Packaging, Physical Layout, And Accessories
The 34UM95 comes in a slim carton made of single-corrugate cardboard. The contents are completely surrounded by Styrofoam, but we think they could use just a little more protection. Our sample arrived undamaged, but if you're ordering yours online, I'd recommend checking over your delivery carefully.
DisplayPort and HDMI cables are included, along with a brick containing the external power supply. There’s also a printed manual and two CDs with documentation, drivers, and the screen-split application.
Product 360
From the front, the 34UM95 appears to have no bezel. But there is a frame around the image of 11 mm on the top and sides and 20 mm across the bottom. All you see when the monitor is off is the LG logo at the bottom-center. The anti-glare coating is fairly aggressive, and it mitigates reflections with only a small sacrifice in clarity. Framing the panel is a chrome-plated metal strip that imparts an elegant high-end look to the package.
The base is metal on the bottom with a clear plastic upright that makes the panel seem to float in mid-air. A Phillips-head screwdriver is required to assemble it with the two included machine bolts. Once attached, it allows five degrees of forward tilt and 20 degrees back. There is no height or swivel adjustment. And even if you were to mount the monitor in portrait mode, there appears to be no way to rotate the image.
OSD controls were not immediately apparent until we actually looked in the manual.
In this photo you can see the single control joystick in the lighted area beneath the screen. By default, this LED is off, so unless you know where to look, you may not find it right away. The joystick controls all monitor functions. Pressing it turns on the power and clicking it towards you pops up this quick menu. It’s a little different from what we’re used to, but we adapted after a time.
The Reader option has two modes that dim the backlight and alter color temperature to reduce eye fatigue when reading text. Reader 1 is fairly warm in tint and Reader 2 retains the set color temp.
The 34UM95 is one of the slimmest panels we’ve seen, measuring less than two inches thick. An external power supply helps in that department. LG's design is sleek and smooth, making this monitor a nice complement on a minimalist desktop. And it goes great with Mac not only because of its looks, but also due to the two Thunderbolt inputs around back.
The rear of the chassis is a single piece of plastic that covers everything. There are no bulges or vents to spoil the lines. A 100 mm VESA mount is drilled into the center, right above the input panel. There's also a Kensington lock at the lower-right. If you use the mount, LG provides a little plastic square that fits over the screw holes to prevent scratches.
All but one input faces straight back. If you're using a wall mount, you might need to track down your own cables with right-angle plugs. Fortunately, the bundled power cord already has one.
From the left we have power, headphone, HDMI, DisplayPort, two Thunderbolt ports, and the USB 3.0 connectors. If you’re looking for the second HDMI input, it’s in the little indentation to the left and faces sideways. There’s no analog audio input, so the headphone jack passes the signal from either HDMI or DisplayPort.