LG - UltraGear 38" IPS LED UltraWide HD 1-ms G-SYNC Monitor (HDMI) - Black
Model: 38GL950G-B
SKU: 6390310
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Customers regard the UltraGear 38" IPS LED UltraWide monitor's large screen size and high refresh rate as significant strengths, praising the picture quality, color accuracy, and immersive gaming experience. However, some users find the HDR performance underwhelming and the price point high. While some noticed fan noise, the overall consensus points to a high-quality monitor with some trade-offs.
So before I jump right into the review, let me tell you about Best Buy (or LG) quality control.. I have been following this guy for a while, and finally got my hands on one online on Best Buy. Granted was an open box model I managed to pick up for $1,600. When the monitor arrived panel and stand were in good working order, basically brand new. However the power brick that is included with the monitor, was missing a 3-prong adapter.. and other included items like CD, manual, DP, HDMI, USB cables were just chucked into the accessory box.. Luckily Microcenter near me in Tustin had the power cord I was missing for $12 or so.. BUT for a monitor that will run you over $1,900 after taxes and all, that is unacceptable. I would expect to receive ALL original contents ESPECIALLY the power supply for this thing. Was not happy at all.. But now for the monitor itself: Colors out of the box are amazing. Thing is huge. 35'' inches across. Now due to its pixel density at 3840x1600, you WILL BE LIMITED to some features.. for example you will not be able to use 10-bit, full dynamic color range above 120hz refresh. This is a limitation to Display Port 1.4 which is the best its gonna get for now. BUT THAT SAID. I am running a 2080Ti and stuggle to get above 80-100 FPS in most games, so my suggestion: 3840x1600 native resolution, 120Hz refresh, 10 bpc output color depth, and RGB FULL dynamic range, are the settings you'd want. Now unless you're running 2080Ti's in SLI in which case you can probable manage to hit those higher/peak refresh rates. 175Hz refresh rate DOES work after OC via monitor OSD. For those wondering if you can set multiple windows for desktop workloads, you can but you'll have to download some software from LG's support site. Very convenient as it will "split" your monitor into various windows and styles, based on your choosing, where you can drag and drop application windows to have multiple side by side all on this same behemoth of a screen. Input lag is minimal. One of the biggest selling points for me was the 1ms response time. I haven't tested it too much but compared to my other monitors, response times are outstanding. Just make sure to set the Response Time to "FAST" and not "FASTER" via monitors OSD, faster setting based on other reviewers have stated that that setting will cause overshoot or visual artifacts which are not pretty. G-SYNC worked right out of the box for anyone wondering. Lastly the ColorSense (or w.e) which is the color spiral on the back of the display, is actually quite nice. There is a scroll wheel on the bottom of the display that you can press in to select from a few static colors, or RGB. And when you scroll it, controls the brightness of the effect. You can clearly see how bright this gets in the picture provided, which goes quite nice with my RGB setup. FINAL THOUGHTS: I think this a great monitor. I did not mentioned HDR as I don't care much for HDR on monitors, YET. It's still not perfected with the technology we have today. So if you are after a "decent" HDR experience monitor, this really ain't the one. IF however you are looking for a display that looks good, ultrawide, can offer high refresh rates, and low input lag, not to mention lots and lots of real estate. This guy hits all those check marks. HOWEVER, it is not worth $1,900+ .. not for the specs you're getting, especially when you limit HDR. For my needs, 5/5 OVERALL. But for anyone seeking perfection, 4/5 overall but would definitely still recommend this monitor. Especially if you can snag an open box like I did and save yourself $200.
Posted by Danny
You need to know this first. This monitor needs at least a 2080ti. I had a i9/2080 and wasn't happy with the settings quality and frame rates. Had to go too low on quality to appreciate the screen. Would get tearing and other issues on the 2080. I upgraded and haven't regretting going 2080ti. I still have my acer 240hz and I miss the speed of that a little gaming but the picture quality makes up for that. If you are worried about the brightness it is plenty bright. HDR looks good but not the best on the market, but the speed is what I appreciate. After buying this, I don't want to hit a 1000nits. ouch! That would be too bright to be enjoyable to me. The contrast can be annoying the way it is used to manage brightness. I don't miss HDR when I turn it off. Nice to have for movies Don't personally care about the LEDs on back but they are cool and plenty bright. Easily turned off. Required to run a usb cord to pc for light screen sync function. I wouldn't want a bigger size, this is perfect for my work requirements. Better than the 34 size for me. In game changing stuff like volume makes screen blink like input is changing. Its annoying. Biggest complaint is price. Wish it was cheaper, but that's the game. No dead pixels no issues. Nice quality, Im happy.
Posted by 4Givn
Purchased this monitor 12-14-2019 and as of 12-18-2019 (date of writing this review) I've logged 21 hours of utilization. That said I want to say that this monitor was slated to release before it did, several push backs on the date and from my findings on-line, it was to iron out some issues it suffered from after development. I want to speak about the things I like: 1. The overclock refresh rate feelings a lot more organic than some other monitors I've tested in past times. One I'd like to speak on is the Asus PG248Q, I'll use that as a reference because I own that 1080P set, the native refresh rate feels fine at 144Hz, when pushed to 180, though it feels more smooth, there is the random ghosting, even in the mouse cursor. With this particular panel, I don't see that as much. From a gaming perspective, I don't play anything FPS at a competitive level to feel the need for 175Hz, however in day to day computing it feels absolutely amazing. 2. The pixel density here, it is amazing. I've been using Ultra-wide (gaming) monitors since the original run of the Acer Predator, that was 3440 X 1440 at 100Hz. Though it had some opportunities, it was the start of many variants that later came in a more perfect form from companies like Asus (much better option) and even Dell Alien-ware of the same model turned out to be really well. Still, with this particular monitor, the higher resolution in the Ultra-wide format feels like a much sweet spot for people that are looking for content creating and the next level for 4K gaming. 3. This monitor does not produce a ridiculous amount of heat and or noise, and that is something that I was concerned about because noise was a major call out when this monitor was in it's Beta stage. Some of the opportunities that I feel this monitor has: 1. I am not a personal fan of the RED accents, I'm not even sure who came up with the idea that RED was the color that spoke to gamers, I've been into PC gaming since 2013 and even before the RGB era, RED has always been that color, what I would have liked to have seen are maybe some replacement plates for the base of the monitor, maybe a black one. I do understand that this is a "gaming" monitor, but this has so many perks that will speak to people beyond gaming, and the accents of RED could just throw off a person looking to buy. I feel that is something LG should consider going forward. 2. You are unable to access the maximum refresh rates all while taking advantage of HDR. That is a limitation that should drop this monitor by $200 retail, in my honest opinion. That ends my separation of likes and dislikes. Speaking of HDR, I've seen the few reviews written on here speaking to the HDR not being real HDR or max. This monitor sits in a very different space. Anyone looking for max nits of brightness needs to target a monitor that has full array local dimming, that needs to be the Acer predator that does 4k at 144hz, this monitor being Ultra-wide, it's kind of in a different space. I don't know, some are picky, I never expected HDR1000 from this set but I can tell you that the HDR on this works, it's a nice kick for people that will use this for film/photo creating, anyone looking to inspect the content that they have shot in HDR format will be pleased, I'm no pro but I've done some edits and it's a welcomed tool In my opinion. My build setup that I am currently using for this monitor (New build for it in progress) Case: NZXT H500, I went black case with Red cable bar Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X MOBO: Asus TUF X570 GPU: MSI RTX 2080 Gaming Trio My gaming experience for the single player games from Tomb Raider, Batman, Resident Evil, etc style games has been wonderful, most of these games sweet spot is 60FPS, the higher refresh rate certainly helps with making timed counters (Batman series) feel fluid. This is not a monitor that I'd recommend for people playing video games that are of the fighting game genre, I used to play Street Fighter at a professional level, and I still play a variety of fighting games but this monitor isn't the optimal choice for fighting games, if you play fighting games as a main genre, do not invest in this monitor for that! I give this monitor a 5 star, it hit all my expectations. Again, I've used Ultra-wide options before, what this has given me is larger screen, higher pixels, HDR, higher native and OC refresh rate VS what was new years ago from Acer, Asus and Dell in the Ultra-wide categories. Lastly, get a Best Buy Geek Squad Protection plan on this, if you invest $1800 or got it open boxed for $1600 then be prepared to invest another $150 for a 4 year product replacement plan! -TKK
Posted by THEKINGKINDRED
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