Conclusion
The LG 27UK850 can be viewed as a gaming monitor for professionals, or to a lesser degree, a professional monitor for gamers. For enthusiasts, it carries all the credibility we’ve seen in the best Ultra HD panels. IPS means excellent viewing angles and a sharp, bright picture. FreeSync brings adaptive refresh to the party without the added cost of Nvidia’s G-Sync technology. And gaming modes make it easy to adapt the image to all popular game types. In this regard, it competes favorably with the best Ultra HD gaming screens we’ve reviewed.
As a professional monitor, it checks most of the necessary boxes, like Ultra HD resolution and proper handling of HDR10 signals and 24p film cadence. Though it won’t render those images with amazing contrast, the 27UK850 does a respectable job at improving the perception of added dynamic range. For professionals, there are only two things missing here. The obvious one is DCI-P3 color. While no monitor renders 100% of that large gamut, some can muster 85% or more.
This LG makes due with 100% sRGB, which translates to around 75% of DCI. The other issue is out-of-box accuracy. Though a factory data sheet came with the box showing spot-on gamma, grayscale and color, it didn’t specify which mode was tested. And we could not discover it in our tests. The Rec.709 preset isn’t too bad, but it doesn’t fall in the category of pro-grade accuracy. Only after calibration was the 27UK850’s full performance potential unlocked -- and that was excellent.
LG has packaged an excellent gaming monitor and a decent professional display into a single product. The 27UK850 successfully bridges two categories, leaving out very little and selling for a reasonable price. We encourage those needing a more versatile screen to give it a close look.
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