LG UltraGear 38GN950 review

Our Verdict

82%

A class-leading behemoth of a gaming monitor, but it has an eye-watering price.

The LG UltraGear 38GN950 is a 38″ mammoth of a screen that not only offers a bump in screen size over your typical 34in ultrawide display, but an increase in resolution too. Instead of the 3,440 x 1,440 pixels typical of such screens, here you get 3,840 x 1,600.

It has some serious gaming credentials too. Like the recently reviewed LG UltraGear 34GL850 (see Issue 206), it boasts a 160Hz maximum refresh rate when overclocked (144Hz default), marking an improvement over the 100Hz (120Hz when overclocked) previous-generation ultrawide IPS screens.

G’s UltraGear 38GN950 is a 38in mammoth of a screen that not only offers a bump in screen size over your typical 34in ultrawide display, but an increase in resolution too. Instead of the 3,440 x 1,440 pixels typical of such screens, here you get 3,840 x 1,600.

It has some serious gaming credentials too. Like the recently reviewed LG UltraGear 34GL850 (see Issue 206), it boasts a 160Hz maximum refresh rate when overclocked (144Hz default), marking an improvement over the 100Hz (120Hz when overclocked) previous-generation ultrawide IPS screens.

Along with this, it has a claimed 1ms response time, although this is a bit of a far-fetched claim. Such a rapid response is only achieved in a handful of colour transitions (response times vary depending on which colour a pixel is changing to and from), and with the monitor set to its ‘Faster’ overdrive setting, which produces a mass of terrible-looking inverse colour ghosting.

Nonetheless, even with the overdrive dropped down a notch, this panel offers a significant upgrade in overall gaming performance over older 4ms ultrawide screens, and outstrips even other competing modern 1ms ultrawide models. Adding further to its gaming credentials is official FreeSync Premium Pro and G-Sync compatibility, and sure enough, the overall gaming experience here is very impressive, with no tearing artefacts and smooth motion. Again, if you already own a 34in 100Hz ultrawide monitor, this screen offers a noticeable upgrade.

Also included is support for the HDR 600 standard. This stipulates that a display can produce a peak brightness of 600 nits, includes a degree of local backlight dimming, has true 10-bit colour processing and can produce a peak black level brightness of 0.1 nits while another portion of the screen is at maximum brightness.

Sure enough, the 38GN950 passes all these criteria, with us measuring a peak brightness of 760 nits and peak black level of 0.11 nits in HDR mode (for a total contrast of 6,909:1). We also detected eight backlight zones, and can confirm that the display can produce the colour fidelity required for HDR.

That’s good in theory but, ultimately, eight backlight zones is nowhere near enough to prevent the whole backlight needing to be at the same brightness for any given frame, essentially dropping the contrast to its native level. You certainly get an impressive level of eye-searing dazzle when called upon from frame to frame, but you almost never get the simultaneous brightness and darkness that’s the real hallmark of great HDR.

Otherwise, out-of-the-box image quality is superb, with a 6,487K colour temperature, 979:1 contrast ratio, 2.22 gamma recording and a 0.23 delta E measurement. You also get a very good sRGB mode, with adjustable brightness for desktop work and image editing. The on-screen display is also excellent (although it lacks an FPS indicator option) and connection options are adequate. However, while the stand’s height and tilt are adjustable, it lacks rotation and you don’t get any speakers.

LG UltraGear 38GN950 test results

1/1

LG UltraGear 38GN950 pros and cons

Pros

• Fantastic overall image quality
• Excellent gaming performance
• Big screen size and resolution
• Passable HDR

Cons

• HDR still not great
• No stand rotation or speakers
• Very expensive

LG UltraGear 38GN950 specs

The LG UltraGear 38GN950 specs list is:

LG UltraGear 38GN950 price

The LG UltraGear 38GN950 price is $1000, making it an expensive but reasonable value display, given its huge panel size, high resolution and 144Hz refresh rate.

Price: Expect to pay $1000 (£1300)

LG UltraGear 38GN950 review conclusion

A massive screen size, a high resolution, fantastic out-of-the-box image quality, class-leading gaming performance and better than most HDR makes this a stunning screen. There are a few slip-ups, such as the lack of rotation in the stand and no speakers, but they’re minor grumbles. Instead, the big question mark here is the price. At £1,500, this is a hugely expensive panel, especially when you can pick up 34in panels with similar gaming performance for under £500. If you want a massive, high-resolution HDR gaming panel, though, and you have the money, the LG is a great buy. The 38GN950’s combination of massive screen size, high resolution and great gaming performance means it easily makes it one our best gaming monitor list.