I'll pivot it depending on what I'm working on. It's not common, but if I have a really tall spreadsheet or a document I'm working on, I like to have the ability, but I admit it's rare.Kevin G - Tuesday, December 11, 2012 - link
I have three 24" displays in portrait mode for Eyefinity. Works relatively well as the 3240 x 1920 is very close to a 16:9 aspect ratio. Bezel compensation alters this a bit so it is nearly a perfect 16:9 ratio.Using three of these 29" displays in portrait for Eyefinity would be roughly equivalent to a 4:3 aspect ratio from the days of old. Both old and new games support 4:3 aspect ratios so there would be some use.
The monitor itself is mainly the hassle for portrait mode. Not all of them have good stands that easily allow for portrait orientation, if at all.
ImSpartacus - Tuesday, December 11, 2012 - link
Check out this kickass PLP setup and you'll understand.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AEAhExuaaM
ypsylon - Tuesday, December 11, 2012 - link
They should stop wasting doing monitors like that and create panoramic, concave 180 degree models to replace Eyefinity setups. I would much more prefer buying one big screen than wasting time (& cash) with buying 3 LCD and watching screen with borders of each LCD. I don't get it how people can live with stuff like that. Just brrr....Stop fooling around, bring bendy OLEDs now!
nathanddrews - Tuesday, December 11, 2012 - link
NEC did this just a couple years ago. AFAIK, it was a total flop (or just never made it to market).http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/633263-REG/N...
Kevin G - Tuesday, December 11, 2012 - link
What's that basically two rear projection screen systems put into a single cabinet? I recall hear that that display as just physically big. Also the resolution wasn't as high as the typical Eyefinity setup.Neat concept though.
nathanddrews - Tuesday, December 11, 2012 - link
I'm pretty sure it came out before Eyefinity was announced, but I also know that it kept showing up at CES for a couple years before finally being available to the public. I believe it was two DLP projection units in one cabinet, but I think it was seen by the PC as one monitor. All I know is that people that saw it IRL said it was a thing of beauty.2880x900 @ 120Hz for $7,000. Not bad. LOL
I wonder if I could track one down used???
http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/08/ostendo-multipl...
Sabresiberian - Tuesday, December 11, 2012 - link
Why would they expect a significant number of people to pay that much money for that screen? 900 vertical pixels, are they kidding me?The monitor in this review is too wide for desktop use, in my opinion, because it doesn't wrap around. I'd rather have 3 monitors for surround.
As far as the 16:9 comment in the article being bad for productivity - it's bad for gaming, too. For example, most MMOGs put most of their UI at the bottom of the screen, so I want more vertical space; so, 16:10 is better for gaming. I get around this in WoW by using an addon to make a custom UI and put it on the side of the screen of my 2560x1440 monitor, but that's not always practical, and when I play on my computer with a 16: 10 screen the UI is still on the side, and not optimum there.