LG has done an exceptional job with its range of 4K TVs over the last year or so. Enter the likes of Currys, and you’ll see a selection of superbly presented and technically wonderful models on offer. Has the company managed to mirror that success with its monitor range, though?
The LG 31MU97-B is one of only three 4K monitors in LG’s arsenal of ultrahigh-resolutions models, which seems a little strange considering what the company has so far accomplished in the UHD market. However, although series-limited, this LG monitor it is in fact immensely impressive. The 31" IPS screen has a maximum resolution of 4096 x 2160 pixels at 60Hz, a 50,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, a response time of 5ms, 178º viewing angles and an advertised Adobe RGB colour spectrum of an impressive 99.5% along with a 10-bit colour depth, which supports over one billion colours.
Connectivity comes in the form of a pair of HDMI ports, a single DisplayPort and a mini-DisplayPort. It also has a threeport USB 3.0 hub and adequate ergonomic features with a -5º to 15° tilt, height adjustment to 140mm and pivot.
The design of the monitor is excellent, with a reasonably thin bezel surrounding the anti-glare coated screen. Movement through the tilt, pivot and height adjustment was fluid and without the usual accompaniment of plastic under stress.
The screen quality was simply superb, probably the best out of the entire group. 4K content was presented perfectly, with each microscopic detail being sharp and clear, and with deep and detailed colours as well as shadow detail and excellent brightness and contrast.
Despite that, there are a couple of problems with this monitor. The first is the almost inexplicable lack of HDMI 2.0 support. You only get HDMI 1.4, which means you won’t get full 4K at 60Hz through the HDMI port; you’ll need to use the DisplayPort connection. It's a situation that is becoming quite common these days, especially on much higher resolution connections, but for a monitor of this standard (and price), it seems an odd omission. What's more, since it has two, you’d think at least one of the HDMI ports would be the latest supported version.
The second problem we have this monitor is the cost. The LG 31MU97-B comes in at a rather shocking £750. While the quality of the product is excellent, spending £750 on a single monitor, even if it is 4K UHD, is a little extreme by our reckoning, even for those with very deep pockets.
If you can stomach the initial cost of the LG 31MU97-B, though, you’re in for a real treat. At the moment, though, it’s simply out of reach for the average consumer – and, to be honest, it’s probably not worth the expense for business users.