LG 34GK950G 120Hz Nano IPS UltraWide with G-SYNC

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Update: Update on price and availability. Unfortunately we may not be reviewing this model after all. The single UK review sample was damaged in transit and LG have no current plans to replace it. News piece below initially published 29th August 2018.

There’s a lot of interest in UltraWide monitors amongst PC gamers after an immersive experience. As far as 3440 x 1440 models go, there are two distinct paths at the moment. Users can settle for high contrast VA options with potentially wide colour gamuts (improves vibrancy) and native 100Hz panels (sometimes overclockable to 120Hz). Or IPS models which are more responsive and feature superior colour consistency, but have more restrictive colour gamuts and use either 60Hz or 100Hz native panels which may overclock to 120Hz. The LG 34GK950G – a so-called ‘UltraGear’ monitor – is set to offer an interesting alternative. Aesthetically it looks rather like an elongated (and shorter) version of the 32GK850G. The screen has ‘4-side borderless’ or dual-stage bezel design, with a slim panel border that blends in seamlessly when the monitor is off plus a very slim hard outer bezel component. The stand is matte black plastic, with a ‘penguin foot’ base that helps minimise the overall depth of the product whilst keeping a solid base. The OSD (On Screen Display) is controlled by a downwards-facing joystick, beneath the central LG logo on the bottom bezel.







The monitor uses a 34” 3440 x 1440 (21:9) UltraWide Nano IPS (In-Plane Switching) panel with 1900R curve; namely a variant of the LG Display LM340UW5. The curve gives a slight extra feeling of depth when using the monitor without feeling uncomfortable or unnatural – whilst potentially enhancing viewing comfort. The monitor supports a 120Hz refresh rate but achieves this in an unconventional way. The panel itself can happily run at this refresh rate (and a bit beyond) natively, but you’re also limited by the other electronics in the monitor. In this case the monitor supports G-SYNC and has a G-SYNC module, which will come as welcome news to users of compatible Nvidia GPUs who dislike tearing or stuttering. But the manufacturer is also limited to the current available technology that Nvidia provides. In this case the G-SYNC module used runs at 120Hz via 100Hz with a module overclock. Because the panel itself is very happy to run at 120Hz, though, this should work without some of the issues that potentially affect other ‘overclocked’ UltraWide models. Such as an increase in interlace pattern artifacts or the stated refresh rate not always being achieved.

Another key aspect of the monitor is that it is ‘Nano IPS’, which is LG’s way of saying it uses enhanced phosphors on the backlight to enhance the colour gamut. A flicker-free WLED backlight is used with a ‘KSF phosphor’ layer (K2SiF6 doped with Mn4, for the chemically minded) to achieve 98% DCI-P3 (~135% sRGB) coverage and a 400 cd/m² maximum specified luminance. Other points of the specification of note include a specified 1000:1 static contrast ratio, the use of a light matte anti-glare screen surface and 178° horizontal and vertical viewing angles. True 8-bit colour is supported, without dithering. A 5ms grey to grey response time is specified whilst ‘Dynamic Action Sync’ also features, a Low Input Lag through-mode designed to minimise latency. With G-SYNC models and likely this one as well, it’s typically baked into the monitor rather than something that is enabled or disabled independently. A ‘Reader Mode’ LBL (Low Blue Light) setting also features to aid viewing comfort whilst a ‘Black Stabilizer’ setting is included for users who want to raise visibility in dark areas for a competitive advantage.







The included stand offers tilt, height and swivel adjustment. It can be detached using a quick-release button to make way for an alternative 100 x 100mm VESA compatible solution. The central region of the monitor, where the stand attaches, is surrounded by a ring of RGB LEDs – LG’s ‘Sphere Lighting’ system. This can be controlled using a dedicated button beside the OSD joystick and can be made to glow a variety of colours, with a variety of animation patterns included. Having used this on previous products, we actually found it quite a nice addition as the light was strong enough to ‘light up’ the wall behind the monitor and act as a bias light. There are some touches of red at the top and bottom of the stand, with matte black plastic elsewhere. The ports face backwards in a recessed port area to the right of the stand attachment point and include; DP 1.2, HDMI 1.4, 2 USB 3.0 ports, a 3.5mm headphone jack and DC power input (external ‘power brick’). Further information can be found on this product page. Note that some product pages available for this product, at time of writing, have incorrect information copied and pasted from the FreeSync version. So they should be ignored. A release starting in November 2018 is expected with an EU RRP of €1399. The monitor is available in the US for ~$1400.



