LG 38GL950G 38" UltraGear Monitor Review
The LG 38GL950G doesn't get the most user friendly proper name, but what yous need to know is this is a high-finish ultrawide monitor that has been on our radar for some time now. Unveiled dorsum at CES 2022, this monitor has been a long fourth dimension coming and just went on sale recently, and so here's our total review.
The 38GL950G sports a new brandish format: 37.5-inch panel with a 3840 x 1600 resolution. This gives information technology roughly the aforementioned pixel density every bit 3440 x 1440 displays we've had for a while, and about the same attribute ratio. Technically neither format is exactly 21:ix but it'southward close enough. The outcome is the aforementioned sort of experience as 3440 x 1440, but from a larger screen, well-nigh 9cm wider and 3cm taller.
This LG monitor likewise uses new Nano IPS engineering, which we beginning saw deployed in the LG 27GL850. This allows for a wide gamut experience as well as super fast response times. LG claims 1ms gray to gray and while the 27GL850 doesn't really reach this with usable settings in the existent globe, it's still the fastest IPS technology out there, approaching what is possible from TN panels.
We're besides getting a very loftier refresh rate of 175 Hz, going to a higher place what'southward been delivered with 3440 10 1440 monitors, which currently pinnacle out at 144 Hz unless you buy the very expensive G-Sync Ultimate HDR models.
This combination of features promises an immersive ultrawide gaming experience with excellent movement handling. Indeed, the technology in the LG 27GL850 is prepare to push ultrawide monitors further than they've gone earlier.
When we showtime heard about this monitor the specs were adequately unique, although some other year and another CES has come and gone and nosotros've seen a few other 3840 ten 1600 monitors appear, including some from LG with unlike HDR capabilities and different refresh rates. Who knows when those are coming, just even then, LG is positioning the 38GL950G every bit the best of the lot.
Other features include full 1000-Sync with Nvidia's module inside. That provides existent-earth benefits which nosotros'll talk about in a bit, merely every bit nosotros all know, information technology also pushes up the price. There is some express HDR functionality with DisplayHDR 400 certification, but we wouldn't get too excited almost that.
This is an expensive monitor. It'southward currently listed on Amazon for $i,800, which is $800 more than LG's previous flagship, the 34GK950F. It'due south also more expensive than most ultrawides on the market place, non quite upwardly there with the $2,200 price tag of the Acer Predator X35, only this is loftier-end territory.
But even if you're not interested in such an expensive monitor, the performance we'll go through shortly will requite you lot a good idea how this panel volition perform in other more than affordable options that are set to striking the market soon. It'due south a very interesting display in our opinion.
Design
The monitor's design is very similar to previous LG UltraGear monitors nosotros've seen. There's reasonably slim bezels on the front, a wide 5-shaped stand with black and red plastic, a cylindrical pillar made of metallic, and a back minimalist rear. You lot'll spot a few more red highlights, like with the height vented expanse. It's not the slimmest monitor always, it's got a scrap of clamper to it, but that's not unusual for a curved ultrawide.
The rear includes a characteristic LG calls Sphere Lighting ii.0, which is an RGB LED band around the pillar and ports. Nosotros've seen plenty of RGB lighting on a monitor, only we think this is the best implementation. There's many more RGB lights than we normally get, and they're very bright. Frequently the event with RGB lighting on the dorsum of monitors is they're dim and can really only be seen from the rear, which typically faces a wall. Well with this, the lighting is bright plenty to create an ambient effect around the brandish.
And that'south good news because with LG'southward software, you tin sync upwardly the RGB effects to what is shown on the screen for added ambient. This works best in a dark room, but even in a well lit office you lot can still run into the lighting to an extent. Normally we only laissez passer off RGB on a monitor as complete rubbish only this is surprisingly good.
Nosotros also like the stand up LG has used here. It has decent height adjustability plus tilt support, but most importantly, it'southward very sturdy. This is a big, wide screen and any wobbles could hands be magnified at the edges simply because of how big it is. But no, this stand up is strong and withstands a bit of penalization with ease.
The on-screen display is controlled through a directional toggle on the bottom edge and it's a expert OSD also. It's quick to navigate and includes handy features like crosshairs and FPS counters. All the same, like the 27GL850, in that location's no backlight strobing mode available for even more clarity improvements, nosotros'd take liked to come across that.
Port selection is standard for monitors that use Nvidia's G-Sync module: ane HDMI port and one DisplayPort. In that location's a USB hub, too. And let's take a brief moment to talk about what you lot can and can't do with these ports because there are some restrictions...
With DisplayPort you can use upwards to the 175Hz max refresh rate, merely fifty-fifty with viii-bit color you'll be limited to blush subsampling at the max refresh and resolution. Still, viii-bit color is doable at 160Hz. For 10-bit colour yous'll need to drop down to 120Hz, although of class, you can still use HDR with 8-bit colour if you lot'd prefer the higher refresh rates. Meanwhile, the HDMI port is limited to 85 Hz, then nosotros wouldn't utilize information technology.
Without Display Stream Compression or DSC, which leaves u.s. with chroma subsampling at the maximum refresh rate, nosotros recall most people will adopt to utilize this monitor at 160Hz to go that crisper, clearer experience, particularly on the desktop. The difference between 175Hz and 160Hz isn't massive only information technology is a bit disappointing the maximum refresh mode is restricted in this way. Hopefully a future revision will support DSC and alleviate this problem.
Couple of other quick notes. You lot may have heard Nvidia'southward latest generation One thousand-Sync module also supports VESA adaptive sync (a.k.a. FreeSync), allowing you to apply G-Sync monitors with AMD GPUs and however get a variable refresh rate. This is 1 of those monitors, so information technology does come with the newest variant of the 1000-Sync module. We repeat, the variable refresh experience on the LG 38GL950G is available with both Nvidia and AMD GPUs.
At that place is a minor cooling fan within this monitor, however in our feel it's virtually silent and null to worry about. Information technology'southward definitely quieter than some G-Sync Ultimate monitors.
Display Performance
Response Times / Overdrive Modes
Let'due south look at response times starting time. LG provides four overdrive modes with this monitor, challenge a 1ms grey to grey response just at the maximum Faster mode. Withal, operation is still very strong even with overdrive off. At 175Hz, we saw a grey to grayness average of half dozen.40 ms with this setting, which is very quick past mod IPS standards. Usually an IPS panel needs overdrive to achieve these sorts of response times and even then, some monitors don't get this quick.
Normal is a pace up again, about 1ms faster, but it's the Fast fashion where the 38GL950G really flexes its muscles. Here we are getting an incredible three.17ms grayness to gray average with levels of overshoot that are nowadays, but manageable. 85% of transitions had no issues, information technology's only with a few close together transitions that overshoot exceeds 20% or so. And in gameplay nosotros institute these issues virtually impossible to spot. With these sorts of speeds, 100% of transitions autumn within the reasonably tight five.71ms response window for 175Hz gaming, which is perfect.
Notwithstanding, as you might have noticed, this isn't technically a 1ms monitor at this overdrive mode. For that, nosotros need to push button up to Faster and… aforementioned problem as the 27GL850. Overshoot is incredibly high here, resulting in obvious light trails to any moving objects on the screen. The gray to grey average is 1.83ms with some transitions completing in less than 1ms, but that doesn't matter much when overshoot is so high.
And while this mode is unusable and the monitor isn't really 1ms capable, we don't want to have away from what is otherwise a very fast IPS monitor experience. Usable speeds in the 3ms range is outstanding.
What's fifty-fifty better is how the 38GL950G holds up across the refresh rate range. At 160Hz the experience is substantially the same as 175Hz, which is great news for those that don't want to deal with blush subsampling. Then at 144Hz, overshoot gets a picayune worse just fifty-fifty then, this is nevertheless a usable experience, like story at 120Hz, which all the same delivers sub-4ms response times.
From there it really gets better. At 85Hz, overshoot is reduced substantially, with response fourth dimension averages only creeping upwards to 4.56ms. Then at 60Hz nosotros meet similar overshoot with slightly college response times, now up to v.12ms. While this is a bit slower than what is possible up at 175Hz, had LG kept 3ms-type performance at 60Hz, we likely would take seen considerable overshoot, so the improve pick is to drop downward speeds a bit hither. And 5ms is however quite quick.
We're likewise seeing the result of variable overdrive, which you get with all full G-Sync monitors through Nvidia's high-end Chiliad-Sync scaler. You'll observe that we didn't accept to change the overdrive setting to go excellent results at 175Hz through to 60Hz, we were able to comfortably go along it on Fast without any problems. And performance did noticeably change betwixt 120 and 85 Hz to maintain acceptable overshoot levels, which is what variable overdrive does, it modifies the level of overdrive depending on the refresh charge per unit.
Now variable overdrive is possible on non-G-Sync displays through traditional scalers, simply information technology'due south rarely implemented, so i of the few ways to become information technology is with full G-Sync monitors.
Some panels demand this tech to evangelize the all-time performance at all refresh rates, some don't, but this is a tangible benefit to having G-Sync with this display. Whether this is worth the toll premium depends on how response time sensitive you are.
Looking at the comparison chart below, the 38GL950G looks very impressive. Information technology doesn't have the absolute fastest response time nosotros've tested, but it sits amid TN monitors similar the speedy Gigabyte Aorus KD25F and HP Omen X 27. For an IPS monitor with significantly better colors and viewing angles, that'south unprecedented. Performance is simply outstanding.
At that place are another noteworthy comparisons to make here. Overdrive is amend tweaked with the 38GL950G, and so it's faster than the 27GL850. Nosotros think both panels perform similarly overall, just the 38GL950G is much closer to its limits and has variable overdrive too.
Compared to other ultrawide monitors, the nearest competitor is the Acer X35, although it's slower and being a VA panel, has issues with night level smearing and overshoot to a certain extent.
You lot can come across improvements over LG'due south previous generation monitor, too. The 34GK950F is expert with a 5.14ms gray to grey average, just LG has shaved off about 2ms which is significant and allows for a clearer image in conjunction with its faster refresh rate. Budget ultrawides offer more similar 7-8ms response times and are not in the same performance class.
Nosotros run across the benefits of IPS with the dark level average performance. Previously you saw the X35 come shut to the 38GL950G, just the X35 falls downwardly the ladder due to the inherent limitations of VA panels.
Response time compliance is perfect, even at its loftier 175Hz refresh rate, a feat many monitors could but dream of. The downside are fault rates, which is where the differences between LG'due south Nano IPS and most TNs come up to the forefront. The 38GL950G is beingness run at its limits, hence higher error rates, whereas most 3ms TNs we've tested hit that sort of speed with relative ease. The 38GL950G is hugely impressive, just Nano IPS panels aren't at the level of TNs yet.
You lot come across this with our changed ghosting nautical chart. The fastest TNs out there with 0.5ms class response times hit very quick responses with no overshoot issues, like the Gigabyte Aorus KD25F, for case.
At 60Hz, the 38GL950G is all the same a strong performer despite falling back to a 5ms gray to grey average. Information technology is beaten past the 27GL850, which also maintains strong performance without needing to change its overdrive setting, only that's a different Nano IPS panel.
Input lag is groovy with processing lag below 1ms, a fast refresh rate and quick response times all combining to deliver terminate-to-end lag of nether 7ms, which is elite level performance.
Power consumption is higher than 34-inch equivalents which is to be expected given the larger panel size and those bright RGB lights on the back. 62 watts is nevertheless reasonable though, only perhaps not the nigh efficient on this list.
Colour Performance
Some other area where the LG 38GL950G performs well is color reproduction. LG lists this panel as being manufacturing plant calibrated and that's true based on our testing.
Out of the box, CCT performance is strong with a near perfect temperature and gamma curve, assuasive for a 1.09 deltaE boilerplate from the factory, which is much amend than most monitors.
When measuring confronting sRGB, information technology does endure from not shipping with an sRGB clench by default, although it does accept an sRGB mode we'll talk about in a moment. Then if you don't enable the sRGB mode, yous will get oversaturated colors and deltaEs in the 2.0 to 3.0 range. Which is even so pretty good for a gaming monitor, but non perfect.
Default Colour Performance
sRGB Color Operation
What about the sRGB way? Well, it's pretty skilful. The peak end of greyscale is tinted a bit blue -- at to the lowest degree with our review unit of measurement -- and unfortunately you can't correct that in the OSD as the colour temperature setting is greyed out. A deltaE of 1.76 is all the same very expert just ideally the sRGB clench this mode provides would too exist attainable in a different mode that allows color temperature tweaking just to correct any slight issues with the unit from the manufactory.
Did we say sRGB clamp? Yes, that's what the sRGB manner provides, pregnant sub-two.0 deltaEs are possible. If you want sRGB accuracy out of the box, we'd recommend using this mode despite some issues with color temperature. All things considered, it's the best mode to utilise for displaying sRGB content.
D65-P3 Colour Operation
D65-P3 performance is as well strong out of the box. Grayscale functioning is similar to what nosotros've been discussing, with saturation and ColorChecker deltaEs also below 2.0. This is the sort of factory calibration we like to see. Basically nosotros have two modes that provide decent sRGB and P3 performance without the need for tweaks.
Calibrated Color Performance
From here we can practice a total calibration using DisplayCAL, which sees all the remaining issues tightened upwards completely. sRGB deltaEs effectually that 0.v marking, and similar with P3. Even so we aren't quite getting full P3 coverage, we're however limited to effectually 95% with this panel – a very good upshot among consumer IPS monitors – simply this leads to some slight clipping right at the peak end when displaying wide gamut content. If you're a perfectionist this may be of business concern, otherwise this is a great issue from a gaming focused monitor.
The 38GL950G delivers over 400 nits when calibrated, which is very bright, meaning no bug with panel brightness. Viewing angles are excellent, likewise, not quite the best IPS viewing angles we've seen, simply significantly better than TN and many VA offerings.
IPS glow was minimal with our review unit of measurement, too. Many people get concerned when buying IPS monitors that they'll get terrible glow but nearly current-gen panels we've seen don't suffer from astringent glow issues.
If you've read other reviews covering Nano IPS displays, you'll know that contrast ratios and blackness levels are a problem. Unfortunately, that is truthful of the LG 38GL950G every bit well. Nosotros measured a dissimilarity ratio of 879:1 afterward calibration, which is a fleck ameliorate than our 27GL850 unit of measurement. Notwithstanding, it'southward still non neat, staying inside the realms of TN panels rather than pushing up to the 1000:one and above that we look from the best IPS monitors.
What does this mean in practice? If you game nether bogus lights or during the day, it's unlikely you'll notice any issues with contrast ratio compared to other types of monitors. This is because ambience low-cal interferes with observed blackness levels to an extent. Information technology's just in darker viewing environments where the 38GL950G falls backside other monitors, especially VAs.
While this is a poor effect for Nano IPS panels, we think it's of import to note that even though contrast is similar to TNs, the 38GL950G and 27GL850 have a significant advantage over TNs in viewing angles and color performance. Information technology seems that a sacrifice to improve response times to near-TN levels has been dissimilarity, which is an surface area we'd rather encounter hit than viewing angles to be honest.
And even then, the 38GL950G is only 8% behind the 34GK950F in terms of contrast and 15% behind the Pixio PX7 Prime, and so it'south not as bad as it might seem.
Uniformity is skillful, but not perfect. The center section of this display is strong, merely our unit did accept a slight vignette effect along the pinnacle and bottom edges, which is noticeable during regular usage. For an $1,800 display, vignetting is not a good event, but at the same time it'due south non a major result and it'due south not noticeable while gaming.
Finally, we get to HDR. We won't dive into this much considering the 38GL950G lacks local dimming, so it realistically cannot brandish unmarried-frame contrast ratios above one thousand:one. This means the bodily dynamic range of this monitor is "standard" not "high" like yous demand for HDR, and so we aren't getting a true HDR experience. Effulgence also falls behind required targets, hitting just 460 nits in its HDR mode.
I volition say that HDR input support is really expert, and then the monitor doesn't await similar trash when y'all enable the HDR mode in Windows, merely the actual picture quality isn't in the same league as true HDR displays. Y'all might find the HDR mode useful for wide gamut work, it's just non real HDR.
That was a ton of testing, hopefully for anyone waiting for an in-depth review of this monitor, all your questions have been answered. If you already read reviews of the LG 27GL850, you were already function of the way to uncovering how the LG 38GL950G performs, given it uses the same kind of Nano IPS panel engineering science.
Top-Notch Monitor: Who Is Information technology For?
The LG 38GL950G is clearly the all-time ultrawide monitor on the marketplace right now. Essentially it takes every feature we got with previous flagship ultrawide displays, and takes it upwardly a notch. The resolution and panel are physically bigger, if but slightly, which we think is really good. We dearest this size and the bump upward from 3440 x 1440 to 3840 10 1600 is handy. In our opinion offers a more immersive experience and information technology's likewise better for carve up-screen productivity work.
The refresh rate is besides higher than previous monitor offerings that topped out at 144Hz, while now we're getting upwardly to 175Hz -- although with blush subsampling -- that's realistically 160Hz for full-quality viewing. The chroma subsampling issue is disappointing to an extent, but forgivable when it'southward yet delivering a loftier refresh rate at a large resolution. The bump may not exist large for those that already have a 144Hz ultrawide, only if you're coming from a popular 100 or 120 Hz monitor like the Acer Predator X34, this is a significant improvement in our opinion -- and this is coming from a long time X34 user.
Most impressive of all are the response times, which are excellent. This is the commencement time we can say an IPS monitor delivers response times equivalent to TN monitors. Information technology'south a really quick display. A small amount of overshoot with the 38GL950G nevertheless gives the all-time TN monitors an edge in terms of overall operation, but the clarity in motion with this monitor is equivalent to a TN at the same refresh rate. Information technology'southward a big upgrade over previous IPS panels that packed 5ms response times. Given the other benefits you get from IPS, this is a side by side-gen viewing experience.
Some volition no doubt criticize this monitor's disability to actually hit a 1ms grayness to grey average with a usable overdrive mode. But this is no different to TN panels. We've yet to review a TN monitor that hits 1ms on average either, and at this signal we've looked at several that merits 0.5ms response times. Yes, nosotros've seen 1ms and 0.5ms minimums, but not on average. The point is, the 38GL950G'southward best usable overdrive mode is all the same mighty impressive and comparable to optimized TNs.
The LG 38GL950G also delivers in other ways. Variable overdrive keeps performance rock solid beyond the entire refresh rate range. Even though it has a One thousand-Sync module, it's FreeSync compatible and works with AMD GPUs. Input latency is very low. LG is factory calibrating these panels and the results are very adept, both for sRGB in the sRGB way, and for wide gamut usage.
Did we mention this is a wide gamut console that has 95% P3 coverage? Yup, yous go that, also. Loftier brightness levels, fantabulous viewing angles, and a great design with functionally useful RGB lighting.
While in full general this is an excellent monitor, it's not perfect, then allow's acknowledge some flaws. The biggest is the contrast ratio, which is unimpressive confronting other IPS and especially VA monitors. Whether this is an effect for you lot will depend on how you view your monitor, with those that game in the nighttime the most afflicted. There's also the complete lack of true HDR functionality. Commonly we can forgive a chip of slackness on the HDR front when the monitor is fine for SDR gaming, only given the loftier price tag of the 38GL950G, having proper HDR functionality is near a requirement.
For a cool $ane,800, this is non a small-scale sum to pay for what absolutely is a really good monitor. If you're looking for better value, a number of 3840 x 1600 monitors with 160Hz refresh rates are fix to hit the market soon, including LG's own 38GN950. Looking at previous ultrawide flagships, like the Acer Predator X34 and LG 34GK950F, those have typically been ~$ane,000 to $i,200 at launch, which is still less than the new LG 38GL950G. That said, pricing on LG monitors tends to alter often. They're known to discount products in the months afterwards launch, then it wouldn't surprise us if this is selling around $1,500 mid-yr.
Lesser line, if you've been eagerly awaiting to upgrade to a best in course ultrawide for gaming, the LG 38GL950G is a fantastic monitor and one of the best displays on the market.
Shopping Shortcuts:
- LG 38GL950G on Amazon
- Acer Predator X35 on Amazon
- LG 27GL850 on Amazon
- LG 34GK950F Curved on Amazon
- Acer Predator X34 on Amazon
- Acer Nitro XV273K on Amazon
- AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT on Amazon
- AMD Radeon RX 5700 on Amazon
- GeForce RTX 2070 Super on Amazon
- GeForce RTX 2080 Ti on Amazon
Source: https://www.techspot.com/review/1976-lg-38gl950g-ultragear/
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