LG plans to pitch a curved, 21:9 monitor when it steps up to the mound at a press event during the IFA 2014 consumer electronics show in Berlin.
LG is expected to show off three monitors during its press event, including an ultrawide 4K set and 144-Hz display that it says was designed with gamers in mind.
The display on the "extra wide," curved 34UC97 measures 34 inches, diagonally, and features a resolution of 3440x1440. The monitor's 21:9 aspect ratio, roughly 25 wider than standard 16:9 monitors, employs a 7-watt speaker system to add to the immersive experience in which the monitor will wrap movie enthusiasts and gamers -- the 34UC97 is also platform-agnostic, serving both Mac and Windows systems alike with its inclusion of a Thunderbolt 2 port. Thunderbolt is an interconnect technology developed by Intel and Apple.
LG will also bring its 31-inch Digital Cinema 4K Monitor, the 31MU97, to IFA 2014. The Digital Cinema 4K Monitor, which has a resolution of 4096x2160, will deliver up to 99 percent of Adobe's RGB color space, a standard that accounts for approximately 50 percent of all visible colors, says LG. It makes the model ideal for film professions or designers and photographers.
The 4K monitor gives ultrasharp images with a wide viewing angle -- it meets the Digital Cinema Initiative's standard for 4K resolution displays, LG notes, "squeezing 4096 x 2160 pixels into a 31-inch screen, for resolution equivalent to four Full HD monitors." Thunderbolt 2 supports the fast uploading times required by the 4K monitor for high-speed data transfers, four times faster than USB 3.0 -- a 20 Gbps bi-directional channel.
Setting its sights on gamers, LG will show off its 24-inch 24GM77 monitor at IFA 2014. Maybe to the disappointment of gamers pushing the industry's budding 4k movement, the 24GM77 won't feature a quadHD resolution.
The 24GM77's 144-Hz refresh rate, however, will entice gamers whose graphics cards put out more frames than their 60-Hz monitors can appreciate. The gold standard of 60 frames per second (FPS) has been widely unrealized in 4K displays -- most deliver 30 Hz and cap frame rates at 30 FPS -- which has slowed the adoption of the already pricey displays.
While many people spend more time in front of monitors than TV sets, the top players in the electronics industry aren't moving nearly as fast to push advances to desktop as they are working to bring innovation to living rooms, says Hyoung-sei Park, head of the IT Business Division at LG Electronics' Home Entertainment division.
"At LG, innovation in display technologies isn't just limited to our market-leading TV products but [is] actively being implemented in our advanced PC monitors," said Park. "And that's why we're particularly proud to be introducing at IFA the world's first 21:9 Curved Ultrawide monitor with a curved IPS display which delivers a wide 178-degree viewing angle for an immersive viewing experience." IPS, or in-plane switching, is a screen technology used for liquid crystal displays.
LG has yet to reveal prices for the three monitors it intends to show off at IFA 2014. But due to their sizes, they will assuredly cost lest than the small fortune Samsung is charging for its 105-inch, curved display TV.
IFA, once known as the Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin, or the Berlin Radio Show, is the European electronics and home appliances show in Berlin. LG's next-generation advanced PC monitors will be on display at IFA 2014 in Hall 11.2 of Messe Berlin from Sept. 5-10.
