The LG 32GN600-B is a 32-inch, 1440p monitor with a VA panel. It's nearly identical to the LG 32GN650-B but with a much simpler stand and worse ergonomics. It has a 165Hz refresh rate with native FreeSync variable refresh rate (VRR) support and works with NVIDIA's G-SYNC Compatible feature. It's an entry-level model that's fairly limited in extra features. However, it still has add-ons that most gamers would expect, like crosshair and black stabilizer features to give you a competitive advantage while gaming.
Our Verdict
The LG 32GN600 is a decent monitor for most uses. It has low input lag and a fast response time, making it a great choice for gamers. The large, relatively high-resolution screen is decent for office use or media creators but has terrible ergonomics and poor viewing angles. It has great contrast and decent black uniformity, so it's a decent choice for HDR gaming or watching videos in a dark room.
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Fast refresh rate.
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Great response time at the max refresh rate.
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Great screen real estate.
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Image degrades at an angle.
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Terrible ergonomics.
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Can't display wide color gamut.
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No local dimming.
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Just okay text clarity.
The LG UltraGear 32GN600-B is a satisfactory office monitor. The large, relatively high-resolution screen is great for multitasking, but the pixel density is low, and text clarity is just okay. It has decent reflection handling and decent peak brightness in SDR, so glare won't be an issue for most people unless you're in a bright room. Unfortunately, it has narrow viewing angles, and the stand has terrible ergonomics.
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Decent SDR peak brightness and reflection handling.
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Fantastic accuracy before calibration.
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Great screen real estate.
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Image degrades at an angle.
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Terrible ergonomics.
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Can't display wide color gamut.
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No local dimming.
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Just okay text clarity.
The LG 32GN600 is a great gaming monitor. It has a great response time at the max refresh rate, but like most VA monitors, there's noticeable black smearing. It also has fantastic low input lag, supports FreeSync VRR technology, and is G-SYNC compatible. The large, relatively high-resolution screen delivers an immersive gaming experience, but it has narrow viewing angles, so it isn't recommended for co-op gaming.
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Fast refresh rate.
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Great response time at the max refresh rate.
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Low input lag.
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Great screen real estate.
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Black smearing in dark scenes.
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Terrible ergonomics.
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Can't display wide color gamut.
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No local dimming.
The LG 32GN600 is a decent monitor for watching videos. The large, relatively high-resolution screen delivers a more immersive feel when watching videos, but the narrow viewing angles make it a poor choice for watching with other people. It has decent reflection handling and decent peak brightness in SDR, so glare won't be an issue in a moderately-lit room, and it looks good in a dark room thanks to its great contrast and decent black uniformity.
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Decent SDR peak brightness and reflection handling.
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Fantastic accuracy before calibration.
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Great screen real estate.
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Image degrades at an angle.
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Terrible ergonomics.
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Can't display wide color gamut.
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No local dimming.
The LG UltraGear 32GN600 is a decent monitor for media creators. The large, relatively high-resolution screen makes it easier to see more of your workflow at once, but the lower pixel density results in just okay text clarity. It has an excellent SDR color gamut but has limited coverage of the Adobe RGB color space. Unfortunately, the stand has terrible ergonomics, and the image degrades at an angle, so it isn't a good choice if you have to share your screen with someone else.
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Excellent SDR color gamut.
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Decent SDR peak brightness and reflection handling.
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Fantastic accuracy before calibration.
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Great screen real estate.
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Image degrades at an angle.
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Terrible ergonomics.
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Can't display wide color gamut.
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No local dimming.
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Just okay text clarity.
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Great screen real estate.
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Can't display wide color gamut.
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No local dimming.
- 7.2 Mixed Usage
- 6.5 Office
- 7.9 Gaming
- 7.4 Media Consumption
- 7.2 Media Creation
- 6.6 HDR
- Updated Jan 11, 2023: Added text for the macOS compatibility box added as part of test bench 1.2.
- Updated Jan 10, 2023: Updated to Test Bench 1.2, resulting in changes to the results and scores with the Response Time and Input Lag. Added tests for Console Compatibility and macOS compatibility and made minor changes to other tests, which you can see in our Changelog.
- Updated Dec 16, 2022: Updated the text for clarity and accuracy throughout.
- Updated Sep 02, 2022: Compared the ergonomics on this monitor to the LG 32GN63T-B, which is a slightly higher-end model.
- Updated Sep 30, 2021: Review published.
- Updated Sep 27, 2021: Early access published.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the 32-inch LG 32GN600-B, part of LG's UltraGear gaming monitor lineup. There are other similar monitors in LG's UltraGear lineup with various configurations, and you can see the differences between them below, but the results aren't valid for those models.
| Model | Size | Panel Type | Resolution | Max Refresh Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27GN650-B | 27" | IPS | 1080p | 144Hz |
| 27GN750-B | 27" | IPS | 1080p | 240Hz |
| 32GN600-B | 32" | VA | 1440p | 165Hz |
| 32GN650-B | 32" | VA | 1440p | 165Hz |
| 27GP850-B | 27" | IPS | 1440p | 180Hz |
| 32GP850-B | 32" | IPS | 1440p | 180Hz |
Our unit was manufactured in June 2021; you can see the label here.
Compared To Other Monitors
The LG UltraGear 32GN600 is a basic gaming monitor that doesn't stand out against the competition. It's great for gaming, with low input lag and a great response time, but there are far better options for just a bit more, like the LG 32GP850-B or even the Gigabyte M27Q if you're on a tight budget. Those monitors have wider viewing angles, making them better for co-op gaming, and have better motion handling.
For more options, check out our recommendations for the best budget gaming monitors, the best 32-inch monitors, and the best 1440p monitors.
The LG 32GN650-B and the LG 32GN600-B are nearly identical. The only significant difference between them is the stand. The 32GN650-B has a more advanced stand with much better ergonomics, so it's easier to adjust it to an ideal viewing position.
The LG 27GN800-B and the LG 32GN600-B are both great gaming monitors, but the best one depends on your needs. The 32GN600-B has a VA panel, and it's best suited for a dark room, with deep blacks and decent black uniformity. The 27GN800-B has an IPS panel, which is best suited for a brighter environment, and it has better viewing angles and better reflection handling. The 27GN800-B is a better choice for gaming, as it has a much faster response time, so there's less blur behind fast-moving objects.
The LG 32GP850-B and the LG 32GN600-B use different panel technologies, each with strengths and weaknesses, but overall, the 32GP850-B is better for most people. The 32GP850 has better ergonomics, much better viewing angles, and a much faster response time. The 32GN600-B, on the other hand, has much better contrast and better black uniformity, so it's a better choice for a dark room.
The LG 27GL650F-B and the LG 32GN600-B use different panel technologies, each with strengths and weaknesses. The 32GN600-B has a VA panel, with much better contrast and better black uniformity, so it's a better choice for a dark room. The 27GL650F-B has an IPS panel, with better viewing angles, and it also has much better ergonomics and a smaller, lower-resolution screen.
The Gigabyte M27Q is a much better monitor than the LG 32GN600-B for most people. The Gigabyte has wider viewing angles and better ergonomics, so it's a bit more versatile. The Gigabyte is also much better for gaming, with a significantly faster response time, especially at 60Hz. On the other hand, the LG is better for a dark room, as it has better contrast and better black uniformity.
The LG 32GN600-B and the LG 32GN63T-B are very similar monitors. The 32GN63T-B is a slightly higher-end version whose stand is more versatile as it has much better ergonomics. Other than that, both monitors are very similar, but the 32GN600-B has better motion handling.
The LG 32GN600-B is better than the AOC CQ32G1. The LG has better black uniformity, much better gradient handling, and a faster response time. Unlike the AOC, the LG supports HDR, but this doesn't add much, as it can't display a wide color gamut and can't get very bright in HDR. On the other hand, the AOC has better viewing angles.
Test Results
The LG UltraGear 32GN600 has a flat, 32-inch panel. It has a clean and simple design, and the stand is very simple, with almost no ergonomic adjustments.
The build quality is decent. It's entirely plastic, and there's very little flex to the panels, but it feels pretty basic. Although there's nothing that stands out as problematic, there's nothing special about it, either.
Unfortunately, it has terrible ergonomics, as you can only tilt it a bit. If you care about ergonomics, then check out the LG 32GN63T-B.
The stand is different from the one included with the LG 32GN650-B. It has a similar overall design, but the V-shaped base lays flat on the desk and takes up quite a bit of space. The stand is simple, but it supports the monitor well.
Like most LG monitors, the LG 32GN600 has a single joystick that you use to navigate the on-screen display. It works well and is very easy to use.
- Power supply
- DisplayPort cable
- Mouse bungee hook
- User guides and CD
The LG 32GN600 has great contrast, so blacks look black in a dark room, but it doesn't have a local dimming feature to further improve it.
This monitor doesn't have a local dimming feature. We still film these videos on the monitor so you can compare the backlight performance with a monitor that has local dimming.
The LG UltraGear 32GN600 has just decent peak brightness in SDR. It's bright enough for most viewing conditions but not very bright ones, and there's no variation in brightness with different scenes, which is great. These results are from after calibration in the 'Gamer 1' Picture Mode with Brightness set to its max.
Unfortunately, this monitor has mediocre peak brightness in HDR. It isn't bright enough to deliver an impactful cinematic experience in HDR, as small highlights don't stand out.
These results are in the 'Gamer 2' Picture Mode with HDR enabled and Brightness set to max.
This monitor has a disappointing horizontal viewing angle. As you move off-center, the image appears washed out. It can be an issue even if you're sitting too close directly in front of it, as the sides of the screen can appear non-uniform.
Once again, it has a poor vertical viewing angle. This monitor isn't a good choice if you often share your screen with someone standing beside you.
The gray uniformity is excellent. The sides of the screen are noticeably darker than the center, but there's minimal dirty screen effect in the center, which is good for watching sports.
The LG 32GN600-B has decent black uniformity. There's some backlight bleed along the top edge and a bit of cloudiness, but very little blooming.
The LG UltraGear 32GN600 has fantastic accuracy before calibration. Gamma is close to the sRGB target curve, but dark scenes are crushed a bit. The white balance and color accuracy are excellent overall, but some colors are oversaturated, including pure greens and yellows, and it's because it doesn't have an sRGB mode to clamp the colors to the sRGB color space. The color temperature is a bit cool, but it's not off by much.
After calibration to the 6500K white point, the accuracy is fantastic, and there are no noticeable issues. Gamma is extremely close to the sRGB target curve, and the color temperature is very close to the 6500K target. Colors are far more accurate, and they're no longer oversaturated.
It has an excellent SDR color gamut. It can display the entire sRGB color space used by most desktop and web content, as well as most games. Coverage of the wider Adobe RGB color space is decent but might be too low for professional users.
This monitor has a superb color volume in SDR. Despite the relatively high contrast ratio, it still can't display dark saturated colors very well but otherwise fills out most of its color volume.
This monitor has an okay color gamut in HDR and can't display a wide color gamut. It has good coverage of the most common DCI-P3 color space, which is good for most current HDR content, but coverage of the wider Rec. 2020 color space is sub-par.
This monitor has mediocre color volume in HDR. It's mainly limited by the incomplete color gamuts in both DCI-P3 and Rec. 2020.
This monitor has decent reflection handling. The matte finish absorbs direct reflections, reducing their intensity by spreading them out, but it struggles to keep up with strong light sources. It's fine if you want to use this monitor in a moderately-lit room, but it isn't ideal for very bright environments.
Unfortunately, due to the relatively low pixel density, the text clarity is just okay. There are some noticeable issues on curved edges and diagonal lines even after running the ClearType wizard on Windows (top photo).
This monitor has fantastic gradient handling. There's very little banding in any shade, which is great.
This monitor has a fast native refresh rate. It supports AMD's FreeSync VRR technology, and although it isn't officially certified, G-SYNC also works on it, but only over DisplayPort. FreeSync also works over HDMI, but it has a maximum refresh rate of 144Hz.
| Overdrive Setting | Response Time Chart | Response Time Tables | Motion Blur Photo |
| faster | Chart | Table | Photo |
| fast | Chart | Table | Photo |
| normal | Chart | Table | Photo |
| off | Chart | Table | Photo |
This monitor has a great response time at the maximum refresh rate of 165Hz. Like most gaming monitors, you can adjust the pixel overdrive, and the 'Fast' Response Time setting rate delivers the best overall performance, but there's a bit of overshoot. Unfortunately, like most VA monitors, there's blacking smearing behind fast-moving dark objects. It's noticeable even on the 'Fastest' overdrive setting and gets a bit worse on slower modes.
| Overdrive Setting | Response Time Chart | Response Time Tables | Motion Blur Photo |
| faster | Chart | Table | Photo |
| fast | Chart | Table | Photo |
| normal | Chart | Table | Photo |
| off | Chart | Table | Photo |
The UltraGear LG 32GN600 has a decent response time at 60Hz. Unlike at higher refresh rates, the 'Normal' Response Time setting delivers the best results overall as there's too much overshoot with 'Fast' and 'Faster'. It means you'll have to change settings when changing sources or the frame rate of your game drops. Sadly, there's still noticeable black smearing and blur behind fast-moving objects with the 'Normal' setting.
The LG UltraGear 32GN600 has an optional backlight strobing feature, commonly called black frame insertion (BFI), to improve the appearance of motion. Unfortunately, it's only available in the upper range of refresh rates, and the timing is a bit off, causing some duplications. Like most monitors, you can't enable it at the same time as the variable refresh rate feature. Note that our scoring is only based on the refresh rate range supported by this feature and doesn't reflect how well the feature performs.
This monitor has a completely flicker-free backlight at all backlight levels, which is great and helps reduce eye strain.
This monitor has fantastic low input lag, resulting in a very responsive gaming experience. Enabling the variable refresh rate feature causes the input lag to increase slightly, but it isn't noticeable. We couldn't measure the input lag with a 10-bit HDR signal, as the maximum refresh rate of this monitor isn't supported over HDMI, and we can only measure HDR input lag over HDMI.
For the most part, this monitor works well with recent M1 Macbooks. Windows return to their original position when waking from sleep, but like most monitors, they don't return to their original positions if you just close the lid. Unfortunately, HDR isn't displayed properly and appears extremely washed out, with a maximum brightness of around 100 cd/m². The variable refresh rate feature works well in games, but like most displays, it flickers a bit on the desktop or if the frame rate in your game drops close to the minimum refresh rate.
This monitor has a few extra features, but it isn't as well-equipped as the higher-end LG UltraGear monitors.
- Crosshair: Adds a virtual crosshair as an overlay to any game. Unlike software crosshairs, this virtual overlay can't be detected by the game.
- Black Stabilizer: Adjusts gamma to make it easier to spot objects/players in dark scenes without adjusting bright scenes.
