LG 27GN950: Say hello to the first 144Hz 4K IPS monitor with 1ms response
LG is the first manufacturer to produce a 4K IPS monitor with a 144Hz refresh rate that has a pixel response time of 1ms, making it comparable to fast TN panels. But the LG 27GN950 strengths don't end there - it features both G-Sync and FreeSync technologies, meets VESA DisplayHDR™ 600 certification standards, and covers an impressive 98% of the DCI-P3 colour space. So it's not just good for gaming — you can use it for everything from multimedia content to office work to professional movie and graphics production projects.
LG 27GN950 - ARTICLE CONTENT
- Speed: LG's new IPS satisfies even the most demanding gamers
- Nano IPS: The LG 27GN950 colour rendering will impress graphic designers and filmmakers alike
- The LG 27GN950 has sophisticated RGB and a practical design
- What do international reviews have to say about the LG 27GN950?
Speed: LG's new IPS satisfies even the most demanding gamers
IPS technology has been the best thing you could have in your monitor since its early days. But if it had one flaw, it was its high response time. That's all over now, though — at least when it comes to LG, which was the first to launch a 4K IPS monitor with a 144Hz refresh rate and 1ms response time. Behold the LG 27GN950 in all its glory.
First, let's take a look at the coveted 144Hz and 1ms response, as these are the parameters that have become absolutely crucial for most competitive gamers. The 144Hz refresh rate makes on-screen movement significantly smoother for a simple reason — it can display up to 144 frames per second, which is more than double the normal 60 frames. The low response time (1ms) then means that the pixels can flip between being fully active and fully inactive faster, which delivers a significantly sharper image as the camera moves around. In competitive gaming, proper connection to the game is a significant part of success and a fast monitor genuinely helps many gamers to improve their performance.
Why do you want a high refresh rate?
As we have already mentioned, a 144Hz monitor is better than a 60Hz monitor simply because it displays more frames per second. But what does that difference look like in practice? It's hard to describe, but you'll definitely see it the first time you look at a 144Hz screen.
If you're convinced that 60Hz is more than enough and it's all diminishing returns from here, you are mistaken. You'll notice that sweet 144Hz smoothness in Windows, too — the mouse and the system feel more responsive and less sluggish in general. So those who want to enjoy a more productive experience should definitely consider buying a monitor with a high refresh rate.
144Hz really shines in gaming, however, especially in multiplayer and competitive games like CS:GO, Overwatch, Valorant, Fortnite, and the Battlefield and Call of Duty series. The difference measures in milliseconds and it's not something you notice from a video. But trust us, your reflexes will feel it. As the game shows you new visual information more than twice as often, you get much better feedback and can react faster.
That said, you need a graphics card that actually generates 144Hz to take full advantage of all those extra frames. That's not particularly difficult with less demanding competitive games and you can pull it off even with a moderately powerful system, but if you're playing something already performance-intensive, you'll soon find out that it's a virtually unattainable goal. However, since the 144Hz monitor is capable of displaying lower refresh rates without any problems, you can play demanding AAA titles in 60Hz and with all the graphical bells and whistles and only use 144Hz for fast competitive games.
At some point during your gaming career, you're bound to have encountered the problem of horizontal screen tearing, and hence its usual solution - VSync. Vertical sync has several major drawbacks that make its use far from optimal for gamers with fast monitors. However, the LG 27GN950 is equipped with both G-Sync and FreeSync, which eliminate image tearing by changing the monitor's refresh rate depending on the amount of frames the graphics card is currently outputting. This prevents screen tearing and eliminates the shortcomings of conventional VSync, such as sudden FPS drops or high input lag.
Nano IPS: The LG 27GN950 colour rendering will impress graphic designers and filmmakers alike
As we have already mentioned, the LG 27GN950 performs admirably as a fast gaming monitor, but it also has color rendering capabilities perfect for video production professionals or graphic designers. Just check out its high 98% DCI-P3 colour space coverage, which is the movie industry standard. This makes this monitor ideal for colour grading post-processing of videos and movies. Since 98% DCI-P3 is equivalent to 135% sRGB coverage, the LG 27GN950 is also perfect for photo editing, computer-assisted art or design, and any other graphics work. The monitor owes its brilliant colours to the new Nano IPS technology.
The LG 27GN950's claim of graphical focus is backed up by its support for 10-bit colour, which means significantly better colour resolution - technically speaking, a 10-bit monitor is capable of displaying 1.07 billion colour tones, whereas a standard 8-bit monitor can only display 16.7 million. Compared to its predecessors, it has also seen an increase to brightness, which has been bumped up to 400 nits and enables it to meet VESA DisplayHDR 600 certification standards. Thanks to HDR (High Dynamic Range), the monitor can display more details and colours even in areas that are very dark or very bright.
VESA DSC: How to squeeze in 4K, 144 Hz, HDR and 10-bit colour all at once
The image quality provided by the LG 27GN950 also entails a huge amount of data that must be transferred from the graphics card to the monitor. This transfer is made possible by VESA DSC technology, a visually lossless compression method. To use the 27GN950 to its full potential, you'll need a graphics card that supports DSC — either an AMD card made in 2019 or later, or an NVIDIA RTX 20xx. If you don't, you'll have to settle for a lower refresh rate.
The LG 27GN950 has sophisticated RGB and a practical design
If you're a gaming RGB lighting enthusiast, you'll be blown away by the LG 27GN950. The RGB Sphere Lighting 2.0 system uses a large RGB light ring on the back to illuminate the wall behind the monitor. The colours are freely adjustable, but there are also two automatic modes available to you. Sound Sync Mode matches the dynamic lighting to the sound coming from your computer, while Video Sync Mode will adjust it to the current image. This enhances the atmosphere of the scene you're currently viewing, creating an experience that can truly be described as immersive.
You'll quickly notice that the LG 27GN950 has very thin bezels framing the display, making the effects of RGB Sphere Lighting 2.0 stand out even more. The monitor stand allows for both height and tilt adjustments and also features a pivot function that allows the monitor to be rotated into portrait position. The stand also includes a hook for neater cable organisation - the 27GN950 features DisplayPort 1.4 connectors with DSC support, two HDMI 2.0 ports, two USB connectors, and one 3.5mm audio jack for connecting headphones or speakers.
What do international reviews have to say about LG 27GN950?
This gaming monitor has made its way into the hands of a number of foreign tech reviewers. Despite some reservations, such as the lack of swivel, they all more or less agree that the LG 27GN950 is one of the best things you can buy today. Some reviewers were not too happy about the high price, but it was also aptly pointed out that the LG 27GN950 offers significantly higher performance and feature list than comparably priced competitors.
Hardware Unboxed (video): “This is really the ultimate display if you want a top-end gaming experience and a top-end viewing/creating experience. It's got an elite mix of resolution, refresh rate, response times, and colour performance that at least today is unmatched, and to get this for only
