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

For gaming it’s a really incredible monitor. Great picture quality. If you wanna buy it just for gaming it’s the perfect for the price.

I like this monitor, hs a nice crisp display and many adjustments can be made. The stans is very nice and beefy. I just had to take a star off, because it does not swivel side to side. It swivels in every other direction. Im using this for streaming TV right now also, due to circumstances, and it works great. I just have to rotate the whole stand to angle it towards my bed. Overall good monitor.

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.

While I think this is a beautiful monitor panel, with rich colors and great resolution, my problem with this monitor was that its not compatible with the highest settings of the Series X/S. I think that LG should update its firmware in these models. Let me explain. The highest settings you can run on Xbox are 120fps at 4k, yet there are only 2 reasonable, reputable screens you can buy out there as of February 2021 that allow 120fps at 4k with adaptive sync(because the Xbox uses AMD) via HDMI 2.1. Those are the 32 inch Samsung OLED TV and the Acer Predator X27, but most games arent fully synchronized for 4k/120fps yet and those 2 screens cost $1500 and $1300 dollars, respectfully. The market for 4k monitors at 120fps for HDMI 2.1/next gen consoles(not ones like the LG/Dell 4k monitors that only support it via displayport) is basically non-existent at the moment and will emerge over the next few years. Streamers/Youtubers have also tested games that claim to be 4k 120fps, and most fail to even get there. It will still be 3-4, maybe even 5 years before 4k 120fps gaming via HDMI 2.1 is truly commonplace and the price for 4k 120fps monitors drops. Therefore, most people buying the Xbox Series X/S(and I actually got one through Bestbuy) will be spending only around $500 dollars on a new monitor, like myself, to take full advantage of the 120fps at 1440p the Series X offers. The PS5 strangely doesnt support 1440p, so this only applies to potential Series X buyers. I prioritize framerate over resolution for competitive gaming, and 1440p still looks amazing. Yet, when you run a game at 120fps, you run the risk of screen tearing, which is when the screen flickers or lags. This happens when the consoles/PCs refresh rate is not in sync with the monitors refresh rate. To counter this, freesync was developed. It stabilizes and synchronizes the framerate from console to PC, eliminating screen tearing and allowing colors and the full graphics to load evenly. Freesync is known as adaptive sync for people who use AMD graphics cards and G-Sync for those using Nvidia graphics card. Some monitors might be both adaptive sync and G-sync compatible, if you see the green sticker in the corner of the monitor. Both the Xbox and PS5 use AMD cards and are programmed for adaptive sync. Yet, this monitor for some inexplicable reason, and the same goes for other LG monitors, only only support adaptive sync via HDMI 2.0(and this is important because the Xbox Series X/S dont have Displayport and no DP to HDMI 2.0 adapters for Xbox exist) up to 100fps. This is not ok for the Series X/S, because if you run a game at 120FPS at 1440p without adaptive sync, you will get screen tearing and your resolution will not be fully loaded. You cannot run at a game at 100fps on Xbox Series X/S either, because its simply locked at 60hz or 120hz. Therefore, this monitor is basically the equivalent of a 1440p 60hz monitor with adaptive sync for the Series X/S because it does not support adaptive sync at 120fps/1440p for HDMI 2.0 since Displayport adapters for HDMI dont exist for Xbox, and you will get screen tearing if you run the game at 120fps/1440p without adaptive sync. It does not make sense for LG to cap the adaptive sync HDMI 2.0 fps at 100, because the HP Omen 27i, Samsung G5, and the Dell S2721DGF both use the exact panel used for this LG monitor for their own 1440/144-165hz gaming monitors, yet those all support adaptive sync at 120fps for HDMI 2.0. Even more so, Acer, Asus, Viewsonic, Gigabyte, AOC, and Viotek all have 1440p 144-165hz monitors that support 120fps with adaptive sync for HDMI 2.0. To take this a step further, most of those companies I listed above, even the ones that use this exact LG panel, are moving on to making their own 4k 120fps monitors that support adaptive sync via HDMI 2.1. The fact that LG hasnt even made this monitor and others similar LG monitors compatible at 1440p 120fps with adaptive sync for HDMI 2.0, while others already have and are moving onto 4k 120fps for HDMI 2.1, is shocking to say the least. LG might be the only company that doesnt support 120fps with adaptive sync via HDMI 2.0 at 1440p. I truly wanted to love this monitor, but I couldnt because it doesnt support adaptive sync at 120fps. If youre paying $500 for a gaming monitor, it should support 120fps at 1440p with adaptive sync. I had to sadly end up returning this monitor, and I bought a HP Omen 27i instead at Bestbuy. I absolutely love the Omen and it can actually support up to 144fps via HDMI 2.0 at 1440p and 165hz for displayport with adaptive sync for both, even though the Xbox cant even go up to that fps, but my point still stands that LG capping adaptive sync support for 1440p at 100fps makes absolutely zero sense. Aside from myself, theres no way Im not the only Series X owner looking for the 1440p monitor that can run at 120fps with support for HDMI 2.0 with adaptive sync, so people realizing or learning that this monitor cannot do 120fps at 1440p via HDMI 2.0 with adaptive sync through word of mouth, Youtube, and Reddit threads will probably end up costing LG a few thousand potential customers and lots of money because they didnt upgrade their firmware to make it fully compatible with the Series X/S. LG needs to fix this issue pronto. I dont see why they didnt make the monitor capable of 120fps with adaptive sync enabled for HDMI 2.0 in the first place, considering they likely knew that these were the supported specs coming out for the Series X/S almost 2 years in advance. It makes no logical or economic sense for them to do this, especially when other gaming monitors support it.

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.

I have only really one complaint, and I just solved it with an arm, but the stand on this monitor annoys the living heck out of me. The gamingness of the stand having long spikey legs that really just interfere with absolutely anything I might have on my desk was plain awful. Everything else though has been wonderful though. The controls are easy to use, the picture looks good, having a higher refresh rate is just nice, etc etc. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a reasonable display, but with the caveat that you either have a big empty desk or get an arm because the stand included just rubs me the wrong way.

After 7 years I thought its time to upgrade my old IPS screen to get a better refresh rate. The LG great looking. The colors are great and the refresh rate indeed improves fast moving games. I have 0 dead pixel. However, theres the IPS glow and BLB. The screen on the left is the new LG. On the right is my 7 year old screen. Of course it has far worse blacks, but the games dont look weird. This is Witcher 3 at 30/100 brightness. You constantly see that the lower left corner is looking off. The right one too btw. I will go for a refund. I wont spend time on replacements. Probably its still better to buy screens in a store. Edit: I am revising the review. I went to a local store and they had this one in stock. I made them unpack and let me take a look at the monitor. Its perfect. Such a great screen. Still, there is BLB. But far far less than on this initial sample. So if you get a monitor that is, send it back. I subtract 1 star for this issue.

First experience with 1440p and higher than 60hz. Happy with it! Yeah, I know! 4K and 8k gaming are the future! Yes, the future, not now. My 3070 plays very nicely with this monitor so I am good for years of gaming.

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.

I was looking for a great gaming monitor but also something that had decent color quality as I am a graphic designer. This is the best of both worlds, I get great refresh rates during games and gameplay is smooth and tearless. The color clarity and brightness are great for working as well, I have plenty of screen real-estate for designing and easily split-screen for productive tasks. There are a decent amount of presets for gaming, however I find myself customizing to my own liking for what I need. Im so glad I purchased this monitor because the entire gaming experience has improved in both color and smoothness and I can be productive as well now that I work from home. I also have an Asus Pro-Art display for work which doesnt have the great refresh rate, but man the colors are even more vibrant and crystal clear. Thats the only reason I give this monitor a 4 star. I almost bought another LG to go side-by-side, but didnt make sense for a designer. I dont game on both monitors.