LG UltraGear OLED 27 (27GR95QE-B)
MSRP $1,000.00
Even with some OLED concerns, the UltraGear OLED 27 ticks all the boxes for a high-end gaming monitor.
Positives
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Vibrant colors and HDR
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Excellent motion clarity
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Brilliant matte finish
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Generous port selection
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Sturdy stand with lots of adjustments
cons
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Low brightness SDR
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Some text clarity issues
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A remote control is necessary to control the display
For years, the best gaming monitors relied on one type of panel: the traditional LCD. But that’s starting to change, and LG is the leader. The UltraGear OLED 27 (27GR95QE-B) is the first 27-inch OLED gaming monitor, finally delivering the vibrant HDR, true blacks, and incredible motion clarity of OLED in a screen form factor that makes sense. He delivers on all fronts.
There are some issues, most notably the cumbersome remote control and the high price of a 1440p screen, but those issues immediately fade into the background when the UltraGear OLED 27 debuts. Perfect pixel density meets vibrant colors with a capable high refresh rate for excellent motion clarity, adding to a monitor that is not only one of the best gaming monitors, but one of the best.
LG UltraGear OLED 27 Specifications (27GR95QE-B)
| LG UltraGear OLED 27 (27GR95QE-B) | |
| Screen Size | 27 in |
| plate type | OLED |
| Accuracy | 2560 x 1440 |
| peak brightness | 200 nits (SDR), 800 nits (HDR) |
| HDR | Yes |
| local dimming | Not available – OLED |
| Contrast ratio | 1,500,000: 1 |
| response time | 0.03 milliseconds (GtG) |
| Refresh rate | 240 Hz |
| curve | no one |
| Amplifiers | no one |
| input | 2x HDMI 2.1, 1x DisplayPort |
| ports | 2x USB 3, 1x 4 poles/microphone |
| modifications | 4..3″ high, 20° swivel, 20° tilt |
| price list | 1000 dollars |
| where to buy |
Stunning design, half-baked execution
The first thing that stands out about the UltraGear OLED 27 is how thin it is. There’s a chunky back panel that houses the connection ports and active (but silent) cooling, but the panel itself is only a fraction of an inch thick.
On the back there is some bright LED lighting that you can set to one of our solid colors or cycle through a spectrum. The color matches a smaller bottom light that shines through the control button. Yes, that’s just one button to control the screen, and that’s where the UltraGear OLED 27 starts having problems.
I’m a big fan of LG’s onscreen display (read my review of the UltraGear OLED 48 for more on that), but the OLED 27 is hard to come by. The single control button doesn’t let you access the full menu, instead asking you to do a single tap To cycle through the quick access menu or long press to select a setting. This leads to situations where lowering the brightness requires pressing the button 100 times to go from the brightest setting to the dimmest.
You’re supposed to control the screen with the included remote control, but even then the UltraGear OLED 27 has issues. For starters, the battery slot on the remote requires a screwdriver to open, and LG doesn’t include the coin-op battery you need to power the remote. This wouldn’t be a problem if you could control the onscreen display with the onscreen button, or if LG had included a battery, which very few people are likely to be around, but neither of those things are true.
This is annoying, but an easy problem to solve. What you get UltraGear OLED 27 is the mod. Ironically, you are no You need a screwdriver to set up the sturdy stand, and it only allows four and a half inches of height adjustment, 20 degrees of swivel, 20 degrees of tilt, and the ability to flip the screen vertically.
It also has an impressive array of outlets. You get two USB 3.0 ports on the back, as well as a headphone/microphone jack on the bottom of the screen. This port supports DTS Headphone:X for virtual 3D audio, providing a high-end audio experience right below the front of the screen.
OLED is beautiful and vibrant
What sets the UltraGear OLED 27 apart is the right name: OLED. Self-dimming pixels mean you get true black levels and a theoretically unlimited contrast ratio. It’s an antidote to the awkward state of HDR with most gaming monitors.
Brightness isn’t the main draw here, though. It’s the opposite. LG claims the screen can reach a peak brightness of 1,000 nits, but only for 3% of the screen. I measured a maximum brightness of 600 nits, but that was with HDR. That sounds loud, but the screen won’t usually get that bright. In SDR, it topped out at just over 250 nits, which is somewhat dim for a monitor released in 2023.
It’s not as bright in HDR as LG says, but brightness wasn’t a huge issue for me. In SDR, the contrast ratio was more than 250,000:1, and in HDR, there is an infinite contrast ratio. Colors pop right off the screen, and even ordinary websites look vibrant. This is despite the matte finish on the screen. Unlike the Glossy Dough Spectrum, the UltraGear OLED 27 comes with a matte finish on the screen. It never became an issue, dealing with reflections while allowing the vibrant color of the palette to shine through.
This color is vibrant. I measured 100% coverage of the sRGB color space, as well as 97% coverage of DCI-P3. Color accuracy was excellent out of the box, too, with a color error of 1.5 (less than 2 is ideal for video and photo editing). You can easily jump in and start editing a video on the UltraGear OLED 27 without any color adjustments.
This is only in SDR. HDR is a different beast. The UltraGear OLED 27 has a WRGB sub-pixel mapping, which means there’s a white sub-pixel along with the standard red, green, and blue. It’s this addition that helps the UltraGear OLED 27 get brighter than similar OLEDs, but it does come with a trade-off. Because the screen has to lean against white pixels to get brightness in HDR, colors start to lose saturation as you turn up the brightness.
I measured a color error above 6 in HDR, and that was only at 75% brightness. The UltraGear OLED 27 is great for color work when it’s in SDR, but HDR is exclusively for playing games, watching movies, and browsing the Internet.
OLED doesn’t come without worries either. Burn-in is a ubiquitous problem as static elements of the screen will fade over time. LG includes some features like automatic screensaver and pixel shifting, and burn-in is less of an issue on OLED today than it was in years past. But it’s still important to ask if you plan to use the UltraGear OLED 27 for everyday use outside of gaming.
Perfect pixel density
I was a little impressed when I heard that the LG OLED 27 had a 1440p display. It’s $1,000, which is hard to swallow even when premium 4K gaming monitors like the Sony InZone M9 are several hundred dollars cheaper. It’s not always about raw accuracy.
At 27 inches, pixel density is excellent on the UltraGear OLED 27. Text looks crystal clear, and images look lifelike thanks to the OLED panel. You’re spending more for fewer pixels, but that doesn’t really matter once you sit down and look at the screen.
It’s not a crazy price either. Alienware’s 34-inch QD-OLED ranges from $1,100 to $1,300. It has a higher resolution, but only because it uses an ultra-wide aspect ratio of 21:9. The UltraGear OLED 27 is basically the same screen pixel-wise, just with the ultra-wide wings cut out.
But I value the resolution mainly because of the refresh rate. This is a 240Hz panel, and while it’s hard to recommend a high refresh rate on a 4K monitor like the Samsung Odyssey Neo G8, it’s perfectly adequate for 1440p. As long as you have a powerful gaming PC, you’ll easily be able to push frame rates capable of running at full 240Hz.
Given how great an OLED panel can be, the UltraGear OLED 27 makes a very strong argument that more resolution isn’t always better. And in combination with the high refresh rate, it looks great.
The only concern with text clarity is the WRGB subpixel structure, which is an issue we saw with the first batch of QD-OLED screens. There is some blurring of text as you sit close to the screen, but I didn’t find it distracting while using the screen. You have to be really close to the screen to notice it, so although text clarity is an issue compared to a traditional LCD screen, it’s far from a deal breaker.
Great games
You should already know that the UltraGear OLED 27 is a great gaming monitor. A 240Hz refresh rate, sub-0.1ms response times, FreeSync certification, G-Sync support, and amazing HDR – it’s a great combination.
This combination is what makes UltraGear OLED 27 so amazing. The 240Hz refresh rate is easily beaten by the recent barrage of 360Hz monitors we’ve seen, like the Asus PG27AQN, but it’s still much higher than what you’d see on a typical gaming monitor. Combined with the response time, the motion clarity can reach 360Hz panel levels, making it a great choice for competitive games such as Overwatch 2, Rainbow Six Siege, And brave.
The UltraGear OLED 27 has competitive gaming, but it also has cinematic gaming. OLED and the excellent HDR experience it provides means you can enjoy games like Cyberpunk 2077 movie And Horizon Zero Dawn without missing a thing.
And that’s the problem with most gaming monitors – you have to choose between competitive motion clarity or stunning cinematic visuals. UltraGear OLED 27 delivers the best of both worlds. I jumped back and forth between Overwatch 2, Destiny 2, Cyberpunk 2077, And at least a dozen other games without adjusting a single setting on the screen. Each time, I felt like I was having the best experience.
Should you buy the LG UltraGear OLED 27?
I’ve never come across a screen that makes quite as much sense as the UltraGear OLED 27. It doesn’t always hold up on the spec sheet, but sitting in front of the screen constantly reinforced one thought: This is one of the best gaming experiences you can get right now.
It’s not ideal, especially for desktop use where OLED burn-in and text clarity are pressing issues, but those issues are easy to overlook. What you get is excellent motion clarity, response time, HDR, and pixel density in a package that, while pricey, is more affordable compared to other options on the market.
Its main competition is the Alienware 34 QD-OLED, which says a lot about how good the UltraGear OLED 27 is. LG’s advantage here is a slightly lower price and much higher refresh rate, finally bringing competitive and cinematic gaming experiences.
Editors’ recommendations
