The new LG Ultragear 27GP950 is based on Nano IPS technology to offer a quality image while not neglecting the most important aspect of a gaming monitor: speed.
The gaming sector has exploded in recent years, and it is easy to walk into a store and find all kinds of products aimed at gamers; but these are more demanding than the common user, especially with prices at the level they are at.
The Ultragear 27GP950 is no exception. The price of 893.52 euros is excessive for most, especially considering that its size is only 27 inches. For 300 euros less, LG itself offers huge ultrawide monitors of 35 inches or more. So what makes this one special?
Basically, it’s like comparing a Ferrari to a van. Both will get you there, but one gives you performance the other can only dream of.
This is the LG 27GP950
We are facing one of the most advanced gaming monitors that LG offers, and therefore, all the figures are up to par. For starters, even though the panel size is only 27 inches, the resolution is 4K (3840 x 2160 pixels), which translates into a particularly sharp image, as the pixel density is much higher than it would be. in 32 inches. Typically, 27-inch monitors have 2K resolution, because that’s usually enough for the size; but in this Ultragear, it will be completely impossible to see the pixels no matter how close we get, and we will see the letters and interface elements with great clarity.
Despite this resolution, the refresh rate of this monitor is 144 Hz. Although it is not the fastest on the market, far from it, it is the minimum necessary to enjoy a more fluid experience, and especially, that makes this monitor be perfectly compatible with the new generation consoles, the Xbox Series X and the PlayStation 5.
Especially since LG has spared no expense, and the available connections are capable of taking advantage of the panel’s resolution and speed. The presence of the HDMI 2.1 standard stands out in the two available HDMI inputs, which is the one that will really allow you to obtain 4K at 120 Hz on video consoles. It is an important addition, because not all gaming monitors have it and it is the only one that allows us to get the most out of consoles.
Unfortunately, in return we lose a connection that we do find in other LG monitors: USB-C. In other models, it is possible to use that connection to charge the laptop at the same time that it shows the image, but with this one we have to settle for HDMI and DisplayPort as input ports. We also have USB 3.0, but it only serves as a ‘hub’.
The positive point is that all ports are easily accessible and installation is very easy. I am convinced that LG is the best brand in this regard, since in just a few minutes we can have the monitor working without any difficulty. The base is attached to the panel with a ‘click’, and the base with the two integrated screws. No tools or anything are needed, and the result is impressive. Like other ‘gaming’ products, LG opts for a more striking design than with its work monitors, with very striking red accents and more aggressive geometric shapes. The lighting could not be missing, which in this case is RGB and in the circle on the back of the monitor that surrounds the ports and the base. A lighting that can be configured in a specially dedicated control, a wheel that we can go through various predetermined effects or static lighting with a color, and increase or decrease the brightness. At maximum power, it is capable of illuminating our surroundings, but it is not obtrusive.
NanoIPS technology
This LG model stands out from the rest for being based on Nano IPS technology. It is an improvement over ‘traditional’ IPS panels, and is the alternative to technologies from other manufacturers such as Samsung’s Quantum Dot. The idea is similar, to implement a huge number of small light-reflecting particles, with which it is possible to manipulate it more precisely.
The result is that these panels are capable of displaying a greater number of colors. LG promises that it is capable of covering 98% of the DCI-P3 color spectrum, and I have no reason to doubt it. In my tests, it has been able to display vibrant scenes that are more ‘dull’ on other monitors.
It is a strong point that is most noticeable when we play colorful video games, or simply when we are looking at the photos we have taken; the greater number of colors available allows the content to be displayed with greater fidelity and it shows, and in my case the monitor came perfectly calibrated from the factory. However, we don’t always want that many colors, which is why the monitor comes with an sRGB mode that ‘reduces’ the amount of colors displayed by covering 100% of sRGB, which is ideal for content creators, or simply if we want a more basic representation. .
Of course, it’s still an IPS panel, so it still has the same benefits, including perfect viewing angles. No matter where you look at this monitor from, it always displays colors with the same accuracy, so you don’t have to put yourself in an exact position for the best experience. The brightness is also very good, at 400 cd/m2 according to LG, which in my tests has given good results even with a bright room.
The bad thing is that it also comes with the disadvantages of IPS, namely the representation of blacks. It is something that is especially noticeable in dark settings in our video games, or in movies with scenes with many shadows; in that case, the blacks are not absolute and could be said to be dark grays. But where we will really notice it is in HDR content. Although this monitor has the DisplayHDR 600 certificate, it has achieved it thanks to its brightness and not to the contrast, which is somewhat low. So movies and video games in HDR don’t look very good, to the point where I wouldn’t recommend this monitor if that’s your priority. Unfortunately, the only way to get perfect blacks is with an OLED screen and, at the moment, they are having a hard time getting into the monitor space.
Fast and with many options
But this is a gaming monitor and as such, image quality is important but secondary. What we really want is for it to be fast, and this is where we can say that LG has risen to the occasion.
To begin with, as we have mentioned, the refresh rate is 144 Hz, fast enough for most gamers; only if we are professionals will we notice an improvement with a monitor at 240 Hz or 360 Hz like the ones that already exist. But if that’s not enough, we can still ‘squeeze’ the panel a little more. The 27GP950 includes an ‘overclock’ mode in the configuration, which allows us to increase the refresh rate up to 160 Hz. It really is not something that I recommend to everyone, since after all we are forcing the monitor and that is can translate into a shorter lifetime; LG itself warns in the menu that we can find visual errors if we activate it. Still, in my tests it went well, and it’s nice to have this option, but I’m not sure it’s worth enabling.
As usual, this 27GP950 has adaptive synchronization, and is compatible with both Nvidia’s G-Sync and AMD’s FreeSync; I have been able to test it with the latter without any problem, being recognized by the graphics drivers as a FreeSync Premium monitor.
The response time, the amount of time that passes between each pixel changing, is also on a good level. LG claims that the change from gray to gray takes only 1 ms, but as always, those numbers have to be taken with a grain of salt; in practice, it will always be higher than that, but in my tests I haven’t encountered the typical graphical glitches of high response time, such as ‘ghosting’ (when an object appears to leave a ‘trail’ behind). In fact, this monitor has performed perfectly regardless of the type of game. We have many options to improve the response time, although as always, if we push it too much we run the risk of seeing visual artifacts, although that has not been the case for me.
It’s nice that the 27GP950 has so many options. LG has implemented a different menu than the rest of its products, which allows us to adjust the image just the way we want. We have several default settings, or we can modify the image and aspects such as response speed; It even has curious additions such as an integrated frames per second meter.
Small but tough
The LG Ultragear 27GP950 is the new benchmark for 4K resolution gaming monitors, but it does so at a somewhat high price for its small 27-inch size. However, another way to look at it is that if you’re interested in this monitor, the price shouldn’t be an issue.
And it is that running games at 4K resolution and 144 Hz requires very powerful hardware that not everyone has at their disposal. Even the most powerful graphics cards on the market still struggle in some games at 4K resolution, so taking advantage of 144 Hz, let alone 160 Hz, is difficult. In that context, if you have the right PC, this monitor is the perfect accompaniment. On the other hand, if you have not been able to buy one of the new graphics cards from Nvidia or AMD, it may be more advisable to opt for a 2K resolution monitor, which at this size of 27 inches is still good.