The LG 27GR93U-B is a mid-range gaming monitor. It's one of two 4k, 144Hz monitors in LG's 2023 lineup, with a smaller screen than the LG 32GR93U-B. It's also a lower-end model than the older LG 27GP950-B, which has a higher refresh rate. It has features you'd expect to find in a gaming monitor, like FreeSync variable refresh rate (VRR) support and G-SYNC compatibility. It also supports HDMI 2.1 bandwidth, allowing you to take full advantage of gaming consoles and modern graphics cards. Other than that, it's rather barebones in terms of features, but its audio port supports DTS:X audio, so you can listen to high-quality audio with compatible headphones.
Our Verdict
The LG 27GR93U-B is great for most uses. It excels as a gaming monitor thanks to its 144Hz refresh rate, VRR support, and HDMI 2.1 bandwidth, so it's compatible with a variety of devices. It also has a fast response time at any refresh rate and low input lag for a responsive feel. Besides that, its 4k resolution makes it impressive for general work or content creation, as it delivers sharp text and images. It also performs well in bright rooms thanks to its high peak brightness and great reflection handling. The same can't be said about its dark room performance, like when watching content, as it has a low contrast that makes blacks look gray. It also has limited HDR peak brightness, so highlights don't pop.
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27-inch screen.
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4k resolution for sharp text and images.
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Performs well in bright rooms.
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Wide viewing angles.
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No swivel adjustment.
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Blacks look gray in the dark.
The LG 27GR93U-B is impressive for office use. It has a 4k resolution that results in high pixel density on its 27-inch screen, so it has fantastic text clarity because of this. You won't have any issues using it in a well-lit room either, as it gets very bright and has great reflection handling. It even has wide viewing angles that help when you need to share your screen with someone else, but it lacks swivel adjustment to easily turn the screen. Unfortunately, it lacks many extra productivity features, as it only has two USB ports.
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27-inch screen.
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4k resolution for sharp text and images.
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Performs well in bright rooms.
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Wide viewing angles.
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No swivel adjustment.
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Only has two USB-A ports.
The LG 27GR93U-B is excellent for gaming. It has a 144Hz refresh rate, which is high enough for 4k gaming, and it supports all common VRR formats. It also has a fast response time at any refresh rate, resulting in minimal motion blur, and it has low input lag for a responsive feel. Its HDMI 2.1 bandwidth allows you to take full advantage of gaming consoles like the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. Unfortunately, though, it has a low contrast ratio that makes blacks look gray, so it isn't ideal for dark room gaming.
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144Hz refresh rate and VRR support.
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HDMI 2.1 bandwidth.
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Fast response time.
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Low input lag.
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Blacks look gray in the dark.
The LG 27GR93U-B is good for media consumption. Its 4k resolution delivers detailed images, and it also has sharp image clarity thanks to its high pixel density. It's a good choice if you want to watch shows in a bright room as it has great reflection handling, and it gets bright enough to fight glare. It's also ideal for sharing your screen with others, thanks to its wide viewing angles. That said, it performs worse in dark rooms as blacks look gray, and there isn't a local dimming feature to improve it.
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27-inch screen.
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4k resolution for sharp text and images.
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Performs well in bright rooms.
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Wide viewing angles.
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No swivel adjustment.
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Blacks look gray in the dark.
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No local dimming feature.
The LG 27GR93U-B is impressive for media creation. It has impressive accuracy before calibration in its sRGB mode, and it also displays a wide range of colors. It has a high 4k resolution that helps deliver sharp images, and it performs well in bright rooms thanks to its high peak brightness. It has wide viewing angles that are useful if you often need to share your screen with a coworker or client, but it doesn't have a swivel adjustment to easily turn the screen.
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27-inch screen.
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4k resolution for sharp text and images.
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Performs well in bright rooms.
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Wide viewing angles.
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Impressive accuracy in sRGB mode.
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No swivel adjustment.
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Only has two USB-A ports.
The LG 27GR93U-B is decent for HDR, but it has limitations. This is mainly because it has a low contrast ratio that makes blacks look gray in the dark, and it doesn't have a local dimming feature to improve the picture quality in dark scenes. On top of that, it has limited HDR peak brightness, as highlights don't pop against the rest of the image. While it displays a wide range of colors, it struggles to make those colors look vivid as well.
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Displays wide range of colors.
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Blacks look gray in the dark.
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No local dimming feature.
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Limited HDR brightness.
- 8.2 Mixed Usage
- 8.4 Office
- 8.7 Gaming
- 7.7 Media Consumption
- 8.4 Media Creation
- 6.7 HDR
- Updated Nov 07, 2023: Review published.
- Updated Nov 02, 2023: Early access published.
- Updated Oct 24, 2023: Our testers have started testing this product.
- Updated Oct 03, 2023: The product has arrived in our lab, and our testers will start evaluating it soon.
- Updated Sep 28, 2023: We've purchased the product and are waiting for it to arrive in our lab.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the 27-inch LG 27GR93U, and the results are only valid for this review. While there's the 32-inch LG 32GR93U-B also available, it's a separate monitor.
| Model | Size | Panel Type | Resolution | Max Refresh Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27GR93U-B | 27" | IPS | 4k | 144Hz |
Our unit was manufactured in June 2023; you can see the label here.
Compared To Other Monitors
The LG 27GR93U-B is an excellent 4k gaming monitor that offers HDMI 2.1 bandwidth, VRR support, and a 144Hz refresh rate, so it's ideal for most types of gamers, especially if you like playing detailed games. While it has slightly worse motion handling than the larger LG 32GR93U-B, it's a good alternative if you want something cheaper and smaller. That said, it isn't as versatile as the Gigabyte M27U for other uses like work, so that monitor is the better choice if you want something for better value that costs less.
See our recommendations for the best 4k gaming monitors, the best 4k 144Hz monitors, and the best 32-inch monitors.
The LG 27GP950-B is a higher-end monitor than the LG 27GR93U-B, so it has a few extra features, but they perform similarly otherwise. They each have a native 144Hz refresh rate, but the 27GP950-B has an overclock feature to go up to 160Hz. That said, the motion handling is similar between each. The 27GP950-B also has a local dimming feature, which the 27GR93U-B doesn't have, and it allows it to get brighter in HDR, but the local dimming feature is terrible overall. On the other hand, the 27GR93U-B has better reflection handling and gets brighter, making it the better choice for use in well-lit rooms.
The LG 27GR93U-B and the Gigabyte M27U are both excellent 4k gaming monitors. They have many similar features, especially for gaming, but the LG supports higher HDMI bandwidth, so it doesn't need to use compression for demanding signals like on the Gigabyte. That said, the Gigabyte has a few extra features for productivity, like a USB-C port and KVM switch, making it the better choice for multitasking with different devices.
The LG 32GR93U-B and the LG 27GR93U-B are similar mid-range monitors, with one of the main differences being their sizes. There are still some differences in performance, though, as the 32-inch model has better motion handling, and it also has better HDR color volume for more vivid colors. Another difference is that the 27-inch model has improved brightness, but the 32-inch model has better reflection handling.
The Samsung Odyssey G7/G70B S32BG70 and the LG 27GR93U-B are both excellent 4k, 144Hz gaming monitors. The Samsung has an advantage with motion handling as it has a faster response time at lower refresh rates, but the LG has lower input lag at 60Hz. The Samsung has a bigger 32-inch screen, but that means it has lower pixel density and slightly worse pixel density. Besides that, the LG gets brighter and has better reflection handling, so it's the better choice for use in well-lit rooms.
The ASUS ROG Swift PG27UQR and the LG 27GR93U-B are both excellent 4k gaming monitors. The ASUS has a slightly higher 160Hz refresh rate compared to 144Hz on the LG, but the motion handling is similar between each. The LG does have an advantage with input lag though, as it has lower input lag at 60Hz than the ASUS. The LG gets brighter in SDR and has slightly better reflection handling, so it's better to use in bright rooms, but the ASUS has improved HDR peak brightness.
Test Results
The LG 27GR93U-B has a rather simple design with a dark gray body. The back features a honeycomb pattern, and it has some RGB lighting that you can change with presets. Unfortunately, there's a silver reflective strip underneath the bottom bezel, which can be distracting if you have a bright light source in your room.
The build quality is good. There aren't any obvious quality control issues, but the bottom bezel isn't perfectly flush with the screen. That said, it isn't an issue unless you care about perfect aesthetics. The plastic materials are solid, and while the screen wobbles a bit on the stand, it stabilizes quickly.
The ergonomics are okay, but you can't swivel it to show the screen to someone next to you. You can only rotate into portrait mode in a clockwise direction, which means the inputs are always on top. The stand also has a clip for cable management.
The stand features V-shaped feet, with enough space to put your peripherals between them. The stand supports the screen well, but there's still wobble.
There's a single joystick underneath the center of the screen to control the on-screen display.
- DisplayPort cable
- HDMI cable
- USB-B cable
- Power supply
- Mouse bungee clip (not pictured)
- User documentation
The LG 27GR93U-B has a mediocre contrast ratio. Blacks look gray next to bright highlights, and it doesn't have a local dimming feature to improve it.
This monitor doesn't have a local dimming feature. Although it has a Variable Backlight setting, it only boosts the contrast level in HDR and doesn't turn off any dimming zones. We still film these videos on the monitor so that you can compare the backlight performance with a monitor that has local dimming.
The SDR brightness is impressive. It easily gets bright enough to fight glare, and it maintains its brightness consistently across different content. That said, its minimum brightness is high, which is disappointing if you want to use it in a dark room and you're sensitive to bright lights. These results are from after calibration in the 'Gamer 1' Game Mode with the Brightness at its max.
The LG UltraGear 27GR93U-B has decent HDR brightness. While it gets bright, small highlights don't pop against the rest of the image because it lacks a local dimming feature. It struggles with EOTF tracking as dark scenes are overbrightened, and it has an early roll-off, so highlights don't get very bright. These results are in the 'Gamer 1' Game Mode with the Brightness at its max.
The horizontal viewing angle is good. It's a great choice if you need to share your screen with someone sitting next to you, as they'll see a consistent image from the sides.
The vertical viewing angle is good. While the viewing angles aren't consistently the same when viewing from the top or bottom, you won't notice any issues.
The gray uniformity is good. Although the edges of the screen are darker than the rest, there's a minimal amount of dirty screen effect in the center, which is great.
The black uniformity is decent. As it has a low contrast ratio and lacks a local dimming feature, blacks look gray. However, there isn't too much backlight bleed or blooming around bright objects.
The LG UltraGear 27GR93U-B has impressive accuracy before calibration in the sRGB mode. The white balance and most colors are only slightly inaccurate, but some primary colors are slightly oversaturated. The color temperature is a bit on the cold side, and gamma is higher than the target sRGB curve, so most content is slightly darker than intended. Unfortunately, the 'sRGB' Game Mode locks many settings, including Response Time, so if you want to use any of those settings, you'd have to use another picture mode that has more oversaturated colors, as you can see here.
The accuracy after calibration is fantastic. There are minimal inaccuracies, and you can use any of the settings that were locked out in the sRGB mode.
The SDR color gamut is incredible. It has perfect coverage of the common sRGB color space, and it also has excellent coverage of the Adobe RGB color space used in publishing. However, it oversaturates most colors in that color space, except cyans and blues, which are undersaturated.
The SDR color volume is fantastic. It displays bright colors very well, but it can't display dark colors well due to its low contrast.
The HDR color gamut is amazing. It has remarkable coverage of the DCI-P3 color space, but it struggles with tone mapping as most colors are off. The coverage in the wider Rec. 2020 color space is decent, but once again, it has some problems with tone mapping, as most colors are undersaturated.
The LG UltraGear 27GR93U-B has decent HDR color volume. It's limited by its incomplete color gamut, limited HDR peak brightness, and low contrast ratio, so it can't display bright and dark colors well.
The reflection handling is great. Combined with its high peak brightness, you won't have many issues using it in a well-lit room.
The text clarity is fantastic. Its high pixel density helps result in sharp text, and enabling Windows ClearType (top photo) improves the clarity. These photos are in Windows 10, and you can see them in Windows 11 with ClearType on and with ClearType off.
The LG UltraGear 27GR93U-B has remarkable gradient handling. There's almost no banding in areas of similar color.
To reach the monitor's max refresh rate over DisplayPort, your graphics card needs to support Display Stream Compression (DSC), which any NVIDIA 16 Series or AMD RX 5000 Series and newer graphics card supports.
Both FreeSync and G-SYNC work across a wide refresh rate range over HDMI and DisplayPort connections, and the monitor supports HDMI Forum VRR. It also supports Low Framerate Compensation (LFC) for VRR to continue working at lower refresh rates.
| Overdrive Setting | Response Time Chart | Response Time Tables | Motion Blur Photo |
| Off | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Normal | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Fast | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Faster | Chart | Table | Photo |
The LG 27GR93U-B has a fantastic response time at its max refresh rate of 144Hz. There's minimal motion blur with fast-moving objects, and the recommended Response Time setting of 'Normal' has the fastest total response time of all the settings, without any noticeable overshoot.
| Overdrive Setting | Response Time Chart | Response Time Tables | Motion Blur Photo |
| Off | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Normal | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Fast | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Faster | Chart | Table | Photo |
The response time at 120Hz is excellent. Like at the max refresh rate, there's minimal motion blur, and the recommended overdrive setting is once again 'Normal' because it has the fastest total response time with less overshoot than the higher settings.
| Overdrive Setting | Response Time Chart | Response Time Tables | Motion Blur Photo |
| Off | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Normal | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Fast | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Faster | Chart | Table | Photo |
The response time at 60Hz is impressive. Unlike at higher refresh rates, the recommended Response Time setting is 'Off' because the higher settings have too much overshoot. This means you may have to change the setting if the frame rate drops or if you change games, but the 'Off' setting is still good enough to use at any refresh rate.
This monitor has no optional backlight strobing feature to reduce persistence blur.
The backlight remains flicker-free at all brightness levels, which helps reduce eye strain if you're sensitive to it.
The LG 27GR93U has low input lag for a responsive feel while gaming.
Thanks to the monitor's HDMI 2.1 bandwidth, there aren't any compatibility issues with the PS5 as it supports everything it offers.
This monitor works well with the Xbox Series X|S, but you need to enable the HDMI override setting on the console for 1440p @ 60Hz to work, which also disables VRR.
The 3.5mm audio output serves as a combo jack with audio out and mic in, but you need to have the USB-B cable connected to your computer to fully use it. It also supports DTS Headphones:X audio passthrough for headphones that support it.
The LG 27GR93U works well with macOS. Although it defaults to a 1080p resolution, you just need to change it to a 4k resolution. With a USB-C to DisplayPort cable, there's a bug with VRR where there's a grey bar that appears on top, which causes VRR to stop working. You need to exit the full-screen mode and go back in for it to work properly again. Over HDMI with an HDMI 2.1 MacBook, the max refresh rate is 144Hz without VRR, but it's limited to a max of 120Hz with VRR. If you're using a MacBook with either type of connection, windows return to their original position when reopening the lid or waking it up from sleep.
The LG 27GR93U has a few extra features, including:
- Black Stabilizer: Adjusts the gamma so that it's easier to see opponents in dark areas.
- Crosshair: Adds a virtual crosshair that your game's anti-cheat tool won't detect, giving you a competitive advantage.
- DFC: Changes the contrast based on the content.
- DTS:X Headphones: The monitor offers a few different sound modes to use with DTS:X compatible devices.
- Hexagon Lighting: This is the setting to adjust the RGB lighting on the back of the monitor.
- Variable Backlight: Boosts the contrast level in HDR, but it isn't a local dimming setting.
