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

I write this review as the former owner of 3 Asus PG279Qs and one PG279QZ. I was drawn to this realm of the monitor market because I do not believe that 4K displays are worth it at this particular point in time. As far as I see it, the majority are a compromise as the bandwidth requirements for running 4:4:4 chroma subsampling, an extended color gamut, a refresh rate of 144 Hz and beyond, and a resolution of 3840x2160 all at the same time will be much better served by DP 1.5 or HDMI 2.1 (proper HDR wouldnt hurt either). Although it could be argued that achieving 144 frames at 1440p is more resource intensive than 60 frames at 2160p, I believe the experience to be the most immersive, at least until 144+ frames becomes viable at 4K. Unfortunately, based on the price to performance ratio trend of the current generation of graphics cards (Nvidia’s in specific), it is going to be a long, long time until that is achievable at a reasonable price. All things aside, I can state with confidence that I’ve found my sweet spot for monitors in the form of LG’s 27GL850. It has addressed all of the quality control concerns that I’ve experienced throughout my quest of trying to obtain a high refresh rate, 1440p IPS-type display. Seeing as this is an LG product, the monitor can rightfully be referred to as having an IPS (In-Plane Switching) panel as this is their proprietary term for the technology that produces the wider color gamut and viewing angles. I did not buy this display because I am a hardcore gamer; I bought it because I wanted a quality monitor with good color reproduction, a uniform panel, and good response time. My purchase was based solely on the off chance of LG producing a monitor where quality control wasn’t an after-thought. Now that it has finally arrived, I am proud to report that this monitor delivers. The display has zero backlight bleed and excellent uniformity, contrast, and response time. White uniformity is even across the entirety of the screen while the factory calibrated colors appear accurate even next to my calibrated Dell. Outside of sRGB mode, the colors do come off as over-saturated, although some may prefer the added vibrancy of the Nano IPS technology (I did not). Black levels are on par with most other IPS-type displays that I’ve used despite the specified measurement coming in at a somewhat lower figure than similar displays. As for response time, it seems universally accepted by the monitor community that the fast setting is adequate in preventing overshoot. The faster and fastest settings produce undesirable artifacts known as coronas. Despite this monitor not having variable overdrive, I have had no perceivable issues when it comes to gaming as I do tend to binge on CS:GO from time to time. If I had to nit-pick, and I do because this is a review where transparency informs prospective buyers, I will say that the strength of the presence of IPS glow on my display falls on the moderate end of the spectrum. This could be due to the fact the panel is 27 inches, which is a decent amount of real estate for this phenomenon to occur. It is also important to keep in mind that this is something that varies on a per panel basis. Without a doubt, it is a consequence of choosing to utilize an IPS panel for one’s computing purposes. Regardless, it is nothing unexpected or anything that cannot be addressed by adjusting the brightness level as well as the viewing distance, height, and angle. Besides simply turning down the brightness, placing the monitor further away is one way to remedy the matter. Another way to minimize the glow is to position the screen in such a way that one’s gaze meets the center of the screen as IPS-type displays fare better when the height of the top bezel is of equal height or greater in relation to one’s eyes. A final tip is to manipulate the screen’s tilt angle as oftentimes angling it upwards reduces glow. By applying these adjustments, I can easily say that this is overall the best monitor that I’ve used to date. I will not sit here and bash Asus’ most recent iteration of their high refresh rate, 1440p IPS-type display, the PG279QZ, as one can refer to the top review of the PG279QZ to see what types of problems plague those monitors. What I will say is that it’s a breath of fresh air to see that quality control still exists in consumer-grade monitors. Realistically, no manufacturing process is going to produce near perfect monitors all of the time; however, this purchase has instilled confidence in me when it comes to the LG brand. I imagine that this model will provide all disillusioned monitor buyers a glimmer of hope when it comes to having a fighting chance at obtaining a quality monitor in this realm of the market. ***As per a request in the comments, Ive attached pictures of the monitor at brightness of zero, 50%, and 100%. I also managed to track down another monitor from Micro Center, so I posted the same array of shots for this sample too. The results were very similar; however, a small circular area of bleed does exist in the top left corner. It is somewhat noticeable on a black screen unless I increase the height of the stand. To identify the pictures of the second monitor, please see the pictures without the headphones in them. Despite trying several approaches and platforms, the photo uploader refuses to retain the sequence in which I had originally ordered them).***

Its a decent monitor, it does what it says, and its defect free. Its not as nice as my old Shimian QH270, which I bought for a similar price in 2013. That also used an LG produced screen from that time. Unfortunately, that monitor died and I had to replace it at an inopportune time. Right now there are a plethora of options for 1440p+ monitors available, but thats only due to corner cutting in quality control and using lower quality panels to meet the induced demand. This LG panel, like many others available, does boast an impressive refresh rate and responsiveness that puts those old panels to shame. This makes it a good purchase if your focus is on gaming. However, the color has not noticeably improved over the past decade from other IPS monitors. Moreover, the contrast ratio is quite bad, certainly noticeable worse than my old screen, a bad feeling for a product with eight years advantage. Overall, I would recommend this product. The fact of the matter is, there arent a lot of options better than this at the price. LG is a quality manufacturer still, so you can trust youll get a screen in good working order, which is better than you can say for many other options. Comparing with its contemporaries, that makes it a worthy purchase. I just lament that I had to buy something during this trough, but hopefully screens will get better in the future, rather than just easier to find.

Bought this monitor for 1440p gaming and couldn’t be happier!

The brightness and the picture quality are awesome. Really accurate colors. However, Apple silicon macs do not support 1440p. So you either have to use betterDummy to workaround the HiDPI issue or just move up a notch to get a 4k display. However, you will need to pay a lot more to get a 4k display with this kind of color gamut.

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.

pretty good 1440p monitor, got mine on sale for 345$ and at that price it was likely the one of best 1440p monitors available. coming from a asus 144hz TN panel this ips panels colors while saturated are quite nice after calibrating and the 144hz display is very nice cons: this is my second gl850, first one i returned after it developed a nasty coil whine when displaying certain colors at 144hz amazon sent me a new one very quickly and without issue. the monitor stand it quite possibly the worst stand ive ever seen.

I purchased this monitor after returning two Gigabyte M27q monitors (both with dead pixels) and one MSI Optix 274QRF (for bad backlight bleeding). I was planning on buying another MSI Optix 274QRF after trading in the defective one, until someone on line at Microcenter told me they had backlight bleed with the exact same monitor in the exact same spot. The color accuracy on the MSI also left something to be desired and the BGR panel in the Gigabyte monitor looked terrible when plugged into a Mac. Although the M27q and 274QRF are better than this LG monitor in terms of specs, and cost a good bit less, LG’s quality control is worth the lower specs and increased price. It’d be nice if the contract ratio on this monitor was a bit better and the price was a bit lower, but I’m more than happy with the monitor. I only wish I had purchased this first instead of buying and returning three defective monitors from Gigabyte and MSI.

I love IPS panels. I used an Acer IPS for years before I decided to step up, and I have pretty high expectations for response time, color quality, and input delay. This monitor easily hits all of the marks. With the nano IPS version, or the regular, I really dont think you could go wrong. 1ms response time is a lie, but thats true of every monitor on the market that isnt a TN, and those monitors dont look very good at this price range. The fast overdrive preset - where youre going to keep this monitor - is phenomenally fast and responsive (one of the fastest IPS displays without ghosting), even at 60Hz. Another huge positive for this thing is that its dead silent. No electrical wailing or hissing. Ive read from other reviews that the headphone jack has poor sound, but it sounds no different than my motherboards sound card to me, coming from my desktop speakers and my many wasted years of being an audiophile. Maybe its using some sort of line-out mode and the headphone amp just sucks? My only real nitpick with this monitor is that it likes the color red a tad too much (likely not an issue on the non-nano). Also, dont bother with the HDR. Its literally a joke. One other thing, you can do 144Hz over HDMI, Freesync just has to be off. If you are coming from a 60Hz display, let me reassure you that screen tearing is nowhere near as noticeable at 144Hz. To summarize this review, 9/10 monitor, good for playing PlanetSide 2 and Sonic 3.

Monitor is awesome, Im currently using NVIDIA GTX1060 3GB GPU will upgrade to RTX 3070 when Available, in any case I am using display port and its operating at 144HZ. Everything is crisp and clear after adjusting some setting on NVidia control panel, ****IMPORTANT NOTE **** the display port cable has a hard to notice button nob, you need to press that button to remove cable from the Monitor and PC otherwise you may break it pulling/yanking it out, I remember someone writing a review on that matter stating it broke inside his monitor. I had same issue pulling it out at first, I heard faint snap noise as if under pressure, so closer inspection on cable I saw the black button nob. once I pressed it, the cable pulled out with ease. looking on the bottom side of display port you will see the 2 teeth that locks it into place, In my opinion a STUPID DESIGN. I will leave this at 5 star rating since Im reviewing the quality of monitor (5), Cable a (3 star) because of design.

About 6 or 7 years ago (might not be exact to be honest), I purchased one of Acers 1st 144hz, 2k, IPS gaming monitors the first or one of the first of Acers Predator line. The Acer monitor has been great, but lately Ive been craving something a little more for the monitor space, since its been quite a while since ive had this monitor (actually a pretty good monitor even for todays standards). I decided to go with LGs 850b Nano IPS monitor since i really enjoyed a new LG Nano Cell TV I just purchased recently. Once I turned on the monitor, calibrated, and turned on the correct settings I was blown away by the noticeable difference from my previous 2k, IPS, 144hz monitor. Theres a distinct characteristic I like about Nano cell displays in particular, where the colors are more vivid than other displays. The images also appear to be more smooth than my previous display although it is running at the same 144hz. I can easily see this monitor being one of the best for the price point although I havent tested other monitors. The display that I got came with no issues, no dead pixels, and the backlight bleed does not bother me much if at all during normal use. With the recent Nano cell TV I purchased, and this monitor, LG has truly one my heart over for their display technologies. I have a Samsung QLED TV as well, and the Nano cell TV (which was way cheaper) was a much better deal and better quality. LG has done a spectacular job in the creation of this display and their recent line of TVs and offer a competitive price for the quality. A+