Everyone is talking about next-gen OLED monitors at Computex, but there's a high-end LCD panel slowly creeping up with insane specs. MSI and Gigabyte have announced new 27" Mini-LED monitors featuring a native 5K resolution, enabling retina-level pixel density across 2,304 dimming zones that are further enhanced by a glossy coating. With dual- and even multi-mode support, along with a range of other features, these new monitors can genuinely rival OLEDs for certain use cases.

Both monitors use the same panel underneath (made by BOE), so they share identical specs for the most part. LG has already released its own model featuring this panel, but it has a matte coating instead. Glossy coatings are generally preferred for punchier colors and deeper blacks, and they can particularly help sell the illusion of pixel-level control with Mini-LED technology. But since Mini-LED monitors use IPS or VA panels, they've been almost exclusively matte... until now.

Let's start with MSI's offering, which is called the "MPG 271KRAW18." It uses a 27" Rapid IPS panel with a native resolution of 5,120 x 2,880, which comes out to 218 PPI and would be classified as "Retina" according to Apple. That means you won't be able to discern its individual pixels at regular viewing distances. At 5K, the monitor has a native refresh rate of 180 Hz that can be doubled to 330 Hz at 1440p, thanks to dual-mode support.

The Mini-LED backlight here consists of 2,304 dimming zones, up from 1,152 zone count limit we've seen for a long time. That allows for a DisplayHDR 1400 certification, meaning this monitor has a peak brightness of 1,400 nits. There's a quantum-dot layer in the LCD stack as well, which enables 98% coverage of the DCI-P3 color space and an average Delta-E of less than 2, so it's ready for even professional work.

For connectivity, you get a full-fat UHBR20 DisplayPort 2.1 port for up to 80 Gbps of bandwidth. There's also 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x USB Type-C (with DP Alt Mode and 98W power delivery), 2x USB Type-A, 1x USB Type-B and a 3.5mm audio jack. The monitor has a bunch of AI features and support for Nvidia G-Sync. There's no pricing but MSI says the MPG 271KRAW18 will come out next year in January.

Moving on to the Gigabyte model, it's called the "Aorus FM275K16P" and it has the same base features and specs. The main difference lies in its unique multi-mode support. Unlike the MSI that can only switch between 5K and 1440p, the Gigabyte model has a third mode. By default, it's 165 Hz at 5K, but it can be overclocked to 180 Hz, then you can switch to 330 Hz at 1440p, or 220 Hz at 4K.

The HDR certification is also different; Gigabyte only advertises DisplayHDR 1000 but says the monitor can hit 1,250 nits of peak brightness. Lastly, the connectivity gets a boost because the HDMI 2.1 port also features eARC, which is incredibly rare on monitors. But the power delivery on the USB-C port drops to just 15W. Apart from that, we get the same 2,304 dimming zones and a glossy coating.

Each of those zones is made up of 4 LEDs, which means there are almost 10,000 LEDs behind the IPS panel. And they're really right behind it because the BOE panel has "0-OD" or zero optical distance, meaning there's no physical gap between the backlight and the panel itself. This helps with dimming, reducing blooming and halos while maintaining proper blacks that aren't crushed by an aggressive dimming algorithm.

Gigabyte has both a price and a release window for this monitor. The Aorus FM275K16P is supposed to launch sometime in Q4 2026 and will cost $999. That's around $200 cheaper than LG's equivalent, but still in 4K OLED territory. Current 4K-class Mini-LED monitors retail for around $500, but since these 5K models bring so many improvements together, it makes sense why they'd be expensive initially.

Lastly, it's important to mention that the Gigabyte model comes with a built-in upscaling chip that handles 4K to 5K upscaling on the hardware level, similar to LG. MSI has not spoken of dedicated silicon, but it does have AI-based upscaling features that work at the software level. We'll have to wait and see how either implementation fares in person, but for now, these monitors look like a robust overall package.

LG has announced the new UltraGear 25G590B gaming monitor, which it claims is the world’s first to offer a native refresh rate of 1,000 Hz. Naturally, it has been designed specifically for first-person shooter (FPS) games and targets competitive esports gamers. The monitor features a 24.5-inch IPS panel with a full-HD (1920x1080) resolution, along with a clean, minimalist design approach to avoid any distractions.

It is important to note that the UltraGear 25G590B is not the first monitor to offer a 1,000 Hz peak refresh rate. However, it is the first to support it natively at 1080p resolution. Until now, we have only seen dual-mode monitors achieve similar refresh rates at reduced display resolutions.

For instance, Acer showcased the Predator XB273U F6, a 27-inch 1440p IPS display, at CES earlier this year with a native refresh rate of 500 Hz and the ability to hit 1,000 Hz using its Dynamic Frequency and Resolution (DFR) mode at 1,280 x 720 resolution. Similarly, HKC announced the AntGamer ANT275PQ MAX last year, featuring a fast TN panel with a native 1440p resolution and a 1,080 Hz refresh rate at 720p.

According to LG, gamers can expect enhanced smoothness, motion clarity, and overall responsiveness, which is crucial in competitive environments. When a player or object quickly moves across the display, it should stay sharper and easier to spot instead of turning into a blur. To ensure visual precision and motion clarity, the monitor comes with LG’s Motion Blur Reduction Pro technology, which is said to reduce the smearing or blur effect that is usually seen in fast-paced action games. The IPS panel on the monitor also comes with a special low-reflection film to help in consistent color reproduction and reduce glare.

The company has also added some AI features to the monitor, including AI Scene Optimization that is said to add “visual realism and depth” by automatically adjusting picture settings based on the game genre. There is also AI Sound that can provide a spatial audio experience paired with clearer in-game communications when used with compatible headsets.

In terms of design, the monitor comes with a sleek stand and a minimal base footprint to maximize desktop real estate, along with calibration indicators for precise height, swivel, and tilt adjustments. There’s also some adjustable RGB lighting at the back for added gamer flair. Expect the UltraGear 25G590B to launch sometime during the second half of 2026, which is probably when LG will share more information around its pricing.

While 27-inch monitors are the bread-and-butter display for best gaming monitors, and I’m saying that based on how many there are, few will deny that bigger is better. So many games create a virtual world, whether it's a battlefield or a racetrack, and the bigger the screen, the more immersive the experience.

There are two main categories in play. One is large flat panels, TVs, and monitors over 40 inches. The other is ultra-wide, where extreme aspect ratios and curved screens attempt to wrap the experience around the user.

I’m checking out one of the latter here, from LG. It’s the UltraGear 52G930B, and it is extreme in every respect. The panel is 52 inches diagonal with 5120 x 2160 resolution, and a 1000R curve. VA tech delivers high contrast for HDR and SDR content. It’s VESA DisplayHDR 600 compliant with wide gamut color, a 240 Hz refresh rate, and Adaptive-Sync. Let’s take a look.

LG UltraGear 52G930B Specs

The 52G930B is the perfect display for a simulator if you’re looking to eliminate the dividing lines between multiple screens. A 1000R curve means that a circle of them would be just two meters across. The curve is so tight that it reflects sound into the user’s ears. It has internal speakers that sound good, but it is best enjoyed with headphones. And to that end, LG has included DTS Headphone:X processing, which creates a surround effect inside the player’s head.

The image is super sharp thanks to the extreme resolution. 5120 x 2160, or 5K2K, is the current pinnacle for 21:9 monitors. Pixel density is 108ppi, about the same as a 27-inch 16:9 QHD monitor. If you have sufficient graphics horsepower, the 52G930B’s 11-million-plus pixels can be driven at 240 Hz over its DisplayPort 2.1 or HDMI 2.1 inputs. Adaptive-Sync is included as well.

Color gamut coverage is excellent at 94.4% of DCI-P3, and accuracy is superb right out of the box. There’s plenty of light output too, with over 450 nits measured for SDR and 625 in HDR mode. The 52G930B supports HDR10 and is VESA-certified DisplayHDR 600. A dimming feature takes contrast up to 16,000:1.

There is no remote control included, but you can navigate the OSD from the Windows desktop with the LG Switch app. It also adds custom calibration functions with an app called LG Calibration Studio. USB ports, including USB-C, let you connect peripherals. A large, steady stand puts the screen at just the right height for vertical viewing.

The 52G930B is a luxury item for sure, with a $1,700 asking price at this writing. But it is relatively unique in that it combines the best elements of jumbo and curved screens into a high-performing and immersive package.

Assembly and Accessories

The 52G930B’s box is understandably huge but very easy to unpack. Everything is well secured in crumbly foam and lifts out the top like a big TV. The baseplate is quite heavy and attached to the upright with two captive bolts. The panel snaps on, or you can use the 100mm VESA mount for an aftermarket arm or bracket. There’s an enormous external power supply, along with cables for HDMI, DisplayPort, and USB-C.

Product 360

At nearly four feet wide, you’ll need a bit of extra desktop space for the 52G930B. The stand looks small in the photos, but it is very substantial with a thick metal baseplate and a wide upright secured with two bolts. Ergonomics are firm and free of play and include a 4.7-inch height adjustment and 20 degrees of tilt. There is no forward tilt which is a good thing because the best way to enjoy a screen like this is perfectly vertical with your eyepoint at the center. The stand is tall enough to allow this.

Styling is minimalist, but a few details set the 52G930B apart. An UltraGear logo, which looks a bit like wings, graces the back with LED light bars framing it like parentheses. The word “UltraGear” also appears on the upright above a convenient cable hole. From the front, it’s all screen with a flush bezel, though not a particularly narrow one. It’s 12mm around the top and sides and 19mm at the bottom. In practice, you won’t notice it when the picture is literally wrapping around you.

The OSD joystick is in the center, just behind and below the input panel. There, you get all the latest port versions: DisplayPort 2.1, HDMI 2.1, and USB-C. To run full resolution at 240 Hz, you can use either DP or HDMI. USB-C is DisplayPort-compatible but is limited to 120 Hz.

I was surprised to see there was no remote included with the 52G930B. Granted, you’ll likely be sitting very close to it. But you can download LG Switch and control everything from the Windows desktop. It offers a customizable image mode called Personalized Picture, and you can go further into calibration with LG Calibration Studio. It has two of its own setting memories in the OSD.

OSD Features

The 52G930B’s OSD appears with two clicks of the joystick. It’s a small menu that sits at the bottom center of the screen, out of the way of test patterns, and cannot be moved about. It’s logically organized into five sub-menus.

First up are the Game Modes and picture modes; there are 13 in total. They include different game types, gamut choices for sRGB and DCI-P3, color weakness, and two memories for use with the LG Calibration Studio app. Gamer 1 is the default, and it measured within a whisker of perfect with no adjustments needed.

This menu also has a three-level overdrive, which works well on its Fast setting. It keeps blur to a minimum with no visible ghosting artifacts. I noted that there was no backlight strobe option like ELMB or MPRT. This would be helpful at lower frame rates, especially considering this monitor’s high pixel count. A set of crosshairs comes next and there’s a frame rate counter that can sit in any corner of the screen.

In Picture Adjust, the 52G930B has four gamma presets and three fixed color temps. The Manual option lets you adjust grayscale as a unit while Custom unlocks the RGB sliders. You also get a six-color adjustment and Deep Black Pro which is the dimming feature. It has three levels with the highest bumping contrast to around 16,000:1.

If you choose H/P (headphone) as the audio output, the 52G930B engages DTS Headphone:X processing. You’ll need to buy an app from DTS to enjoy it, but it’s worth the investment because the sound is truly immersive. And it works with any headphones, though it’s best to have a model optimized for the technology. It’s like a surround system inside your head and it’s super effective for gaming and movie watching.

The 52G930B is a great candidate for PIP and PBP when you want to view two sources at once. The PIP window can be sized and moved as well. Hexagon Lighting refers to the two LED strips in the back, which can cycle through different colors or show a single hue. User-Defined Key refers to the left and right joystick clicks, which can be programmed for convenient access to often-used commands.

LG UltraGear 52G930B Calibration Settings

My 52G930B came set to its Gamer 1 mode and initial measurements showed it to be spot on for grayscale, gamma and color gamut tracking. I attempted a calibration but could make no improvement. The native gamut covers just under 95% of DCI-P3, which is great for both SDR and HDR content. If you want sRGB, it’s one of the picture modes. There is also an HDR Effect mode, which alters gamma to make SDR content look like HDR. It makes some content look better, but doesn’t always improve the image. Below are the brightness values with Deep Black Pro (dimming) turned off.

For HDR content, you can adjust overall brightness and change the color temp, but the RGB sliders are grayed out. Picture modes remain available too, but only Gamer 1 and 2 are accurate to industry standards.

Gaming and Hands-on

Make no mistake, the 52G930B is a very large monitor. It’s nearly four feet wide, more than a meter, and though it doesn’t require a ton of depth, you will want some space on either side and room to sit back a little. You should sit close to get the immersive effect, but if you get in too tight, you’ll be turning your head a lot more than necessary. I found a good spot about three feet away.

Since the aspect ratio is 21:9 versus 32:9, like most screens this wide, there’s a lot of extra height. Game characters are approximately the size of GI Joe dolls so if you’re used to smaller screens like me, it takes some getting used to. In your face would be the appropriate phrase to use here.

Once acclimated, I could dispatch monsters and aliens with ease. Video processing is excellent and that’s good because my RTX 4090 couldn’t manage much more than 200 fps in Doom Eternal. And it was working hard if the warm breeze coming from my PC’s vents was any indication. The fans were at their max speed. You can tap the 52G930B’s potential with this video card, but an RTX 5090 would be even better. The overdrive worked well for me and kept motion blur below the distraction level. If you have less than a 4090, there is no backlight strobe to prevent smear at low frame rates.

This is one of the few LCDs that can keep up with an OLED when it comes to input lag. I compared it to other jumbo curved screens, and it trounced all of them in testing. Gameplay is quick and precise with no hesitation or stutter. Mouse inputs are instantly translated, and motion resolution is high, making aiming easier. My hit percentage was very high.

The 52G930B’s audio quality is above average as well. The speakers play quite loudly without audible distortion. And the extreme curve directed the sound right into my ears. There was decent bass, too, thanks to the monitor’s large size, which affords room for bigger drivers.

Using a monitor this large for everyday tasks requires some adaptation. I couldn’t sit quite as close for things like spreadsheets and document editing because I had to turn my head just to pick from a menu or access a toolbar. If you’ve tried web browsing on a jumbo flat panel, you’ll know what I mean. It’s best if you can see an entire page from top to bottom without moving your head. To do that on the 52G930B, I had to slide back to four feet.

The image in all scenarios was excellent. Color is vivid and bright with deep contrast. It isn’t quite an OLED, but it’s one of the better LCDs I’ve come across. I’ve said that VA is the next best option and the 52G930B supports that statement.

My only ergonomic complaint was that there is no remote. Large screens are tough to adjust with an OSD joystick. I got relief from the LG Switch app that allowed Windows desktop control. But a handheld remote would be better. And given the $1,700 price tag, it seems like an unfair omission.

Takeaway: Remote wishes aside, the 52G930B is a superb gaming and entertainment display. Playing is a completely different experience than smaller monitors with the action literally becoming big as life. Audio quality is among the best I’ve heard from internal speakers with loud clean sound. The inclusion of DTS Headphone:X is a nice value-add. Video processing is on par with the best OLEDs in terms of input lag and a high-quality overdrive. Motion blur is minimal and the panel is extremely quick and responsive. Work tasks require some adaptation, but the picture is sharp and colorful enough for any use.

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To compare the 52G930B’s performance, I’ve included a group of jumbo monitors running at different resolutions and refresh rates. Three of them are OLEDs, AOC’s PD49, LG’s 45GX950A, and Philips’ 49M2C8900. The others are VA, Samsung’s Odyssey G7, and Lenovo’s R45w-30.

Pixel Response and Input Lag

Click here to read up on our pixel response and input lag testing procedures.

My data from the Nvidia LDAT is still growing, so I have a different group of LCDs with which to compare the 52G930B. With five total panels, the trend is starting to show that refresh rate and GTG response are linked. The 52G930B is smooth at 2.6ms and is only a tad slower than the 360 Hz Acer. LG includes a good overdrive, which keeps motion blur to a minimum. This is at 240 fps, which will take a lot of graphics card power to achieve. There is no backlight strobe feature here, which would be nice for slower systems.

In the lag test, the 52G930B proved extremely quick with just 14.3ms of average lag for 25 mouse clicks. No other jumbo curved screen even comes close, even the OLED PD49. Granted, 21ms is still plenty fast, but who wouldn’t want to go even faster.

Test Takeaway: The 52G930B proved to be very smooth and responsive in tests and in actual use. It has lower input lag than other jumbo ultra-wides and exhibits extremely low motion blur at 240 Hz. There is no backlight strobe feature here, so I recommend pairing it with the fastest video card possible to get the most from it.

Viewing Angles

VA isn’t usually the best choice for ultra-wide screens this big. But LG has chosen an excellent panel for the 52G930B. The 45-degree side view has a slight red tint but no loss of gamma or brightness. You could share it with another user if you wanted. The top view is also a bit red with reduced gamma but consistent brightness.

Screen Uniformity

To learn how we measure screen uniformity, click here.

Screen uniformity is a difficult task for panels this big. The three OLEDs do very well with the LCDs, showing a few minor anomalies. My 52G930B sample was a tad brighter down its left side when showing a black field pattern. I could not see the issue in actual content unless it was predominantly dark, both on the screen and in the room. This is solid performance.

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To read about our monitor tests in-depth, please check out Display Testing Explained: How We Test PC Monitors. We cover brightness and contrast testing on page two.

Uncalibrated – Maximum Backlight Level

The 52G930B is an extremely bright monitor, especially considering its large size. You don’t need to crank it up as high to perceive vivid color and deep contrast. I measured over 452 nits, which is enough to tire one very quickly in practice. You could use this screen in a very brightly lit room or outdoors at a location shoot. With very deep black levels, it trounces the other VA panels with over 4,100:1 contrast. While it isn’t quite in OLED territory, it is indeed the next best thing.

After Calibration to 200 nits

Calibration doesn’t change the results by more than a whisker. The 52G930B still has the deepest blacks and the broadest contrast of any VA jumbo ultra-wide monitor. These tests show the monitor in its native state. When you turn the Deep Black Pro setting to high, contrast goes up to 16,000:1. It does this by lowering black levels. Peak output is unchanged.

The 52G930B shows consistent performance in the ANSI test with 3718.1:1 contrast, barely less than the static number. It is comparable in that regard to the Lenovo and Samsung displays. This shows good component selection and quality control on LG’s part.

Test Takeaway: The 52G930B has deeper blacks and better contrast than other large LCD ultra-wide screens I’ve reviewed. It isn’t quite as dramatic as an OLED, but it offers high brightness and option for dimming to take the ratio up to 16,000:1. Even at its native 4,000:1, the image is bright and impactful.

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The 52G930B offers a large variety of picture modes aimed at specific game types, applications and color gamut options. The default, Gamer 1, proved to be spot-on out of the box.

Grayscale and Gamma Tracking

Our grayscale and gamma tests use Calman calibration software from Portrait Displays. We describe our grayscale and gamma tests in detail here.

Notice that there is no post-calibration chart shown above. That’s because the 52G930B is extremely accurate by default. And I could not improve upon the result using the gamma presets or the RGB sliders. Grayscale rides well below the 2dE line and gamma tracks the reference almost perfectly. And you can see the same performance in the sRGB mode. That allows you the flexibility of selecting the correct color gamut for SDR content or going for a little more vivid presentation. This is excellent performance.

Comparisons

I’ve charted the same result for the 52G930B pre and post calibration because I could not get grayscale tracking any better than 0.98dE. And that’s more than fine when 3dE is the accepted point where errors become visible. There is literally nothing to see here. Gamma is equally precise with a 0.10 range of values and a 1.82% deviation from the 2.2 reference. The actual value is 2.24.

Color Gamut Accuracy

Our color gamut and volume testing use Portrait Displays’ Calman software. For details on our color gamut testing and volume calculations, click here.

The 52G930B’s native color gamut is high in both volume and accuracy. All the DCI-P3 primaries are fully covered with a bit of bonus blue. This will make sunny skies and water look a little more brilliant. I noted slight hue errors in magenta and blue, but these were not visible in content. The sRGB result is even better with every point on target. It truly doesn’t get better than this for a display I haven’t calibrated.

Comparisons

2.05dE puts the 52G930B right in the middle of the pack, but remember that the other screens have been calibrated. This is an impressive result indeed.

In the volume test, the 52G930B covers more of DCI-P3 than the other LCDs and only a bit less than the 45GX950A OLED. Most screens without a Quantum Dot film can’t fully render green, but this monitor can. Only the AOC and Philips with their QD tech can boast a more colorful image.

Test Takeaway: The 52G930B is one of the most accurate out-of-the-box displays I’ve reviewed to date. It cannot be improved with an OSD calibration, nor does it need to be. It also has a good deal more color volume than other LCD jumbo ultra-wide panels. Its sRGB mode is also very precise and is fully qualified for color-critical use. Content creators could easily add one of these to their toolkits.

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Our HDR benchmarking uses Portrait Displays’ Calman software. To learn about our HDR testing, see our breakdown of how we test PC monitors.

The 52G930B supports HDR10 signals with an automatic switch. HDR retains access to picture modes, brightness and the fixed color temperatures.

HDR Brightness and Contrast

The 52G930B is VESA DisplayHDR 600 certified and it easily achieves that when measuring a 25% window pattern. Here, the Deep Black Pro setting is turned to High which increases the contrast fourfold to over 16,000:1. The two other VA monitors offer dimming as well, but are less effective at broadening dynamic range. Having the OLEDs here is a bit unfair, but in practice, the 52G930B delivers an image almost as impactful.

Grayscale, EOTF and Color

I noted a few errors in the 52G930B’s HDR grayscale test. Brightness levels below 50% are neutral, but as output rises, a cool tint becomes visible. This is the only weakness among all the color tests. The EOTF tracks very close to the reference with a correctly placed tone map transition at 70% brightness.

In the color tests, there is slight oversaturation in all colors, which is typical of the HDR monitors I’ve tested. This lends more impact to the image and separates it more clearly from SDR content. There are slight hue errors in yellow and magenta, but all points progress linearly, preserving detail across the entire image. In the BT.2020 test, the 52G930B runs out of color at 90% red, 75% green, and 95% blue. It’s close to a Quantum Dot monitor in this test with just a little less green overall.

Test Takeaway: The 52G930B has very accurate HDR color and luminance tracking. Only a slightly cool tone mars an otherwise excellent result. There is plenty of brightness and very high contrast once the dimming is engaged. It performs better than its LCD-based competitors and though it won’t make you think it’s an OLED, it makes a good attempt at impersonating one.

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Ever since Gateway 2000’s Destination PC from the 90s that came with a 31-inch TV as its monitor, the idea of a big-screen computer has remained attractive. Now, we can buy giant panels that are four feet wide and two feet tall with a curve that rivals the canopy of an F-16. I’d call that progress.

The 21:9 curved monitor has ushered in an immersive experience that can only be equaled with good VR goggles. If you have enough desktop space, and enough money, you can have a high-performance simulator right in your office.

The LG 52G930B combines the best elements of a big screen with a truly immersive form factor. The 1000R curve wraps around your head. The sound is reflected right into your ears, or you can get surround sound in your head from DTS Headphone:X. Resolution is high enough for a 108ppi pixel density, which means you can sit close and still see a sharp picture. Color is vivid and saturated with plenty of brightness. And there are more than 450 nits available for SDR content and 625 for HDR with high native contrast of 4,000:1 and enhanced dynamic range over 16,000:1.

Gameplay is on par with many OLED displays. Not only do you get 240 Hz and Adaptive-Sync, but there’s a precise overdrive and super-low input lag, too. And the play experience goes to eleven with larger-than-life action right in your face. Using a monitor this big took me some getting used to, but the effort was rewarded with a truly immersive and realistic experience. The only thing I wished for was a handheld remote.

I can’t fault the 52G930B’s performance, but there is a caveat here. The 5120x2160 resolution requires at least a GeForce RTX 4090 video card if you’re going to get close to its full potential. A 5090 would be even better. And there’s no backlight strobe to smooth things out at lower frame rates.

If you have the budget for a premium gaming rig, the LG UltraGear 52G930B is perfect for those who want an extreme monitor. It has no real faults in the performance department, and it provides a unique and immersive play experience. It’s definitely worth checking out.

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The ongoing component shortage and escalating geopolitical tensions have unleashed dire consequences on the PC hardware industry. But amidst all the chaos, one product category has remained notably unaffected: monitors. We're seeing some great deals on premium OLED models across the market, and we've spotted one that's 45% off list price — LG's 27GS93QE-B on sale for just $499 right now on Amazon.

Check out this deal on Amazon

Ignoring the almost meaningless naming scheme, the 27GS93QE-B is a 27-inch gaming monitor featuring a 3rd-gen, 10-bit WOLED panel from LG with a 240 Hz refresh rate. Being an OLED, it features self-emissive pixels that can display true blacks alongside vivid, punchy colors. This model has 99% coverage of the DCI-P3 color space and comes factory-calibrated out of the box.

Thanks to the Micro Lens Array+ (MLA+) tech inside, you'll get a fantastic HDR experience on the 27GS93QE-B. LG claims a peak brightness of 1,300 nits across 1.5% APL; the panel will hit that when the ratio of white content against a black background is around 1.5% in a scene. This is a distinct advantage of LG's WOLED, which features a white subpixel that lets the image get brighter than QD-OLED.

For gaming, you're getting a smooth 240 Hz refresh rate with AMD FreeSync and Nvidia G-Sync support. OLED displays have near-instant response times, so 240 Hz on this monitor will feel faster than on an IPS or VA monitor. There's an HDMI 2.1 port onboard so you can comfortably use this monitor with a modern PC, and there's even a 3.5mm headphone jack (with DTS Headphone:X) for easy connection to speakers or headsets.

The 27GS93QE-B comes with a 2-year warranty, so it's not quite as encompassing as the 3-year burn-in warranty that new QD-OLED monitors have, but it's likely still adequate. On the Amazon page, you'll also see a 27GS95QE-B, which is about $100 more expensive just because it features RGB accent lighting on the back. The two models are otherwise identical, so make sure to choose the 27GS93QE-B that's listed for $499, and enjoy a fantastic all-around monitor at a brilliant sub-$500 price.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, Gaming Chair, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Motherboard, or CPU Deals pages.

OLED monitors are getting significantly cheaper and far more accessible than ever before. Take, for instance, LG’s UltraGear OLED 27GX700A-B 280Hz gaming monitor, which originally launched at $849 but is now discounted to $599. By using the promo code ‘MONITOR200’, customers can avail an additional $200 discount, effectively bringing the final price down to just $399, making it an absolute steal for a high-refresh-rate OLED gaming display.

• Check out the LG UltraGear OLED 27GX700A-B deal on LG

The UltraGear OLED 27GX700A-B launched last year and features LG’s 4th-gen Primary RGB Tandem OLED panel, which is claimed to reach up to 1,500 nits of peak brightness. On top of that, it uses less power than previous generations of OLED monitors and is typically less prone to burn-in.

The 27-inch display offers a 2560x1440 (QHD) resolution, a fast 280 Hz refresh rate, a 0.03ms response time, Nvidia G-Sync compatibility, and support for AMD FreeSync Premium Pro. The monitor is verified for DisplayHDR True Black 500 and UL Perfect Black, delivering true black levels to enhance perceived brightness and contrast. With a contrast ratio of 1.5 million:1, the UltraGear OLED 27GX700A-B also covers up to 98.5% of the DCI-P3 color gamut and delivers color accuracy of Delta E ≤ 2.

In terms of port selection, it offers two HDMI 2.1 ports, a DisplayPort 1.4, and a built-in USB hub. There’s even a 3.5mm audio jack that supports DTS Headphone:X, which can simulate 3D surround sound (up to 11.1 channels) using standard stereo headphones. Lastly, LG offers a 2-year warranty, along with OLED protection features such as automated panel care cycles, pixel cleaning, and screen shift to prevent image retention.

With an effective price of just $399, the LG UltraGear OLED 27GX700A-B stands out as one of the most compelling OLED monitor deals right now. You’re essentially getting premium OLED image quality, ultra-fast response times, and flagship-tier features at a price that was almost unheard of not too long ago. That said, deals like this don’t stick around forever. This offer is available for a limited time and only while stocks last, so if you’ve been considering making the jump to an OLED gaming monitor, now would be a good time to act.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, Gaming Chair, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Motherboard, or CPU Deals pages.

Smartphones have been using highly power-efficient, 1 Hz-capable OLED displays for a few years to improve power efficiency, but now that same display technology is finally making its way into laptops. LG has announced the world's first mass production 120 Hz LCD laptop display capable of spinning down to 1 Hz.

LG's new tech takes advantage of an Oxide TFT display that exhibits low power leakage while the display is in its low refresh rate mode. The display can automatically detect when screen changes occur, and will transition from 120 Hz down to 1 Hz when motion is static. LG claims its new display exhibits 48% greater battery efficiency compared to "existing solutions." LG also announced it will be debuting OLED counterparts of its 1 Hz-capable LCDs beginning in 2027.

LG's new display tech will debut with Dell's new XPS laptops that were first unveiled at CES 2026. The base display option will offer a 1920 x 1200 resolution with LG's 1 - 120 Hz variable refresh rate display, but the more premium display options lose the 1 Hz capability, opting instead for an OLED that has a VRR window of 20 - 120 Hz.

Laptop display manufacturing as a whole is starting to shift to variable refresh rate displays that can dip down to 1 Hz to save energy. Intel and BOE are also working on new displays that achieve the same thing and are building their new displays with LTPO technology. These new displays will use AI algorithms to detect the appropriate time to shift the display down to 1 Hz, including when the user is away from their screen.

We first saw 1 Hz-capable refresh rate screens in the mobile industry in the late 2010s. Apple was the first to pioneer the technology in the Watch Series 5, with an LTPO display that could switch from 60 Hz to 1 Hz to save power. A few years later, smartphones began to incorporate this same technology, including the OnePlus 9 and Oppo Find X3 Pro.

LG debuted its new UltraGear evo lineup of gaming monitors at CES 2026 and has now listed its largest offering for pre-order at $1,999.99. The 52-inch UltraGear evo G9 (52G930B-B) is touted as the world's largest 5K2K gaming monitor, with the company targeting both gamers and productivity professionals thanks to its high-resolution and 240 Hz refresh rate.

• Pre-order now from LG

The LG UltraGear evo G9 features a 51.6-inch 1000R curved display with a 5120 × 2160 resolution and a 21:9 aspect ratio, offering more vertical screen space compared to 49-inch ultrawide monitors. It uses a VA panel instead of traditional IPS or OLED, with an impressive 4000:1 contrast ratio, which should translate to deep blacks and bright colors. However, there are potential disadvantages to VA panels, including narrow viewing angles, slower response times, and black smearing.

As for brightness, LG claims 320 nits minimum and 400 nits typical, and since it is VESA DisplayHDR 600 certified, it should be capable of reaching up to 600 nits when showcasing HDR content. It also covers 95% of the DCI-P3 color gamut and has a special anti-glare treatment to avoid reflections.

For gamers, the display supports AMD FreeSync Premium variable refresh rate to avoid screen tearing, along with a 1ms (GtG) response time. Apart from the traditional OSD settings, one can also fine-tune the monitor directly from the desktop and apply settings instantly with a hotkey.

In terms of connectivity, there’s DisplayPort 2.1, two HDMI 2.1 ports, a 3.5mm audio jack, a USB Type-C upstream port with 90W power delivery, and two USB Type-A ports. The monitor also comes with a built-in KVM switch, which enables controlling multiple PCs without having to switch between peripherals. Other features include built-in stereo speakers and an ergonomic stand that supports height, tilt, and swivel adjustments. Additionally, one can wall mount the display as it offers support for a VESA mount 100x100.

You can pre-order the LG UltraGear evo G9 directly from LG at $1,999.99, where early buyers receive a $200 LG store credit. Shipments are expected to begin on March 23.

LG is offering a limited-period discount on its UltraGear 27G640A-B 27-inch 1440p gaming monitor. Originally priced at $449.99, the monitor is currently selling for $269.99 on LG’s official website, saving you $180. You can also apply the promo code MONITOR40 for an extra $40 off, bringing the final price down to just $229.99, making this a noteworthy deal.

• Check out this deal on LG.com

The LG UltraGear 27G640A-B comes with an IPS LCD panel with a 1440p (2560 x 1440) resolution and is claimed to cover 95% of the DCI-P3 color gamut. It is VESA DisplayHDR 400 certified, with a typical brightness of 400 nits, resulting in vibrant visuals with bright highlights and deep shadows.

The 300 Hz refresh rate with 1ms (GtG) response time makes it suitable for fast-paced FPS shooters. Additionally, the monitor supports FreeSync Premium and is G-Sync compatible, ensuring a stutter-free experience.

In terms of design, the LG UltraGear 27G640A-B features three-sided narrow bezels and comes with an L-shaped stand that offers height, tilt, swivel, and pivot adjustments. If you don’t fancy the included desk stand, the monitor also supports a standard 100×100mm VESA mount, allowing you to use a third-party monitor arm or wall mount.

On the connectivity front, you get two HDMI 2.1 ports, DisplayPort 1.4, USB Type-C with 15W power delivery, and a built-in USB hub with one Type-B upstream port and two USB Type-A downstream ports. The USB hub lets you connect peripherals or other accessories directly to the monitor without sacrificing your PC’s USB ports, while the built-in speakers and a dedicated 3.5mm headphone jack handle audio.

At its discounted price of $229.99, the UltraGear 27G640A-B serves as a solid entry into high-refresh competitive gaming without the premium price tag. If you don’t care about OLED-level contrast but still want a fast 1440p gaming monitor that covers all the basics, this monitor should be a good choice.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, Gaming Chair, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Motherboard, or CPU Deals pages.

LG just announced that it’s launching the world’s lightest 17-inch laptop with a discrete RTX GPU, ahead of CES 2026.

The LG gram Pro 17 17Z90UR will pack a 17-inch 2560 x 1600 display that’s matched with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5050 discrete graphics cards into a form factor that’s typically used by 16-inch laptops. This flagship device will only be available in North America, though. LG also said that this is the first time that it will use "Aerominum" material in the gram line-up, which reduces weight while still maintaining the structural strength that thin-and-light laptops need to withstand everyday use.

LG says that the gram Pro 17 is built for productivity and immersive viewing, with the company claiming that the 8GB of GDDR7 memory found in the RTX 5050 discrete GPU provides “ample performance for graphics-intensive tasks, content creation, and gaming.” However, this is likely not enough for most hardcore gamers — at best, it’s good for entry-level or mid-range gaming at 1080p. That means it probably would have some trouble running games at its native resolution, unless you lower some graphics settings to smooth out the frame rate.

The company is also launching a 16-inch model with a 2880 x 1800 OLED screen alongside the larger 17-inch laptop, but it seems that it doesn’t have a discrete GPU offering. Nevertheless, LG says that it’s introducing a “dual-AI” functionality in the LG gram Pro 16 alongside other select models. This combines Microsoft’s Copilot+ PC functionality, which often requires an internet connection, with LG’s own homegrown on-device AI chat called EXAONE 3.5 sLLM. This small language model runs locally on the laptop, allowing users to enjoy AI features even without an internet connection.

We did not get any more information from LG regarding these devices, except that they are “powered by the latest Intel Core Ultra processors.” These are likely the upcoming Intel Core Ultra 3 chips, code-named Panther Lake.

We expect the company to announce more details on this line-up at CES 2026, including how much memory these laptops will have, pricing, and availability. Nevertheless, it seems that this new line of thin-and-light devices would be a great option for those who need a portable device for work while retaining some gaming capability for the end of the day.

LG has announced a new lineup of gaming monitors ahead of CES 2026. The company is introducing a new premium gaming monitor brand called UltraGear evo, which will initially offer three flagship models – 39GX950B, 27GM950B, and 52G930B. All three monitors offer 5K resolution along with AI enhancements on the 27-inch and 39-inch models.

LG claims the UltraGear evo 27-inch GM9 (27GM950B) to be the world’s first 5K Mini LED monitor designed to significantly reduce blooming, a common issue seen on high-resolution Mini LED panels. It has 2,304 local dimming zones, which is plenty for a 27-inch monitor, along with Zero Optical Distance, which essentially minimizes the distance between the panel and LEDs.

The monitor also comes with Dual Mode operation, which allows you to switch between 165 Hz at 5K resolution and 330 Hz at QHD (2560x1440) and a 1ms (GtG) response time. The monitor is VESA DisplayHDR 1000 certified and is claimed to deliver peak brightness of up to 1,250 nits. On-device AI enhancement features include 5K AI Upscaling, AI Scene Optimization, and AI Sound to enhance image and audio in real-time without GPU overhead.

Next is the UltraGear evo 39-inch GX9 (39GX950B) gaming monitor featuring a 1500R-curved 21:9 39-inch OLED panel with a 5K2K resolution. LG is using its latest Tandem OLED which is said to offer improved brightness, color accuracy and panel longevity with deep blacks and true to life colors.

Like the 27-inch model, the new 39-inch GX9 ultrawide monitor comes with a dual resolution option with 165 Hz at 5K2K resolution and 330 Hz at WFHD (2560x1080) and up to 0.03ms (GtG) response time. The integrated AI enhancement features also carry over this model including 5K AI Upscaling, AI Scene Optimization, and AI Sound.

For console gamers, LG is introducing the UltraGear evo 52-inch G9 (52G930B), a new large-format gaming display that is also the world’s largest 5K2K gaming monitor. It offers up to a 240 Hz refresh rate for a smooth and responsive experience and an unconventional aspect ratio of 12:9. LG claims that you get the same vertical space as a standard 42-inch 16:9 display, but a 33% wider experience compared to standard UHD monitors. It also has a 1000R curvature that aims to enclose the user’s peripheral vision as well as VESA Display HDR 600 certification for vivid colors and deep contrast.

Expect LG to share more details around pricing and availability next month during the CES 2026 showcase. In addition to the new Ultragear evo series, LG has also confirmed that it will start selling its latest UltraGear GX7 (27GX790B) globally on the opening day of CES 2026. Announced back in August, this 27-inch gaming monitor features LG’s latest 4th Gen Tandem OLED with Primary RGB Tandem technology, QHD resolution, and dual mode functionality that can boost its 540 Hz native refresh rate to 720 Hz at HD (720p) resolution.

LG has clarified how Microsoft Copilot appears on its webOS smart TVs following recent coverage that described the feature as a non-removable app bundled into the operating system. According to the company, Copilot is not installed as a native application and does not run as an embedded service within webOS.

In a statement provided to Tom’s Hardware, Chris De Maria, Director of Public Relations at LG Electronics North America, said the Copilot presence on LG TVs is implemented as a shortcut icon designed to improve accessibility. When selected, the icon opens Microsoft’s Copilot website through the TV’s built-in web browser rather than launching a dedicated app.

This changes how Copilot interacts with the TV. LG says features such as microphone input are not enabled by default and are only activated after a user explicitly grants permission through the browser interface. In other words, the shortcut behaves in the same way as manually navigating to Microsoft’s site using the webOS browser, rather than operating with deeper access to the operating system.

LG also acknowledged concerns around user choice. De Maria said, “LG Electronics respects consumer choice and will take steps to allow users to delete the shortcut icon if they wish,” addressing complaints that the Copilot tile appeared on home screens without a clear option to remove it. LG has not yet shared a timeline for when or how that change will roll out.

The clarification follows reports from users who noticed the Copilot tile appearing after recent webOS updates on select LG TV models. Those reports raised questions about whether LG had begun preinstalling third-party AI services at the OS level, particularly given Microsoft’s broader push to integrate Copilot across Windows, browsers, and consumer devices at the behest of CEO Satya Nadella. He recently made headlines after warning executives that those who don’t embrace AI within Microsoft must leave the company.

LG’s explanation suggests a more limited implementation, at least for now. By keeping Copilot confined to a browser shortcut, the company avoids deeper integration with webOS services, data, or system resources. It is not currently known whether additional Copilot integrations are planned for the Linux-based webOS or whether similar shortcuts could appear for other web-based services in future updates.

For now, the company says its intent is to balance convenience with user control and to give owners the ability to decide whether the Copilot shortcut remains on their TVs.

LG smart TV owners are reporting that a recent webOS software update has added Microsoft Copilot to their TVs, with no apparent way to remove it. Reports first surfaced over the weekend on Reddit, where a post showing a Copilot tile pinned to an LG TV home screen climbed to more than 35,000 upvotes on r/mildlyinfuriating, accompanied by hundreds of comments from users describing the same behavior.

According to affected users, Copilot appears automatically after installing the latest webOS update on certain LG TV models. The feature shows up on the home screen alongside streaming apps, but unlike Netflix or YouTube, it cannot be uninstalled.

My LG TV’s new software update installed Microsoft Copilot, which cannot be deleted. from r/mildlyinfuriating

LG has previously confirmed plans to integrate Microsoft Copilot into webOS as part of its broader “AI TV” strategy. At CES 2025, the company described Copilot as an extension of its AI Search experience, designed to answer questions and provide recommendations using Microsoft’s AI services. In practice, the iteration of Copilot currently seen on LG TVs appears to function as a shortcut to a web-based Copilot interface rather than a fully native application like the one described by LG.

The issue, for many, isn’t necessarily what Copilot does, but that it has been forced onto consumers with no option to remove it. LG’s own support documentation notes that certain preinstalled or system apps cannot be deleted, only hidden. Users who encounter Copilot after the update report that this limitation applies, leaving them with no way to fully remove the feature once it has been added. It's a similar story on rival models, for instance some Samsung TV's include Gemini.

The overwhelmingly negative reaction from users indicates a growing frustration with AI features being imposed on consumers in every way possible. Smart TVs have naturally become platforms for advertising, data collection, and now AI services, with updates adding new functionality that owners did not explicitly request and, in most cases, do not want. While LG allows users to disable some AI-related options, such as voice recognition and personalization features, those settings do not remove the Copilot app itself.

Ultimately, those wanting to minimize Copilot’s presence on their TVs are limited to keeping it disconnected from the Internet. That’s about the most that can be done at the moment, unless LG backtracks and either allows users to disable or completely uninstall the app in response to backlash, which seems unlikely.

Gaming can be a pleasure on many kinds of computer monitors, but when you have one perfectly suited to what you’re playing, the experience jumps to another level. The feeling of immersion is especially important in racing or flying simulations. The sense of being in the car, plane, or spaceship heightens when you can wrap the screen around your viewpoint.

Simulators are dominated by the best gaming monitors with ultra-wide and mega-wide screens in either 21:9 or 32:9 aspect ratios. The mantra is, “the wider the better,” but height is essential too. Enter the 45-inch 21:9 category, where you get tremendous screen area and, if the curve is extreme enough, the true feeling of being in a cockpit.

LG’s Ultra Gear 45GX950A is ideally suited for driving and flying sims. It delivers a high pixel density of 125ppi with a 5120x2160 (5K2K) array on an OLED panel with an 800R curve. It also sports a 165 Hz refresh rate with a dual-mode switch to 330 Hz at 2560x1080, plus Adaptive-Sync, DisplayHDR 400, and wide-gamut color. Let’s take a look.

LG Ultra Gear 45GX950A Specs

If you’re building a driving or flying simulator, a monitor like the 45GX950A is a natural choice. You could expand your view with multiple screens, but then there are those annoying dividing lines that you can’t unsee. A 32:9 screen brings the width, but current 49-inch models aren’t very tall. They impart a view that’s like looking out of a racing helmet, which is fine for driving but not so much for flying.

45 inches at 21:9 means 18 inches vertical, more than a 32-inch 16:9 monitor. To bring the sides into the user’s peripheral vision, the 45GX950A has a very tight 800R curve radius. That means a circle of them would only be 1.6 meters across. It’s so tight that you can hear your voice bounce off the sides of the screen — it’s a unique experience.

Onto the important stuff: The 45GX950A is a very high-resolution panel with a resolution of 5120x2160 pixels. That equates to 125 pixels per inch, denser than a 27-inch QHD monitor but not quite as dense as a 32-inch Ultra HD screen. It’s more total pixels — over 11 million — so fast frame rates will require a stout video card.

However, you won’t need to worry about motion blur, thanks to the 45GX950A’s OLED panel. It doesn’t have a Quantum Dot layer, but the color gamut covers almost 98% of DCI-P3, so the vivid saturation is there. You also get high brightness with 1,300 claimed nits in HDR mode for a 1.5% window. I measured 673 nits from a 25% window so that tracks. There are two levels of variable brightness as well, so SDR peaks can top 450 nits.

The native refresh rate is 165 Hz, and you get a 330 Hz mode at 2560x1920 resolution. It’s easily accessed with a switch in the OSD. The 45GX950A is certified G-Sync Compatible and for FreeSync Premium Pro as well. There’s plenty of bandwidth available through the DisplayPort 2.1 input, and you get two HDMI 2.1 ports, along with a USB-C port that supports DisplayPort and delivers 90 watts of power. Two USB downstream ports handle peripherals, and you get a nice pair of internal speakers. The headphone jack is a four-pole design that supports surround sound and DTS Headphone:X.

There is little that the 45GX950A doesn’t have, and all that goodness will cost you $1,600 at this writing. For that sum, you’re getting something relatively unique that brings a new level of immersion and realism to your favorite flying and driving simulators.

Assembly and Accessories

The 45GX950A arrives in a huge box with plenty of crumbly foam inside. It’s needed to support that extremely curved panel, and my sample showed up unscathed. The stand and base are substantial and assemble without tools. Cables include DisplayPort, HDMI, and USB-C. You also get an enormous external power brick that thankfully has a cord long enough that you can put it on the floor.

Product 360

The 45GX950A is impressive from any angle, not only in size but in shape. An 800R curve is tighter than anything you’ve seen before, unless you read my review of the AOC AG456UCZD, which is the same size but has lower resolution. When you sit two or three feet from the screen’s center, the sides aren’t that far from your ears. It’s about as immersive as you can get short of VR goggles.

The stand has a relatively small footprint thanks to its heavy cast metal base. The upright is wide and features a 4.7-inch height range, plus 10/15 degrees tilt and 10 degrees swivel. I appreciated that it set the screen high enough to keep it perfectly vertical with my eyepoint centered. This is especially important for a monitor as curved as the 45GX950A. Any tilt ruins the immersive effect. The height adjustment is firm, nicely dampened, and wobble-free.

The back is perfectly smooth and features a ring of LEDs controllable from the OSD and an LG logo. The cable hole in the upright is trimmed in purple. Underneath the center is a single joystick that controls all monitor functions. The headphone jack is also under the front edge, making it easy to access. The remaining ports are up and under and include two HDMI 2.1 ports, a DisplayPort 2.1 port, and a USB-C port with DisplayPort function and 90 watts of power. You also get two USB downstream ports. A snap-on cover helps to hide the cabling.

OSD Features

The 45GX950A’s OSD appears when you press the joystick. It’s game-focused with a slick look that includes color and fade effects, with important info always displayed at the top.

Game Adjust is the first menu up, and it starts with the 45GX950A’s picture modes. There are 13 in total, including sRGB, HDR emulation, and two calibration memories that work with LG’s Calibration Studio app. Personalized Picture is another memory that connects with the LG Switch app.

Dual-Mode is the refresh rate/resolution toggle, offering 5120x2160 at 165 Hz and 2560x1080 at 330 Hz. You can also change the aspect to 16:9 or 21:9/39” to accommodate games that distort the image at full-screen settings. The switch was seamless every time; I didn’t need to set it up in the Nvidia Control Panel beforehand. LG and I recommend that you make the switch before starting up a game. Additional gaming aids include aiming points and a frame rate counter.

In the Picture Adjust menu, you’ll find the Peak Brightness setting, which is LG’s term for variable brightness. It has two levels, both of which render the image without clipping. On High, you’ll get 457 nits for SDR and 673 nits for HDR from a 25% window pattern. That’s very bright indeed. This menu also has four gamma presets and five color temps. Manual changes the temp by Kelvin value, and Custom uses the RGB sliders to help tweak grayscale tracking. You also get hue and saturation sliders for all six colors. If you get lost during calibration, you can reset just this menu.

Sound comes from two internal speakers that play with 10 watts of power. Or you can use the headphone output, which supports DTS Headphone:X. This requires compatible headphones with a four-pole connector, but once plugged in, the surround-sound experience is incredible. If you typically play with headphones, I recommend going for DTS Headphone:X models. It takes audio to another level.

The 45GX950A supports PIP and PBP, so you can view two video signals at once. The side-by-side view is especially useful if you have a PC and console hooked up. In the General menu are OLED care options that include pixel orbiting, a screen saver and image cleaning, which runs automatically at regular intervals. And the two of the joystick directions are programmable for different quick access functions.

LG Ultra Gear 45GX950A Calibration Settings

The 45GX950A can be enjoyed without calibration in its default Gamer 1 mode. When I tweaked the RGB sliders, I was able to improve grayscale tracking slightly, but gamma was negatively affected. I wound up leaving the settings at their defaults for the best picture. Color is spot-on in either case. I noted that the sRGB mode allowed calibration, which is something I rarely see. I’ve provided my brightness settings below. They are valid when Peak Brightness is turned off. If you use the high or low setting, you might need to lower them a tad to compensate.

In HDR mode, you get six of the 13 picture modes, Gamer 1 is still the best. You can also adjust brightness, and the Peak Brightness setting is available too, which is a nice touch. Most monitors have no brightness options in HDR mode.

Gaming and Hands-on

I rarely have a new gameplay experience, given the over 450 monitors I’ve reviewed in the past 10 years. But the 45GX950A provided just that. You’ve undoubtedly heard the cliché, “it brings the action closer.” Well, it does, truly. I had to readjust my perceptions when playing familiar maps in Doom Eternal and Call of Duty WWII. Getting close to enemies makes them uncomfortably close until you adapt.

Movement and control are blindingly quick. I had no trouble with lag or hesitation of any kind. 165 Hz means there’s a tiny bit of motion blur, but it never distracted during gameplay. I played for a bit at 330 Hz and found it was smoother, but the loss of resolution was significant. While I gained clarity by removing all traces of blur, it was lost in the lowered pixel density. I noted that it was no problem to maintain 165 fps using a GeForce RTX 4090. This same setup typically runs around 220 fps with the best 4K gaming monitors.

The HDR image was simply stunning. The 45GX950A is a bit brighter than other ultra-wide OLED monitors I’ve reviewed. That made up for its lack of Quantum Dot color. It was rich and vibrant with highlights that popped and deep shadow detail. It also had a textural quality that made me want to reach out and touch objects on the screen.

For daily use, the extreme curve took some getting used to. The 45GX950A is different from anything else except the AOC AG456UCZD which I reviewed last year. And the LG has a higher resolution than that screen, making it well-suited for graphics and photo work. There is some image distortion from the extreme curve, but it should be easy for users to adjust. It’s important to keep the screen vertical so your eyepoint is equal to all parts of the screen. The 45GX950A’s stand is high enough for this purpose.

My physical interactions with the 45GX950A were all positive. The menu is well laid out and easy to navigate using the joystick. I didn’t have to calibrate, so there’s little to no setup involved. The only choice to make is whether to use Peak Brightness or not. This is LG’s version of variable brightness, and it has low and high settings. I left it off for work tasks, set it on low for video, and high for HDR content. That extra flexibility was a nice touch that not all HDR monitors have.

Takeaway: Despite its extreme shape and size, the 45GX950A is a superb gaming monitor in all respects. It might be a little too in-your-face for shooters, but I can’t imagine a better screen for racing or flying sims. The dual refresh feature isn’t terribly useful because it lowers pixel density too much. But it was more than smooth and responsive enough at 165 Hz to be addictive. This is truly a monitor to crave. It takes gaming to a new level of immersion and realism.

MORE: Best Gaming Monitors

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The 45GX950A has no direct competitor at this time. The closest screen I’ve reviewed is AOC’s AG45456UCZD, which is the same size and shape but runs at 3440x1440 pixels and 240 Hz. There’s also Alienware’s AW3425DW, AOC’s PD49 and AG346UCD, and Philips’ 49M2C8900.

Pixel Response and Input Lag

Click here to read up on our pixel response and input lag testing procedures.

The 45GX950A moves a lot of pixels around, so 165 Hz is quite fast for a screen with over 11 million dots to manage. The 6 ms draw time is fast enough to prevent almost all motion blur. Remember that OLEDs are smoother at a given refresh rate than LCDs and don’t use overdrive or strobing. That said, there is a slight blur below 200 Hz. There is no blur whatsoever at 330 Hz, where the draw time drops to 3ms.

The input lag score is respectable but not life-changing. 26 ms is fast enough for most players, and it’s quick enough for driving or flying sims. It might be noticed by the best gamers in a twitchy shooter, though. Switching to 330 Hz lowers lag to a competition-worthy 19 ms. The only downside is that pixel density drops to 63 ppi.

Test Takeaway: The 45GX950A is more than smooth and quick enough for flight and race simulation applications. Motion blur is minimal at 165 Hz and non-existent at 330 Hz. Low pixel density at 2560x1080 might be an issue for some, but at full res, the picture is glorious at 125ppi. Video processing is as good as it gets. The only consideration here is the high pixel count. You’ll need a stout video card to drive it at full resolution and refresh.

Viewing Angles

A screen this curved needs to be an OLED for the best possible experience. My sample looked consistent from every angle. In the photos, you can see that there is no change in color, light output, or gamma. Even the top view is decent with just a slight drop in gamma and a barely visible green tint. This is excellent performance.

Screen Uniformity

To learn how we measure screen uniformity, click here.

I had an interesting experience when testing the 45GX950A’s screen uniformity. I ran the sample for four hours, then measured a 10% field pattern. I could clearly see bands of dark and light, and my initial result was over 22%. I ran the screen clean routine in the OLED Care menu overnight and tested again the next day. The banding was completely erased, and the result dropped to a more expected 6.42%. So, if you’ve bought one of these and are dreading a call to LG support, run the screen clean before you pick up the phone. It works as advertised.

MORE: Best Gaming Monitors

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To read about our monitor tests in-depth, please check out Display Testing Explained: How We Test PC Monitors. We cover brightness and contrast testing on page two.

Uncalibrated – Maximum Backlight Level

The 45GX950A is very bright, especially given its large size. It draws a bit more wattage than its competitors to achieve this, but it’s worth it for that 457 nits for SDR content. That’s the maximum value with the Peak Brightness option set to high. If you turn PB (variable brightness) off, the peak is around 285 nits. Like all OLEDs, black levels and contrast cannot be measured.

After Calibration to 200 nits

Calibration changes nothing about black levels or contrast; they are still unmeasurable. For SDR content, I preferred Peak Brightness off, which is equivalent to constant brightness. When watching videos, PB Low improves the image a bit with brighter highlights. PB High is the go-to for HDR content.

Test Takeaway: The 45GX950A delivers typical OLED SDR brightness and contrast, with output over 450 nits and perfect black levels. It includes variable brightness, which not all OLED monitors have, and you get two settings — a point in its favor.

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MORE: How We Test PC Monitors

MORE: How to Buy a PC Monitor

The 45GX950A comes set to its Gamer 1 picture mode, which is factory-calibrated to a 6500K white point, BT.1886 gamma, and DCI-P3 color. I noted that the adjustment produced some effects that did not improve picture quality.

Grayscale and Gamma Tracking

Our grayscale and gamma tests use Calman calibration software from Portrait Displays. We describe our grayscale and gamma tests in detail here.

In the default chart, only 100% brightness shows a barely visible red error. You won’t see this in actual content. Gamma rides the BT.1886 reference line with slight variations, but nothing to cause complaint. When I adjusted the RGB sliders, gamma became very skewed, resulting in reduced image quality. Shadow and highlight detail lost focus and became clipped making the whole picture flat and drab. Clearly, there is some interaction between the RGB sliders and gamma, which I could not work around. No biggie since the picture was fine to start with.

The sRGB mode has fair grayscale tracking with a slightly warm tone. Gamma is skewed to be too dark at the low end and too bright up top. This reduces both highlight and shadow detail. There is no way to correct this in the OSD.

Comparisons

The 45GX950A fares well against its competitors with a respectable 2.63dE out-of-box grayscale score. It can be enjoyed without calibration. Since I could not improve this value, it falls to last place after the other screens are adjusted. It still has almost no visible errors, so I have no complaint.

In the gamma test, I measured the 45GX950A against BT.1886 as LG intended. The range of values is fairly tight at 0.19, and the deviation from 2.4 is 2.5% with an actual value of 2.34. This is very good performance. However, it would be nice to have a 2.2 option.

Color Gamut Accuracy

Our color gamut and volume testing use Portrait Displays’ Calman software. For details on our color gamut testing and volume calculations, click here.

In the default color test, the 45GX950A shows no visible errors and a very low average of 1.61dE. Few monitors are this good out of the box. Again, this is to a BT.1886 gamma reference. The sRGB mode is slightly oversaturated in red, magenta and blue, while cyan, green and yellow are on target. This is mainly due to the skewed gamma, which throws off color balance. This can’t be corrected in the OSD, but it is possible to create custom calibrations with a meter and LG’s Calibration Studio app.

Comparisons

The 45GX950A takes second place in the color comparison despite running at its default settings. The other screens have all been calibrated, which means LG has done a good job with its factory setup. This is excellent performance.

In the volume test, you can see that the 45GX950A doesn’t have a Quantum Dot layer, which puts it on par with the AG456UCZD and behind the top four screens, which are more saturated. 97.43% of DCI-P3 is still very colorful, though. I noted some oversaturation in the sRGB mode, but that final volume calculation is an ideal 98.34%.

Test Takeaway: The 45GX950A has superb out-of-the-box accuracy with no need for calibration. Adjustments to the RGB sliders caused some gamma issues, which should be addressed in a future firmware update. The gamma reference here is BT.1886, which is fine, but a 2.2 choice would be welcome. Color volume is very good at nearly 100%, but not quite as high as the Quantum Dot screens I’ve tested.

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Our HDR benchmarking uses Portrait Displays’ Calman software. To learn about our HDR testing, see our breakdown of how we test PC monitors.

The 45GX950A switches to HDR mode automatically when fed an HDR10 signal. It leaves six of its picture modes accessible and includes adjustable brightness and the Peak Brightness options too.

HDR Brightness and Contrast

I measured a 25% window pattern with Peak Brightness on high and came up with 673 nits. LG’s claim of 1,300 nits from a 1.5% window is not in doubt. This is a seriously bright monitor and that is amplified by its size. If you play in a dark environment, you might be reaching for the brightness slider. Few monitors allow adjustments in HDR mode, but the 45GX950A does. I recommend Peak Brightness high for all HDR content, but if you find that too bright, you can dial it down to low or off. Black levels and contrast are immeasurable. This is excellent performance.

Grayscale, EOTF and Color

The 45GX950A shows a slightly warm grayscale with most errors around 4dE or less. This is a forgivable issue because red errors are less visible than green or blue ones. The EOTF tracks a little dark from zero to 30% then rides above the line to the tone map transition at 70% brightness. I was able to see all the fine detail in actual content. I noted that lower settings of Peak Brightness dropped the trace further below the reference, making some shadow detail hard to see.

HDR color is generally oversaturated in all colors by 5-15%. This is typical of the HDR monitors I’ve tested. There is plenty of punch in all HDR content and I never had difficulty seeing fine detail. This is solid performance. In the BT.2020 chart, the 45GX950A runs out of color at 85% red, 70% green and 95% blue.

Test Takeaway: The 45GX950A has an HDR image on par with other non-Quantum Dot OLEDs. Color is accurate with natural hues and clear detail. It fully covers DCI-P3 but has a little less BT.2020 volume than a QD-OLED. It is a bit brighter than its competitors and offers adjustments for peak level and variable brightness. Most HDR monitors don’t include those options.

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Gaming monitors should be considered tools for a task. While you can play any game on a 27-inch flat screen, greater immersion and realism can be achieved with ultra-wide, curved and jumbo screens. When you can combine those three attributes into a single display, you have something special. The LG Ultra Gear 45GX950A does this expertly.

At 45 inches and a 21:9 aspect ratio, it’s taller than a 32-inch screen. The 800R curve brings the sides completely into one’s field of view, where you are literally in a 3D window looking out into the game environment. All of this is enhanced by 5120x2160 resolution, 125ppi, and a stunning OLED panel that’s brighter than other ultra-wide displays. It also has flexibility with two levels of variable brightness and adjustable levels in HDR mode. The 45GX950A can adapt to any room lighting scenario. It also manages near-perfect color out of the box and almost 100% coverage of DCI-P3. I’d have loved to see a Quantum Dot layer here, but that’s a minor gripe. I also noted that calibration caused a skewed gamma, but it did not affect my experience.

The 45GX950A is a truly unique gaming monitor, at least for now. It immerses the player like nothing else and works well as an everyday screen. The price isn’t low, but considering it has no direct competition, its value is hard to quantify. If you want realism on par with VR goggles and the ultimate tool for a driving or flying simulator, the LG Ultra Gear 45GX950A is worth considering.

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It's an odd time to make purchases or look out for deals on your most-wanted pieces of tech. You are most probably holding out for Black Friday or Cyber Monday before committing to anything, but a large number of super early deals have already started popping up, and some companies have already gone all-in and embraced the Black Friday advertising. Today's deal features a large OLED gaming monitor from LG, with a substantial $500 knocked off the list price, and this is whilst we're still on the cusp of November, but there's always time for a good deal, no matter the time of year.

• Grab this deal at Best Buy

Today's deal is hosted by Best Buy, where they have the 32-inch LG UltraGear 32GX850A-B OLED gaming monitor on sale for just $799.99. This is a $500 discount from the $1299.99 list price. One of the main features of this monitor is the ability to switch resolution and refresh rates for different content. You can have a smooth 165 Hz refresh rate while watching or playing your content in 4K, or switch to a faster 330Hz refresh rate when using the lower-fidelity FHD resolution, a popular choice for gamers that prefer faster refresh rates in eSports gaming titles.

The LG UltraGear 32GX850A-B has a glossy 32-inch OLED panel, which trades better color and clarity for a higher chance of reflections compared to a matte finish. It has a maximum resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels, with a 1,500,000:1 contrast ratio, 0.03 millisecond response time, and tight 140 pixels per inch pixel density. The screen is also VESA-certified DisplayHDR 400 True Black and HDR 10.

LG's UltraGear 32GX850A-B comes with gaming features such as "Crosshair," with a visual crosshair displayed in the center of the screen, to help provide enhanced vision and precision for increased accuracy in first-person shooter games when not looking down ADS sights. This gaming monitor is AMD FreeSync Premium Pro and G-Sync compatible, for reducing screen tearing in games at variable refresh rates. For connectivity, the display connections on the UltraGear 32GX850A-B include 1 x DisplayPort 1.4 and 2 x HDMI 2.1 ports.

A premium ultrawide monitor not only gives you more screen real estate but also makes multitasking and productivity easier without switching between multiple displays. Additionally, it enhances your gaming or movie-watching experience with immersive visuals. One such offering is the 39-inch LG Ultragear OLED, which is currently on sale and is available at its lowest price ever on Amazon.

Launched earlier this year in April, the LG Ultragear 39GX90SA is currently priced at $899, which is a significant saving considering its launch price of $1,599. While the monitor has seen price drops in recent months, this is the lowest we’ve ever seen it go.

• Check out this deal on Amazon

The monitor features a 39-inch curved WOLED panel built around an 800R curvature with a resolution of 3440 x 1440. According to LG, the monitor offers an ultra-fast response time of 0.03ms (grey-to-grey) along with a 240 Hz refresh rate. The panel is rated to offer up to 1300 nits peak brightness and has been tuned to deliver standard luminosity of 275 nits in SDR at a 100% APL (Average Picture Level). It also supports 10-bit colour depth and a wide colour gamut covering 98.5% DCI-P3. Additionally, it is VESA DisplayHDR 400 True Black certified for an enhanced HDR experience along with high contrast and deep blacks.

The LG Ultragear 39 OLED also doubles as an entertainment hub, as it comes with LG’s WebOS interface, which is usually seen on its smart TV range. You get access to video streaming apps like Netflix, Prime Video, Hulu, Disney+, over 300 free LG Channels, as well as access to cloud gaming services like Nvidia GeForce Now, Amazon Luna, and Blacknut.

As for ports, the monitor comes with a USB Type-C with DisplayPort Alt mode and 65W power delivery, DisplayPort 1.4, two HDMI 2., two USB Type-A, Ethernet jack, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The monitor also comes with built-in stereo speakers, each rated at 7W. For the ones who care about their gamer aesthetics, the LG Ultragear 39GX90SA-W also features RGB lighting at the back in a hexagonal pattern.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, or CPU Deals pages.

OLED monitors are all the rage these days and for good reason. Their inherent benefits such as instantaneous response times and infinite contrast ratio offer unparalleled (at least until Micro LED is mainstream) image quality that has only gotten cheaper over time. Monitor manufacturers employ OLED as their frontier for innovation that eventually drives down costs or takes the next step forward for the tech. As such, LG Display has just announced what it's touting as the "World's Fastest Gaming OLED" — a 27-inch 540 Hz monitor with QHD resolution. The existence of such a panel was confirmed in June by LG itself, and now we've arrived at the unveiling.

The new monitor, shown recently at the K-Display trade show in South Korea, features LG's 4th Gen Tandem OLED with Primary RGB Tandem technology. This design stacks red, green, and blue light-emitting layers as independent sources, unlike traditional OLEDs that combine emitters into a single layer. The result is significantly higher peak brightness—up to 4,000 nits—and improved color luminance (more brightness for colors), something that QD-OLED is more known for. This differs from the dual-stack Tandem OLED used in iPads, which sandwiches two similar OLED layers to boost efficiency and lifespan, but does not use separate RGB layers.

Anyhow, LG's 540 Hz OLED monitor does indeed snatch the crown for the fastest OLED monitor in the world from Samsung, who previously held the world record for their 500 Hz panels, but those panels didn't have this other trick up their sleeves. While it's a 1440p panel, the LG monitor features dual mode functionality that will allow you to boost its 540 Hz native refresh rate to 720 Hz at HD resolution (read: 720p). It's hard to imagine anyone playing at 720p anymore, even esports professionals, but it's still nice to have the ability to do so in your back pocket.

Moreover, it boasts a highly impressive 99.5% coverage of the DCI-P3 color space, along with a peak brightness of 1,500 nits. It's important to note that only LG's Tandem OLED TVs can get as bright as 4,000 nits—that too at only the small 2% windows—while the monitor is "stuck" at 1,500 nits, which is still plenty bright for that HDR effect. There are no pricing or availability details for this monitor yet, but we did see LG's other Tandem OLED monitor launch a few days ago in China for a converted price of $510 USD. That was only a 1440p 280 Hz panel so expect this dual-mode 540 Hz beast to cost a lot more.

Also on display (no pun intended) at the show was LG's new 45" ultrawide monitor with a 5K2K resolution. The company is calling this the sharpest OLED monitor to date because it has a 125 PPI pixel density that's unusually high for a non-Apple monitor. It uses the LG's 3rd Gen MLA+ panel because it's not a new product launch; you can already find it on sale on Amazon for the low-low price of $1,799. Regardless, it features a 165 Hz native refresh rate that can double to 330 Hz at half the resolution, as part of its dual mode functionality.

Lastly, the company also showed off an 83-inch OLED TV with the same Primary RGB Tandem tech discussed earlier. This marks the debut of Tandem OLED on a large format display and it, along with the 540 Hz monitor, are the only two displays with LG's cutting-edge 4th Gen Tandem OLED panel. This is LG Display's latest, bold answer to Samsung, its main competitor in this field. Both frequently try to one-up each other with different approaches to the same underlying OLED tech. You can read our WOLED vs QD-OLED feature to learn more, but the main takeaway is that both are ultimately great at the end of the day.

Based on numbers and the volume of products I’m reviewing, it’s safe to say that OLED is the hot technology in gaming monitors. Although it remains a premium-priced category, the market is responding enthusiastically to the incredible image quality and smooth motion that distinguish the best OLED gaming monitors from other panel types.

Within the broader scope, the best bang for the buck and highest performance are achieved with QHD OLEDs featuring high refresh rates. I’ve looked at many 240 Hz screens that are a competitor’s dream, boasting extremely low input lag and perfect motion resolution. You might say they can’t get better, but a few companies try anyway with displays that run at 360 and 480 Hz. I’m looking at the latter here with a new LG monitor, the 27GX790A. It delivers all the goods with 2560 x 1440 resolution, 480 Hz, Adaptive-Sync, HDR, and wide gamut color. For around $1,000, it promises to be a benchmark for gamers looking to hit high frame rates with the lowest possible input lag. Let’s take a look.

LG 27GX790A Specs

I must point out the cachet of LG and OLED technology. LG was the first company to mass-produce OLEDs at the consumer level. After many years of trying, it got the sauce right to bring OLED to everyone with reliable and high-performing TVs and computer monitors. That said, this is, surprisingly, my first opportunity to review an LG OLED monitor. Since LG is one of the few manufacturers of OLED panels, my expectations are high. Spoiler alert: the 27GX790A earns the cred.

QHD resolution means it’s possible to approach the 27GX790A’s 480 Hz maximum refresh rate with currently available video cards. You’ll need some power to get past 400 fps, but it’s safe to say this is a future-proof display. That 480 Hz includes G-Sync certification from Nvidia and support for FreeSync Premium Pro, certified by AMD. Of course, you can achieve perfect motion resolution at 240 Hz, as I have many times. The question I’ll try to answer shortly is, do you really need 480 Hz?

Image quality embraces all the wondrousness I’ve come to expect from any OLED monitor. The 27GX790A isn’t a Quantum Dot panel, but it covers a goodly chunk of DCI-P3, over 96%, which makes it very colorful for both SDR and HDR content. HDR10 is supported with a DisplayHDR 400 True Black certification from VESA and claimed highlights of 1,300 nits. I achieved 763 nits when measuring a 25% window pattern, so LG’s claim aligns with my test results. Variable brightness is available at two levels, allowing for brighter highlights in SDR mode, where I managed to reach 415 nits.

Out-of-the-box color accuracy is decent, but I noticed an improvement after calibration. LG offers multiple ways to adjust the color temperature and gamma, and you can fine-tune the gamut with a six-axis control. sRGB is also available for those who need a smaller gamut.

Gaming features are included, with aiming points and a frame rate counter, but there is no sniper mode or timers. There are numerous picture modes, most of which are adjustable, and an emulation option is available to simulate HDR from SDR. For LED lighting enthusiasts, there are strips along the component bulge at the back that display different colors, static or breathing, with full control available in the OSD. You also get enhanced sound from DTS Headphone:X, which adds spatial cues and three audio modes to the 3.5mm output. And there are USB ports for easy connection to peripherals.

The 27GX790A is a fast and capable gaming monitor. At the time of writing, you can purchase one for around $800, making it a relatively good value compared to the competition.

Assembly and Accessories

The 27GX790A comes packaged in a crumbly foam-filled carton consisting of three parts. The base is a simple metal plate that is more than up to the task of keeping it standing. It bolts to the upright and the panel snaps on. Build quality is excellent and the package is very solid and stable. The power supply is a small brick, and you also get HDMI, DisplayPort and USB cables.

Product 360

The 27GX790A is one of the few OLEDs to feature a glare-reducing front screen layer. It’s not perfect, but it does reject ambient light better than the highly polished screens I usually see. There’s no apparent downside, as the image is bright, colorful, and razor-sharp. The bezel is very narrow at 9mm around the top and sides and 12mm at the bottom. The panel backing is a metal stamping that only shows its thin edge from the front.

From the sides and back, you can see a component bulge that brings the total depth to a slim 1.8 inches (46mm). It’s ringed with LED lighting on both sides that can show any color of the spectrum in static or breathing modes, all controlled in the OSD. LG calls it Hexagon Lighting, and it is the only thing that breaks up an otherwise smooth and simple shape finished in matte black.

The stand is wide and rock-solid, featuring full ergonomics that include a 5/15-degree tilt, 30-degree swivel, 4.4 inches of height, and a 90-degree portrait mode. Movements are firm and precise, befitting a premium display. The base is a thin metal plate, and the upright attaches to it, appearing to float, but it is extremely solid in construction. The sole control key is a tiny joystick that is centered underneath the panel. It covers all monitor functions.

The inputs face backwards and are easy to reach. There are two HDMI 2.1 ports plus a DisplayPort 2.1. The DP version can be changed in the OSD for backward compatibility. You also get USB 3.0, one upstream and two down. The headphone jack is on the panel’s bottom edge and features DTS Headphone:X spatial audio. There are three modes in the OSD that create different effects depending on game type. This feature is super cool and effective and found on only a handful of monitors.

OSD Features

Pressing the 27GX790A’s joystick brings up a quick menu from where you can open the full OSD, change inputs, select picture modes or toggle power. It appears in the bottom center of the screen as a game-oriented graphic with signal info at the top.

The Game Adjust menu starts with a total of 13 picture modes. These include sRGB and HDR Effect, which emulates extra dynamic range for SDR content. It’s a personal preference choice for sure. I found it added some texture to the image, but also added edge enhancement, which I was not a fan of. I tested the default Gamer 1 mode that retains full calibration capability, as well as the adjustable sRGB mode. The only on-screen aids provided by the 27GX790A are crosshairs and an FPS counter. There is no sniper mode or timer function.

If you’re looking for variable brightness, the 27GX790A has it in the Peak Brightness option. The label is somewhat misleading, but my tests confirmed that the high and low settings are indeed two distinct levels of variable brightness. For constant brightness, turn this option off. The high setting was effective, and I used it for both HDR and SDR content. It peaks at 415 nits SDR and 763 nits HDR, both when measuring a 25% window pattern. The 27GX790A is one of the brighter OLED gaming monitors I’ve tested.

Additional image controls include four gamma presets and five color temps. Three are fixed while manual lets you change the grayscale by Kelvin value. The next menu screen has RGB sliders in a single-point adjustment. They are a bit coarse, but I managed a nice improvement in color during my calibration. You can also tweak the gamut with a six-color control for hue and saturation.

DTS Headphone:X is a spatial audio technology that simulates surround sound in your headphones. Any model will work, but some are specifically engineered for the feature. The 27GX790A includes three sound modes that create different and distinctive effects. In a nutshell, spatial headphone audio makes the sound seem like it’s around your head rather than in your head.

OLED care features include a pixel orbiter (Screen Move), a screen saver, and a cleaning routine that runs a refresher when you’re away from the 27GX790A. The General menu also includes the Hexagon Lighting control for the LEDs on the sides. You can set your favorite color for either static or cycling display, or turn it off entirely. Two of the joystick directionals can be programmed to various monitor functions for quick access.

LG 27GX790A Calibration Settings

The 27GX790A has decent color out of the box, but I found the grayscale in Gamer 1 mode to be visibly warm in tone. Measurements showed too much red, so I reached for the RGB sliders to bring things back to neutral. Aside from that and a tweak to the contrast slider, no other adjustments were needed. Variable brightness can be turned on in the Peak Brightness field. My settings below show values for High or Off. Use them to set your preferred peak level. sRGB is one of the available picture modes if you want the smaller gamut, and it is fully adjustable.

HDR mode retains most image adjustments with Peak Brightness, Brightness, and Color Temp all available along with six of the 13 picture modes.

Gaming and Hands-on

Any discussion of a fast monitor like the 27GX790A inevitably centers on frame rates. How high can you realistically go? On my GeForce RTX 4090 test rig, I hit a peak of 370 fps and always remained above 275 fps. With this setup, I can achieve the same performance and feel as a 360 Hz monitor, such as the Philips 27M2N8500. However, with a new generation card, it would be possible to achieve a frame rate closer to 480 fps. What does this mean for input lag? You’ll have to read my test results on the next page to find out. Go ahead and do that now, then come back, I’ll wait.

Needless to say, I’m talking about tiny differences here. The 27GX790A is incredibly fast and will continue to be so far into the future. And that is its main draw. You can equal its performance with a 240 Hz OLED and a mid-range gaming PC. However, when a couple more generations of graphics boards emerge, it will still be on the cutting edge.

My gaming experience was excellent, smooth, quick, responsive, and addictive. I reuse the same adjectives in every OLED review because they are all so consistent. It is still true that if you want the smoothest and quickest gaming experience, there is none better. The 27GX790A delivers instant response to control inputs and perfect motion resolution. And that’s about all one needs to know.

It stands out a bit from the rest with its higher brightness. Only Asus’ PG27AQDP comes close to its 763-nit peak, and that’s a difference you can easily see. That extra verve makes its way into the color spectrum, too, and even though the 27GX790A is not a Quantum Dot panel, it gives very little away. It’s extremely colorful and vivid.

This holds true for SDR content, once calibration has been done. It’s a little warm-toned out of the box, which is forgivable but not ideal. Most of its competition is closer to the mark, but if you dial in the settings I provided above, you’ll be on par with the other screens. I appreciated the 27GX790A’s inclusion of an adjustable sRGB mode. Most monitors lock image controls out, but here, you can still change the color temp.

The 27GX790A is a great monitor for everyday use. It’s well-sized for the average desktop and has a great stand with solid ergonomics and feel. I got through more mundane tasks with ease and comfort. I like having both constant and variable brightness available. Constant is better for Photoshop, Word and Excel, the apps I use most. Variable is great for watching video and gaming.

I enjoyed the DTS Headphone:X enhancement very much. I have a trusty old pair of Sennheiser HD 280 Pros that definitely benefited from the spatial audio. Sound had much more depth and in the Entertainment mode, I was treated to some excellent bass. I also appreciated that the headphone jack was on the front of the monitor.

Takeaway: The 27GX790A is a great all-around monitor and one of the best gaming screens I’ve tested. Though you won’t use its full potential with anything short of a GeForce RTX 5090, it’s still wicked fast at 350fps. The picture is among the best, with bright HDR and the option of variable or constant brightness. It needs calibration for the best image, but the result is worth the effort. It’s a superb monitor in every respect.

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You’ve probably skipped ahead to this part of the review, so I won’t hold suspense much longer. To compare the 27GX790A’s performance, I’ve included one other 480 Hz screen, Asus’ PG27AQDP, and four 360 Hz monitors, Samsung’s OLED G6, MSI’s MPG271QRX, Asus’ XG27ACDNG, and Philips 27M2N8500.

Pixel Response and Input Lag

Click here to read up on our pixel response and input lag testing procedures.

My big question is, “Do you need 480 Hz?” The conclusion I derived from these results is, “probably not.” The Asus manages a 2ms draw time while the others, including the 27GX790A, take 3ms to draw a full white field. That difference cannot be seen with the naked eye. All the panels have perfect motion resolution, which means moving objects are just as sharp as static ones. And I can tell you from experience that you’ll see the same thing at 240 Hz.

The difference comes down to input lag. Obviously, skilled gamers want as little as possible. The way to ultimate performance is through either the 27GX790A or the Philips 27M2N8500. Both hit an incredibly low 10ms in my test. The 27GX790A ties the record for lowest input lag I’ve ever measured. In practice, you’ll need to be a better gamer than I to see a difference between 10 and 20ms. I’m sure more competitive players can tell, and they should consider the top two for addition to their toolkits.

Test Takeaway: The LG 27GX790A ties with the Philips 27M2N8500 for the lowest input lag I’ve ever recorded. It produces the same perfect motion resolution as every 240 Hz and faster OLED I’ve reviewed, so it doesn’t look any different when rendering moving objects. But you can’t improve on perfection. The answer to, “do you need 480 Hz?” is, yes if you want input lag as low as the 360 Hz Philips.

Viewing Angles

I wondered if the 27GX790A’s light-rejecting front layer would affect the viewing angle of photos. If you look very hard, you can see a slightly cooler tone in the 45-degree horizontal shot. The difference is minute and only visible in a grayscale test pattern, not in content. The top view is solid too, with only a slight reduction in gamma. This is typical OLED performance, i.e., excellent.

Screen Uniformity

To learn how we measure screen uniformity, click here.

Although the 27GX790A comes last in the uniformity comparison, it still falls below the threshold of visibility. The six monitors here are equal in terms of their visual quality. Field patterns of any color will look uniform and smooth-toned from edge to edge.

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To read about our monitor tests in-depth, please check out Display Testing Explained: How We Test PC Monitors. We cover brightness and contrast testing on page two.

Uncalibrated – Maximum Backlight Level

To find the 27GX790A’s highest possible SDR brightness, I set Peak Brightness on High and measured a 25% window pattern. At 415 nits, you’ll see bright highlights against a true black background, which means it, like all OLEDs, has infinite dynamic range. If you turn Peak Brightness off, making it constant, it tops out at just over 250 nits.

After Calibration to 200 nits

Calibration has no effect other than to reduce peak brightness to 200 nits. Refer to the table on the previous page to see what values I used with Peak Brightness set to High or Off. You can get 200 nits either way. Both static and intra-image contrast are the same unmeasurable value.

Test Takeaway: The 27GX790A is a bit brighter than most other comparable OLEDs and stands out by offering two levels of variable brightness. Other than that, it delivers the same contrast performance as any OLED, regardless of size or resolution.

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The 27GX790A features 13 picture modes, each with a distinct interpretation of color, gamma, and grayscale tracking. I used the default Gamer 1 and sRGB modes for the benchmark tests.

Grayscale and Gamma Tracking

Our grayscale and gamma tests use Calman calibration software from Portrait Displays. We describe our grayscale and gamma tests in detail here.

The default grayscale tracks a bit warmly, with red errors visible above 20% brightness. This is more forgivable than green or blue, which are more obvious to see. However, it will slightly dull the image. Gamma tracks almost perfectly just above the reference line.

Calibration reduces all errors below the visible threshold. Gamma is slightly but not visibly affected. This is very good performance.

Grayscale in sRGB mode is even warmer by default, but unlike many monitors, it can be tweaked to a higher standard using the RGB sliders. Gamma tracks slightly dark and cannot be adjusted.

Comparisons

The 27GX790A comes last with a 5.70dE default grayscale score. That isn’t great, but at least it’s a red error instead of green or blue, which would have a more negative effect on image quality. The picture is slightly dull before calibration.

With adjustments in place, the score improves to 1.40dE, which makes the picture more vivid and clear. Visually, all six screens appear identical in this test.

Gamma tracking is solid with a small 0.14 range of values and a 2.27% deviation from the reference. The actual value is 2.25. This is excellent performance.

Color Gamut Accuracy

Our color gamut and volume testing use Portrait Displays’ Calman software. For details on our color gamut testing and volume calculations, click here.

The 27GX790A’s default color results are very good with some hue errors in magenta and yellow, and a slight oversaturation in the red primary. This is easily corrected with a grayscale calibration, which brings all points into their target boxes. Visually, this is the main reason to calibrate. Color is more balanced and vibrant after tweaking.

The sRGB mode is less accurate with oversaturated red, undersaturated green, and hue errors in yellow and cyan. These are small issues, and they can be corrected with calibration if you plan to color grade with your 27GX790A.

Comparisons

The 27GX790A runs a close second in gamut accuracy to the PG27AQDP. Visually, it will be nearly impossible to tell a difference between any of these monitors in terms of accuracy, but when you check out the volume chart, you can see that the top four screens are sporting Quantum Dot tech. That delivers as much as 16% extra color to the red and green sides of the triangle. While the 27GX790A is very colorful, the QD screens are more so.

Test Takeaway: The 27GX790A is slightly disappointing out of the box with a warm-toned image that doesn’t pop as much as some other monitors. Calibration brings it on par with the best screens I’ve tested. It lacks a Quantum Dot layer, so it gives up some color volume to others. But with almost 100% coverage of DCI-P3, it’s plenty colorful.

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Our HDR benchmarking uses Portrait Displays’ Calman software. To learn about our HDR testing, see our breakdown of how we test PC monitors.

There’s no better showcase for HDR content than an OLED display, and the 27GX790A is one of the best desktop screens for the format. It automatically senses HDR10 and makes the switch seamlessly.

HDR Brightness and Contrast

Most of the desktop OLEDs I’ve tested top out around 440 nits, which keeps them comfortably above the DisplayHDR 400 standard. The 27GX790A and the PG27AQDP drive their panels higher to 763 nits in LG’s case. This test was performed using a 25% window pattern. LG claims 1,300 nits for a 1.5% window and these results cast no doubt. In a side-by-side comparison, the 27GX790A’s extra brightness is easy to see. It retains the infinite blacks all OLEDs are known for, so contrast is also infinite.

Grayscale, EOTF and Color

HDR grayscale tracking in the Gamer 1 mode is slightly warm but not enough to cause concern. This can be adjusted if you want a cooler look. Color temp presets and RGB sliders remain available in HDR mode. The EOTF tracks close to the reference with just a little dip as it approaches the tone-map transition at 60% brightness. You can adjust peak brightness and toggle variable brightness if you want a different look for HDR gaming.

In the HDR color test, the 27GX790A accurately tracks the hue points, exhibiting a general but slight oversaturation, which is similar to nearly every HDR monitor I’ve tested. This gives content a nice pop with extra verve that retains fine detail in all parts of the image. If you want greater coverage of BT.2020, you’ll need a Quantum Dot screen to beat the 27GX790A, but it retains the same excellent hue accuracy. Saturation tops out at 85% red, 75% green, and 95% blue.

Test Takeaway: The 27GX790A is accurate enough in HDR mode to skip calibration. But LG leaves color temp available which is unusual, in a good way. Luminance tracking is accurate with no tweaking but the option to change it is there which is also an unusual but good feature. With no adjustments, it delivers killer HDR with more brightness than nearly all its competition and that is the best part of all.

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It’s nearly impossible to find a bad OLED monitor. They all have perfect blacks and infinite contrast. The 27-inch QHD category is particularly rich in options, all of which are excellent. Only a few tiny elements separate the excellent from the really excellent.

LG’s 27GX790A stands out in a few areas. It’s brighter than most with 415 nits for SDR and 763 for HDR, the highest I’ve seen from a 27-inch OLED screen. It has two levels of variable brightness and constant brightness too. And it ties my record for lowest input lag of any screen I’ve tested with 10ms. It’s only equaled there by Philips’ 27M2N8500. The deciding factor there is that the Philips tops out at 360 Hz, so when you get that next-gen PC, the 27GX790A will have 480 Hz to offer.

Image quality and gaming ability are accompanied by a premium build, a full feature set and plenty of flexibility. The 27GX790A is one of the few monitors with adjustments for sRGB and HDR modes with color temps and brightness controls. Though I noted room for accuracy improvements out of the box, it calibrated to the same high standard as any premium OLED.

For $800 at this writing, the LG 27GX790A is priced competitively and has standout features and performance. If you have the budget, and plan to keep your video hardware on the bleeding edge in the future, this is a monitor that should be on your shortlist.

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Big curved gaming monitors often come with big price tags, but that isn't always the case and certainly isn't so today. We've come across a nice deal on this 32 inch LG 32GS60QC-B Ultragear curved gaming monitor. It has a recommended price of $299, but right now you can purchase it at Amazon for just $196.

This monitor was one of several from LG that were part of a sale for Amazon Prime Day. Even though it was marked down just last week during the big sale, it's already dropped even further since then and is currently at a cheaper rate than the Amazon Prime Day offer, which was $199.

Manufacturers of smartphones are going to extreme lengths as they seek ways to make their devices more compact or install larger batteries. However, LG Innotek proposes something that looks beyond extreme: eliminating solder balls that attach chip substrates to motherboards, thereby making the innards of smartphones even thinner. Instead of solder balls, LG Innotek proposes using new Copper Posts. 

The new packaging method developed by LG Innotek places copper columns on the substrate before solder balls are applied on top, rather than bonding the balls directly to the surface. The resulting structure reduces the spacing between solder balls by approximately 20% compared to traditional layouts, while maintaining the same electrical performance. LG claims that the new method provides smartphone designers with greater flexibility in slimming down devices and increasing available space for features like batteries.

Getting your hands on an OLED gaming monitor continues to be an expensive affair. However, if you're looking for something affordable that doesn't compromise on visual quality or refresh rate, then LG has some interesting deals. The 32-inch UltraGear 32GS60QC-B curved gaming monitor is available for $199 for a limited period, down from its regular price of $299, saving you $100.

• Up to 47% off PC and gaming monitors on Prime Day

If you're looking for something brighter and faster, the 27-inch UltraGear 27GR83Q-B is available for a low price of $299, which is $200 less than its regular price of $499.

The LG UltraGear 32GS60QC‑B is suitable if you prefer larger screens and immersive curved displays. The 31.5-inch panel features a 1000R curvature and a QHD (2560 × 1440) resolution. Since it uses a VA panel, it should offer a good contrast ratio with deeper blacks, but it may suffer from less-optimal viewing angles and color shifting.

According to LG, the panel offers 99% coverage of the sRGB color space, with a peak brightness of up to 300 nits, and support for HDR10. Please note that picture quality in HDR may not be optimal, as the display doesn’t offer local dimming zones. In terms of I/O, you get two HDMI 2.0 ports, a DisplayPort 1.4, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The monitor offers refresh rates of up to 180 Hz with a 1ms (GtG) response time, along with support for AMD FreeSync and VESA AdaptiveSync, which helps eliminate screen tearing.

Moving on to the LG UltraGear 27GR83Q-B, this 27-inch gaming monitor is better suited for eSports gaming enthusiasts and professionals who value higher refresh rates and color accuracy. It offers ultra-fast refresh rates of up to 240 Hz, along with a 1ms response time, and support for variable refresh rate technologies such as Nvidia G-Sync, AMD FreeSync Premium, and VESA AdaptiveSync.

The IPS panel on the UltraGear 27GR83Q-B features a QHD (2560 × 1440) resolution for sharp visuals and is claimed to cover 95% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, with a peak brightness of up to 400 nits. The display also supports VESA DisplayHDR 400 with up to 10-bit color, and while color reproduction should be better than the 32-inch curved monitor mentioned above, HDR performance will be lackluster. There’s plenty of I/O on this monitor, including two HDMI 2.1 ports, a DisplayPort 1.4, a 3.5mm headphone jack, two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A downstream ports, and one USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-B upstream port.

Both models offer great value at their current discounted prices, but given the limited-time nature of Prime Day deals, it’s best to act fast before stocks run out or prices bounce back.

We are working hard to find the best computer hardware deals for you this Amazon Prime Day. If you're looking for more savings, check out our Amazon Prime Day deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, or CPU Deals pages.

When it comes to gaming monitors, it helps to know what specs you want to prioritize when looking for a deal. In general, we recommend a panel-type suitable for fast refresh and response times, a high resolution, and HDR support with good contrast. Today we've come across a deal on the 27-Inch LG 27GX790A-B OLED QHD gaming monitor which hits all of those points and then some. This screen has plenty of quality specs that are more than well-suited for a gamer looking to spoil themselves with a little treat. It released late last year to the tune of $999, but it's currently discounted at Amazon to just $799.

We reported on the release of the LG 27GX790A-B in November of 2024 and were excited about the array of high quality specs, but not particularly blown away by the price. That said, today's discount more than shakes things up a bit. If you want to get an idea of how well this monitor compares to others on the market, check out our list of best gaming monitors to see which ones we personally recommend.

One of the most important parts of any gaming PC setup is the monitor. Whether your setup includes one, two, or even three or more screens, the monitor is where the final product is produced and what gives you the main experience. Over the years, as monitor technology evolves, we've seen higher and higher resolutions, refresh rates, and screen sizes. When the tech becomes more mainstream, those prices start to fall, and high-end monitors like 4K and OLED/QD-OLED start to become an affordable alternative for the average PC gaming enthusiast.

Today's deal features the LG Ultragear 32GS95UE for the all-time low price of $897, reduced from $1,399, and available from Amazon. This 32-inch monitor is large and features many high-spec features that, depending on the game, would tax even the most powerful graphics cards. Thanks to the OLED panel, this monitor will produce amazing contrast and infinite blacks, as well as naturally having a low response rate of 0.03ms and smooth motion as part of the OLED tech.

The LG Ultragear 32GS95UE is a 32-inch flat-screen monitor that uses an OLED display panel capable of dual gaming modes. At 4K resolution, the monitor can put out 240Hz, and at Full-HD, it can output 480Hz. This is perfect if you want to switch between high-res games (Cyberpunk 2077) or games that prefer the higher refresh rates, such as Counter-Strike, Apex, or Rainbow Six Siege.

The LG Ultragear 32GS95UE is compatible with both Nvidia G-SYNC and AMD FreeSync Premium Pro, and features built-in sound, but not from traditional speakers. This monitor uses the OLED panel itself to project the sound directly at you for a more immersive experience. LG call this tech Pixel Sound.

AMD is allegedly planning a successor to its Strix Point lineup of APUs for laptops, codenamed Gorgon Point per JNtechreview (via Harukaze). The reviewer shared several slides on their Naver Cafe channel from the LG Gram X Ryzen launch event that seems to be under embargo, revealing a previously unannounced APU family from AMD that reportedly targets a 2026 launch. There are also talks of a new AI Max series succeeding Strix Halo under the "Medusa" lineup. Even if the slides seem real, it's best to approach them with caution, as AMD has not officially confirmed these products.

Gorgon Point allegedly serves as a drop-in replacement for existing Strix Point designs, supporting the same FP8 package. There aren't many architectural changes, as Gorgon Point seemingly sticks with the same Zen 5/5c CPU cores, an RDNA 3.5-based integrated GPU, and an NPU based on XDNA 2. The entire lineup screams Strix Point Refresh, apart from a new Ryzen AI 3 addition, likely to be reserved for entry-level laptops.

Per the slides, AMD's mobile offerings will continue with Hawk Point (Ryzen 200) for mainstream devices, while on the premium end, Gorgon Point is expected to supersede Strix Point next year. Following a two-year cadence, we anticipate Zen 6 to launch sometime later in 2025. However, the slides mention no Zen 6-based APU (likely to be named Medusa Point) for 2025 or 2026, although we could be reading too much into what's essentially leaked information. As a side note, Intel's competing Panther Lake is slated for release later in 2025 and is expected to feature Cougar Cove and Darkmont cores alongside an integrated GPU based on Xe3 (Celestial).

Moving over to performance, and AMD's internal projections depict single-digit performance increments versus incumbent Strix Point APUs, if these slides are genuine. With the respective Ryzen AI 300 (Strix Point) APU at 15W as the baseline (100%), we've found that the most impressive wins land at just 5-6%, largely due to the faster clock speeds and improved binning.

It was expected for AMD to target Gorgon Point (Strix Point Refresh) for the mainstream market and a potential Medusa Point for premium notebooks next year, similar to how Ryzen 200 (Hawk Point Refresh) chips recently launched as an entry-level option. However, that doesn't seem to be the case, at least according to this leak.

Furthermore, the source also mentions that the successor to the beastly Strix Halo will be available under the Medusa series. AMD will probably incorporate its then-latest architectures, such as Zen 6 and RDNA 4 or the first iteration of UDNA, if we're lucky, with these chips. Sadly, an expected release window has not been specified, although we could be looking as far off as late 2026 or early 2027.

During a Q&A session with LG and AMD, it was supposedly mentioned that there are no plans to bring RDNA 4 discrete GPUs to laptops. This much was already said by AMD in broad terms previously, where it indicated RDNA 4 desktop GPUs are their first priority. All in all, there are still some gaps in AMD's next-generation mobile portfolio, though we're hopeful that time will bring more clarity.

If you've been waiting to pick up a curved gaming monitor, you might want to check out this Amazon offer on the LG 27GS60QC-B Ultragear curved gaming display. The monitor usually costs around $249, but right now, it's marked down to just $156. This is the lowest price for the monitor since it debuted.

You get some good specs worth getting excited about for a gaming monitor in this price range. It's curved, has a dense QHD resolution, and can reach a refresh rate of 180Hz. You should check out our list of best gaming monitors to know how this monitor compares to others leading the market.

The LG 27GS60QC-B Ultragear features a 27-inch VA panel with a curvature of 1000R. It has a dense QHD resolution that measures 2560 x 1440. The refresh rate can get as high as 180 Hz and is paired with a short response time of just 1 ms.

This gaming monitor is AMD FreeSync certified, covers 99% of the sRGB color gamut, and is illuminated with a maximum possible brightness of 300 nits. You get two HDMI ports to take advantage of and one DisplayPort for video input. A 3.5mm jack is available for connecting external audio peripherals as well. The purchase is supported by Amazon's 30-day return policy and a one-year warranty from LG.

Visit the LG 27GS60QC-B Ultragear gaming monitor project page at Amazon for more details and purchase options.

As we brace ourselves for the slew of products set to be revealed at CES, Korean TechTuber Autogear claims to have disassembled the upcoming LG Gram Pro 17 2025 ahead of launch (via Harukaze at X). The LG Gram Pro 17 2025, which was announced at the end of 2024, is powered by Intel's Arrow Lake (verified by the outlines around each tile in the die shot) at its heart, alongside the discrete RTX 4050 6GB mobile GPU. Although the processor wasn't evaluated in any benchmarking utility, the built-in Arc 140T (Alchemist+) iGPU (Integrated GPU) was, and demonstrated performance similar to what you would expect of an RTX 3050 mobile GPU.

The laptop reportedly offers a 16-core (six P + eight E + two LPE) Arrow Lake-H-based processor at its core. Going by leaks, Arrow Lake adapts a core layout similar to Meteor Lake, offering three types of cores; P-cores (Lion Cove), E-cores (Skymont), and LPE-cores (Skymont or Crestmont). Akin to its desktop counterpart, Arrow Lake-H features an Xe-LPG+ or Alchemist+ iGPU, namely the Arc 140T (not to be confused with the Battlemage-based 140V).

The Arc 140T, based on the source video, scores 1,078 points in 3DMark's Steel Nomad test which lands it in RTX 3050 mobile territory. This is roughly 25-30% better than Meteor Lake-based Alchemist iGPUs which can push around 800-850 points. Again, Steel Nomad is a synthetic test and these numbers will not exactly reflect real-world performance.

This specific model of the Gram Pro 17 was equipped with the soon-to-be last-gen RTX 4050. The reviewer claims that Nvidia will debut the RTX 5050 sometime in May, just in time for Computex. With that aside, the LG Gram Pro 17 2025 offers several upgrades and improvements over its predecessor. These include but are not limited to a new cooling system, a better power delivery setup, and of course the upgraded hardware. Based on limited testing, the reviewer reports that the LG Gram Pro 17 is capable of playing games like Lost Ark, PUBG, Diablo 4, Apex Legends, Valorant, and Overwatch 2; none of which are particularly taxing, at high settings.

We can expect more details on the price and exact performance numbers from LG, following the official announcement by Intel tomorrow.

Anyone holding out for a large gaming monitor should look at this LG offer on the LG UltraGear 32GP83B-B gaming monitor. It spans 32 inches and has an IPS panel with plenty of quality specs to handle modern gaming needs. It usually costs around $299, but LG currently offers a limited promo code that takes the price down to $210. The code NEWYEAR Is available until January 5th and must be used at checkout to redeem the offer.

This gaming monitor is AMD FreeSync Premium certified for its performance and offers G-Sync compatibility. We haven't had the opportunity to review this screen for ourselves yet, but you can check out our list of best gaming monitors to see how they stack up against our favorites on the market spec-wise.

The LG UltraGear 32GP83B-B has a 32-inch IPS panel with a QHD resolution of up to 2560 x 1440px. It can reach a refresh rate as high as 165 Hz and is paired with a short response time of just 1 ms. Regarding gaming monitors, these are pretty good specs that are a step or two above your most basic gaming requirements.

This gaming display covers 98% of the DCI-P3 color gamut and features HDR10. It has two HDMI ports for video input and one DisplayPort 1.4 port. LG also supports the purchase with a one-year manufacturer's warranty.

Visit the LG UltraGear 32GP83B-B gaming monitor project page at LG for more details and purchase options. Use promo code NEWYEAR at checkout to get the full discount.

LG hopes to wow the crowds at CES 2025 with what it claims to be the "world's first bendable 5K2K gaming monitor." The new model is dubbed the 45GX990A and will be one of several UltraGear GX9 series monitors to grace its exhibition. A key feature of this particular 45-inch monitor is its 5,120 x 2,160 pixel 21:9 aspect ratio OLED display, which can flex from a perfectly flat form to a curvy immersive 900R.

As a pre-launch pre-CES reveal, we don't have the entire specification sheet for the LG Ultragear GX9 45GX990A at the time of writing. However, LG has spilled more than enough details in its press release to whet a tech lover's appetite.

OLED panels are generally well-regarded by PC users nowadays, and this one comes with quite a few interesting enhancements. LG says it employs its "advanced WOLED technology" here, delivering high brightness, true blacks, stunning colors, low blue light emissions, and reduced eye strain. Furthermore, the 45GX990A features LG’s Anti-Glare & Low Reflection (AGLR) coating in the hope of banishing uncomfortable and unwanted reflections and screen glare.

The cherry on the cake here is that LG's ultra-high 5K2K resolution (5,120 x 2,160 pixels, 125ppi) display is also flexible, and the design makes good use of it. LG's PR says that this 45-incher "can smoothly transition from completely flat to a 900R curvature within seconds," suggesting some kind of mechanization. We must say 900R is a rather tight curve based on an arc segment from a 900mm radius.

Typical of a modern OLED, the 45GX990A has a very fast response time of just 0.03ms (GtG). We don't have information on refresh rates at this time, but LG says the new Ultragear GX9 is certified for Nvidia G-SYNC and AMD FreeSync Premium Pro.

Making the most of the flexibility of its "4-side Virtually Borderless design," LG provides a variety of presets mixing resolution, screen refresh rate, and more. Presets are available for FPS, RPG, MOBA, racing simulators, and others.

The only other information we have about the LG Ultragear GX9 45GX990A, which integrates smart functionality via LG's WebOS, regards its connectivity. The PR mentions support for DisplayPort 2.1, HDMI 2.1, and USB-C with 90W power delivery.

LG's new Ultragear GX9 series is spearheaded by the 45GX990A, but it will be joined by the 45GX950A, which is a similar monitor but with fixed 800R curvature. There will also be the smaller (but by no means small at 39-inches) 39GX90SA, which also features a fixed 800R curve. Hopefully, we will catch them all at CES 2025, shortly.

In a disappointing turn of events, FlatpanelsHD reports that LG has ended production of its Blu-ray player series, which includes the UBK80 and UBK90 models. With limited stock available, prospective buyers should act quickly to secure the last remaining units before they are sold out.

After Samsung and Sony's departure from physical media, LG was one of the last major manufacturers of Blu-ray players. The pace of innovation slowed down, as did the frequency of newer models, and to no one's surprise, LG has decided to exit the Blu-ray market, per reports. LG's latest offerings - the UBK80 and UBK90 UHD players were launched in 2018, dating almost six years back. Panasonic remains one of the last bastions guarding Blu-ray media, but its future remains uncertain as the industry transitions to online streaming.

Blu-ray players aside, even physical disks are at risk of extinction. Last year, Best Buy quit its Blu-ray and DVD business following market trends. Admittedly, consumer sentiment has shifted towards the more mainstream and hassle-free digital media experience. Companies naturally follow consumer trends; likewise, it didn't take much foresight to predict the eventual sunset of physical media.

The report mentions that LG Korea didn't exactly confirm the firm's withdrawal from the Blu-ray market, opening the door for a potential comeback if demand increases. As it stands, production has ceased, and inventory is expected to run dry shortly.

The ramifications of this change are profound - but only for enthusiasts and not the general public. This brings up the hot topic of digital ownership - where your rights to the media you purchased can be taken away at any time. Last year, Sony removed all Discovery content from users' libraries - content they bought. Luckily, the decision was reversed later on, but it still highlights how fragile ownership is nowadays. When you purchase something digitally, you merely obtain a license to use said product, not outright ownership.

Another prime example is The Crew from Ubisoft, delisted from Steam and made completely inaccessible even though it had a single-player mode. Despite its evident drawbacks, physical media is not tied to a remote server, giving users more freedom and a true sense of ownership.

LG has revealed its latest OLED gaming monitor, the LG UltraGear 27GX790A-B. This 27-inch, 1440p, 480 Hz, DisplayHDR True Black 400-certified gaming monitor has almost no visible border and a far more robust stand than older LG gaming monitors.

As the True Black 400 rating hints, this monitor only reaches 400 nits brightness—where common high-end IPS is 1000 nits—but should still have pretty good HDR thanks to OLED's inherent per-pixel dimming (powering off) capabilities, which significantly elevate high-contrast scenes. It has an estimated 98.5% DCI-P3 color gamut coverage, which is pro-grade, though it would need calibration for that user base.

As expected in a modern high refresh rate monitor, especially at 480 Hz, the UltraGear 27GX790A-B has adequate support for AMD FreeSync and Nvidia G-Sync. However, its VRR implementation is specifically FreeSync Premium Pro, previously known as FreeSync 2 HDR, which supports LFC (low framerate compensation). Low Framerate Compensation ensures that your monitor stays within its VRR range by using duplicate frames when that target is not met to prevent tearing— the VRR range usually starts around 48 Hz. However, we don't have that specification for this monitor just yet.

If you aren't already familiar with the benefits of OLED and how they facilitate an excellent gaming experience, here's the rundown. Disregarding for a moment supremely high refresh rate that may even push practicality among eSports pros, OLEDs have some inherent traits that make them great for gaming compared to other high-end panel types like IPS.

The biggest benefit is near-instant pixel response time—almost like CRTs, which are still beloved for that and low input lag—and at a rated 0.03 millisecond response time, LG UltraGear 27GX790A-B should be able to deliver a blur-free gaming experience. Actual input lag ratings, particularly below the native refresh rate, remain to be seen, though prospects look pretty good.

Overall, the LG UltraGear 27GX790A-B looks like a premium and worthwhile addition to the ever-limited OLED gaming monitor lineup. Its $999.99 pricing is in line with other 27-inch OLEDs like the Asus ROG Swift PG27AQDP, and the build quality—particularly the monitor stand—is elevated yet further from past high-end LG offerings.

Pre-orders remain open until December 25, and the monitor will begin shipping "the week of 12/30 or as the product becomes available", per the official LG store listing.

LG and Tenstorrent have announced that they will expand their collaboration efforts. The tech twosome already has some SoC plans in progress, but today they voiced the intention to develop new AI chips to push forward LS’s concept of ‘Affectionate Intelligence’ in AI-powered home appliances, smart home solutions, mobility, and commercial applications.

While Affectionate Intelligence may be merely LG’s marketing Twist on AI, like Cupertino’s ‘Apple Intelligence,’ we are sure there is some serious chip design going on in the background – thanks to chip icon Jim Keller’s involvement and some other clues in today’s press release.

In our main picture, you can see LG CEO William Cho meeting with Tenstorrent CEO Jim Keller at the LG Twin Towers in Yeouido, Seoul. Other senior execs were there, from both companies, to discuss the plans for expanded collaboration.

Regular readers, with some familiarity with Tenstorrent’s recent projects, won’t be surprised that next-gen semiconductors including processors using the RISC-V architecture and multiple chiplets were hot topics during the discussions. The tech CEOs warmly praised each other, with Cho saying Keller’s firm “is bringing the industry’s best AI and RISC-V technology to this collaboration.” Keller’s response was that “LG has a strong SoC development organization and Tenstorrent is excited to continue to partner with them.” The chip architecture icon behind the Athlon 64 and Zen architectures went on to underline that any future ‘Affectionate Intelligence’ SoCs would likely come packing “our AI and RISC-V technology.”

LG recently established a dedicated SoC R&D center specializing in system semiconductor design and development, which should help along any collaborative chip design efforts. According to the press release this facility excels in chiplet-based SoC design, development, and verification. SoCs that have already come from this lab include the DQ-C for AI home appliances and the Alpha 11 AI Processor for OLED TVs.

Tenstorrent’s success in expanding its LG collaboration seems very much in line with its publicly stated strategy of looking for design wins in markets “not well served by Nvidia.” While Tenstorrent seems fully capable of designing high-performance RISC-V CPUs and AI accelerators like the Wormhole, a profitable high-volume niche in mass-market consumer goods could be a great opportunity to embrace.

LG Display, one of the global leaders in display technologies, unveiled a new stretchable display prototype that can expand by up to 50%. This makes it the most stretchable display in the industry, more than doubling the previous record of 20% elongation. LG Display showcased the new screen at the LG Science Park in Seoul as part of the Stretchable display national project, with over 100 stakeholders taking part in the event.

This stretchable technology goes beyond expanding its size, though, as you can freely twist, extrude, and fold it without damaging the screen. This gives the technology a limitless number of applications — from clothing and wearable technologies to extruded touchable automotive panels. LG even showed a concept where the stretchable display is sewn or attached directly to firefighter uniforms and displays real-time information to the rest of their team.

The prototype being flexed in the top image is a 12-inch screen with a 100-pixel-per-inch resolution and full RGB color that expands to 18-inches when pulled. LG Display said that it based the stretchable display on a “special silicon material substrate used in contact lenses” and then improved its properties for better “stretchability and flexibility.” It also used a new wiring design structure and a micro-LED light source, allowing users to repeatedly stretch the screen over 10,000 times with no effect on image quality.

The Stretchable display national project is one of the programs spearheaded by the South Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy (MOTIE) and the Korea Planning & Evaluation Institute of Industrial Technology. This move has allowed LG Display and South Korea to gain a foothold in the next-generation display market, as well as ensuring that the research, development, and manufacturing supply chain will benefit local companies and organizations. In fact, aside from LG Display which took the lead, the current stretchable display prototype involves over 19 domestic industry and research institutions. So, its commercial success will likely benefit the South Korean economy as a whole.

MOTIE's initiative has allowed LG Display to produce this groundbreaking screen, showing how crucial government support can be in developing advanced technologies. This is similar to how the U.S. government is funding semiconductor research with the CHIPS Act. And although Washington is playing catch up with South Korea, Taiwan, and China, its massive investment will hopefully pay off within the next ten years.

Some monitors are bigger than others, and this LG 34GN850-B is no exception. It packs more than size; it's got beefy specs that make it stand out as a serious competitor. The LG UltraGear 34-inch curved gaming monitor debuted at $749, but right now, it's marked down to just $329 at Walmart.

The LG 34GN850-B offers plenty to get excited about, from its dense WQHD resolution to its Nano IPS panel. That said, you should peruse our list of the best gaming monitors for 2024 to see how they compare to our favorite gaming displays today.

The LG UltraGear 34GN850-B gaming monitor sports a curved Nano IPS panel that measures 34 inches across. It has a WQHD resolution of 3440 x 1440px. It can reach a maximum refresh rate of 144Hz and a response time of just 1 ms G2G.

The screen covers 90% of the DCI-P3 color gamut and is illuminated by a maximum brightness of 400 Nits. It features Display HDR 400 and Radeon FreeSync 2 technology. You get multiple input options, including two HDMI 2.0 ports and one DisplayPort 1.4 port. There are also two USB 3.0 Type-A ports and one USB 3.0 Type-B port.

Visit the LG UltraGear 34-inch curved WQHD Nano IPS gaming monitor page at Walmart for more details and purchase options. As of this writing, it's unclear how long this discount will be available.

Once a thriving business to replace the traditional CRT displays from the top of our desks, the LCD technology is seemingly now a liability for South Korean companies like LG and Samsung. This week LG Display inked a deal to sell its China-based LCD plant in a bid to focus on it more profitable OLED business, reports Reuters. 

LG Display is selling its majority stake in its Guangzhou, China LCD plant to TCL's CSOT unit for 10.8 billion yuan ($1.54 billion), the report claims citing a regulatory filing. The deal includes LG Display's 80% stake in the LCD panel facility and full ownership of the LCD module assembly plant. The plant, originally a joint venture with Guangzhou Development District and Skyworth holding company, then a majority-owned by LG Display, was created to produce large LCD panels, but LG Display no longer sees itself in this business, according to Korea Economic Daily Global. 

The transaction is expected to finalize by March 2025, then LG is set to focus entirely on its OLED business, where it holds a competitive edge. The company sees greater long-term potential in OLED panels, which are used for premium displays, including small-sized for smartphones, mid-sized for laptops and desktop PCs, and large-sized for TVs. 

Once the sale is complete, LG Display will continue to produce large OLED panels in China, so this is not an business exodus from China, rather a consolidation of businesses. 

LG Display plans to use the proceeds from the sale to strengthen its OLED operations and improve its financial stability in a bid to be more competitive on this side of the display business with multiple companies, including Samsung Display and, CSOT. The company has been scaling up its OLED production in recent years and with additional funds, it can scale up production. As demand for OLED technology increases, LG Display aims to bolster its leadership in this space, especially for large applications, so $1.54 billion will be most welcome. 

Reuters points out that LG Display has been experiencing quarterly losses, largely due to a slump in demand for LCD display panels used in consumer electronics (i.e., iPhones first switched to Japan-based Sharp controlled by Foxconn and then dumped LCDs). The sale of the Guangzhou LCD plant is seen as a strategic step to improve its financial health and invest in future growth.

Korean giant LG Electronics recently announced its intention to join the data center cooling business at its Investor’s Forum in Seoul. The company already has a sizeable heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) business, providing solutions for consumers, corporate, and industrial clients. Pivoting this business to cater to data centers would be much easier than starting from scratch, which puts LG in an excellent position to enter the data center cooling industry, primarily as its chiller business has grown 15% over the past three years, says The Register.

Nevertheless, the company isn’t content with using existing tech for its clients. Instead, it wants to dabble into liquid immersion cooling, which provides a more efficient way of cooling computer systems. LG even claims it has gained traction in its development, although it didn’t give a timeline for when its immersion cooling products would become available.

Some might say that getting into the data center cooling business is an intelligent move for LG. That’s because as AI computation increasingly becomes competitive, it would be difficult for a company to break into the industry where its competitors have already had a head start for many years. It’s like how Levi’s Jeans built its business during the gold rush; instead of looking for gold, it sold the tools and clothes the miners needed. So, the company was still in a good position even after the gold rush (or the AI rush) ended.

Subscription services bring home the bacon for LG

Aside from its plan to break into data center cooling, LG also touched on its progress on the 2030 Future Vision it launched last year. One of LG’s core businesses in South Korea, home appliances, has recently experienced a slump. Nevertheless, the company’s revenue remained positive because of its subscription services.

The company also calls them platform-based services. Alongside business-to-business sales and LG’s planned entry into new industries, the company aims to secure half its revenue and three-quarters of its profit from these three core areas. Even LG’s CEO, William Cho, refers to subscription services as the company’s cash cow, which helps it grow its other core businesses.

One way that LG plans to grow its subscriptions is by expanding content and ads. LG TV is one of the most popular TV brands in the world, and almost all of them use the webOS platform. The company is using this to boost its ad revenue and content business.

However, this massive growth comes at the expense of the consumer. With the world quickly moving towards a subscription-based model, ownership is slowly losing meaning. We hope that we don’t live in a time when you don’t own your vacuum cleaner; instead, you have a license to use it, and failure to pay the monthly fee means it will turn itself off, rendering your equipment useless.

LG has begun mass production of its new Tandem OLED laptop display, according to a press release published earlier today. The panel tech represents a generational step forward in display panels, and LG's new variant will see its first use in the Dell XPS 13 2024 laptop. 

Tandem OLED is a panel design that stacks two layers of organic light-emitting diodes on top of one another, creating tandem operation. The pair together can reach higher brightness than traditional OLED panels for much less power draw. LG's new laptop panel specifically is advertised as offering double the lifespan of traditional OLED panels, due to its 40% lower power draw. It can also go three times as bright as a standard panel, and supposedly even offers superior durability. The durability boon is a welcome surprise, especially considering an LG Tandem OLED panel is 40% thinner and 28% lighter than existing OLED laptop screens, making it seem potentially weaker on paper.

We've first seen Tandem OLED displays in the new M4 iPad Pros from Apple, which offer 1,000 nits full-screen brightness and 1,600 nits peak HDR brightness. Before this, Tandem OLED displays have seen use in automotive applications; cars have much higher standards for displays used inside, so the cutting-edge of display tech will often be seen in cars first. Their optimal use case is for high-end consumer displays, however, especially those that necessitate long use times like laptops or art displays. 

LG's new mass-produced panel has impressive specs, even for a non-Tandem OLED screen. The 13-inch 2880x1800 touchscreen display has great color accuracy and depth, reaching 100% of DCI-P3 color accuracy and a Display HDR True Black 500 rating, the second-highest rating available for HDR. However, it will be 60 Hz and only come with a peak SDR brightness of 400 nits. 

The LG Tandem OLED panel's first commercial application comes as the highest-tier screen available for the newest Dell XPS 13, part of the first wave of Copilot+ PCs. The display is a $300 upgrade from a standard XPS 13, the same price as the upgrade to a non-OLED 2K display (though Dell locks the Tandem display behind its more expensive higher-RAM variant). 

If you've been holding out for a curved gaming display with high-quality specs to accompany it, you should check out today's deal on the LG 34GP950G-B 34-inc Ultragear gaming monitor. This QHD gaming display debuted with a price tag of around $1,299. However, it's currently discounted to just $549 at Amazon — one of the best prices we've ever seen for this monitor. So far, no expiration has been confirmed for the discount, so we're not sure how long you can pick it up for at this price.

In addition to performance-driven specs like a high pixel density and fast refresh rate, the LG Ultragear also has some design elements that lend to the gaming theme. The LG 34GP950G-B features what's known as Sphere Lighting 2.0. This synchronizes LEDs with audio from games in real time for a more immersive experience.

The LG 34GP950G-B sports a curved 34-inch IPS panel with a QHD resolution that delivers 3,440 x 1,440 pixels. At best, the refresh rate can get up to 144 Hz while the response time can get as low as 1 ms. 

This LG gaming monitor is also certified for Nvidia G-Sync Ultimate. As the top-tier G-Sync compatibility rating, this is welcome for ensuring good gaming performance when driven by a powerful PC. However, G-Sync Ultimate isn't quite as high a spec as it used to be, as you will understand if you follow our link.

There are multiple input options to take advantage of, including both HDMI and DisplayPort inputs for video as well as a 3.5mm jack for connecting external audio peripherals. The monitor covers 98% of the DCI-P3 color gamut and has a maximum brightness of 400 nits, but that can ramp up to over 600 nits in HDR mode. The purchase is supported by a 1-year manufacturer's warranty from LG as well as Amazon's 30-day return policy.

Visit the LG 34GP950G-B 34-Inch Ultragear QHD monitor product page at Amazon for more details and purchase options.

A new rooting method shows a jailbreak for the PlayStation 4 game console using an LG Smart TV. This method is unique, as it highlights the possibility of jailbreaking a device with nothing more than a smart TV, further increasing the accessibility of using homebrewed options. Several other methods have been used to root the PlayStation 4, such as the ESP32 or a Raspberry Pi. 

The process requires an LG Smart TV rooted with the WebOS Homebrew Channel. After installing and running the Homebrew Channel, the user must enable an SSH server and 'Block system updates' since the PlayStation 4 jailbreak method is accomplished via the Ethernet connection. After the reboot and a series of steps, the PPLFPwm mod is installed on the PlayStation 4.

Typical with the PPPwm method, the jailbreak is not permanently installed on the PlayStation 4 and hence requires the user to re-run the process when the system is turned on or rebooted.

There are challenges apart from having an LG Smart TV. Not all LG Smart TVs can be rooted as it requires the webOS that has not been patched since mid-2022. The only LG Smart TVs qualified for this jailbreak are those that never used an internet connection or had auto-update turned off before mid-2022. Additionally, it will require the LG Smart TV to have its dev mode disabled in this configuration. The PPPwm jailbreak method works with PlayStation 4 firmware 11.00 and hence PPLGPwm will work. 

The process of using a SmartTV with homebrewed software to jailbreak a PlayStation 4 is no doubt impressive. While jailbreaking a gaming console is not new, companies take multiple steps to deter a direct rooting method with newer firmware and hardware changes. Furthermore, using a rooted device to root another type of system made by a different manufacturer shows the community's resiliency, as it requires time, effort, collaboration, and further research to achieve such success. This further encourages more homebrewed software and methods not limited to gaming consoles. 

Despite LG's steps to ensure its devices cannot be rooted, many hackers find creative ways to bypass these limits. Such methods could further popularize using Smart TVs to deliver jailbreaks for other devices. 

Shipments of OLED monitors have significantly increased in 2024, and continued momentum means that over 1.3 million units are expected to have shipped by year end. TrendForce’s analysis suggests that the OLED monitor market, dominated by Samsung, Dell, and LG, will grow by 161% this year.

OLED monitors are highly sought-after by PC enthusiasts, due to their impressive contrast (due to the deepest black levels) and responsiveness. However, OLED panel pricing and the specter of OLED burn-in have held adoption back for several years. Now both these major drawbacks have been largely addressed, the OLED monitor market looks ready for take-off.

Above you can see the overall trends in the OLED monitors market, neatly encapsulated by a table. Going by these numbers, OLED monitor demand was addressed by half a million units last year, but next year monitor makers will push approaching 2.5 million units onto the market.

Samsung is the biggest player in OLED monitors as of now. The South Korean firm currently leads with 36% of the market. TrendForce reasons that Samsung’s OLED displays are popular as they are “only 20% more expensive than their LCD counterparts.” Moreover, it should be able to grab even more share when its 27-inch and 31.5-inch OLED displays become available in Q2 2024.

Dell and LG are pretty close competitors in second and third place, respectively at this time. Dell’s new 27- and 31.5-inch OLED monitors helped it gain a 21% market share in Q1 2024, moving it to second place in the latest shipments pie chart. LG isn’t far behind at 19%, and it has a strong range with models covering 27-, 34-, 39-, 45-, and 48-inch diagonals as of Q1 2024.

PC DIYer favorite Asus has reached a double-figure market share in Q1 2024 with its comprehensive range spanning 15.6-inch (portable) monitors up to 49-inches.

The last-placed MSI isn’t far behind at 7%. Again it found favour with consumers by launching new models / sizes in Q1, as well as going after more price-conscious customers with new 34-inch and 49-inch screens.

Over recent months OLED monitors have been an increasingly common subject of Tom’s Hardware reviews, with some models gaining high praise and top-ranking positions in our best monitors guides.

Getting a high-quality monitor can make a difference in gaming and anything media-related. Finding one at a reasonable rate is even better, and today, we've got a deal that should satisfy the pickiest of gamers with an eye for quality who don't want to overspend. Over at Amazon, you can find the 39-inch curved LG 39GS95QE Ultragear WQHD gaming monitor for $999, the lowest price to date.

This enormous gaming monitor comes with plenty of high-quality specs to get excited about, like its VESA Display HDR True Black 400 certification, which guarantees a drastic level of contrast. It usually costs around $1,499, so today's discount saves over 30% off the asking rate.

The LG Ultragear 39GS95QE has a 39-inch OLED panel with a WQHD resolution measuring up to 3440 x 1440px. It can reach a maximum refresh rate of 4 Hz, while the response time can be as low as 0.03 ms.

According to LG, the monitor is AMD FreeSync Premium Pro certified for its performance. It covers 98.5% of the DCI-P3 color gamut and is illuminated by a maximum brightness of 275 nits. You've got both HDMI and DisplayPort inputs to use, as well as a 3.5mm jack for audio devices. The purchase is supported by LG's 2-year warranty and Amazon's 30-day return policy.

Visit the LG Ultragear OLED WQHD curved gaming monitor product page at Amazon for more details and purchase options.

LG Display is in talks to leave the LCD business to focus on OLED production, the Korea Herald reports. The display maker is reviewing options to sell its LCD assets, including manufacturing facilities in Guangzhou, China.

LG Display and Samsung were once the dominating players in the LCD panel market, but both Korean companies have been focusing on the more advanced (and presumably profitable) OLED market in recent years.

Intense competition with Chinese LCD panel manufacturers has led companies from other countries to shift to the more advanced OLED panel. In 2021, Samsung sold its LCD panel manufacturing plant in Suzhou, China, to TCL for $1.08 billion.

For its part, LG Display stopped producing LCD panels in Korea in 2022. The company is said to be continuing to take measures to reorganize and optimize its business portfolio, and closing its less profitable LCD production facilities could help with that.

Korean companies maintain a strong competitive edge in the OLED market, accounting for 74.2% of the global OLED sales in 2023, according to the Korea Display Industry Association.

Focusing just on large-size OLED panels, such as for televisions, Korean firms took 96.1% of the global sales for 2023.

In March, LG Display disclosed that it was exploring what to do with its LCD facilities in Guangzhou and other locations.

“We are currently reviewing various options on the strategic use of our LCD asset, including the manufacturing plant in Guangzhou, but nothing has been decided yet,” the company stated in its filing.

Several potential buyers have surfaced for LG Display’s LCD facilities. These include China’s largest display maker, BOE Technology, and COST, the display division of Chinese home appliance manufacturer TCL Technology.

Industry sources say LG is discussing the issue with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy in Korea. A valuable display plant, even one that may not be as profitable as LG Display’s OLED production facilities, is considered one of Korea’s strategic assets. Therefore, any sales of the LCD panel plants have to be approved by the Korean government first.

If you've been holding out for a curved gaming display, now is a great time to look at this offer on the LG UltraGear 34GN850-B. This WQHD and 1800R curved gaming display usually goes for around $749 but right now it's marked down to just $499 at Walmart. According to price data accumulated from PC Part Picker, this is one of the lowest prices for the screen ever since it first launched.

So far, Walmart has not specified an expiration date for the offer so we're not sure how long it will be offered at this price. As far as 2K curved displays go, this is a very noteworthy deal but you can find other monitors with different specs in our list of best gaming monitors for 2024.

The LG 34GN850-B UltraGear monitor features a nano IPS panel that spans 34 inches diagonally. This panel is curved with a radius of 1800R and has a 2K resolution of 3440 x 1440px. The standard max refresh rate of the LG 34GN850-B is 144 Hz, but it reaches 160 Hz with overclocking, while the gray-to-gray response time can get as low as 1 ms.

This curved 2K display covers 98% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, with pleasingly wide viewing angles. Moreover, it can reach a maximum possible brightness of 400 Nits and 1,000:1 contrast ratio. You've got several input options to choose from including two HDMI ports and one DisplayPort input. A 3.5mm jack is provided for external audio support but there are no built-in speakers. A USB 3.0 hub provides two downstream USB 3.0 ports for connecting peripherals. Though this monitor comes with a height and tilt adjustable stand, users can opt to mount it to any 100x100 VESA-compatible alternative.

Check out the product page for the LG 34GN850-B UltraGear gaming monitor over at Walmart for more details and purchase options.

An LG washing machine owner and self-confessed fintech geek has asked the Twitterverse why his smart home appliance ate an average of 3.66GB of data daily. Concerned about the washer’s internet addiction, Johnie forced the device to go cold turkey and blocked it using his router UI. Had the LG washer been hacked, hijacked, or otherwise tampered with over the net – or is this the average data consumption for a modern smart appliance?

Click 'See More' to expand the above Tweet / X.

Social media fans were eager to contribute to the detective work, sniffing out why the LG washing machine might be data-thirsty. Johnie’s initial screenshot showed that on a chosen day, the device uploaded 3.57GB and downloaded about 100MB, and the data traffic was almost constant. Meanwhile, according to the Asus router interface screenshot, the washing machine accounted for just shy of 5% of Johnie’s internet traffic daily.

Was the device downloading DLCs or the victim of a hack?

The LG washing machine owner saw the fun in his predicament and joked that the device might use Wi-Fi for “DLCs (Downloadable Laundry Cycles).” He wasn’t entirely kidding: The machine does download presets for various types of apparel. However, the lion’s share of the data transferred was uploaded.

Working through the thread, we note that Johnie also pondered the possibility of someone using his washing machine for crypto mining. “I’d gladly rent our LPU (Laundry Processing Unit) by the hour,” he quipped. Again, there was the glimmer of a possibility that there could be truth behind this joke. Another social media user highlighted a history of hackers taking over LG smart-connected appliances. The SmartThinQ home appliances HomeHack vulnerability was patched several weeks after being made public. A similar modern hack might use the washing machine’s computer resources as part of a botnet. Taking control of an LG washing machine as part of a large botnet for cryptocurrency mining or nefarious networking purposes wouldn’t be as far-fetched as it sounds. Large numbers of relatively low-power devices can be formidable together.

One of the more innocent theories regarding the significant data uploads suggested laundry data was being uploaded to LG so it could improve its LLM (Large Laundry Model). It sought to do this to prepare for the launch of its latest “AI washer-dryer combo” at CES, joked Johnie.

An Asus router issue?

For now, it looks like the favored answer to the data mystery is to blame Asus for misreporting it. We may never know what happened with Johnie, who is now running his LG washing machine offline. LG did not immediately reply to a request by Tom's Hardware for more information.

Another relatively innocent reason for the supposed high volume of uploads could be an error in the Asus router firmware. In a follow-up post a day after his initial Tweet, Johnie noted “inaccuracy in the ASUS router tool,” with regard to Apple iMessage data use.  Other LG smart washing machine users showed device data use from their router UIs. It turns out that these appliances more typically use less than 1MB per day.

The real dangers of connected device hacking

Though Johnie’s Tweets were relatively light-hearted, hacking smart connected devices can be severe. Consider what could happen if medical or industrial IoT devices get taken over by attackers, for example. A case in point is provided by a story from earlier this week when Bosch network-connected wrenches used in factories all around the world were found to be riddled with vulnerabilities.

Researchers highlighted that the cordless industrial wrenches could be hit by exploits or ransomware – with the threat of turning off the wrenches en masse. The wrenches could even be secretly readjusted to make things they were used to construct a danger to their users – through applying incorrect torque. Patches are due soon.

LG Electronics teased its vacuum tube-based DukeBox by LG Labs in advance of CES 2024. Pairing early computing tech with a transparent OLED panel, this prototype appears to go after the audiophile market — assuming it ever hits retail.

The LG DukeBox is a speaker system composed of two bottom front-facing speakers and a top 360-degree speaker. The speakers are amplified by vacuum tubes, visible from behind the transparent OLED front panel.

Vacuum tubes are used in audiophile and other high-end audio circles to provide a cleaner, more detailed audio amplifying experience — offering warmer, "sweeter" harmonics. Combined with the triple speakers built into the DukeBox enclosure, the audio experience should sound pretty impressive, at least on paper.

The transparent OLED panel can be put to work in interesting ways as well. You can opt to leave it fully transparent to show off the internals, but where's the fun in that? You can also run a fireplace effect on the panel, or even just watch movies on it — with the internals still partially visible. (We're not sure how transparent or opaque you can make the OLED, something to look forward to seeing at CES.) Maybe some oldies would be the way to go, as this is about the size of old TVs and computer monitors....

Besides the DukeBox, LG mentioned a few other products. Some are a bit outside our wheelhouse, though that might be an appropriate term for LG's "Bon Voyage" camping trailer. There's also the "DUOBO," a two-capsule coffee machine allowing for mixed coffee.

Other products teased by name only fall into LG's more traditional lineup. The "LG gram Fold" may provide a yet further improvement on the latest LG Gram Refresh's 2-in-1 model, while the "CineBean Qube" will improve on the existing CineBeam projectors with a hyper-compact design.

In any case, it's looking like LG will have no shortage of new hotness to show off at CES. The DukeBox seems like a pretty intelligent use of LG's transparent OLED technology that we're otherwise only seeing in commercial or public transit applications so far.

LG announced the refresh of its LG Gram line of laptops on Thursday, Dec. 28, including a new LG Gram Pro line that can optionally come in a 2-in-1 "hybrid" tablet-laptop form factor -- a design that's also popular for laptops like the Lenovo Legion Go.

Below are the official renders of this new line of LG Gram laptops. The maximum RAM configuration for all refreshed LG Gram models is up to 32 GB of LPDDR5X RAM running at up to 7467 MT/s, while dual PCIe 4.0 drives are limited to 1 TB on Gram and 2 TB on Gram Pro. Full specifications and configuration options are available here.

• LG Gram 14 — The lowest-end model. It only comes in a 60 Hz, 1080p configuration with no option for discrete graphics and a 350 nit LCD screen—only Arc iGPUs for the entire non-Pro line.
• LG Gram 15 — Nearly the same as the 14-inch model, but now also offers an improved LCD IPS screen option.
• LG Gram 16 — Where the non-Pro LG gram line gets bumped up to 2560 x 1600, and an option for a 400 nit brightness screen with VRR support.
• LG Gram 17 — Pretty much identical to Gram 16, but 17-inch. 
• LG Gram Pro 16-Inch — The entry-level Pro model features options for either a 1600p IPS LCD screen or an 1800p OLED screen. Both are rated for 400 nits brightness and support VRR, though OLED only goes up to 120 Hz while IPS reaches 144 Hz. However, the lower response time inherent to OLED should still provide a more responsive gaming experience at 120 Hz. Supports RTX 3050 dGPU config.
• LG Gram Pro 17-Inch — Nearly the same as 16-inch, but no option for OLED and equipped with a slightly larger screen.
• LG Gram Pro 2-In-1 16-Inch — Same configuration options as 16-inch LG gGramPro, but in the 2-in-1 form factor. Limited solely to Arc iGPU.

The Meteor Lake Arc iGPU steps in for models without a discrete GPU. Meteor Lake Arc has recently dethroned the Radeon 780M iGPU as the top performer in Windows and takes the iGPU crown in Linux, too. This makes the non-Pro LG gram laptops considerably more appealing than they would be otherwise since they don't have an option for OLED or discrete GPUs.

Meanwhile, the options for high-refresh OLED and Nvidia RTX 3050 graphics on the Gram Pro models make it somewhat more appealing, though. Unfortunately, the 2-in-1 model is limited solely to the Arc iGPU.

Seeing more entry-level laptops get boosted to levels where they can provide competent modern gaming experiences is always nice to see, though. Even the 14-inch model has truly competent integrated graphics, a considerable improvement over past-generation Intel laptops.

LG has revealed new monitors for 2024 that will show up at CES 2024 and then show up for purchase shortly after.  These include a mix of curved and standard monitor panels, with one going as high as 480 Hz.

A 32-inch non-curved OLED gaming monitor, dubbed the 32GS95UE, features the first-of-its-kind dual-Hz feature that allows the user to swap between two resolutions with its assigned refresh rates. Users with this monitor can swap between 4K resolution using a 240 Hz refresh rate or 1080p resolution running at 480 Hz with a click of a hotkey at the bottom of the monitor. 

The monitor has two in-built speakers and a woofer, while the headphone port supports DTS Virtual: X. LG says that its speakers are purposely built behind the panel as a part of its Pixel Sound Technology to get direct sound from the front rather than from the sides of the speaker. 

Usually, inbuilt speakers are overlooked by people who opt to use their headphones or speakers. But perhaps good placement will be enough to make some people appreciate the sound from a monitor. We can only wait and see.

Other Monitor Specifications

The 32-inch 4K and the 27-inch 1440p OLED monitors are the only flat 16:9 monitors shown for the 2024 release, while the rest are 21:9 WQHD (3440 X 1440) monitors.

The 27GS95QE is a 16:9 1440p monitor with a 240Hz refresh rate and a 65W USB Type-C port. The rest of the monitors are 21:9 ultrawide 3440 x 1440 800R curved monitors in 39-inch, 34-inch and 45-inch without USB Type-C and speakers (45GS95QE, 39GS95QE and the 34GS95QE). The 45GS95QB is a 44.5-inch 21:9 monitor also supporting 3440 x 1440 resolution with an 800R curved radius and includes USB Type-C 65w with a pair of inbuilt speakers. 

LG provides a stand for 16:9 monitors with all the range of movement tilt, height, swivel and 90-degree pivot on both sides. The 21:9 monitors do not have a pivot option. All of these monitors include a 100 mm x 100mm compatible VESA mount. 

All of the monitors LG introduced use anti-glare low-reflection panels with 0.03 ms grey-to-grey response time and feature a nearly bezel-free design on all four sides. It is rated for Vesa DisplayHDR True Black 400 and is compatible with both Nvidia G-Sync and AMD FreeSync Premium Pro. For video output, these monitors include two HDMI 2.1 and 1 DisplayPort 1.4 inputs.

Why offer 1080p resolution on a 32-inch display?

The 32GS95UE monitor — the one that can swap between resolutions and refresh rates — provides a 1080p option, which isn't terribly common on high-end monitors at 32-inches. But some gamers, like those who play compeitive first person shooters or esports, are more likely to turn down their resolution in exchange for higher frame rates. Those players may still want to jump to 4K resolution for non-gaming purposes. LG found a way to provide an option to reduce resolution and increase the refresh rate on a single display. 

Out of the two 16:9 monitors LG announced today, the 32-inch is the only one with 4K resolution, not to mention OLED. The one-click option on the hardware certainly sounds easier than changing resolution and frame rate manually in Windows. 

I am curious to know if display manufacturers considered making 24-inch OLED monitors with 1080p resolution and high refresh rates for competitive FPS gamers since Zowie and Asus announced a TN model with high refresh rates a few days ago.

LG has launched three new monitors to join the UltraGear gaming family. The new gaming screens are the LG UltraGear GR83Q-B (27-inch model) and the LG UltraGear GR93U-B (27- and 32-inch models). For a limited time, for the duration of Gamescom, these monitors are 30% off MSRP if you buy direct from LG.com with free fast shipping.

We have seen many extraordinary displays showcased at Gamescom recently, but LG is instead addressing the mass market with these new UltraGear entrants. The specs are decent rather than exceptional, with all three models supporting up to 95% DCI-P3 color and offering VESA DisplayHDR 400 support. As gaming monitors, they all have 144 Hz or better refresh rates, work with desirable technologies like AMD FreeSync Premium, and are Nvidia G-Sync Compatible.

So, we have three new models under two model numbers, and you might not be clear why that is. The answer is that the LG UltraGear GR83Q-B is a QHD gaming monitor with just the 27-inch option, but the LG UltraGear GR93U-B is a UHD monitor available in both 27-inch and 32-inch options. You can see an outline of the specs below, with the corresponding pricing (remember, you can get quite a discount right now).

The above gives just a rough idea of the comparative specs of these models, so let's dive a little deeper with a key specs table:

The above trio might not be the most exciting entrants to the realm of gaming monitors. LG's latest UltraGears eschew the trends of ultra-wide and/or curved displays, so it might suit some that are turned off by these design choices. However, if we get fixed lower prices, not just a short promotion, and these monitors perform well, they could win a place in our Best Budget 4K Monitors 2023 or Best Computer Monitors 2023 lists. Of course, we will only know if these LG monitors are worth recommending after we have had some of them in for review.

With the introduction of a 27-inch OLED panel from LG Display, it’s clear that this technology is not just for niche products. OLED is becoming more common among the best gaming monitors with richly saturated color, infinite contrast and next-level gaming performance. Panel response times are measured in hundredths of milliseconds, and there is no need for trickery like overdrive or backlight strobing.

Recently, I reviewed the first display to use this new panel, Asus’ ROG Swift PG27AQDM. Corsair’s version is called Xeneon 27QHD240, and its model designation doesn’t hint at how special this monitor is. OLED is truly on another plane above Mini LED in picture quality and gaming performance. The 27QHD240 is a QHD panel with 240 Hz, Adaptive-Sync, wide gamut color and HDR peaks of 1,000 nits. It also boasts a 0.03ms gray-to-gray response and packs it all into a solidly built display that sells for $1,000 at this writing.

 Corsair Xeneon 27QHD240 Specs

Most of the 27QHD240’s specs are the same as the PG27AQDM, so let’s look at the few that are different. Corsair has included two HDMI 2.1 ports versus Asus’ use of HDMI 2.0. However, at QHD resolution, even at 240 Hz, you don’t need the extra bandwidth afforded by HDMI 2.1. Both panels have native 10-bit color and that is fully preserved as well.

The 27QHD240 has a handy KVM feature that adds many USB ports. There are five traditional 3.1 connections plus two USB-C ports, with one offering DisplayPort functionality. The actual DisplayPort input is version 1.4 and employs Display Stream Compression (DSC) to keep input lag low. The 27QHD240 is one of the quickest monitors I’ve tested, even compared to 360 and 500 Hz models.

The panel is certainly the star with its infinite contrast and wide gamut color. Corsair claims 98.5% coverage of DCI-P3, and I measured a hair more than that, 99.01% to be exact. And that color is as close to perfect as it gets. The 27QHD240 doesn’t need calibration, nor does it benefit from it. My sample was optimized to perfection right out of the box.

OLED contrast is legendary in that it cannot truly be measured. No instruments currently available can measure an OLED panel’s black levels. Corsair claims 1,500,000:1 for the 27QHD240, but I cannot measure that. When a pixel is black, it’s off, meaning it emits no light. It’s hard to describe what that means to picture quality other than it’s an image you won’t find anywhere else, even from the very best Mini LED panel. And no extra features are required, like dimming zones or dynamic contrast. This performance is available in both SDR and HDR modes natively.

The 27QHD240’s build quality befits its $1,000 price tag. While this puts it firmly in the premium category, it isn’t a prohibitive sum for what you get. 240 Hz means super smooth motion and gamers will find this monitor suitable for any type of play, from casual to pro-level competition. There are a few cool touches here, too, like an OSD that appears when you put your hand near the control buttons and inputs that face back rather than down for easier access. I love putting displays like this through the wringer, so let’s take a look without further ado.

Assembly and Accessories

Corsair delivers the 27QHD240 in a plain brown wrapper with the panel, stand and base packed in crumbly foam. You won’t know how special it is right away since there are no loud or colorful graphics on the box, nor does the model number indicate that it’s an OLED. When you see the super-thin panel, though, that’ll be the first clue. You can assemble everything without tools into a solid, almost monolithic package. The cable bundle includes USB-A/C and C/C, plus HDMI and DisplayPort. A slim brick functions as the power supply.

Product 360

The 27QHD240 has a semi-matte screen rather than the highly reflective layer on most OLED televisions. There is no downside to this approach. I saw no grain or other artifacts. The image is crystal clear in every respect. The bezel is flush and very thin at 9mm wide at the top and sides and 11mm at the bottom. Controls are underneath, just right of center. When you reach for them, a small menu pops up telling you the function of the two keys and joystick.

Being a 27-inch QHD screen with 109ppi pixel density, the dot structure is visible if you sit closer than two feet away. It’s not 4K, but the difference is slight in a side-by-side comparison, and when there’s any sort of motion, the high refresh rate and super quick panel response ensure a perfectly smooth image.

The side view shows how thin the actual panel is, just five millimeters. A component bulge takes the total depth to 47mm, just under two inches. A 100mm VESA mount hides under the stand’s attachment point with fasteners included for use with aftermarket arms and brackets.

The stand is quite substantial, with a wide upright and deep metal base. The height adjustment is 100mm (3.9 inches) and you get 7/15 degrees tilt, 30 degrees swivel and a 90-degree portrait mode. Movement and build quality are appropriate for a monitor in this price category. You’ll be using your 27QHD240 for many years.

On either side of the upright in the back are numerous connections. On the left side are two HDMI 2.1, one DisplayPort 1.4 and a USB-C that functions as a DisplayPort input. The power supply connects at the bottom of this bank. On the right side is another USB-C for peripherals and charging along with four USB 3.1 downstream ports. The jack panel is finished off with a 3.5mm audio output. There is no internal audio, so use this to plug in headphones or powered speakers.

OSD Features

When you reach for the 27QHD240’s control keys, a small menu indicates the functions and locations of the two buttons and the joystick. This is something I have not seen before. Pressing the joystick brings up Corsair’s simple and intuitive text-based OSD.

The 27QHD240’s OSD is divided into six logically arranged sub-menus starting with Picture. There, you’ll find a full set of calibration options and six image modes. Standard is fully adjustable and employs the native color gamut, which covers almost 100% of DCI-P3. An sRGB mode is also tweakable and has independent color temp and gamma options. This is a rarity, even among pro monitors. I was able to calibrate both gamuts and just switch modes when necessary. HDR signals engage an additional mode that cannot be adjusted. Additional picture options include a refresh rate indicator and aiming points which can be customized for color and shape.

The 27QHD240 has PIP and PBP that let you view two video sources, either side by side or windowed. In System Setting, you can toggle Adaptive-Sync and engage panel maintenance features like a pixel refresh and an orbiter. These operate in the background or when the monitor is in standby mode, and are designed to reduce the effects of image retention. In my own experience, I have not seen any issues with my two-year-old LG television, which is used every day.

Corsair Xeneon 27QHD240 Calibration Settings 

Not only does the 27QHD240 not require calibration, but I was also unable to affect any improvement when I set up both DCI-P3 and sRGB picture modes. You can use Standard for the wider gamut in SDR mode along with the Standard color temp and 2.2 gamma for near-perfect accuracy. The User color temp has precise RGB sliders, which will improve the numbers slightly but not the visuals. If you want to use sRGB color for SDR, that mode is very accurate as well. And you can calibrate the color temp separately if you wish. I’ve provided my settings below. Note that the brightness setting of 31 is derived using a 25% window pattern. It may look too dim when showing actual content. After using the 27QHD240 for a few days, I upped the value to 80. This will depend on the ambient light levels in your particular space.

In HDR mode, there are no color options, only a Contrast slider if you want to dial down the peak brightness. As the 27QHD240 varies brightness depending on the average picture level (all OLEDs do this), I recommend leaving everything on the default values.

Gaming and Hands-on 

If you’ve read my review of the Asus PG27AQDM, you already know what I will say about the 27QHD240. They are the same monitor in every way that matters to gaming. After experiencing several OLED monitors over the past year, I have come to regard this technology as a game-changer, with an emphasis on game. As in, they got it. Quite simply, there is no better gaming experience than an OLED panel running at a high refresh rate.

I’ve said that OLEDs provide smoother motion at a given frame rate than an LCD, and the 27QHD240 holds to this axiom. There is no need for overdrive here. Blur Busters test patterns are literally perfect, with every pixel rendered fully, whether there is motion or not. Resolution is not affected no matter how quickly an object moves or the screen pans.

In shooters like Doom Eternal and Call of Duty WWII, this translates to an almost predictive feel where your control inputs are instantly translated on-screen, and movement is ultra-precise. When you stop moving the mouse, the aim point is exactly where you want it to be. I was able to get deeper into every game I played.

The image is stunning in every respect. HDR is the 27QHD240’s forte, and it proved more than bright enough to render a fully detailed and saturated image in my sunlit office. Any concerns about OLED being dimmer than Mini LED were not a factor for me. Yes, you can get more output from a bright LCD, but not enough to make me choose it over an OLED.

Color saturation was impressive in both SDR and HDR content. It’s easy to choose sRGB for SDR by changing picture modes. But I was happy to keep the larger gamut up too, and I suspect most users will do the same. Only when grading photos did I find it necessary to switch to sRGB. The 27QHD240’s accuracy makes the image very pleasing and easy to look at for hours. A low blue light mode is available, but I never found a need for it.

For both work and entertainment, the 27QHD240 is exemplary in every respect. After spending many hours with it, it is well worth the money. When compared to professional displays, it’s a bargain. You won’t find this level of image fidelity and quality in any LCD.

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Now we get to the fun part; the part where I talk about OLED monitors’ fantastic gaming performance with super low input lag and panel response so fast that there is no loss of motion resolution. I am not exaggerating. All the OLEDs in the 27QHD240’s comparison group offer a similar gaming experience and feel. You will become addicted to any of these screens. In the group are Corsair’s Xeneon Flex, Asus’ PG42UQ and PG27AQDM, Alienware’s AW3423DWF and Philips’ 34M2C8600.  

Pixel Response and Input Lag 

Click here to read up on our pixel response and input lag testing procedures. 

My test is a full-screen black-to-white transition which is slower than the gray-to-gray measurement commonly quoted. 5ms is typical for a 240 Hz panel, whether it’s OLED or LCD. But in practice, the OLED is far smoother. No visible loss of motion resolution exists, no matter how fast objects move or the screen pans. You can see this clearly in Blur Busters test patterns and in real-world content. There is nothing that moves like an OLED.

With 26ms of total input lag, the 27QHD240 is plenty quick enough for gamers of all skill levels. While a 360 or 500 Hz panel will have lower control lag, its motion resolution will be a tad lower. I’m talking about tiny differences here but ones that can be seen with the naked eye.

Viewing Angles

OLED offers the best off-axis image quality of any flat panel technology thanks to grid polarization that is much less aggressive than LCD requires. My 27QHD240 sample showed a slightly cool tint at 45 degrees to the side with no reduction in brightness, nor is there a change in gamma. Detail is fully visible when sitting off-center. The top view is also solid with similar behavior and only a slightly lighter gamma. The 27QHD240 is completely shareable.

Screen Uniformity

To learn how we measure screen uniformity, click here.

No OLED I’ve yet tested has shown any visible screen uniformity issues. The 27QHD240 is one of the best panels, with just 3.55% deviation from center. This is well below the visible threshold. If the worst score is 9.24% from a jumbo 45-inch diagonal panel, that bodes well for the technology as a whole. You won’t see any bleed or glow here.

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To read about our monitor tests in-depth, please check out Display Testing Explained: How We Test PC Monitors. We cover brightness and contrast testing on page two.

Uncalibrated – Maximum Backlight Level

All OLEDs, including the 27QHD240, vary brightness according to the average picture level. That means a full-field white pattern will be dimmer than the 25% window I used for testing. A full field measured 192.5 nits, but the true peak white level is over 412. You’ll have to set the brightness by eye to suit your particular environment. I set the brightness slider to 80% in my brightly lit office for a comfortable image.

No matter what, black levels are truly black. They cannot be measured because the pixels are shut off and do not emit light. This yields an infinite contrast ratio, which can be seen in a visual comparison with another monitor. Viewed side by side against a Mini LED with its zone dimming engaged, the 27QHD240, like the other OLEDs, is clearly superior. It truly doesn’t get better than this.

After Calibration to 200 nits

For testing purposes, I set a 25% window pattern to 200 nits. In practice, I would use a higher brightness setting lest the image be too dim for my room. Your mileage will vary. Try a few different settings over a week or two to find the optimal level. Whatever you do, contrast remains the same with zero value black levels. ANSI contrast is also unmeasurable because the black squares in the checkerboard pattern emit no light.

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The 27QHD240 doesn’t need to be calibrated and cannot be improved from its factory state. It arrives out of the box at a very high level of accuracy. It is better than many professional screens I’ve tested in this respect.

Grayscale and Gamma Tracking 

Our grayscale and gamma tests use Calman calibration software from Portrait Displays. We describe our grayscale and gamma tests in detail here. 

Though I can improve the chart when calibrating the 27QHD240’s grayscale, the picture is visually the same. The only tiny flaw here is a rise in gamma at the 90% brightness step. And no, you can’t see that error in actual content.

Since I could calibrate the sRGB mode separately, I did so. You’ll notice its default gamma is a bit askew, with too-dark values at 10% brightness and too-light results at 90%. These are minor errors, but I noticed a few highlights that looked a tad washed out. Calibration made a visible difference there, even though grayscale tracking was unchanged.

Since I could calibrate the Standard and sRGB picture modes, I’ve added both results to the comparison charts. There’s clearly no need for calibration, but in sRGB mode, gamma is improved after adjustment, so it’s worth doing if you have the means.

Clearly, gamma is not a problem for any of the panels. The 27QHD240 is last in the range test and third in the deviation test. This means none of the monitors have any gamma issues worthy of concern.

Color Gamut Accuracy

Our color gamut and volume testing use Portrait Displays’ Calman software. For details on our color gamut testing and volume calculations, click here. 

I was beyond impressed by the 27QHD240’s gamut test results. Few monitors can achieve such low color errors after calibration. These charts show out-of-box numbers that are as close to perfection as possible. Essentially, my RGB adjustments did not affect the gamut values and that is a very good thing. In sRGB mode, I noted some under-saturation in the red primary and slight hue errors in magenta. These issues are not visible to the naked eye.

Comparisons

All the OLED panels I’ve tested, including the 27QHD240, have superb color. It’s well saturated and right on the reference targets. Though these are gaming monitors, they deliver accuracy worthy of any professional display. And they do it for far less money. They’re not inexpensive, but they cost less than many pro screens.

The gamut volume test shows OLED’s capabilities to be more consistently superior to VA and IPS-based LCDs. The 27QHD240 finished fourth here, which is extraordinary considering its coverage is only a hair shy of 100% of DCI-P3. That’s pretty awesome, I’d say. You can expect any OLED monitor to be very colorful. The 27QHD240 is fully qualified for color-critical applications as well.

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Our HDR benchmarking uses Portrait Displays’ Calman software. To learn about our HDR testing, see our breakdown of how we test PC monitors. 

HDR is what OLEDs do best. Their naturally infinite dynamic range is a real asset. The 27QHD240 delivers typical performance for the category.

HDR Brightness and Contrast

Corsair claims 1,000 nits for the 27QHD240 when measuring a 3% window pattern. I cannot replicate this, but I measured a 25% window at over 800 nits, so I have no doubt as to this monitor’s capabilities. The Flex and the 27-inch Asus are a tad brighter, but there is no discernible difference when viewing actual content. The bottom three monitors are a bit dimmer overall but still deliver tons of depth and color saturation. Of course, all the panels have infinite HDR contrast thanks to their unmeasurable black levels.

Grayscale, EOTF and Color

The 27QHD240’s superb color accuracy extends to its HDR grayscale tracking, which is without visual error. There is a slight rise in blue levels as the image brightens, but this does not adversely affect the image. The EOTF tracks close to the reference line except for its slightly early transition to tone-mapping, which is a minor issue.

Color tracking is slightly off the mark at the inner saturation points though it gets closer to targets as saturation increases. Secondary colors are off hue as well. Magenta and cyan are a bit cooler than they should be and yellows have a slight green tint. In content, it’s at the level where the viewer can sense that something’s not quite perfect but can’t tell exactly what. Some tweaking of the 27QHD240’s firmware could resolve this though I cannot call myself dissatisfied, and I doubt any users will complain. Contrast and color saturation are so good that they mitigate these measured errors.

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It’s now possible to buy a 27-inch OLED desktop computer monitor from three different manufacturers: LG, Asus and Corsair. They are the same LG panel at the core but have slightly different feature sets. One thing is certain; their image quality with regard to color and contrast is unmatched. And their gaming performance is on another level from any LCD I’ve experienced, including panels running at 360 and 500 Hz.

The Corsair Xeneon 27QHD240 delivers a gaming experience that non-OLED monitors cannot equal. This is thanks to two major factors, image depth and motion processing. OLED promises and delivers infinite contrast thanks to its true black levels. When a pixel is black, it’s off and emits no light. That is something that must be seen to be fully appreciated. Contrast is king, always, and OLED has more of it than any other technology.

Motion processing is the other element that makes or breaks gaming feel. Much has been done to mitigate motion blur in LCDs, but OLED needs none of those enhancements. At the 27QHD240’s max refresh rate of 240 Hz, it moves objects and pans the camera with no loss of resolution. One can see this clearly in both test patterns and actual content. Precision aiming and movement almost become child’s play.

The 27QHD240’s superb color accuracy is a nice bonus here. With no adjustments whatsoever, it delivered near-perfect color, grayscale and gamma. I saw a few flaws in the HDR gamut test, but honestly, the image is so good I had difficulty spotting any problems. With the ability to choose between DCI-P3 and sRGB modes that are equally accurate, it rivals any professional screen for far less money.

The Corsair Xeneon 27QHD240 is a premium purchase for sure. $1,000 for a 27-inch monitor is not a small sum. But for what you get, it’s a bargain. It blows away any LCD gaming or pro monitor I’ve experienced. If you have the budget and are seeking ultimate image quality, definitely check it out.

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If you're in the market for a large-scale UHD monitor, then you should take a closer look at this offer from Best Buy on the LG 32UN650-W. This is a 32-inch IPS monitor with a dense UHD resolution. It usually goes for around $400 but right now it’s discounted to just $349. That is its best price to date.

This isn’t exactly a gaming monitor but it has plenty of good specs that would work out well in that regard. That said, we’ve got a list of the best computer monitors on the market today that you should absolutely check out to get an idea of what’s leading the way.

The LG 32UN650-W features a 32-inch IPS panel with a resolution of 3840 x 2160. It can reach a refresh rate of 60Hz and has a response time of 5ms. It covers 95% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, illuminated by a brightness of 350 nits.

Users have a few video input options to take advantage of including two HDMI ports and one DisplayPort input. Audio-wise, it has two integrated 5W speakers as well as a 3.5mm audio jack for external audio peripherals. The LG 32UN650-W is supported by a one-year manufacturer’s warranty.

Visit the LG 32UN650-W product page at Best Buy for more details and purchase options. As of writing, it’s not clear for how long the discount will be made available.

LG has launched the new LG StanbyMe Go (27LX5), which could be summarily described as a 27-inch display in a suitcase (h/t Liliputing). Other attractive features of this relatively expansive portable display include its built-in adjustable stand, carrying suitcase, speakers, and three hours of battery life. LG’s lifestyle images suggest the primary imagined use-case for the 27LX5 is as a device you might take on a picnic. We can imagine a few other uses as well, that don't involve tents.

From the introductory description and the images above and below, you probably already have a good handle (pun intended) on the potential appeal of the new LG StanbyMe Go (27LX5). Here's a look at some of the technical specifications of the product:

With the installed WebOS 22, the LG StanbyMe Go can do a good job as a large ‘tablet’, so you don’t need to connect another device for playback of your favourite videos or music. WebOS also has a range of apps and enables features like voice control, AirPlay, and screen mirroring. An HDMI input is present so you could connect to something like a laptop without poking around in software.

The 1920x1080 resolution seems relatively low for a 27-inch display, but perhaps that was to help with battery life. If you're not taking the StanbyMe Go outside, you could also use it for presentations in a board room... one with WiFi but without a built-in display, presumably.

Of course the special sauce here is the suitcase form factor, which offers rugged (MIL-STD-810H ) portability and easy setup, with a wide range of display position adjustments possible, including portrait. It might be good for shoving in the car for a picnic, as LG’s media department foresees, but seems a bit too heavy for a business traveler. For thinner, smaller, and lighter portable monitors, please take a look at our Best Portable Monitors 2023: Gaming and Laptop Productivity feature.

This isn’t the first member of the StanbyME series of displays from LG. A few years ago, the electronics firm introduced the StanbyME (27ART10AKPL) which was also a 27-inch FHD portable monitor with three hours of battery life, but this one came with a tall lamp-like pedestal stand.

Hacking off the stand and adding a suitcase several years later seems like very little has been accomplished, but perhaps LG will find a market niche for this device among the outdoorsy type who don't want to leave their large screens at home.

Users in the market for a curved gaming display should take a look at this deal on the LG UltraGear 34GP63A-B QHD 34-inch monitor. This monitor has been going for around $399 lately but today is discounted to just $299 in time for Memorial Day.

The LG 34GP63A-B features a 34-inch VA panel with a curvature of 1800R. It has a QHD resolution which measures up to 3440 x 1440. You can also check out our list of best gaming monitors to see what else is available on the market if you’re looking for something with more specific specs to suit your needs.

The LG UltraGear 34GP63A-B is AMD FreeSync Premium certified which ensures a dense resolution, high refresh rate, low latency, as well as low framerate compensation (LFC) support. It has a refresh rate that can reach up to 160Hz and a gtg response time of 5ms. It covers 99% of the sRGB color gamut, illuminated with a maximum brightness of 300 nits.

There are two HDMI ports available for video input and one DisplayPort input. It has two 7W speakers for integrated audio support but a 3.5mm jack is available for external audio peripherals, as well. The purchase is supported by Amazon’s 30-day return policy as well as a limited 1-year manufacturer’s warranty from LG.

Visit the LG UltraGear 34GP63A-B QHD 34-inch monitor product page at Amazon for more details and purchase options. As of writing, we’re not sure for how long this discount will be offered.