Conclusion
Final Words & Verdict
FreeSync works as well as Gsync does and vice versa, FreeSync however is highly dependant on the dynamic range the monitor offers, and therein lies the Achilles heel of this technology with the first batches of monitors that support it. I mean when your graphics card is rendering inside the dynamic range then the tech is lovely, great even. But if you game outside that range, Adaptive Sync simply will not work. The LG 34UM67 is a bit of a disappointment when it comes to that dynamic range it offers, 48~75Hz is your aim FPS wise, fall outside that range and boom, Adaptive Sync is disabled. Especially with screen tearing in mind this is a bummer, the lower your frame rate is in a non sync scenario, the worse tearing gets as the temporal difference in-between two rendered frames is much bigger. As such technologies like GSYNC, FreeSync and Adaptive sync will benefit you the most starting at 30 heck even 25 FPS. This is not something that is the fault of AMD, VESA or the Adaptive Sync protocol itself, contrary as the VESA protocol can work at 9 Hz already. It's just that the 1st gen monitors do not support a low dynamic refresh rate, and that blows quite a bit.
The LG 34UM67 Monitor
If we let go of the dynamic range for a bit then LG is offering a truly lovely product with the LG 34UM67. Face it there are gamers that demand a TN purely for speed, and they take the lack of contrast, color precision and viewing angles for granted over the extremely fast speeds these monitors can achieve. Then there is the kind of end-user that purchases a monitor for best image quality and these guys care less about speed but more for nice black-levels, contrast, display quality and color precision. It is for that last group that this monitor would be an excellent choice. I am among that last group personally as I prefer quality and color reproduction anytime. The LG 34UM67 is built right, looks very nice and offers great image quality. Color precision is pretty good, and with the push of a button pretty much color precise. The black levels are great and there is little to no clouding. So in that respect it ticks all the right boxes for me. There is a bit of a problem though, if you sit say 30cm away from the monitor then pixel density might be too weak. The width at 2560 is pretty good, but the height at 1080 lines versus a 34in size I feel is a bit too little, or the size too big for the native resolution. You can see pixels and that bothers me. What this massive 34" screen size really needs is a 3440 x 1440 panel. In the defense of LG, there is a 29in version available of this screen as well, the smaller screen size will likely make this comment absolute, but yeah we did receive the 34in version, and that one should have gotten a 3440 x 1440 panel.
AMD FreeSync Overall
FreeSync really is a nice improvement over the overall visual quality. I stated this however with GSYNC as well, a game changer in my personal opinion would be a bit of an over statement for this technology. Hey, over the last decade you have been fine with gaming we expect? But as simple as the idea is, it is a pretty impressive to observe. Once you experienced it'll be hard to go back to a regular screen. Realistically for the most of you old-fashioned gaming with vsync on honestly is enough. However playing games without input lag, screen tearing and VSYNC pulsing simply is an improvement of the game experience. As such we think both AMD FreeSync and Nvidia G-Sync is the next logical step in the evolution of PC gaming when it comes to a visual experience. It is in my believe that this technology should evolve to a new standard supported on all monitors and not something brand specific. We'll just have to wait and see how this will develop. Also this being proprietary AMD technology means that you can only pair it with selected Radeon graphics cards. In theory a FreeSync monitor of course could work with GeForce cards, if Nvidia would support the protocol (which obviously they haven't).
The Verdict
There are several smaller issues with the 34UM67 we feel, first off, the Adaptive Sync range is just too narrow. If the monitor industry is willing to take this technology seriously, then the dynamic range should start at 30 Hz or even lower. But 30Hz would be the aim (we believe). This LG 34UM67 starts at 48Hz, meaning that everything up-to or below 47/48 FPS is not activated for Adaptive Sync / FreeSync, and isn't that exactly the range where you will be needing it the most? My second nag with this monitor is pixel density. This screen should have been fitted with a 3440x1440 screen, as at 2560x1080 if you sit close to the screen, you can see pixels. But as mentioned, there will be a 29" model available as well so with this 2560x1080 resolution, the 29" version is your best bet. These are really my only two gripes, albeit relevant ones. The screen quality overall is great though, the viewing angles rock, contrast is good as well as brightness. At default settings the color temperature a bit off, set it at 'Warm' and you'll be spot on at a 6500 Kelvin color temperature. So yeah, the display is really good in that sense. This is a LED IPS panel, they are slower yet offer better display quality. If you want performance and higher ranges in Hz then TN probably is your thing. But for those that are after quality, a screen as this is as good as it gets in this price-range. Remember for Adaptive Sync / FreeSync you need to have a more recent AMD Radeon card as well as driver support. The preliminary driver is released, in April you will see a driver with more devices supported for FreeSync as well as Crossfire compatibility.
A feature like FreeSYnc will drive the industry towards improved refresh rates and propel smoother gaming and video playback, in the end it offers a nicer gaming experience and that is a nice win in our book. We welcome FreeSync as a really nice viable Dynamic Sync solution in the AMDhouse-style, meaning more affordable. It certainly is a technology recommended by Guru3D.com, however these dynamic ranges will need to improve in the next gen models for the technology to really kick in. The LG 34UM67 is a terrific monitor in terms of display quality, the dynamic range is however too narrow and this screen at 34" would have ROCKED with a 3440 x 1440 panel. If you are still in love with the quality and design, please do opt the 29" version over the 34" version, the visible pixel might otherwise bother you. The LG 34UM67 can be spotted in the 550~600 EURO and 599 USD price bracket and that 29" model is just dirt-cheap at 449 USD.
In the end this is a superb display quality monitor with every so often the benefit of FreeSync enabled once it hits the dynamic range, opposed to a FreeSync monitor with superb display quality. Wanna see if you can win a FreeSync monitor? Guru3D and AMD teamed up and are giving away one in this competition.
Oh and one last note for LG, if you release a FreeSync monitor that is dependant of DisplayPort technology, then it surely would be nice to see a DisplayPort cable included in the bundle, not just a HDMI cable ;)
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