- Table of Contents
- Intro
- Updates
- Comparison
- Best Monitors
- Conclusion
- Discussions
LG is a well-known brand in the world of electronics, and they make a wide range of products, including TVs, soundbars, phones, and home appliances, among many others. Their monitor lineup offers both gaming and office solutions, so you'll likely find what you need. LG makes more ultrawide monitors than most competitors, but they also make many 27 and 32 inch models as well. Their monitors are known for their outstanding response time and variable refresh rate support, but their stands lack good ergonomics.
Updates
- 12/07/2020 LG 32GN50T-B reviewed
- 11/19/2020 LG 27GN950-B reviewed
- 09/21/2020 LG 38WN95C-W reviewed
- 08/11/2020 LG 48 CX OLED reviewed
- 07/20/2020 LG 38GL950G-B reviewed
Best LG Monitors
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Best 4k LG Monitor
Size 27"Resolution 3840x2160Max Refresh Rate144 HzPixel TypeIPSVariable Refresh RateFreeSyncThe best LG monitor that we've tested with a 4k resolution is the LG 27GN950-B. It's one of their first 4k gaming models, although they've produced office monitors at this resolution, such as the LG 27UK650-W. It has a high 144Hz refresh rate, but you can only achieve that refresh rate over a DisplayPort connection and with a graphics card that supports Display Stream Compression. This model has native FreeSync support, and it's compatible with NVIDIA's G-SYNC as well. Input lag is incredibly low, and even though it slightly increases with VRR enabled, most people shouldn't notice any difference. The response time is exceptionally quick whether you're playing at 144Hz or 60Hz, so fast-moving content looks smooth.
Unfortunately, because it has an IPS panel, blacks look closer to gray. There's an edge-lit local dimming feature, but it performs terribly and can be quite distracting. HDR content looks good because it displays a wide color gamut and gets fairly bright in HDR to make some highlights pop. It performs well in bright rooms thanks to the impressive peak brightness, but the reflection handling is disappointing. If you don't mind spending more money on a 4k display, the LG 48 CX OLED TV is also marketed as a monitor and supports 4k @ 120Hz over HDMI, which is great if you own a PS5 or Xbox Series X. That said, if you're looking for something with a 4k resolution, the 27GN950-B is one of the best LG monitors we've tested.
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Best 1080p LG Monitor
Size 27"Resolution 1920x1080Max Refresh Rate240 HzPixel TypeIPSVariable Refresh RateFreeSyncThe best LG monitor with a 1080p resolution that we've tested is the LG 27GN750-B. It has many of the same features as the LG 27GN950-B, except the lower resolution isn't as taxing on your graphics card, and it has a higher 240Hz refresh rate. It also has FreeSync support, G-SYNC compatibility, fantastic low input lag, and an incredible response time. There's no Black Frame Insertion feature, but with how crisp motion already looks, you likely won't need it. It has an IPS panel with wide viewing angles, great peak brightness, and good reflection handling, so it's a good choice for co-op gaming and bright rooms. It doesn't have many extra features to improve your gaming experience, but you can add a virtual crosshair for FPS games.
It supports HDR10, but sadly, it doesn't add much. It fails to display a wide color gamut, the HDR peak brightness is just okay, and due to its low contrast ratio, blacks appear closer to gray, so HDR content doesn't really look all that different from SDR. Our unit has excellent gray uniformity and okay out-of-the-box accuracy, but these may vary between units. It also has excellent gradient handling and good coverage of the Adobe RGB color space if you want to use it for some video or photo editing. Overall, this is an inexpensive gaming model and the best LG monitor with a 1080p resolution.
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Best Ultrawide LG Monitor
Size 34"Resolution 3440x1440Max Refresh Rate160 HzPixel TypeIPSVariable Refresh RateFreeSyncIf you want something bigger than the standard 16:9 aspect ratio, then the best LG monitor with an ultrawide screen that we've tested is the LG 34GN850-B. It has a 3440x1440 resolution and a 21:9 aspect ratio, so there's easily enough space to open multiple windows at once, and it also delivers clear text. Another model in their UltraGear lineup, it also delivers great gaming performance. Response time is exceptionally quick so you won't have to worry about motion blur, its native 144Hz refresh rate can be overclocked to 160Hz, and once again, the input lag is extremely low. Sadly, the ergonomics are quite limited as you can't rotate it into portrait mode, but that's somewhat expected because of its size and curved screen.
Like other options, it has an IPS panel with wide viewing angles, so the image remains accurate when viewing from the sides. However, this means it has a low contrast ratio, and without any local dimming feature, it's not a good choice for dark-room gaming. If you want to use it in a room with some sunlight, it has great peak brightness and decent reflection handling, so visibility shouldn't be an issue. HDR content looks fairly good as it displays a wide color gamut and has decent HDR peak brightness. LG also offers office-oriented ultrawide models that are still great for gaming, such as the LG 38WN95C-W, but it costs much more. All in all, this is the best ultrawide monitor we've tested from LG.
Compared to other brands
- Ultrawide options. LG makes a good amount of 34 and 38 inch ultrawide models. If you find those too big and typical 27 inch models too small, they offer some 32 inch models as well.
- Great gaming features. Since LG mainly focuses on gaming, most of their monitors offer variable refresh rate (VRR) support and excellent motion handling.
- Wide viewing angles. LG mainly uses IPS panels with their monitors, which help provide wide viewing angles. This makes it easier to share your screen with others around you.
- Limited ergonomics. LG isn't known to make good stands. Even their highest-end office monitors don't offer any swivel adjustments.
- Low contrast ratio. Since most of their models have IPS panels, they have a low contrast ratio and blacks appear closer to gray when viewed in the dark.
LG vs Dell
LG and Dell directly compete with each other as they each make office and gaming monitors. Dell's models usually have much better ergonomics and they make smaller, more budget-friendly options. However, LG's monitors generally deliver a better HDR experience and they make many more ultrawide options.
LG vs ASUS
For the most part, ASUS makes much better gaming monitors than LG with higher refresh rates, and they also generally have better ergonomics. However, LG's lineup includes larger options with a higher resolution.
LG offers options with larger screens and higher resolutions than most of its competitors. However, its office monitors don't have as good ergonomics as Dell. Also, they still lag behind ASUS in terms of gaming, as they're only starting to make high refresh rate models. Regardless, you'll likely find what you need with LG.
Lineup
LG offers three different monitor lineups: UltraGear for gaming, UltraWide, and UltraFine for office monitors. Their naming convention can be a bit confusing at first, but once you learn, it's fairly easy to tell which lineup the monitor belongs to.
LG's monitors start with a number, which indicates the size, followed by the lineup letter:
- G: UltraGear lineup for gaming.
- W: UltraWide lineup, and as the name suggests, it has their ultrawide monitors.
- U: UltraFine lineup, their office lineup with mainly a 4k resolution.
The next letter is the year: N (2020), L (2019), or K (2018). The next set of numbers relates to the model's position in their lineup. The higher the number, the higher-end it is; 600 and 650 are the lowest-end models, while 950 is the premium model.
Some models have another letter following those set of numbers, but not all of them have it. They usually represent a feature of the monitor, but it's not clear what some letters represent, such as T in the LG 32GN50T-B.
- F: Native FreeSync support.
- G: Native G-SYNC support.
- C and U: Thunderbolt support.
Lastly, there's one final letter that simply represents what color the body is; W for white and B for black.
For example, the LG 27GN950-B is a premium 27 inch monitor in the UltraGear lineup, released in 2020, and the body is black. The LG 24GL600F is an entry-level 24 inch model from 2019 that has native FreeSync support. Lastly, the LG38WN95C-W is a premium ultrawide monitor that LG released in 2020, has a USB-C input with Thunderbolt 3 support, and the body is white.
Conclusion
LG makes monitors for both office use and gaming, and they're available in a wide range of sizes. Their UltraGear models usually offer great gaming performance with outstanding motion handling. They also produce more 4k and ultrawide monitors than some of their competitors, but their 1440p lineup is fairly limited. LG's options also have limited ergonomics and rarely offer any swivel adjustments, but if that isn't an issue for you, you should be happy with most of their monitors.
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