LG 27GP850 Review: 1440p 165Hz 1ms FreeSync IPS Gaming Monitor

The LG 27GP850 is the 2021 updated model of the very popular LG 27GL850. It features an improved panel with a slightly higher 165Hz refresh rate (with a 180Hz factory-overclock), a tad higher peak brightness and a bit faster pixel response time speed!

Image Quality

The UltraGear 27GP850 is based on LG’s Nano IPS panel with the wide 98% DCI-P3 color gamut (equivalent to ~135% sRGB) for more saturated and vibrant colors, especially when it comes to reds and greens.

Most games and web content, however, were designed with the sRGB color space in mind. This can make some scenes look over-saturated, and while there are people who prefer the extra vibrancy, some users prefer the more natural and accurate look.

Luckily, the LG 27GP850 monitor has an sRGB emulation mode that can clamp the native ~135% gamut to ~100% sRGB. This allows you to choose between the sRGB and DCI-P3 gamut, depending on your preference.

It’s a very useful feature that’s sadly often omitted on many wide color gamut monitors. Another bonus is that you can adjust the brightness in the sRGB mode of the LG 27GP850, but color channels are locked.

The IPS panel also ensures 178° wide viewing angles and there are no brightness, contrast, gamma, or color shifts when looking at the screen at skewed angles.

Further, the static contrast ratio ranges from 700:1 to 1,000:1, as expected from an IPS display, while the peak brightness amounts to 400-nits, which is more than bright enough under normal lighting conditions.

For most people, 27″ 1440p monitors are the perfect combination of screen size and resolution due to the high 108 PPI (pixels per inch) ratio.

You get plenty of screen space and sharp details without any scaling necessary, while the QHD resolution is not nearly as demanding as 4K UHD, allowing you to maintain a high frame rate with a decent gaming PC setup.

HDR (High Dynamic Range) is supported and the LG 27GP850 is certified as DisplayHDR 400 by VESA, but due to the lack of local dimming and adequate brightness and contrast ratio, you’re not getting the true ‘HDR’ viewing experience.

This is expected from a monitor at this price range, so you can think of its HDR support as a secondary feature. Thanks to its wide color gamut, some HDR content might look a bit better, but you’ll most likely prefer to have HDR disabled most of the time.

Some IPS glow is present, which is normal for IPS panels and its intensity varies across different units of the monitor.

Performance

The LG 27GP850 has imperceptible input lag of ~4ms, while the pixel response time speed is fast enough to prevent visible trailing behind fast-moving objects up to 180Hz!

There are four response time overdrive modes: Off, Normal, Fast and Faster.

‘Off’ is too slow, while ‘Faster’ introduces too much overshoot. We recommend using the Fast mode for the best performance.

If you’re using AMD FreeSync or NVIDIA G-SYNC Compatible variable refresh rate (VRR) technology to eliminate tearing, the ‘Fast’ mode works best if your frame rate is above 100FPS – below that, you might want to dial it back to ‘Normal’ to prevent overshoot.

Over DisplayPort, the VRR range is 48-180Hz for AMD cards and 60-180Hz for GeForce cards. The monitor is officially certified as G-SYNC Compatible by NVIDIA; you’ll need the 466.27 drivers or newer for optimal performance.

Over HDMI, the VRR range is limited to 48-144Hz for AMD GPUs, whereas you cannot use FreeSync over HDMI with NVIDIA cards.

Features

The monitor also supports Motion Blur Reduction (MBR) which uses backlight strobing to reduce perceived motion blur.

However, LG’s Nano IPS panels aren’t very good when it comes to backlight strobing technologies due to the slow red phosphor decay that leaves bright/red trails. Still, it does make fast-moving objects a bit clearer, so it’s worth experimenting with.

Depending on the game and your frame rate/refresh rate, it can still be useful.

Finally, note that the backlight of the monitor is flicker-free (unless MBR is enabled), so those sensitive to flickering won’t get headaches after prolonged use.

To access the many features of the LG 27GP850, you can either use the directional joystick to open the OSD (On-Screen Display) menu or download LG’s On-Screen Control desktop application.

Useful gaming features include Black Stabilizer (improves visibility in darker games), a refresh rate tracker, custom crosshairs and various picture presets, including two customizable Gamer profiles, FPS, RTS and Reader (low-blue light filter).

You also get advanced image adjustment tools, such as four gamma presets, sharpness, 6-axis hue/saturation and color temperature fine-tuning in increments of 500K.

Design & Connectivity

The stand of the monitor offers height adjustment up to 110mm, tilt by -5°/15°, 90° clockwise pivot and 100x100mm VESA mount compatibility.

The screen has a matte anti-glare coating that eliminates reflections without making the picture too grainy.

Connectivity options include DisplayPort 1.4, two HDMI 2.0 ports (limited to 144Hz), a headphone jack and a dual-USB 3.0 hub.

Also worth noting is that over the DisplayPort 1.4 input, the LG 27GP850 can display 1.07 billion colors (10-bit depth via dithering) at 1440p up to 180Hz – no need to drop the color depth to 8-bit or use chroma subsampling.

Price & Similar Monitors

The LG 27GP850 goes for $300 – $380, which is a bit expensive.

Nowadays, you can find 27″ 1440p 180Hz IPS gaming monitors for as low as $150, such as the KTC H27T22S or the Acer XV271U M3.

For ~$300, we recommend the AOC Q27G3XMN with proper HDR support or investing a bit more in a 1440p 240Hz model, such as the HP Omen 27qs.

For more options and information, check out our detailed best gaming monitor buyer’s guide.

The 27GP850 is also available as the LG 27GP83B without the USB ports, MBR and 180Hz overclocking (165Hz max) for $50 less.

Both models are available as 32″ sized variants, the LG 32GP850 and the LG 32GP83B priced at around $500 and $400, respectively.

The 2024 model, the LG 27GS75Q has a 200Hz overclockable refresh rate (180Hz native), but it only has basic 99% sRGB color gamut yet it goes for $400, so we don’t recommend it.

Conclusion

The LG 27GP850 is an excellent gaming monitor!

Its high 180Hz refresh rate, fast response time, low input lag and smooth VRR performance ensure a responsive gaming experience without any distracting visual artifacts.

Additionally, its 1440p IPS panel offers crisp details as well as vibrant and accurate colors, though the contrast ratio could be a bit higher, it’s sadly a necessary sacrifice if you want an IPS monitor.

However, there are affordable options with very similar image quality, performance and features.

Specifications

Screen Size	27-inch
Resolution	2560×1440 (QHD)
Panel Type	IPS
Aspect Ratio	16:9 (Widescreen)
Refresh Rate	165Hz (180Hz OC)
Response Time	1ms (GtG)
Motion Blur Reduction	MBR
Adaptive-Sync	FreeSync (48-165Hz)
Ports	DisplayPort 1.4, 2x HDMI 2.0
Other Ports	Headphone Jack, 2x USB 3.0
Brightness	400 cd/m²
Contrast Ratio	1000:1 (static)
Colors	1.07 billion (8-bit + FRC) 98% DCI-P3
HDR	DisplayHDR 400
VESA	Yes (100x100mm)