LG UltraGear QHD 27-Inch Gaming Monitor 27GL850-B, Nano IPS 1ms (GtG) with HDR 10 Compatibility and NVIDIA G-SYNC, 144Hz, Black

EDIT: I bought a second 27GL850-B manufactured 7/2021 as used like new (it was brand new in a damaged box, 0 hours power on time). Its great to have matching monitors for work, and it says a lot about the quality of this panel that I bought a second. Pros: Well reviewed panel, Freesync works on Nvidia/Intel now + low framerate compensation means the display doesnt tear below 48 FPS, ICC profiles exist for download (TFT Central), only needed minor tweaks out of box to make the display really pop, panel supports 10 bit, display is light - perfect for VESA mounting. Backlight bleed is minimal, very pleasant surprise. Movies and Youtube look fine on this gaming display, just a shame that 1440p/4k havent began to replace 1080p video as default. Amazon doing monthly payments on this is a great deal. Cons: I had to exchange the first panel I received. First panel had one dead pixel out of the box, and the vertical edges of the display were much dimmer than the rest of the screen on light backgrounds. Replacement panel is fine. USB hub on the monitor is unpowered, limiting what can be plugged into it. Very odd choice by LG to save a few cents on the USB hub, my Logitech G910 keyboard wouldnt even power up connected to it - HDR on this screen is terrible, leave it off. Notes: The USB hub is used for firmware upgrades - keep the cable handy no matter how useless the USB hub is. I upgraded from an Asus ROG Swift PG278QR - that display came with about 5 dead pixels and always looked washed out. It also has a firmware bug that affects the display, and backlight bleed was an issue too. And it even cost more than this LG panel! The LG 27GL850 is a huge upgrade in quality! Watch some reviews before you buy - Hardware Unboxed goes over this display very nicely. This monitor uses DisplayPort 1.4 - you may need to update the firmware of your graphics card to support it or you will not have POST/boot output on the screen. Nvidia has a download for updating older cards - I had a 1080 Ti when I bought my first LG and it was painless to run the upgrade. If you cannot upgrade, you can change the monitor to DP 1.1 or 1.2 via the on screen menu. Im still trying to find the optimal brightness - TFT Central recommends brightness of 23 with a boost to red - it was too dim and way too red, so Im guessing LG has adjusted out-of-the-box calibration on these panels since launching them. To enable 10 bit support, use the Nvidia control panel (or AMDs equivalent) and leave HDR off in Windows. My current display calibration: Gamer 1, Adaptive Sync On, Response Time Fast, Brightness 35, Contrast 70, Gamma Mode 2, Color Temp Custom, RGB all 50, DFC Off, Smart Energy Saving Off. Im using the TFT Central ICC profile in Windows 11.

No problems Excellent performance and resolution

I just started using it and I love it. It has different configurations according to the game you will play and also for daily use. The response time and refresh rate are excellent combined with the DAS feature LG monitors have.

I bought this with the idea that I would easily have a easy advantage over other consumers of a different product due to lower resolution and low fps, and sure enough, I was wrong but at least the visuals look nice and the gaming experience has now become more enjoyable due to the upgraded hertz on the monitor. Warzone 2 is even more lit now. I’m better than the majority, thank you. Minecraft also runs amazing with mods.

Ive really enjoyed this monitor so far. I was experiencing some screen splitting issues when playing on my PC with my previous monitor (max 60Hz refresh rate), and switching to this monitor immediately fixed that issue. I like that its QHD, and the quality and sharpness of the picture is solid. The only minor complaint I have is that its a bit finnicky getting the proper balance of brightness and contrast to convey atmosphere in darker environments without completely stripping out the details in darker areas of a map. But its not so terrible that Im not able to find a balance that works. One issue that isnt so much related to gaming is that its spotty in its support for certain docking stations (or any other non-direct connection). I, like many others, have recently had to WFH full-time, and if I try to use this monitor with a Dell docking station, theres an annoying brightness flicker on the screen. A support agent told me this is a known issue and that direct connections are recommended/preferred. Not a dealbreaker, but I figured its worth mentioning to anyone looking at this monitor.

1/10/2021 I started with a TN panel back in 2016 and was always afraid of going to IPS monitors only because the backlight bleeding issues, this monitor however surprisingly barely has any! I see the backlight bleed on the top left of my screen but only when I actually look for it, I know its there but I am actually enjoying this monitor, I kept being afraid of buying only because its an IPS and I thought I was going to return it but I actually fell in love instantly lmao I give the backlight bleed a 8/10 but Im definitely going to get use to it, I just wish we had 27 oled gaming displays with pixel shift or something, eh whatever lmao Im glad I bought it, watching videos didnt really help into buying it so I said screw it, and bought it after deleting it from my cart like 20 times due to my fear of having a bad panel but my god I got lucky or something :D 1/10/2021 I have found an issue with the 3.5mm audio port in the back, it produces static, and music sounds terrible on it, I had to put my speakers back into the actual computer but whatever lmao, sounds better that way, the USB ports produce enough power for my Keyboard and Mouse so thank god, no issues so far with that :D

TL:DR - great monitor, recommended, great color, almost as good as an IPS, frame rates are perfect. Good solution without requiring tons of GPU power like 4K. Pros - Color - Blacks/Contrast - Refresh Rate - Resolution/aspect ratio Cons - Possible QC issues - One stuck pixel I have had this monitor for about two months now. The monitor overall is a fantastic display and I personally really love the high refresh rate for gaming while having good color reproduction, and decent blacks in comparison to TN panels. I have always been one to buy IPS only and sacrifice having 100, 120, or faster refresh rates for gaming for the sake of color and image quality. While I feel IPS panels do still have stronger color especially the high cost pro panels, this is a far better color option than TN panels and allows for the high refresh rate as well, so personally it is a happy compromise in my opinion. My only complaint is I have owned a good number $300, to $500, to even $600+ monitors and all have come with no issues, no stuck pixels, no dead pixels, nothing, this particular one came with a stuck white pixel. Which indicates a possible QC issues for LG on these panels. Fortunately it is in a spot that I cant even notice or tell its there and it is only one, I have attempted to run tools and videos that would repair it and unstick the pixel as they say the pixel but, to no luck so far. I could have simply shipped it back to amazon and they would have gladly exchanged it but, honestly this one pixel is in a spot that is of little impact to its day to day usage and gets lost in gaming all together. Near the upper right bezel, so very minimal in its distraction. So I decided to live with it and really have no complaint otherwise about this display. I have had 1080p monitors, 21:9 3440 and even 2560 resolution ultrawides, and to be honest I find this to be the ideal sweat spot for productivity, compatibility with games and content, as well as the least GPU intensive while getting higher pixel counts and an overall better usable resolution. I also prefer the height of this resolution wise and aspect ratio to the lower cost ultra wides with similar resolutions. I debated on 4K and that is just in my opinion not quite here yet, takes way too much GPU to get good frame rate in games and some applications just do not scale well on 4k still. While I would prefer the PPI of 4k, this is the better of the two while still getting great frame rates in games. With my laptop which is an Alienware R15 from 2017 it has a GTX 1060 and this display at full resolution and most things ultra or high quality I tend to get 90+ to 130+ frame rate maximums and average about 60 FPS which is a good sweet spot. I am in the process of building a new desktop but, I found this pretty good for a resolution jump from the native 1080p of the built in display to this. Which is even better than I use to get with my 3440 21:9 UW display I had a year or two back. I do miss 16:10 aspect ratios as the standard for computers however. Miss the extra height. Oh well 16:9 is what we get now.

This monitor has been great for gaming. There are two quirks I would note, though. First, the monitor doesnt have any speakers, but my Windows 11 wants to send sound to it anyway. Im not sure if thats a monitor issue, or a Windows 11 issue, but once I shifted the settings to my headset, things work great. The other quirk is that the monitor is very bright. Like, almost too bright, even when I have brightness turned way down. I cant play with it in a dark room because it is too hard on my eyes in that setting. But others might like that brightness more than I do.

Very good monitor. Right sized width and height. Graphics are high end resolution. Colors very well matched to images viewed. If you don’t have a high end graphics card in your laptop, you probably won’t be able to use it. I couldn’t get my HP X360 laptop to hook up with any monitors except an plain vanilla 1080 resolution monitor. So being so frustrated after months of trying all kinds of monitors from major manufacturers I ended up investing in a custom built desktop computer. My laptop just couldn’t work. Mine is a AMD Ryzen 9 3900x with AMD Radeon graphics card and a 1000 PSU. I designed and built it. This monitor is a worthy piece of equipment for matching with that kind of hardware. Quality testing was done by loaning my system to a hardcore gamer for two months. He loved the performance of the monitor and had no issue with all the games he played. In vendor terms, I let the gamer do a “burn in” test. I’ve checked all the reviews at most publications who rated this particular monitor the best gaming monitor you can buy. For me, I am doing digital art. As for gaming, I installed No Man Sky and tested it. The color saturation and hues were lifelike (which is a very BIG DEAL).

Note: The first display received was a loser in the so-called panel lottery. Horrendous backlight bleed, and a stuck pixel to go with it. Amazon rectified the issue within 2 days, and the second panel is better. Will not be returning the second. Whats in the box? - Your new panel and stand (w/ cable management system) - HDMI 2.1 and DP 1.4 cables - Power cable Things I like: - Color accuracy in sRGB mode is about as good as it gets without advanced calibration - Power saving mode is quick to respond to a sleeping computer - Some of the gaming features are neat, even if I wont use them - G-SYNC works as described - Picture quality is great, and the 144hz refresh rate is a game changer if this is an upgrade for you - The monitor settings are intuitive, and the controls are better than the four button system present on other panels What I dont like: - Backlight bleed still present in second panel - The stand is flimsy, and has a lot more give than Id like. Ill be replacing it soon. - On the topic of the stand, the cable management system is a joke. It amounts to a hook on the back in an inconvenient location. If your machine is to the left of your monitor... You will not use this. - The power cable has an ENORMOUS power supply that takes up more than half of a standard power strip Overall, Id have no trouble recommending this monitor. Im happy to accept that I got a bad panel the first time, and that it isnt the norm. Expect to replace the stand, but other than that... Well done LG.