Our Verdict
The LG 34GK950F-B is a good monitor for most uses. It's a great choice for office use, especially in a brighter environment, and it has excellent screen real estate, so you can have multiple windows opened side-by-side. It's also a great gaming monitor, as it has a fast response time, low input lag, and support for FreeSync variable refresh rate. However, it isn't well-suited for dark rooms due to its poor contrast ratio and bad black uniformity, and while it supports HDR, it can't get bright enough to make highlights pop in HDR movies.
- Excellent response time.
- Excellent low input lag.
- Excellent viewing angles.
- Bad black uniformity.
- Sub-par contrast ratio.
- Mediocre reflection handling.
The LG 34GK950F-B is a good monitor for office use. It has a large screen size that's great for multitasking, and its 1440p resolution makes text look incredibly sharp. It has a very good peak brightness that's suitable for well-lit rooms and its wide viewing angles make it easy to share work with your colleagues. Although it can't be used in portrait mode due to its wide format, it has decent height and tilt adjustment range.
- Excellent low input lag.
- Excellent viewing angles.
- Mediocre reflection handling.
The LG 34GK950F-B is a great gaming monitor. It has a great response time, excellent low input lag, and a high refresh rate. It supports FreeSync variable refresh rate technology, which is also compatible with NVIDIA graphics cards, but unfortunately, it has limited ergonomics, and it doesn't look as good in dark rooms.
- Excellent response time.
- Excellent low input lag.
- VRR support.
- Bad black uniformity.
- Sub-par contrast ratio.
The LG 34GK950F-B is a good monitor for media consumption. The large, high-resolution screen is great for watching videos, and it has good viewing angles, perfect for sharing the latest trends with a few friends. It has excellent gray uniformity, with almost no noticeable dirty screen effect, and visibility is good in well-lit rooms due to its good peak brightness. Its reflection handling is mediocre, though, so it's best to avoid having light shining directly on the screen.
- Excellent low input lag.
- Outstanding gradient handling.
- Excellent viewing angles.
- Bad black uniformity.
- Sub-par contrast ratio.
- Mediocre reflection handling.
The LG 34GK950F-B is a very good monitor for media creation. It has an excellent amount of screen real estate, so you can see more of your project at once. It also has good viewing angles, perfect for sharing your screen with your clients or coworkers. Its out-of-the-box color accuracy is impressive, with full coverage of the sRGB color space and excellent coverage of the Adobe RGB color space, and it can display a wide color gamut as well.
- Excellent low input lag.
- Outstanding gradient handling.
- Excellent viewing angles.
- Bad black uniformity.
- Sub-par contrast ratio.
- Mediocre reflection handling.
The LG 34GK950F-B is a decent monitor for HDR gaming. It's limited by the monitor's disappointing contrast ratio and bad black uniformity, as well as its lack of a local dimming feature. Other than that, it has great gaming performance, with excellent response time, FreeSync support, and excellent low input lag.
- Excellent response time.
- Excellent low input lag.
- VRR support.
- Bad black uniformity.
- Sub-par contrast ratio.
Changelog
- Updated Jun 04, 2020: We've retested the input lag as we've noticed some inconsistencies. All the results are still within margin of error, except when playing with VRR @ 60Hz, which has increased. The score has been adjusted accordingly.
- Updated Feb 17, 2020: Converted to Test Bench 1.1.
- Updated Aug 14, 2019: We retested the input lag with the latest firmware, and found it decreased significantly. The scores and text have been updated.
- Updated Aug 14, 2019: Review published.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the 34 inch 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.
Popular Monitor Comparisons
The LG 34GK950F is a very good ultrawide monitor overall, but like most IPS monitors, it has a very low contrast ratio and its black uniformity is quite bad. However, it has one of the best response time and input lag for a responsive gaming experience. For other options, check out our recommendations for the best ultrawide gaming monitors, the best gaming monitors, and the best gaming monitors for PS4.
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.
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.
We buy and test more than 30 monitors each year, all of which we purchase ourselves, without cherry-picked units or samples. We put a lot into each unbiased, straight-to-the-point review, and there's a whole process from purchasing to publishing, involving multiple teams and people. We do more than just use the monitor for a week; we use specialized, custom tools to measure various aspects and deliver objective, data-driven results. We also consider multiple factors before making any recommendations, including the monitor's cost, its performance compared to the competition, and whether it's easy to find.
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