The QHD resolution is becoming more and more interesting for gamers in view of modern graphics cards. Especially since monitors with fast response times and high refresh rates are now available. The LG UltraGear 27GP850-B fits exactly into this category and can also score with a fairly humane price of currently 329 euros. We took a closer look at that.
Most people have known for a long time that LG doesn’t build the worst monitors on the planet. The long list of good to very good devices is also joined by the LG UltraGear 27GP850-B, a 27-inch monitor with QHD resolution and a high refresh rate. Even the first look together with the structure looks convincing. Thanks to the tool-free assembly, the monitor stands very securely on the table, and all the necessary cables are included. Screw on the base, hang the display and lock it in place and you’re done.
Nice: the connections on the back aren’t hidden and aren’t unfriendly pointing downwards. Basically, everything you need is there. Two HDMI 2.0, a DisplayPort 1.4, two USB 3.0 ports and a USB uplink are available as well as a 3.5 mm audio connection. LG didn’t use speakers, which is okay, because hardly any gamer doesn’t use speakers or a headset.
Set up and connected, the LG monitor cuts a pretty good figure. The base is quite bulky, but doesn’t take up too much space. The workmanship is clean and has no quirks. When it comes to ergonomics, LG has thought of almost everything, from 110 mm of height adjustment along with a tilt of -5 to +15 degrees and a pivot function. The only thing missing is panning from left to right, but that’s no big deal. Mounting on the wall or a monitor mount is also possible thanks to VESA 100.
The monitor is operated via a mini-joystick along with a clear OSD, or via the LG Screen Manager as software. The menus basically contain everything that a gamer needs, from different profiles to additional functions such as Flicker Safe Backlight, Reader Mode, Black Stabilizer, DAS Mode (Dynamic Action Sync) or crosshairs.
The 27-inch panel is a Nano IPS panel with a resolution of 2,560 x 1,440 pixels, a response time of 1 ms (grey-to-grey) and a native 165 Hz refresh rate, optionally even 180 Hz with the overclock function. There are also four different overdrive variants. You can basically skip “Off” and “Faster”, the latter in particular has clear overshoots. “Normal” for lower and “Fast” for higher refresh rates work great and make the responsive monitor really nimble with low latencies.
The panel is G-Sync compatible and supports AMD FreeSync Premium, and the monitor is DisplayHDR 400 certified. However, you should not expect miracles with HDR, due to IPS, the contrast is not exactly great and local dimming is of course also missing in the price range. The color space coverage is 98% DCI-P3, and the monitor also has an sRGB mode. Overall, the color representation is good, and the calibration only needs a little fine-tuning. As usual with IPS, the black display is rather meager, but this is not really noticeable when playing games.
In practical operation, not only the operation is convincing, but above all the strong color display as well as the short latency and fast response time. If you can accept the IPS-typical weaknesses in terms of contrast and black display, you get a really fine device for PC gaming. For console users, on the other hand, the monitor is less worthwhile, unless you are satisfied with a maximum resolution of 1440p and can do without HDMI 2.1. All in all, we found the price-performance ratio to be very fair.
