LG 2020 'Ultra' Monitors Ideal for Professionals and Gamers Alike

[AleksandarK]

LG Electronics' new generation of Ultra monitors to be unveiled at CES 2020 is designed to dramatically improve the user experience with superior design and cutting-edge performance. A leading innovator in the premium monitor segment, LG's 2020 UltraFine, UltraGear and UltraWide models have been honored as CES Innovation Award winners.

The 2020 CES Innovation Award-winning 32-inch UltraFine "Ergo" 4K UHD monitor (model 32UN880) is an innovative ergonomic solution that delivers differentiated value. The unique LG Ergo concept brings together the three key elements of image fidelity, ergonomic design and USB-C One Cable solution for a monitor that delivers unbeatable performance, user comfort and a cleaner desk setup at home or at the office. The UltraFine 4K UHD Display Ergo inherits the stunning picture quality the UltraFine series is renowned for and more than meets the needs of most professionals thanks to its ability to produce high resolution images with excellent detail, color reproduction and color accuracy.


The LG Ergo was developed for working professionals and anyone who spends a significant amount of time at a desk. The technologically and ergonomically advanced arm-type stand with its high degree of adjustability enables users to create perfectly customized workstations. The LG Ergo stand can extend outward or positioned close to the wall, moved up to eye-level or lowered to the desk. It can even swivel to face the opposite direction for convenient sharing of information with an office colleague. The Ergo a monitor can be positioned at the perfect height, distance and angle for a far more comfortable and more sustainable user experience.

This unit's USB-C One Cable solution provides 4K imaging, fast data transfer and power for laptop charging through a single, convenient cable. The LG Ergo also replaces the conventional monitor stand-base with a desk clamp to free up more room, while the One Click mount-system makes setting up the display a quick and simple affair.

2020 LG UltraGear Gaming Monitors
LG's new UltraGear gaming monitors (models 27GN950, 34GN850 and 38GN950) expand on the lineup's strong reputation for blistering speed and excellent picture quality. Demonstrated earlier this year by LG's first 1 millisecond Gray-to-Gray (GTG) IPS display, LG's gaming monitors raise the bar for speedy performance and gorgeous visuals.

Another CES Innovation Award winner, the 27-inch UltraGear 4K UHD monitor (model 27GN950), boasts a 1 ms Nano IPS display with a refresh rate of 144Hz, over-clockable to 160Hz. The unit also offers hardware calibration to maximize the ability of LG's IPS technology to realize precise color reproduction.

A single DisplayPort cable provides support for VESA Display Stream Compression (DSC) technology for virtually lossless performance when handling 4K UHD images. In addition to delivering rich, vivid pictures and remarkable speed, VESA DSC is HDR compatible and is NVIDIA G-SYNC Compatible, offering variable rate refresh and adaptive sync technology.

Designed to expand gamers' sense of immersion, UltraGear models 34GN850 and 38GN950 feature large 1 ms IPS displays and a 160Hz refresh rate. For the ultimate gaming experience, models 27GN950 and 38GN950 are VESA DisplayHDR 600-certified, while the 34GN850 supports VESA DisplayHDR 400. Both monitors incorporate an upgraded stand that not only looks sleek but is also stronger and more stable.

2020 LG UltraWide Monitor
A longtime leader in widescreen monitors, LG leveraged its expertise in advanced display technologies to develop the 38-inch Curved UltraWide QHD+ monitor (model 38WN95C). Another CES Innovation Award winner, this curved 3,840 x 1,600 model features a 1 ms Nano IPS display with a 144Hz refresh rate and is validated as NVIDIA G-SYNC Compatible.

Boasting Thunderbolt 3 connectivity, this monitor is a great addition to any workstation. LG's newest UltraWide has three times the screen real estate of a 16:9 Full HD (1,920 x 1,080) monitor, providing ample scope for simultaneously writing code, editing and reviewing all content. Moreover, the monitor's Nano IPS display covers 98 percent of the DCI P3 color space for incredibly natural and realistic images. Certified as VESA DisplayHDR 600, this monitor delivers a truly dynamic HDR experience on its mammoth 38-inch display.

"Our 2020 monitor lineup surpasses expectations with professional-level performance, picture quality and speed," said Jang Ik-hwan, head of LG's IT business division. "The LG Ergo brings new value to users, ensuring comfort and well-being with its uniquely adjustable stand while the 27-inch UltraGear 4K model offers superior picture quality for the ultimate gaming experience and the 38-inch UltraWide builds on LG's legacy of excellence in 21:9 displays."

Specifications:


View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[P4-630]

Nice but not for my wallet....

 

[R-T-B]

I loved my VA panel LG until I had a bad dream and punched it yesterday, cracking the panel.

Can't really blame it for that, though...

 

[E-curbi]

Current monitor is a 6year old LG panel using sheet glass bonded directly for improved clarity by Planar - extended use and showing it's age.

For 2020, planning either an LG 32UL950-W UltraFine or the new LG 32UN880 UltraFine Ergo from this press release.

And of course, as soon as the 30day return window expires - removing the 3H anti-glare coating carefully and entirely.

I loved my VA panel LG until I had a bad dream and punched it yesterday, cracking the panel.

Can't really blame it for that, though...

Bad dreams can go haywire sometimes - what's a person to do?

 

[Chrispy_]

That's cool, but rather than marketing blurb and overdriving the snot out of IPS to reach (cynical *cough*) "1ms", It'd be cool if they could instead improve their black levels, corner glow, and backlight bleed.

I've owned and used plenty of LG IPS screens and to be fair to LG, most of their displays are reasonable in terms of bleed and corner glow - but those two things are BY FAR the biggest drawbacks with buying IPS. It would be nice if IPS could get improved black levels and contrast, but they're good enough that most people don't really care too much and if you're using the screen in a brightly-lit environment, they're arguably irrelevant.

 

[bug]

Current monitor is a 6year old LG panel using sheet glass bonded directly for improved clarity by Planar - extended use and showing it's age.

For 2020, planning either an LG 32UL950-W UltraFine or the new LG 32UN880 UltraFine Ergo from this press release.

And of course, as soon as the 30day return window expires - removing the 3H anti-glare coating carefully and entirely.

Bad dreams can go haywire sometimes - what's a person to do?

View attachment 139863

Yeah, the 32UL950-W has crappy dimming. 32UN880 fixes that by having no dimming at all.

 

[dicktracy]

I think most people are waiting for next year’s 48” OLED instead of these same ol’ outdated tech

 

[Krzych]

2019 38GL950 is still not available to buy and they already release 2020 38GN950. Interesting.

Also where are dual-layer LCDs? Looks like this is the next step for desktop displays, providing big enough jump in quality and will probably get here sooner than any self-emissive technology

Good to see so many G-sync Compatible certifications though. LG's implementations of Adaptive Sync were really poor with very narrow native ranges and flickering even within native range, good to see them improving on that and applying for G-sync Compatible as quality assurance for us, because that's basically what this is, implementation quality validation.

 

[Chrispy_]

Remind me please: Was the dual layer tech basically a mono LCD that cut down light leakage from ultra bright backlights to allow IPS to reach higher contrast levels for HDR?

 

[bug]

I think most people are waiting for next year’s 48” OLED instead of these same ol’ outdated tech

Wow, you live in place where most people can afford 48" OLEDs. Neat.

 

[Krzych]

Wow, you live in place where most people can afford 48" OLEDs. Neat.

Even 55" ones can be found for as low as 1000 EUR sometimes, with regular pricing around 1200-1300, so I don't really understand how can you be unable to afford them and at the same time be able afford the luxury of wasting time complaining in the internet, unless you are like 15.

Remind me please: Was the dual layer tech basically a mono LCD that cut down light leakage from ultra bright backlights to allow IPS to reach higher contrast levels for HDR?

I haven't read too much in-depth about it yet so don't quote me on anything here, but from what I understand on most basic level you have two layers and pixels of both are aligned. So if you have two layers with native 1000:1 contrast and tell both to go black then their contrasts get multiplied and you get 1 000 000:1. Simply you block the light two times in a row with two separate layers aligned. I've read there are also displays in development where back layer is going to be lower resolution then front one (but still aligned), so this way you could achieve dimming zones of a size of 4 pixels and possibly much bigger than that too, so this is probably one way these displays are going to be segmented, by the resolution of back layer. Certainly makes much more sense than all of these Frankenstein's FALDs they make right now. Sony ditched RGB OLED in favor of this technology in their reference mastering display, so it has to be close enough in quality (you can watch HDTVTest video about this), probably cheaper and more adequate for desktop use (no ABL or retention)

 

[HisDivineOrder]

I wish they'd list as part of "Freesync" or "G-SYNC" what the minimum and maximum framerates were. In fact, I wish there were standards like there are for HDR levels that required a certain minimum to get a certain certification.

 

[Chrispy_]

I wish they'd list as part of "Freesync" or "G-SYNC" what the minimum and maximum framerates were. In fact, I wish there were standards like there are for HDR levels that required a certain minimum to get a certain certification.

Honestly, they don't even need to mention Freesync or G-sync any more. Just changing the spec sheet from "144Hz" to "48-144Hz" would answer the most important three questions:

Is it a VRR monitor?
How low does it go?
Does it support LFC?

 

[Krzych]

I wish they'd list as part of "Freesync" or "G-SYNC" what the minimum and maximum framerates were. In fact, I wish there were standards like there are for HDR levels that required a certain minimum to get a certain certification.

Thats exactly what G-sync Compatible certification is for, although HDR certifications is not a good comparison because they are very poorly designed. For example, DisplayHDR 400 is just a global dimming and has nothing to do with HDR. Going this way you could certify double buffered V-sync as VRR

Back to G-sync Compatible, there are minimum requirements for VRR range, I think it was 24-60 for 60 Hz and 48-144 for 144 Hz or thereabouts. And not just for theoretical range, all of these displays are tested and if they get any issues like flickering they don't get a certification.

Generally if you look at G-sync Compatible monitors list 48 Hz is bare minimum for starting range, nothing goes higher. Monitors with G-sync module are starting from 1 Hz on this list, but I think in reality they start from 30 Hz and get LFC below that, at least older ones.

 

[dicktracy]

Wow, you live in place where most people can afford 48" OLEDs. Neat.

48" is expected to get below $1000 since the 55" model regularly hovers around low $1000ish

 

[Chomiq]

48" is expected to get below $1000 since the 55" model regularly hovers around low $1000ish

Except they will be overpriced at launch due to them being part of the new year's lineup. It will be another 6-7 months before they come down to "regular" price.

 

[Totally]

Thats exactly what G-sync Compatible certification is for, although HDR certifications is not a good comparison because they are very poorly designed. For example, DisplayHDR 400 is just a global dimming and has nothing to do with HDR. Going this way you could certify double buffered V-sync as VRR

Back to G-sync Compatible, there are minimum requirements for VRR range, I think it was 24-60 for 60 Hz and 48-144 for 144 Hz or thereabouts. And not just for theoretical range, all of these displays are tested and if they get any issues like flickering they don't get a certification.

Generally if you look at G-sync Compatible monitors list 48 Hz is bare minimum for starting range, nothing goes higher. Monitors with G-sync module are starting from 1 Hz on this list, but I think in reality they start from 30 Hz and get LFC below that, at least older ones.

It kinda doesn't since G-Sync now supports Freesync now.

 

[bug]

It kinda doesn't since G-Sync now supports Freesync now.

I'm not sure what that means, but only monitors that support an adequate VRR range get the G-Sync Compatible sticker: https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/news/g-sync-ces-2019-announcements/

 

[Totally]

I'm not sure what that means, but only monitors that support an adequate VRR range get the G-Sync Compatible sticker: https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/news/g-sync-ces-2019-announcements/

It's not just 'G-sync compatible' that works with Freesync going forward anymore, I even made a thread about it back in Nov here:

Freesync working on G-Sync monitors? Since when?

I bought the new Alienware 34 inch ultrawide, saw it for 40% off and couldn't resist. Once it got here connected and once windows got around to figuring out what this new monitor was(until it downloads the dell software from the store it's 'generic monitor') and then Adrenaline detected it, a...

www.techpowerup.com

Nvidia made an official announcement 2wks later, TheLostSwede provided this link:

NVIDIA Open Up Support for Adaptive-sync/FreeSync for Future Native G-sync Module Screens – TFT Central

www.tftcentral.co.uk

 

[CrAsHnBuRnXp]

Wonder when in 2020 these will be released

 

[ToxicTaZ]

The best VA Gaming monitor right now is the ROG SWIFT PG35VQ

Nano IPS is a thousand dollars cheaper as I bought the LG UltraGear 38GL950G-B monitor instead.

The LG UltraGear 38GL950G-B is better than the new cut down LG UltraGear 38WN95C. Has software G-Sync Compatible with NO OC Hz... But hay you get HDR 600 and $500. Less price tag.

Nano IPS 1ms VS VA 2ms means less ghosting.... Very important

 

[bug]

It's not just 'G-sync compatible' that works with Freesync going forward anymore, I even made a thread about it back in Nov here:

Freesync working on G-Sync monitors? Since when?

I bought the new Alienware 34 inch ultrawide, saw it for 40% off and couldn't resist. Once it got here connected and once windows got around to figuring out what this new monitor was(until it downloads the dell software from the store it's 'generic monitor') and then Adrenaline detected it, a...

www.techpowerup.com

Nvidia made an official announcement 2wks later, TheLostSwede provided this link:

NVIDIA Open Up Support for Adaptive-sync/FreeSync for Future Native G-sync Module Screens – TFT Central

www.tftcentral.co.uk

Again, I don't understand what you're trying to say.

 

[ToxicTaZ]

Again, I don't understand what you're trying to say.

You can beat true hardware G-Sync

Hardware
G-Sync Ultimate
G-SYNC

All software
G-Sync Compatible
Freesync 2
Freesync
DP Adaptive sync
VRR

Software missing the most important part of hardware G-Sync is Variable Overdrive! Worth every dollar....

Wonder when in 2020 these will be released

Right away...

No hardware G-Sync

G-Sync Compatible doesn't have to be pre-tested before shipping.... Saving months.... The LG UltraGear 38WN95C is a cut down version of last year's LG UltraGear 38GL950G-B

It's $500. Cheaper too... Only plus is real HDR 600

 

[atomicus]

Except they will be overpriced at launch due to them being part of the new year's lineup. It will be another 6-7 months before they come down to "regular" price.

They'll always be at their most expensive at launch, as any product is, but they will come in under the 55" as LG will hard pushed to shift many units otherwise, except to those who simply MUST HAVE OLED NOW and cannot fit 55"... PC users are a very small minority of purchasers for this. My suspicion is that we'll see LG release their 10-series range all together, and they'll be priced relatively. I still think we'll see the 48" come in under current 55" B9/C9 pricing though, not least because these are already very high performing TV's, so it will be hard to justify a massive mark-up for the 10-series. CES is just around the corner so that may reveal more. I just hope LG don't massively cheap out and not even bother with HDMI 2.1 on the 48", but I can't see them being so shortsighted with all their latest models getting it, plus next gen consoles due in less than a year of course.