The38GL950Gsports a new display format: 37.5-inch panel with a 3840 x 1600 resolution.
Technically neither format is exactly 21:9 but it’s close enough.
This LG monitor also uses new Nano IPS technology, which we first saw deployed in theLG 27GL850.
This allows for a wide gamut experience as well as super fast response times.
This combination of features promises an immersive ultrawide gaming experience with excellent motion handling.
Indeed, the technology in theLG 27GL850is set up to push ultrawide monitors further than they’ve gone before.
Other features include full G-Sync with Nvidia’s module inside.
This is an expensive monitor.
It’s a very interesting display in our opinion.
Design
The monitor’s design is very similar to previous LG UltraGear monitors we’ve seen.
You’ll spot a few more red highlights, like with the top vented area.
We’ve seen plenty of RGB lighting on a monitor, but we think this is the best implementation.
There’s many more RGB lights than we usually get, and they’re very bright.
Well with this, the lighting is bright enough to create an ambient effect around the display.
Normally we just pass off RGB on a monitor as complete rubbish but this is surprisingly good.
We also like the stand LG has used here.
It has decent height adjustability plus tilt support, but most importantly, it’s very sturdy.
But no, this stand is strong and withstands a bit of punishment with ease.
It’s quick to navigate and includes handy features like crosshairs and FPS counters.
Port selection is standard for monitors that use Nvidia’s G-Sync module: one HDMI port and one DisplayPort.
There’s a USB hub, too.
However, 8-bit color is achievable at 160Hz.
Meanwhile, the HDMI port is limited to 85 Hz, so we wouldn’t use it.
Hopefully a future revision will support DSC and alleviate this problem.
Couple of other quick notes.
You may have heard Nvidia’s latest generation G-Sync module also supports VESA adaptive sync (a.k.a.
We repeat, the variable refresh experience on the LG 38GL950G is available withbothNvidia and AMD GPUs.
It’s definitely quieter than some G-Sync Ultimate monitors.
Display Performance
Let’s look at response times first.
However, performance is still very strong even with overdrive off.
And in gameplay we found these issues virtually impossible to spot.
However, as you might have noticed, this isn’t technically a 1ms monitor at this overdrive mode.
For that, we need to push up to Faster and… same problem as the 27GL850.
Overshoot is incredibly high here, resulting in obvious light trails to any moving objects on the screen.
Usable speeds in the 3ms range is outstanding.
What’s even better is how the 38GL950G holds up across the refresh rate range.
From there it actually gets better.
At 85Hz, overshoot is reduced substantially, with response time averages only creeping up to 4.56ms.
Then at 60Hz we see similar overshoot with slightly higher response times, now up to 5.12ms.
And 5ms is still quite quick.
Whether this is worth the price premium depends on how response time sensitive you are.
Looking at the comparison chart below, the 38GL950G looks very impressive.
For an IPS monitor with significantly better colors and viewing angles, that’s unprecedented.
Performance is simply outstanding.
There are some other noteworthy comparisons to make here.
Overdrive is better tweaked with the 38GL950G, so it’s faster than the 27GL850.
you’re free to see improvements over LG’s previous generation monitor, too.
Budget ultrawides offer more like 7-8ms response times and are not in the same performance class.
We see the benefits of IPS with the dark level average performance.
The 38GL950G is hugely impressive, but Nano IPS panels aren’t at the level of TNs yet.
You see this with our inverse ghosting chart.
62 watts is still reasonable though, but perhaps not the most efficient on this list.
Color Performance
Another area where the LG 38GL950G performs well is color reproduction.
LG lists this panel as being factory calibrated and that’s true based on our testing.
Which is still pretty good for a gaming monitor, but not perfect.
What about the sRGB mode?
Well, it’s pretty good.
Did we say sRGB clamp?
Yes, that’s what the sRGB mode provides, meaning sub-2.0 deltaEs are possible.
All things considered, it’s the best mode to use for displaying sRGB content.
D65-P3 performance is also strong out of the box.
Grayscale performance is similar to what we’ve been discussing, with saturation and ColorChecker deltaEs also below 2.0.
This is the sort of factory calibration we like to see.
Basically we have two modes that provide decent sRGB and P3 performance without the need for tweaks.
sRGB deltaEs around that 0.5 mark, and similar with P3.
IPS glow was minimal with our review unit, too.
Unfortunately, that is true of the LG 38GL950G as well.
We measured a contrast ratio of 879:1 after calibration, which is a bit better than our 27GL850 unit.
What does this mean in practice?
This is because ambient light interferes with observed black levels to an extent.
It’s only in darker viewing environments where the 38GL950G falls behind other monitors, especially VAs.
Uniformity is good, but not perfect.
Finally, we get to HDR.
Brightness also falls behind required targets, hitting just 460 nits in its HDR mode.
You might find the HDR mode useful for wide gamut work, it’s just not real HDR.
Top-Notch Monitor: Who Is It For?
TheLG 38GL950Gis clearly the best ultrawide monitor on the market right now.
Essentially it takes every feature we got with previous flagship ultrawide displays, and takes it up a notch.
The resolution and panel are physically bigger, if only slightly, which we think is really good.
We love this size and the bump up from 3440 x 1440 to3840 x 1600is handy.
In our opinion offers a more immersive experience and it’s also better for split-screen productivity work.
Most impressive of all are the response times, which are excellent.
This is the first time we can say an IPS monitor delivers response timesequivalent to TN monitors.
It’s a really quick display.
It’s a big upgrade over previous IPS panels that packed 5ms response times.
Given the other benefits you get from IPS, this is a next-gen viewing experience.
But this is no different to TN panels.
Yes, we’ve seen 1ms and 0.5ms minimums, but not on average.
The LG 38GL950G also delivers in other ways.
Variable overdrive keeps performance rock solid across the entire refresh rate range.
Even though it has a G-Sync module, it’s FreeSync compatible and works with AMD GPUs.
Input latency is very low.
Did we mention this is a wide gamut panel that has 95% P3 coverage?
Yup, you get that, too.
High brightness levels, excellent viewing angles, and a great design with functionally useful RGB lighting.
The biggest is the contrast ratio, which is unimpressive against other IPS and especially VA monitors.
There’s also the complete lack of true HDR functionality.
That said, pricing on LG monitors tends to change often.
