Click to enlarge, note Mac interface for scale
Update: The monitor doesn’t actually cost $2,499—that is the Australian price. In the U.S., the monitor will be shipping for a much more reasonable $1,399.
LG Electronics on Tuesday unveiled its new 31-inch Digital Cinema 4K monitor (4096×2160 px) for $1,399. Apple users will be pleased to hear that the monitor is compatible with both Mac and Thunderbolt. The monitor includes a Mini DisplayPort (in addition to 2 HDMI ports and 1 DisplayPort), which uses the same physical port as Thunderbolt enabling Mac users to drive the 4K display over a single Mini DisplayPort 1.2 cable.
The all-new Digital Cinema 4K monitor’s biggest selling point is its gorgeous 31-inch IPS display that features Maxx Audio and Adobe RGB Color Space for claimed brilliant picture quality, outstanding colour accuracy and crisp, clear images. The monitor will be available this week in the United States, South Korea, Germany, Australia and the UK, followed by the Netherlands, Spain, Poland and Japan in November.
LG is advertising this monitor towards professionals by promoting its ability to edit 4K content in the ideal resolution without image scaling and an ergonomic pivot design for displaying as much of the image on the screen as possible with minimal scrolling and dragging. Editing video footage can be done with full color expression made possible through DCI color standard support.
“LG’s Digital Cinema 4K Monitor presents the company with an excellent opportunity to solidify our leadership in the global professional monitor market,” said Hyoung-sei Park, head of the IT business division at LG Electronics. “This monitor’s high-end features and functions make it the perfect solution for professionals who require a top-of-the-line monitor with all the technology currently available.”
SEOUL, Oct. 29, 2014 — LG Electronics (LG) today unveiled its new 4K Monitor (model 31MU97) for global rollout starting this week. The cutting-edge LG 31MU97 mates Digital Cinema 4K (4096 x 2160) resolution with a 31-inch IPS monitor to create an ultra-sharp high-end monitor that meets the standards of the Digital Cinema Initiative (DCI). The LG 31MU97 is especially well suited for professionals who demand the sharpest possible images for either work or leisure.
The monitor’s ultra-high quality 4K resolution and life-like colors are ideal for photographers, video editors and graphic artists and its incredible picture quality allows for detailed and accurate retouching of any image. With the monitor’s rich and vibrant colors and impressive 10-bit color, visual arts professionals will greatly appreciate the model’s high color accuracy.
The monitor’s IPS display supports over 99.5 percent of the Adobe RGB color space and provides users with several coloring options and modes in order to meet the wide spectrum of needs that graphic professionals require. Its Dual Color Space allows the monitor to display two different color modes at once so that users can compare different perspectives of their work simultaneously. Additionally, the Digital Cinema 4K Monitor comes hardware calibration-ready with LG’s exclusive True Color Pro software.
The LG 31MU97 is equipped with several unique high-end functions that will satisfy most discerning professionals. Video pros can edit 4K content in the ideal resolution with standard Digital Cinema 4K without image scaling. Editing footage with full color expression is made possible by the DCI color standard support which reproduces color realistically, covering 97 percent of DCI-P3 color space, the standard for digital cinema projectors and digital camera. And the LG 31MU97 comes with an ergonomic pivot design that offers maximum convenience for displaying as much of the image on the screen as possible to minimize scrolling and dragging.
“LG’s Digital Cinema 4K Monitor presents the company with an excellent opportunity to solidify our leadership in the global professional monitor market,” said Hyoung-sei Park, head of the IT business division at LG Electronics. “This monitor’s high-end features and functions make it the perfect solution for professionals who require a top-of-the-line monitor with all the technology currently available.”
The LG 31MU97 will be available starting this week in markets including the United States, South Korea, Germany, Australia and the UK followed by the Netherlands, Spain, Poland and Japan in November.
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Weird comparing the price of a monitor to the price of a computer (that includes a monitor).
Why is it weird? It shows the value of said computer.
“LG Electronics on Tuesday unveiled its new 31-inch Digital Cinema 4K monitor (4096×2160 px) for $2,499, which is $250 cheaper than Apple’s recently announced 27-inch iMac with Retina 5K display (5120×2880 px) that retails for a starting price of $2,749.” Ummm…no…pretty sure the iMac with retina display starts at $2,499….just going off the Apple website…
You might want to recheck the retail price for the 5k iMac. It is the exact same as the LG displays price!
You accidently hit 7, the 5k iMac starts at $2499 not $2799.
Thanks. The article has been fixed. I am Canadian and was accidentally referencing the Canadian dollar price for the 5K iMac.
How is it $250 cheaper than the 5K iMac when it also starts at $2499.00? And compare a simple display to a full computer, really!
Any person here who would buy the monitor instead of the iMac?
I would be tempted to. $2499 is a lot to pay for a prosumer pc that you can only update the ram on. Until display port 1.3 comes to Skylake there won’t be a 5k iMac that can be also used as a display.
I’m inclined to wait for the next version of the 5k iMac before I pull the trigger. Right now the base model struggles at times with 4k and 5k content. Will be a generation or 2 before Apple learns how to get the most out of the screen. All the 2012 components inside make it a tough sale for me. Especially the base graphics card that is from 2012.
It can make a good secondary monitor for previewing 4K content, but for editing without scaling you’ll technically need higher resolution for the editor chrome/ui/panels.
I think most people wold probably opt for the free Mac you get with Apple’s display. 27″ is also a much better monitor size than 31″ for sitting in front of.
That is, if the free iMac (base model) would be able to handle 4K and 5K media editing. It struggles badly right now.
This monitor is really for Mac Pro users or those with a computer with TB2 and want a 4K compatible monitor. I’m not a fan of glossy screens either. This is a welcome addition to us with TB2 who will upgrade eventually and want 4K.
I just hope the price drops a bunch in a year or so. At $2,499 I think it’s still a bit much to swallow. Great beginning though.
i think ill just take the 5k imac
One of very few 4K monitors that are 60Hz
That VESA mount makes me all tingly inside.
I honestly didn’t think 4K displays would become a standard by 2015 but it looks like there’s going to be a lot of forward momentum for such high-resolution displays. Maybe because of the failure of 3D TV the industry is going to try something else to get consumers to spend their money. Although that Retina iMac sounds awesome, I honestly don’t need anything with that sort of resolution. I liked the idea that you can have so many documents open at once without each getting in the way of the other, but beyond that I just don’t think it’s worth having.
$2500 for a darn monitor screen..i mean seriously?
Yes I’m serious. It’s not a toy.
well if it was a toy, then the price was okay coz at least then it would have a fun value.
I’ve seen this monitor available for preorder on over lockers.co.uk for around $1300 US. Am I missing something in translation about the price? http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-123-LG
I am seeing this monitor for sale at various places like Amazon and B&H Photo for $1399.
I was literally just looking this monitor up last night and seeing the same exact things. Is the article wrong?
As someone who usually prefers a desktop but doesn’t have any professional needs for a real workhorse of a computer, I’ve been wondering lately if 4K really is going to take off and become a standard for your everyday user. These prices are just too high for me to consider, though I’d love to have a great display. I just couldn’t justify it for my basic uses. I did run across one on Monoprice, and I’ve heard good things about their monitors. For that matter, how does OS X treat 4K displays? Does it treat it like a retina display or what?
In general no. Those “retina” specific settings, such as “looks like 1920×1200” etc. are only available for the specific resolution displays Apple uses. A monitor with any other native resolution will just have resolution settings under Displays much like any monitor.
Ugh… the stand is gross
Luckily it’s VESA mount compatible.
Looks like a single thunderbolt port. That’s too bad.
4K displays until last month were so expensive, now Apple comes out with the full package for cheap and all of a sudden they are cheap
There have been some much less expensive 4K monitors. Seiki makes a 39″ one that goes for just over $300. It’s technically a TV that can be used as a monitor, although there are several cons, the hz is low, no thunderbolt, quality is unknown, and for using it for SD tv the upscaling is bad, although I think that’s likely a problem with any 4K display. I’m eager to see a couple of years from now when 4K prices have dropped on quality brands like this LG and others.