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LG 45″ OLED Ultrawide 5120 x 2160@165Hz 45GX990A and 45GX950A

Hello everyone,
Next Saturday I will be the proud owner of a 45GX950A which isn't necessarily well calibrated from the factory. Unfortunately, I don't (yet) own a calibration probe.
Since Rtings has blocked ICC profiles behind a paywall, I'd like to know if anyone downloaded it before and could share it with me.

Thanks
 
Lord Braathen said:
Hello everyone,
Next Saturday I will be the proud owner of a 45GX950A which isn't necessarily well calibrated from the factory. Unfortunately, I don't (yet) own a calibration probe.
Since Rtings has blocked ICC profiles behind a paywall, I'd like to know if anyone downloaded it before and could share it with me.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Does calibration make a big difference? I only game and web browse.
 
thedream829 said:
Does calibration make a big difference? I only game and web browse.
Click to expand...
When you're watching a documentary about the North Pole and the ice floes look blue, it's because your TV hasn't been calibrated.

Generally, factory calibration tends to shift cool (blue) colors, hence the "Warm 50" setting (on LG TVs) that should be used right out of the box.
 
firefox_dfSaQ6EPSx.png
 
Digital Viper-X- said:
I've been getting advertisements from my lovely monitor that don't seem to go away despite me clicking do not show again...

Registry fix for and more information about it:
https://www.thefpsreview.com/2026/0...ws-is-auto-installing-manufacturer-bloatware/
Click to expand...
.

Wag said:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9uefFYe6bM

LG sucks. If I could I'd return it just for this reason alone. We should be able to because nobody who bought this monitor agreed to this shit.
Click to expand...


. .

firefox_jPv0ml92jb.png

. .

.

I just got around to watching that whole article that I had saved for later on my youtube app.

I'm glad I wasn't satisfied with the PQ on the gx950a, to my sensibilities, and returned it ahead of this quite awhile ago now, 10 days after I bought it.

I have a LG 48CX at my main rig, and a C1 in my living room. I used to just rely on blocking them at my router, then enabling the display's (wired) internet connection to check for fw updates once in awhile. At some point I decided to unplug them entirely and just do FW updates via usb manually, because LG could be banking the data locally and upload it during that window of time even if I only allow the internet connection to check for and install a fw update over the line occasionally.

. . . . .

I've been following LG C6, G5, and G6 threads on avsforum and the C6 thread here, and I had narrowed it down to being serious about getting LG 48" C6 later this year - but at this point I might switch to a 55" Samsung QD OLED, idk. I don't like matte, especially on OLEDs. Also, samsung, sony, TCL , etc have also been known to harvest data in the past so not sure if it's 100% avoidable as a set trap in devices. Whatever I get I'll keep disconnected, and I did the "block software installation" registry method outlined in that video on my windows gaming PC, too - since just connecting the display cable is enough for windows to auto install the system app that installs spy app(s) on a pc.

I use a highly rated security suite, a separate vpn, I have a really good router setup, and I'll keep my display devices disconnected from the internet - so overall I should be able to avoid this kind of thing, but on principle alone I think I have to rule out LG. It's shame because I love glossy and samsung is all matte now. Maybe I'll start looking at the sony Bravia 8 II, which is glossy. It's "only" 120hz tv but I could make do with that my pc. The 144hz and 165hz modes in the modern LG gaming TVs may be somewhat half-baked anyway. They have have had some color issues at those rates on some models, and at least on the C6, the higher Hz rates apparently make VRR flicker on middle grays abysmal according to RTings (scored a 1 out of 10 on the 48" C6, with 10 being the best).

. .

Here is the screenshot from that Gamer's Nexus video, plus one I took myself, of where to block the auto installation from connected devices in windows OS :

Winkey+S

gpedit.msc -->

explorer_cqIFsPaJnh.png


firefox_Mih5AlbCLW.png




windows_block.devices.from.auto-installing.apps_gpedit.msc.png
Click to expand...
 
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They all seem to do it to one degree or another, just not the windows store app injection LG is doing (so far).


Samsung smart TVs, including the S95H, face distinct but equally serious data collection controversies regarding background mass surveillance, unencrypted voice recordings, and hidden monetization. While Samsung does not currently feature the specific Windows OS background driver injection recently flagged on LG gaming monitors, its Tizen OS ecosystem is under intense legal and public scrutiny for aggressive tracking practices. [1, 2, 3, 4]
The primary privacy concerns tied to Samsung's latest displays include:

1. The Screen-Spying Lawsuit & Texas Settlement (ACR)
Samsung was forced to halt a major data collection program following a massive multi-state legal push, culminating in a March 2026 enforcement action by the Texas Attorney General. [1, 2]
  • The Violation: Lawsuits exposed that Samsung TVs use Automated Content Recognition (ACR) software to quietly take screenshots of your display every 500 milliseconds. [1, 2]
  • The Impact: This happens in real-time regardless of whether you are watching cable, streaming an app, or using the TV as a PC gaming monitor. It logs exactly what is on your screen—potentially exposing passwords, bank info, or private text if left unconfigured—and sells the data to advertisers. Samsung is now legally required to obtain "express consent" via rewritten on-screen prompts before enabling this tracking. [1, 2, 3, 4]

2. Microphone & Plain-Text Voice Data Leakage
Parallel legal actions filed by privacy groups like the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) revealed that Samsung's voice-recognition features captured ambient room audio. [1]
  • The Policy: Like LG, Samsung's privacy policy mandates that any background speech or guest conversations picked up by the microphone can be transmitted to third-party voice-processing servers. [1, 2, 3]
  • Security Failures: Security researchers caught Samsung transmitting these recorded room conversations across the internet in plain text without proper encryption, violating their own stated privacy terms. [1]

3. Marketplace "Data Scraping" Apps
Independent testing by cybersecurity firm Spur evaluated thousands of smart TV applications available on the Samsung Tizen marketplace. [1]
  • Nearly one in three downloadable apps on Samsung TVs contained hidden code designed to secretly sell the user's internet traffic and IP address to anonymous third parties. [1]
  • Crucially, the researchers noted that even when users explicitly selected "decline targeted ads" during initial TV setup, these marketplace apps still connected and scraped user network identities in the background. [1]

How to Secure the Samsung S95H
If you use the S95H as a PC monitor or main entertainment hub, you can almost entirely isolate it from these privacy risks by taking the following steps:
  1. Uncheck ACR Terms: During initial setup, manually reject the "Viewing Information Services" and "Interest-Based Advertisements" agreements. [1]
  2. Disable the Physical Microphone: Locate the physical microphone toggle switch directly on the bottom chassis of the TV (near the Samsung logo) and flip it to OFF. [1]
  3. Run "Dumb TV" Mode: The safest approach for PC gaming is to completely disconnect the S95H from Wi-Fi or Ethernet. Use it strictly as a display monitor and let your PC handle all internet traffic and apps, blocking Tizen OS from phoning home entirely. [1]
Click to expand...


.

Malwarebytes blog (3-2026): samsung-tvs-stop-spying-on-viewers-in-texas-heres-how-to-disable-acr-anywhere

.

https://samsung.gadgethacks.com/news/samsung-smart-tv-lawsuit-reveals-secret-screenshot-spying/

.

.

more on LG :

https://www.techradar.com/televisions/lgs-gaming-monitors-and-tvs-are-facing-a-user-revolt

.
 
ThisMonsterLives said:
Just got mine. Loving 5K2K. Probably the only decent piece of hardware I have. 😉
Click to expand...

Idk if LG or Microsoft backtracked on the auto install of adware when you connect their monitors or not. The way to block that "feature" in windows is back two replies in #610 in case you want to disable that. It's the 2nd quote in the reply. (y)

.
 
I've had the LG 39 5k2k monitor, a week now, LOVE it, and figured out how to tweak my RTX-5080 and 9800X3D to run this extreme 5k2k res. DLSS-Performance and FrameGenX2 and games play super smooth.

Crazy thought, thinking on maybe getting the 45 inch 5k2k version for even more immersion.

I had the original 2023 LG 45 Ultragear and that size and 800r curve sucked you like it was VR.
 
Zorachus said:
I've had the LG 39 5k2k monitor, a week now, LOVE it, and figured out how to tweak my RTX-5080 and 9800X3D to run this extreme 5k2k res. DLSS-Performance and FrameGenX2 and games play super smooth.

Crazy thought, thinking on maybe getting the 45 inch 5k2k version for even more immersion.

I had the original 2023 LG 45 Ultragear and that size and 800r curve sucked you like it was VR.
Click to expand...

I've had both; just gotta pick your trade-offs. 45'' definitely has the immersion edge. Nothing like it really. 39" has better HDR brightness and pop. But in the end you are just playing on a 32" 4K with wings.

I'm considering going back to the 45" now that it's $1,199.
 
Vega said:
I've had both; just gotta pick your trade-offs. 45'' definitely has the immersion edge. Nothing like it really. 39" has better HDR brightness and pop. But in the end you are just playing on a 32" 4K with wings.

I'm considering going back to the 45" now that it's $1,199.
Click to expand...

Where is it just for that $1199 price?

Does Microcenter or Worst Buy price match?

I'm seeing $1499 at Best Buy, and MC and Amazon has it for $1299.
 
Zorachus said:
I've had the LG 39 5k2k monitor, a week now, LOVE it, and figured out how to tweak my RTX-5080 and 9800X3D to run this extreme 5k2k res. DLSS-Performance and FrameGenX2 and games play super smooth.

Crazy thought, thinking on maybe getting the 45 inch 5k2k version for even more immersion.

I had the original 2023 LG 45 Ultragear and that size and 800r curve sucked you like it was VR.
Click to expand...

Just be aware that , from what I've read since I returned mine some time ago, the 45" GX950a apparently runs best clamped at 600nit in windows hdr calibration and in game HDR setup, etc. If you push it higher, it can dim the normal scene, robbing brightness from there to maintain the same overall power/heat, plus ABL will get aggressive. I had it on the same table with my LG CX for a week and a half trying to get it comparable to the CX, so I never clamped it that low on peaks (the CX has a little over 700nit, maybe ~ 740 nit). A later firmware might also do this kind of thing for you more or less, idk.

. . .

The firmware and hardware tracking are absolutely doing a form of global load balancing, and setting the peak over 600 nits forces a lower baseline for normal scenes.
When you push an OLED display past its comfortable hardware thresholds, the system dynamically alters how it manages power and brightness across different parts of the screen.


How the Firmware & Chips "Load Balance" Brightness
OLED panels have a strict total power budget. Because every single pixel emits its own light, lighting up the entire screen takes massive amounts of electrical current and generates significant heat. The display's processing firmware handles this using two main mechanisms: [1, 2]
  • Total Power Allocation (ABL): The hardware constantly tracks the Average Picture Level (APL). If the screen is mostly dark with one tiny candle flame, the firmware allocates all available power to those few pixels, allowing them to spike to maximum nits (1,200+ on the LG 45" GX950A or ~740 on the LG 48" CX). If the scene changes to a bright snowy field, the firmware "load balances" by spreading a lower amount of power equally across millions of pixels, causing full-screen brightness to drop. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
  • The EOTF Curve Shift (The Culprit): On monitors like the 45" GX950A, toggling the "Peak Brightness" setting to High actively shifts the entire Electro-Optical Transfer Function (EOTF) tracking curve upward. It aggressively skews the math to favor small highlight headroom at the direct expense of mid-tone stability. [1, 2]


Over 600 Nits: Why Normal Scenes Get Dimmer
When you calibrate Windows or an in-game engine to a 1,200+ nit peak, you are telling the source device to stretch the entire brightness scale. To accommodate those massive highlight ranges without blowing past the panel's physical power limit, the firmware must adapt:
  1. Lowering the Baseline: To ensure the monitor has the thermal headroom to suddenly flash a 1,200-nit explosion, it lowers the normal scene brightness (mid-tones) during standard gameplay. [1]
  2. Aggressive ABL Pumping: Because the gap between a normal scene (~150 nits) and the peak (~1,200 nits) is so wide, any sudden movement—like panning your camera toward a white wall or a bright sky—crosses the panel's power threshold instantly. The ABL reacts aggressively, causing the entire screen to visibly dim or "pump" in real-time. [1, 2, 3, 4]


The Clamping Solution: Keeping Output Uniform
By clamping Windows HDR and your games to 600 nits (and leaving the monitor's Peak Brightness setting on Low), you change the screen's behavior entirely: [1]
  • Linear & Predictable tracking: The display operates within a window where it can safely maintain a linear EOTF curve without exhausting its thermal boundaries. [1, 2]
  • Elevated Baseline, Zero Pumping: Because the panel doesn't have to save massive energy reserves for an extreme 1,200-nit flash, it allows your normal scene brightness to stay higher, punchier, and entirely static. ABL rarely triggers because the total power usage remains flat, giving you an identical overall brightness output regardless of what is happening on screen. [1, 2]
On the older LG 48" CX, the panel naturally hardware-caps around 700–740 nits anyway, meaning its factory behavior is already tightly boxed. The 45" GX950A has much wider, wilder performance swings, making hard-capping it to 600 nits an essential trick for PC desktop and consistent gaming use. [1]
Click to expand...
. .

FW update addressed it somewhat supposedly:
LG released firmware updates that directly addressed these brightness issues, though they do not completely remove the physical 600-nit hardware behavior. Instead, the updates drastically smoothed out the aggressive "pumping" and mid-tone drops without forcing you to dig into hidden service menus. [1, 2]
If you update your monitor using the LG Switch Desktop App, these firmware revisions adjust how the AI processing and ABL operate under the hood: [1]

1. Lessened Window Darkening and Algorithmic Dimming
Early software versions featured an incredibly aggressive, localized dimming algorithm (often linked to internal Convex Power Control / CPC settings). If you had a split screen open—such as a dark browser on one side and a game window on the other—the monitor would aggressively dim the active window to balance the perceived contrast. [, 2]
  • The Fix: Users note that LG pushed a patch to lessen the severe impact of this localized dimming. While the behavior is still baked into the hardware logic, the transition is much less jarring and obnoxious, resulting in a significantly brighter-looking screen during normal, mixed-window desktop use. [1]

2. Refined EOTF Curve in the 3.07 Firmware Update
The 3.07 firmware update targets how the monitor calculates high-nit tracking curves. [1]
  • The Fix: There is a forum consensus on Reddit that the 3.07 update refines the Automatic Brightness Limiter (ABL) and recalibrates the Electro-Optical Transfer Function (EOTF) curve. [1]
  • The Result: Instead of throwing massive light levels at tiny highlights and subsequently crushing the mid-tones, the new curve handles light allocation more efficiently. It provides cleaner brightness "pop" where necessary while reducing overall light leakage and erratic dimming behavior across mixed scenes. [1]
Click to expand...

. .

According to reports, you may still need to clamp it to 600nit, at least optimally:

Do You Still Need to User-Clamp to 600 Nits?
Even with the improved tracking provided by firmware 3.07, the baseline hardware rules of the MLA+ panel still apply. [1, 2]
  • With Peak Brightness set to "High": The firmware will still alter its scaling factor to allow brief 1,200+ nit spikes on tiny 1% windows, which can occasionally trigger a shift in mid-tone brightness depending on the game's overall scene composition. [1, 2]
  • Recommendation: The firmware updates mean you no longer have to clamp the monitor just to make it usable or stop it from wildly flashing. However, if your goal is absolute, reference-level brightness consistency across full-screen gaming and desktop tasks, locking your Windows HDR Calibration profile to 600 nits remains the gold standard for maintaining a flat, predictable baseline. [1, 2, 3]
Click to expand...

. .

I loved the 45" gx950's size, 800R at 5120x2160 format, but between that normal scene dimming I was experiencing and the matte surface flattening the blacks and making solid bright fields of color look granulated, I ended up returning it. I do miss the format itself though. :(


.
 
When I had 45" gx950a, I was stubbornly trying to use the peak brightness = high mode and doing other calibrations to get the screen to 1000nit HDR peak at first, and then I tried to dial it in to 700 - 800 nit like the my LG CX next to it during testing. I also tried to fix the black floor, which is stretched up along with everything else in the "Peak brightness: high" setting. What that all did was make the screen's load balancing kick in , which made the normal scene in games look dim and dull.

To test I mostly played Fenxy: Immortals Rising which is a HDR game with a very bright and colorful open world with long view distances from mountaintops/hills, and also darker caves and valleys that transition back to those bright colorful outdoor areas. The normal scene was very dim compared to my Lg CX, and the colors seemed more dull. I also played elden ring in HDR, which has similar areas but higher detail, and both games with very bright hdr spell effects.

Apparently the screen works best when it is in "Peak brightness = low" mode, and setting windows HDR calibration and in-game calibrations to clamp at 600nit. I wasn't completely aware of that at the time, partly due to the marketed numbers of the screen, and my expectations compared to my other screens.

If you keep the peak brightess = low, and clamp any calibrations in windows and games to 600nit and don't try to push it higher, it should look better than what I was experiencing since it shouldn't steal from the normal range dimming it to balance out the higher stretched-to HDR peaks, and the ABL should be somewhat less aggressive.

I still would prefer if it were brighter output in all of it's % windows, and that it was glossy since the matte abraded surface dulls OLED blacks and can make solid bright fields of color look granulated, film grain media and green/yellow filters in games, and fogs, look more noisy than they should -- but I get the appeal of the 45" 5120x2160 800R format, and I do miss it. It was a great format.

.
 
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StryderxX said:
I use my 45" for work and the 39" for gaming. Love them both.
Click to expand...

I have the 57" ultrawide for work productivity. The 45" is not ideal for work productivity like the 39" is.

I debated selling the 57" and using the 39 for work productivity..... but the greater 7680 x 2160 canvas @ 240hz resolution is sooooo amazing for work.

I'm so glad I got the 45 back...man when I sold my other one, I had such cold feet that I was considering refunding buyer his money and reneging on the sale haha. But after having the 45 for a year you get spoiled by its size and take it for granted....and can be temped by a 4k240 hz "fast" 32" gaming monitor......but after a few days the novelty wears off and you realize.
1786903012365.png


So you end up right back to where you started!

Haha man after putting the 39 side by side you realize how much it sucks.... its curve felt FLAT ASS Taylor Swifts ASS once you put it next to the 45
1786903027238.png
 
l88bastard said:
The 45 is IMMERSIVE & the 57 is EXPANSIVE!!!
The 39 is a ladies monitor hahaha

I got a 5090, I run DLSS Quality and 2x frame gen when I play with the 57 :)
Click to expand...

With a 5K2K custom resolution, you're just using the middle 5120x2160 section of the 57" screen, which is good for gaming. I got tired of having 3 setups - one for docking the work laptop, one for non-work "productivity", and one for gaming, so consolidated to 2 setups.
 
Bigmonitorguy said:
With a 5K2K custom resolution, you're just using the middle 5120x2160 section of the 57" screen, which is good for gaming. I got tired of having 3 setups - one for docking the work laptop, one for non-work "productivity", and one for gaming, so consolidated to 2 setups.
Click to expand...
If I were to go out and buy a gaming screen right now I'd likely end up with a 5k2k OLED. No chance on the Samsung G9 57" for gaming. I got used to OLED and I'm spoiled. VA? No way. IPS also no. LCDs are for work screens. I prefer them there. I write code for a living and I'm not real picky about color, etc. on a work screen so I'll go for durability and usable real estate over pretty.

I haven't done the 3 setup thing but I'm a big fan of 2 setups. OLED for gaming and "something nice and big" for everything else. My current setup is an L-shaped desk with a 4k OLED for gaming on one leg, a 1920x1200 side screen in the middle hooked up to my main rig so I can keep tabs on email and use it as a music player while I'm working and my work laptop is running my main screen, and a Dell U5226KW as my main productivity monitor on the other leg. Add in 2 mice and two keyboards and all I have to do is rotate my chair.
 
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