LG 34GK950F-B Monitor Review

The LG 34GK950F-B has a good design overall. It has a very similar design to the other LG UltraGear monitors we've tested, including the LG 32GK650F-B, but with a wide format curved screen. Unlike the other LG, this model doesn't have an RGB bias-lighting feature. Although it's almost entirely made of plastic, it seems to have a decent build quality, and there are no obvious areas of concern.

The stand supports the LG 34GK950F-B fairly well but doesn't completely eliminate wobble. It's wide but narrow, so it doesn't prevent you from placing objects in front of the display.

The stand has a decent height adjustment and adequate tilt range, but it has a bad swivel range. Due to the wide format, curved screen, it can't rotate to portrait orientation.

Like other UltraGear monitors from LG, there is a red ring on the back of the monitor, but it doesn't have RGB lighting. There is a quick-release on the stand, which is a nice touch, and it can be VESA-mounted if you don't want to use the included stand. There is only basic cable management through a clip on the back of the stand.

The borders on the LG 34GK950F-B are thin on all four sides, and they aren't very distracting.

Due to the curvature of the screen, the LG 34GK950F-B is a bit thicker than most, even when VESA-mounted.

Decent build quality overall. The external panels of the monitor are almost entirely made of plastic, but we didn't notice any potential weak spots or areas of concern.

Most IPS monitors have disappointing native contrast, and the 34GK950F is no exception. This isn't great for gaming in a dark room, especially with dark scenes, as blacks tend to appear gray.

Unfortunately, the LG 34GK950F does not have a local dimming feature. The above video is provided for reference only.

Very good peak brightness, very similar to the 32GK650F-B. There is no noticeable variation in peak brightness with different content, which is great.

Decent peak brightness in HDR on the LG 34GK950F-B. There is almost no variation in peak brightness with different content, which is much better than the LG 34WK95U-W. This monitor is bright enough to deliver a decent HDR gaming experience, but it isn't bright enough for HDR movies.

Like most IPS monitors, the LG 34GK950F has good horizontal viewing angles. The black levels remain relatively constant, and the brightness drop is very gradual, so the image doesn't appear washed out until a very wide angle. Colors also remain accurate to a moderate angle but lose accuracy before the brightness decreases.

This monitor has a good vertical viewing angle. Colors lose accuracy at a minor angle, but the brightness doesn't decrease as quickly, and the black levels remain relatively flat.

Overall, this monitor has excellent gray uniformity. It isn't perfect, though, and the sides of the screen are a bit darker than the rest. In the center of the screen, though, the overall uniformity is great, and in near-dark scenes, it's excellent.

Like most IPS monitors, this display has bad black uniformity. There is noticeable backlight bleed, which may be distracting in dark scenes in a dark room. There is worse bleed from the corners of the display, but due to the curvature of the monitor, the image is partially cropped, so it looks worse in person than the image suggests.

With the most accurate out-of-the-box settings, this monitor has good accuracy. The sRGB picture mode is the most accurate, but unfortunately, the only setting you can adjust in this mode is the brightness, so most people will want to use something else.

In this mode, gamma follows the sRGB target curve well for brighter scenes, but dark scenes are over-darkened significantly. Colors have great accuracy though, and most people won't notice any issues.

After calibration, this monitor has excellent accuracy. Almost all inaccuracies are corrected, except for pure blue, which is still slightly inaccurate. Gamma almost follows the target curve perfectly, and the color temperature is very close to the calibration target of 6500K.

You can download our ICC profile calibration here. This is provided for reference only and should not be used, as the calibration values vary per individual unit even for the same model due to manufacturing tolerances.

s.RGB Picture Mode: Gamer 2 (calibrated)
Adobe RGB Picture Mode: Gamer 2

Excellent SDR color gamut. The LG 34GK950F can display the entire sRGB color space, and has excellent coverage of the wider Adobe RGB color space, great for professional photo editing.

s.RGB Picture Mode: Gamer 2
Adobe RGB Picture Mode: Gamer 2

Outstanding SDR color volume. It can't display dark, saturated colors very well due to the limited contrast, and it can't display very bright blues, but this is normal for most LED displays.

DCI P3 Picture Mode: Gamer 2
Rec. 2020 Picture Mode: Gamer 2

Good HDR color gamut. It has excellent coverage of the DCI P3 used by most current games and movies, but only decent coverage of the wider Rec. 2020 color space.

DCI P3 Picture Mode: Gamer 2
Rec. 2020 Picture Mode: Gamer 2

Overall, the LG 34GK950F has mediocre color volume. It's limited by the HDR color gamut, and it can't display dark, saturated colors very well due to the limited contrast. Pure white is much brighter than colors in HDR.

The LG 34GK950F-B has no signs of temporary image retention, even immediately after displaying our high-contrast static test image for 10 minutes.

This monitor has outstanding gradient performance. There is almost no noticeable banding in any shade.

There is some very slight color bleed, but this shouldn't be noticeable with most content.

The LG 34GK950F-B has great reflection handling, making it an excellent choice in a brighter room.

The LG 34GK950F has an excellent response time. From the adjustable overdrive settings, we recommend the 'Fast' mode, as it delivers clear motion with a very short blur trail, no noticeable overshoot, and only a bit of undershoot in some transitions. 'Faster' delivers a slightly faster response time, but there is significant overshoot in some transitions, especially in dark scenes.

The backlight is completely flicker-free at all brightness levels. There is an optional black-frame insertion feature, which can flicker at either 120Hz or 144Hz, to match the refresh rate. This feature is only supported over DisplayPort, though.

The LG 34GK950F has an excellent refresh rate over DisplayPort. Over HDMI, it's limited to an 85Hz refresh rate, which is decent, but in this mode, it's limited to 8-bit color. It can display 10-bit color over HDMI, but only at 60Hz. It supports FreeSync variable refresh rate technology over both HDMI and DisplayPort, but due to the limited refresh rate over HDMI, the VRR range is limited over HDMI. Over DisplayPort, the VRR range is outstanding, delivering a nearly tear-free gaming experience, even in extremely demanding scenes.

Update: 08/14/2019: We've retested the input lag after updating the monitor to the latest firmware. The scores and text have been updated.

The LG 34GK950F-B has outstanding low input lag. The input lag remains low even with FreeSync or HDR enabled. With the optional black frame insertion feature enabled, the input lag is slightly higher, but still great. The 60Hz input lag is quite a bit higher, which isn't great for console gaming.

When you first receive this monitor, it is very important to update the firmware, as the factory firmware has very high input lag. To update the firmware, the monitor has to be connected to your computer with the included USB adapter, and LG's OnScreen Control software must be installed. When you open the software with the monitor connected, it should automatically detect that a new firmware is available. If it doesn't, your monitor might already have the newest version.

The large, high-resolution screen on the 34GK950F is great for multitasking, as it has an excellent amount of screen real estate.

This monitor has a good selection of inputs, including 2 HDMI ports, and a 2 port USB 3.0 Hub.

There is an analog audio out port, and the volume can be controlled through the monitor's OSD.

There are very few additional features on this display. Like many gaming monitors there is an option to add virtual crosshairs to your favorite games. There is a Black Stabilizer feature, which adjusts the gamma of dark scenes to make it easier to see objects in shadows.

Like most LG monitors, the controls consist of a single joystick nub located under the monitor, in the center. This control works well, and the UI is easy to navigate.

• Quick Setup Guide
• USB-B Cable
• HDMI Cable
• DisplayPort Cable
• Power Adapter & Cable
• Driver/Manual CD