LG 38GL950G - 37.5" 3840x1600/G-Sync/175Hz

OK, so make a special model for computer users, charge $200 more for that DP input and call it a day!
(special model can be identical to retail with DP inside.. )

If only it were that simple- given the lower volume of the 'special' model and the testing and tooling involved- as well as additional electronics!- you might need to add more than an additional 50% to the MSRP to reach ROI.

And that's supposing that those who would be interested would actually buy one. The more they have to charge, the less they'll sell, and then, the more they'll have to charge. There's likely not a solution here unless the manufacturer wants to do this.

And the only way that would work- would be if say LG or Samsung just decided to use their market influence to just put a DP port on everything.
 
Sure, but it's my understanding that consumer GPUs do NOT allow proper 10-bit output on the desktop, only in DirectX. On top of that, to make any use of 10-bit capability, the software you're running itself has to support it. So if you're running a Quadro GPU and want 10-bit for pro Photoshop work, you can get that... but you cannot get it with a GeForce card, and this is intentional.

Basically 10-bit is full of caveats and special cases, it's not just a matter of flipping it on in display settings and then everything is better.

That's funny since the desktop is rendered with D3D in Windows 10...
 
Very, very tempting for a 2020 upgrade. Seeing posts on multiple forums about poor LG customer service though which is a little scary. Hopefully Acer, Asus and Dell also bring out their own versions with the same panel.

The other thing is that HDR gaming may not be a big deal now but it will be in 2-3 years when next gen consoles take off. That gives this monitor a pretty short lifespan for the money.
 
Very, very tempting for a 2020 upgrade. Seeing posts on multiple forums about poor LG customer service though which is a little scary. Hopefully Acer, Asus and Dell also bring out their own versions with the same panel.

The other thing is that HDR gaming may not be a big deal now but it will be in 2-3 years when next gen consoles take off. That gives this monitor a pretty short lifespan for the money.
I think HDR is as likely to outright die. Or be replaced my something superior than it is too be universal in 3 years time.
 
I think HDR is as likely to outright die. Or be replaced my something superior than it is too be universal in 3 years time.

It's likely that one standard will become more common than the others, or outright "win", yeah, but I don't see it dying. It's too big of a deal on television and film content, and too obvious of a major visual improvement.

I don't think 3D would have died either if it wasn't for the glasses requirement, which is the main problem with it -- you can watch HDR on your phone(and in fact, phones are one of the BEST ways to watch HDR because they have the brightest OLEDs in the world).

Nobody wants to put glasses on and watch only a special screen to watch video.
 
I think HDR is as likely to outright die. Or be replaced my something superior than it is too be universal in 3 years time.

Are you talking about HDR the feature or the current implementation? HDR itself definitely isn't going anywhere.

It won't be universal in 3 years but it'll probably be a critical checkbox for high end gaming hardware.
 
It won't be universal in 3 years but it'll probably be a critical checkbox for high end gaming hardware.

I dunno - arguably it already IS a critical checkbox for gaming... just only on consoles. The software progress in Windows has been incredibly slow for some reason. While there are different formats on TVs, for the mostpart HDR works perfectly out of the box without the user having to do anything other than subscribe to a streaming service that has HDR content(Netflix being the most prominent, of course, but most of the bigger ones have some).

The state of HDR on PC might lead you to believe it's still in a rough state, but it's in a pretty good state for film and TV.
 
Ya HDR isn't going anywhere. Neither is VR.

I wish LG would make a FALD back-lit version of this display. I'd pay $3G's.
 
FALD needs more zones... A LOT more zones, if it's to really offer something amazing, especially for gaming. That and sensible pricing. What we've seen so far from the PG35VQ and 27" 4K Asus/Acer monitors is just absurd, and terrible value. This LG isn't helping matters either with its rumoured 2300 Euros price and half baked useless HDR solution. Part of the problem is the marketing buzz word and hype that HDR generates among average (and not so well informed) consumers... companies recognise the money to be made here and are exploiting it big time.
 
FALD needs more zones... A LOT more zones, if it's to really offer something amazing, especially for gaming.

I'm less opposed to it for gaming, if the fidelity is there; so yeah, A LOT more zones, but workable. For desktop and productivity use with stuff that you're focusing in on the details, if I can set it to constant, that's okay too.

But to make it dynamic? I need per-pixel illuminaiton, i.e., OLED :).
 
The HDR support for this isn’t ideal, it’s the only thing that’s putting me off. Reality is though that it’s better suited for my needs in every other respect. When I move house I can hopefully get a tv in my study again and I can just do HDR for that. Got a feeling I’m gonna be a bit *sadface* before then as cyberpunk looks perfect for HDR.

Anyway, figure I’ll get one of these for the 3 years or so that it will take for the micro led stuff to filter through. I’m sat with crossed fingers thinking please don’t suck

As much as I’d like us to be having 4000 nit, 240hz vrr OLEDs with no burn in by then. I can’t see it happening :D
 
I'm less opposed to it for gaming, if the fidelity is there; so yeah, A LOT more zones, but workable. For desktop and productivity use with stuff that you're focusing in on the details, if I can set it to constant, that's okay too.

But to make it dynamic? I need per-pixel illuminaiton, i.e., OLED :).


No chance for OLED... MicroLED in about 5-10 years, if we're lucky. OLED will never happen, certainly not at the smaller sizes we actually want. If it were remotely possible, someone would have done it by now. It's just too expensive and yields are terrible. It's why they KEEP churning out LCD's. TV market is a different animal, that's the only reason it's done well there, and obviously even then it's at 55"+. That's such a niche when it comes PC users, I guess it's possible we might see the likes of Alienware (as they've discussed) putting out a big OLED screen targeted at gamers, but it will come with an utterly obscene price tag.
 
No chance for OLED... MicroLED in about 5-10 years, if we're lucky. OLED will never happen.

Oh I know.

My point is that if it's not OLED (or better), I'm not really interested for desktop use. FALD is serviceable for media use, and with more complicated arrays, probably unproblematic for gaming, but otherwise I don't want it on my desk.

I'll take the native contrast of these panels and be happy. :)
 
No chance for OLED... MicroLED in about 5-10 years, if we're lucky. OLED will never happen, certainly not at the smaller sizes we actually want. If it were remotely possible, someone would have done it by now. It's just too expensive and yields are terrible. It's why they KEEP churning out LCD's. TV market is a different animal, that's the only reason it's done well there, and obviously even then it's at 55"+. That's such a niche when it comes PC users, I guess it's possible we might see the likes of Alienware (as they've discussed) putting out a big OLED screen targeted at gamers, but it will come with an utterly obscene price tag.

I agree with everything you said, although I will add that the yields on LCDs are absolutely terrible too if you count dead pixel panels and monitors with completely splotched backlights.

The fact that shit like that is shipping is laughable. And even when people RMA them, these dumpster fire companies just pop the bezels off and put the old panel in another one and try to resell them as new. It's disgusting.
 
I agree with everything you said, although I will add that the yields on LCDs are absolutely terrible too if you count dead pixel panels and monitors with completely splotched backlights.

The fact that shit like that is shipping is laughable. And even when people RMA them, these dumpster fire companies just pop the bezels off and put the old panel in another one and try to resell them as new. It's disgusting.


Yup, absolutely agree on yield with LCDs... the problem as you say is they actually sell them like that! That would obviously never fly with OLED panels, yet when it comes to LCDs, even higher end models aren't immune from this kind of treatment. It is shocking really.
 
I noticed recently that on the Dell configuration page their 15” oled was cheaper than the 4k touch igzo panel. That’s the samsung oled panel. If someone scaled up mid sized panel manufacturing outside of LG, they should be comparable in price to premium IPS and much cheaper than FALD due to the relatively simpler construction and engineering. The problem as always is volume and ROI.
 
Well TFTCentrals early access review of the 27" 1ms is up and it's not very good (4.8ms G2G) with terrible contrast (848:1). Basically no better than the four year old 1440P AUO monitors (5.0ms G2G). The 1ms spec is marketing BS. Now I am quite less excited about the 38". :(
 
Well TFTCentrals early access review of the 27" 1ms is up and it's not very good (4.8ms G2G) with terrible contrast (848:1). Basically no better than the four year old 1440P AUO monitors (5.0ms G2G). The 1ms spec is marketing BS. Now I am quite less excited about the 38". :(

Yea it's pretty disappointing. I mean it is important to remember that it's a Freesync screen, and for one of those, it's actually a MASSIVE improvement. Most of them have terrible response times. So it manages to achieve G-sync level response times across the whole range of refresh rates, with no variable overdrive, and only a little overshoot. In that sense, it is an impressive achievement.

Also, it is possible that the 38" will have better response times because it's got the G-sync module. Not guaranteed but... I assume there's a reason that every single G-sync monitor massively beats Freesync monitors on response time, even when they're using the same panel. The 38" is DisplayHDR 400 as well, and the 27" is not, so it may have a better overall panel with better contrast. Certainly not guaranteed, maybe just brighter, but it's possible.

Another point in the column of "Never trust YouTube personalities to review hardware."
 
Ya Sancus good points. I forgot about the Freesync G2G penalty.
 
Certainly not guaranteed, maybe just brighter, but it's possible.

If it's 'brighter', then in order to have the same contrast (AKA dynamic range), the 'blacks' must also be brighter than the 'darker' panel.

Honestly I'll take panels that have better blacks over brighter panels, where possible. I try not to use monitors with spotlights pointed at them ;).
 
Sure, but it's my understanding that consumer GPUs do NOT allow proper 10-bit output on the desktop, only in DirectX. On top of that, to make any use of 10-bit capability, the software you're running itself has to support it. So if you're running a Quadro GPU and want 10-bit for pro Photoshop work, you can get that... but you cannot get it with a GeForce card, and this is intentional.

Basically 10-bit is full of caveats and special cases, it's not just a matter of flipping it on in display settings and then everything is better.
Studio Driver 431.70 added 10-bit color support in non-DirectX applications for all GeForce and TITAN video cards currently supported in this variant of the driver (Pascal and up).

https://www.geforce.com/drivers/results/149125
 
Studio Driver 431.70 added 10-bit color support in non-DirectX applications for all GeForce and TITAN video cards currently supported in this variant of the driver (Pascal and up).

https://www.geforce.com/drivers/results/149125

Oh that's pretty interesting, thanks, I missed that. Pretty recent change. I hope that leads to an increase in the number of applications that support it, too.
 
Is this effectively an ultra wide 4K? Might be what I had in mind for an upgrade from my much loved X34.
 
It's the same PPI as the X34, just a bigger version basically, more screen real estate but no sharper than your X34.

Thanks for clarifying that, I was really interested in the improved fidelity of 4K but if all it mainly offers is more real estate then I would be less interested. As it stands the X34 is plenty large for me, and it would be a big adjustment to move to a 38" desktop monitor. Has there been any news of a smaller version with higher PPI?
 
Thanks for clarifying that, I was really interested in the improved fidelity of 4K but if all it mainly offers is more real estate then I would be less interested. As it stands the X34 is plenty large for me, and it would be a big adjustment to move to a 38" desktop monitor. Has there been any news of a smaller version with higher PPI?


Well, there is the LG 34WK95U, which at 34" and 5120 x 2160 offers a PPI of 164 (roughly equivalent to a 27" 4K monitor), but at 60Hz and no VRR, this isn't exactly an upgrade to the X34 other than in resolution.
 
Well, there is the LG 34WK95U, which at 34" and 5120 x 2160 offers a PPI of 164 (roughly equivalent to a 27" 4K monitor), but at 60Hz and no VRR, this isn't exactly an upgrade to the X34 other than in resolution.

That resolution and size would be perfect, but as you observe its not feasible without features like a 100hz refresh rate and G-Sync. Hopefully Acer or Asus has something in the works because I would seriously consider it, despite needing a monster GPU to get acceptable frames.
 
That resolution and size would be perfect, but as you observe its not feasible without features like a 100hz refresh rate and G-Sync. Hopefully Acer or Asus has something in the works because I would seriously consider it, despite needing a monster GPU to get acceptable frames.


I think that panel resolution would make for a very nice monitor with the right ingredients... HDR, high refresh, G-Sync... but I think we'll be waiting a while given how slow the monitor industry moves with these things.
 
Can’t wait to get my 38GL950G for testing.

Damn I take a break for a few months and Vega is pumped about Ultrawides? Whats up with the 27inch model of this line?
Well, sounds like a goal you should start working on :)

I seriously don't understand why this is not done yet lol

No shit any time I'm getting the itch I usually look at what is in Vega's sig first. However I do notice he starts switching between eye candy and speed depending on what games hes playing. Really surprised hes excited about UW. I keep my x34 for work but mostly play shooters on the ROG PG279Q. I am interested in the 27inch model of this line if it blows my PG279Q out of the water.
 
Damn I take a break for a few months and Vega is pumped about Ultrawides? Whats up with the 27inch model of this line?


No shit any time I'm getting the itch I usually look at what is in Vega's sig first. However I do notice he starts switching between eye candy and speed depending on what games hes playing. Really surprised hes excited about UW. I keep my x34 for work but mostly play shooters on the ROG PG279Q. I am interested in the 27inch model of this line if it blows my PG279Q out of the water.

TFTCentral tested it:

https://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/lg_27gl850.htm#detailed_response

It's only a hair faster than the PG279Q and you lose ~150 contrast ratio. I wouldn't bother.

It's not so much that I have purposefully disliked ultra-wide, it's just that 3440x1440 at 34" hasn't impressed me much. Now that with the 38" LG you get the larger screen real estate, higher resolution you also get 175 Hz with faster pixels; it's a no-brainer!
 
TFTCentral tested it:

https://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/lg_27gl850.htm#detailed_response

It's only a hair faster than the PG279Q and you lose ~150 contrast ratio. I wouldn't bother.

It's not so much that I have purposefully disliked ultra-wide, it's just that 3440x1440 at 34" hasn't impressed me much. Now that with the 38" LG you get the larger screen real estate, higher resolution you also get 175 Hz with faster pixels; it's a no-brainer!
I agree. This is a day one purchase for me at the moment.
 
The 27" has basically the flat version of the 34" panel (nano ips, 98% DCI-P3, similar PPI) how did they fuck up the contrast so much? TFT's 34" was 980:1.

Wonder if trying to maximize the bullshit g2g "1ms" metric on IPS does this, if so totally not worth it. Makes me wonder if a firmware update to disable the marketing feature could improve contrast, LOL!

Back on point, I will wait out for the 38" F version in 2020 or something else, getting locked into nvidia for the next few years is a bad idea. Also unless they have another revision of FPGAsync cards to handle the DP 1.4 bandwidth needed for 3840x1600@144+hz, fan in monitor = fucking never.
 
The 27" has basically the flat version of the 34" panel (nano ips, 98% DCI-P3, similar PPI) how did they fuck up the contrast so much? TFT's 34" was 980:1.

If you're referring to the LG 34GK950F, it's not the same panel in a different size. It has a g2g average of 8.2ms. You don't drop 3.4ms g2g by luck, that's a significant technology change. It's entirely possible that whatever they did to achieve this cost some contrast.

The LG 27GL850 is a very unique panel, because not only does it have the fastest IPS response time ever tested, it also has that same response time at all refresh rates without overdrive changes or overshoot. So while Vega is right that it's not much of an improvement over a G-sync monitor with variable overdrive, it IS an impressive Freesync IPS display. Especially if they manage to get the street price down to $450 or $400. Apart from the Aorus one(which is like $550-600), 4.8ms is half the response time of every other Freesync IPS. The LG 27GL850 and Aorus AD27QD represent a substantial improvement in Freesync displays.

It's just that G-sync has always been so much better, even a big improvement is just a "catch-up".

This 38" is a different beast, given that it's $2000 and G-sync, they SHOULD do a better job with contrast/response time than a cheap 27" Freesync. They may not, but we'll see.
 
My local retailer has moved the delivery date of this monitor from September to November 23. I don't know if it's worldwide trend or just my location. Usually, they are the first in line to start sales of new monitors.
 
My local retailer has moved the delivery date of this monitor from September to November 23. I don't know if it's worldwide trend or just my location. Usually, they are the first in line to start sales of new monitors.

Where are you located?
 
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