LG 27GN800 Review: 1440p 144Hz 1ms IPS FreeSync Gaming Monitor

For a lot of people, 27″ 1440p 144Hz monitors are the sweet spot for PC gaming.

They’re not too expensive nor too demanding on your CPU/GPU, yet they offer an immersive and responsive gaming experience.

The LG 27GN800-B also ensures wide viewing angles, vibrant colors, and quick response time speed thanks to its IPS panel, as well as smooth variable refresh rate (VRR) performance provided by certified G-SYNC compatibility and optional 1ms MBR.

It still has some drawbacks, all of which we’ll cover in the review. Also, since there are plenty of different 27″ 1440p 144Hz gaming monitors available, we’ll compare the most popular models.

Image Quality

The LG UltraGear 27GN800 is based on an IPS panel by BOE (MV270QHM-NF1), unlike LG’s other monitors with similar names (27GN850, 27GL850, 27GL83A, and 27GN880), which are based on LG’s M270WQA-SSA1 panel.

We made a small comparison table containing all of the above-mentioned LG models and the specifications they differentiate by.

While the LG 27GN800 uses a different panel, it performs very similarly to the LG 27GL850 and the LG 27GL83A models.

You get wide 178° viewing angles, as well as accurate and consistent colors, which ensures that there are no color, contrast, brightness, or gamma shifts regardless of the angle you’re looking at the screen.

Despite the specified 99% sRGB color gamut, the LG 27GN800 actually supports a wide color gamut, covering pretty much the same amount of the DCI-P3 color space as the other LG models with the quoted 98% DCI-P3 gamut.

This results in vibrant and saturated colors, especially reds and greens. Some users might find this over-saturation too extreme, while others will appreciate the extra shade variety.

Sadly, there’s no sRGB emulation mode that would allow you to restrict the monitor’s native ~135% sRGB gamut to ~100% sRGB. So, if you want accurate sRGB color output in color-managed applications, you’ll need to profile the monitor using a colorimeter.

Alternatively, if you have an AMD Radeon graphics card, you can use their GPU driver software to clamp the gamut by setting ‘Color Temperature Control’ to ‘Disabled’ under ‘Custom Color’ settings.

In case you have an NVIDIA graphics card and you don’t have a colorimeter, you’ll be stuck with over-saturated colors, though you can try this third-party tool.

LG’s other models we mentioned include an sRGB mode, so you might want to consider them instead.

Moving on, the LG 27GN800 monitor has a peak brightness of 350-nits, so it will be more than bright enough under normal lighting conditions. The contrast ratio varies from 700:1 to 1000:1 depending on the individual panel, but most units seem to reach around 850:1.

While this is somewhat below average for IPS panels, there’s no major difference between 850:1 and the standard 1000:1, while the difference between 850:1 and 1200:1 (which would be considered good for IPS) is still arguably subtle considering that blacks in both cases would appear grayish in comparison to blacks of a VA panel monitor with a contrast ratio of ~3000:1.

Of course, VA monitors have disadvantages of their own, including gamma and contrast shifts, as well as slower pixel response time speed, resulting in noticeable smearing in fast-paced games (at least as far as the models at this price range are concerned).

Another thing that can detract from perceived black depth on the LG 27GN800, and other IPS panel monitors for that matter, is IPS glow. This is the expected drawback of IPS technology characterized as visible ‘glowing’ around the corners of the screen.

It’s mostly noticeable in dark rooms when displaying dark content with high brightness; the glow can further detract from blacks, making them appear grayish.

The issue is less severe under regular lighting. Adding some bias lighting can also help. Note that the amount of IPS glow, just like backlight bleeding, varies across different units of monitors.

In the end, if you want a 27″ 1440p 144Hz gaming monitor at this price range, you have to pick your poison: inferior contrast ratio and IPS glow of IPS monitors – or slower response time and gamma/contrast shifts of VA monitors. There’s no ‘better’ option, it just depends on what you’re personally less sensitive to.

Performance

The LG 27GN800 display has a low input lag of ~4ms, which results in imperceptible delay between your commands and the result on the screen.

Its pixel response time speed is impressive as well. There are four response time overdrive modes: Off, Normal, Fast, and Faster.

‘Fast’ and ‘Faster’ are too aggressive and introduce too much inverse ghosting (pixel overshoot), so you should avoid them.

At 144Hz, the Normal overdrive mode offers the best results as there’s basically no visible trailing behind fast-moving objects.

At 60Hz, the Off mode performs better, but if you’re using a variable refresh rate and your frame rate is ~100FPS, we recommend sticking with the Normal mode.

The combination of rapid response time, low input lag and 144Hz makes the monitor ideal for competitive fast-paced gaming as there are no distracting visual artifacts whatsoever.

Running high frame rates at 1440p in competitive eSports titles is also not nearly as demanding as it is at 4K UHD, allowing you to enjoy both smooth performance and crisp high pixel density image quality with a decent mid-range gaming PC.

Further, the LG 27GN800 has a flicker-free backlight since it doesn’t use PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation) to regulate brightness. So, those sensitive to flickering can use the monitor without worrying about headaches caused by PWM.

Another thing worth noting is that the monitor supports HDR10 (High Dynamic Range).

However, it lacks proper display capabilities for a noteworthy HDR viewing experience, such as a higher brightness and contrast ratio provided via local dimming.

Some HDR content might look a bit better due to the wide color gamut, but you’ll prefer to have it disabled most of the time, as expected from an ‘HDR’ monitor at this price range.

Features

The LG 27GN800 supports AMD FreeSync Premium and it’s officially certified as NVIDIA G-SYNC Compatible (by using the 456.38 or newer drivers).

If you have a compatible graphics card, FreeSync/G-SYNC allows the monitor to change its refresh rate dynamically (Hz = FPS) in order to prevent screen tearing up to 144FPS, without adding input lag as V-Sync does.

Alternatively, you can use the 1ms MBR (Motion Blur Reduction) technology.

You can enable 1ms MBR only when FreeSync/G-SYNC is disabled, and your refresh rate is set to either 120Hz or 144Hz.

1ms MBR reduces perceived motion blur by backlight strobing. This reduces the maximum brightness and causes screen flickering, which is invisible to the human eye but sensitive users might experience headaches after prolonged use.

Other interesting features include Black Stabilizer (improves visibility in darker scenes by manipulating the gamma curvature), crosshair overlays and various picture presets, such as FPS, RTS, Reader (low-blue light mode), and two customizable Gamer modes.

Besides the standard picture settings (brightness, contrast, etc.), you also get access to advanced adjustment tools, such as four gamma modes, sharpness, 6-axis hue/saturation, and color temperature fine-tuning (in increments of 500K).

Tweaking the OSD (On-Screen Display) settings is quick and easy thanks to the directional joystick. You can also use the On-Screen Control software to make the adjustments in a desktop application.

Design & Connectivity

The stand of the monitor is tilt-only (-5°/15°), but it is detachable, allowing you to mount the screen via the 100x100mm VESA pattern.

Further, the design boasts ultra-thin bezels at the top and at the sides, while the screen has a matte anti-glare coating that prevents reflections, without making the image too grainy or fuzzy.

Connectivity options include DisplayPort 1.4, two HDMI 2.0 ports, a headphone jack, and a single USB 3.0 port for service/firmware updates.

DisplayPort 1.4 allows for 2560×1440 144Hz with 10-bit color depth, while HDMI 2.0 is limited to 1440p 144Hz 8-bit. VRR is supported over both DP and HDMI with a 48-144Hz range.

Price & Similar Monitors

The LG 27GN800 price ranges from $300 to $350.

We recommend checking out the LG 27GL83A too for ~$300. It has a more ergonomic stand and an sRGB mode, though it doesn’t support 1ms MBR.

You should also check out the HP X27q, the Acer XV272UV and the MSI G273QF/QPF 1440p 165Hz IPS gaming monitors with 1ms GtG response time that can be found on sale for ~$250.

LG offers a bunch of similar models, so here’s a quick round-up:

As you can see, the LG 27GN800 is the only model without an sRGB mode, which is a shame.

Just like the LG 27GN800, the LG 27GL83A has a specified 99% sRGB color gamut, yet it actually supports wide color gamut. The difference, however, is that the GL83A model uses its sRGB gamut natively and only extends to DCI-P3 when an HDR signal is detected.

For more information and monitors, visit our comprehensive and always up-to-date best gaming monitor buyer’s guide.

Conclusion

The LG 27GN800 is an excellent gaming monitor, however, the lack of an sRGB mode might repulse some users who prefer accurate colors when viewing sRGB content.

Others might even prefer the extra color saturation, in which case it’s an awesome display, especially when it comes to fast-paced games!

Specifications

Screen Size	27-inch
Resolution	2560×1440 (QHD)
Panel Type	IPS
Aspect Ratio	16:9 (Widescreen)
Refresh Rate	144Hz
Response Time	1ms (GtG)
Motion Blur Reduction	1ms MBR
Adaptive-Sync	FreeSync (48-144Hz)
Ports	DisplayPort 1.4, 2x HDMI 2.0
Other Ports	Headphone Jack, 1x USB 3.0 (Service)
Brightness	350 cd/m²
Contrast Ratio	1000:1 (static)
Colors	1.07 billion (8-bit + FRC)
HDR	HDR10
VESA	Yes (100x100mm)