- Table of Contents
- Intro
- Design
- Picture Quality
- Motion
- Inputs
- Features
- Sizes and Variants
- Compared
- Conclusion
- Discussions
LG 34GK950F-B
MONITOR REVIEW
The LG 34GK950F-B is a very good monitor overall, and it delivers a great gaming experience. It has an excellent response time and an optional black frame insertion feature that can further improve motion clarity. This monitor supports AMD's FreeSync variable refresh rate technology, even when connected to a recent NVIDIA graphics card, and it has outstanding low input lag. It delivers decent picture quality, with very good peak brightness in SDR and great reflection handling. This monitor supports HDR, but it's not bright enough for a great HDR movie experience. Unfortunately, like most IPS monitors, it doesn't look as good in a dark room.
| Design | 7.5 |
| Picture Quality | 7.4 |
| Motion | 9.1 |
| Inputs | 9.2 |
- Excellent response time.
- Excellent low input lag
- Outstanding gradient handling.
- Bad black uniformity.
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Design
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.
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.
Picture Quality
Overall, the 34GK950F delivers decent picture quality. It has very good peak brightness in SDR and great reflection handling, so glare shouldn't be an issue in a brighter room. It also has very good viewing angles, excellent gray uniformity, and an excellent SDR color gamut. It supports HDR, and can display a wide color gamut, but has only decent peak brightness in HDR, so it isn't great for watching most HDR movies. Like most IPS monitors, it has disappointing contrast and bad black uniformity, with some noticeable backlight bleed, which may be distracting in dark scenes in a dark room.
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.
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.
Motion
The LG 34GK950F-B has excellent motion handling. It has an excellent response time, and the backlight is completely flicker-free. There is an optional black frame insertion feature that can improve the appearance of motion, but it's only supported over DisplayPort. This monitor supports AMD's FreeSync variable refresh rate technology, even when connected to a recent NVIDIA graphics card, but there's also a native NVIDIA G-SYNC model if you want to get the most out of your NVIDIA graphics card.
| Mode | Response Time Chart | Motion Blur Photo |
| Off | Chart | Photo |
| Normal | Chart | Photo |
| Fast | Chart | Photo |
| Faster | Chart | Photo |
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 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.
Inputs
The LG 34GK950F-B has outstanding low input lag at the native refresh rate, even with FreeSync, HDR, or the black frame insertion feature enabled. The 60Hz input lag is very high though, which isn't great for console gaming. The large, high-resolution screen delivers an excellent amount of screen real-estate, great for multitasking. It has a good selection of inputs, including a two-port USB hub.
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.
There is an analog audio out port, and the volume can be controlled through the monitor's OSD.
Features
The LG 34GK950F has a few additional features. It supports HDR10, but has no internal speakers, and it doesn't support picture-in-picture or picture-by-picture. There aren't many additional gaming features, but it's possible to add virtual crosshairs to any game.
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.
Differences between Sizes and Variants
We tested the 34" 34GK950F-B, which is the only size available. The 34GK950 is also available with G-SYNC instead of FreeSync. That model is known as the 34GK950G-B, and we don't expect it to perform the same, as it's limited to a 120Hz refresh rate. There are other models in LG's UltraGear lineup, some of which are listed in the table below.
If someone comes across a different type of panel or if their 34GK950F doesn't correspond to our review, let us know and we will update the review. Note that some tests such as the gray uniformity may vary between individual units.
| Model | Size | Resolution | Refresh Rate | Notes |
| 32GK650F-B | 32" | 1440p | 144Hz | FreeSync |
| 32GK650G-B | 32" | 1440p | 144Hz | G-SYNC |
| 27GK750F-B | 27" | 1080p | 240Hz | FreeSync |
| 32GK850F-B | 32" | 1440p | 144Hz | FreeSync |
| 32GK850G-B | 32" | 1440p | 144Hz | G-SYNC |
| 34GK950F-B | 34" | 3440x1440 | 144Hz | FreeSync |
| 34GK950G-B | 34" | 3440x1440 | 120Hz | G-SYNC |
The 34GK950F we reviewed was manufactured in April 2019.
Compared to other Monitors
The LG 34GK950F is a great ultrawide gaming monitor overall. See also our reviews for the best ultrawide gaming monitors, the best gaming monitors, and the best gaming monitors for PS4.
The LG 34GK950F-B is a bit better than the Dell Alienware AW3418DW for most uses. The 34GK950F supports HDR, and it has an optional black frame insertion feature for clearer motion. The LG supports FreeSync variable refresh rate technology and has a faster refresh rate. The AW3418DW, on the other hand, has native G-SYNC support, great if you want to get the most from your NVIDIA graphics card.
The LG 34GK950F-B is better than the ASUS ROG Swift PG348Q for most uses, but some people might prefer the ASUS for gaming. The LG supports HDR, has an optional black frame insertion feature, and has a higher refresh rate. The biggest difference for gamers is that the LG supports AMD's FreeSync variable refresh rate technology, whereas the ASUS supports NVIDIA's G-SYNC technology.
The LG 34GK950F-B and the LG 32GK650F-B use different panel technologies, each with their own advantages and disadvantages. The 34" model uses an IPS panel, with much wider viewing angles, and it has a wide format aspect ratio, which some people prefer. The 32" model has a VA panel, which looks better in a dark room.
The LG 34GK950F-B is much better than the LG 34UC79G-B for most uses. The 34GK950F has a much higher native resolution, supports HDR, and has better reflection handling.
Conclusion
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