LG 29WQ600 Review: 2560×1080 100Hz FreeSync IPS UltraWide Gaming Monitor

The LG 29WQ600 is an inexpensive 29" 2560x1080 100Hz flat-screen ultrawide monitor with an IPS panel and variable refresh rate support.

Bottom Line

The LG 29WQ600 is an excellent and inexpensive monitor for gaming, light work and everyday use thanks to its ultrawide panel with a decent resolution for its screen size, VRR support up to 100Hz and IPS panel with wide viewing angles.

Design:
(3.5)
Display:
(4.7)
Performance:
(4.7)
Price/Value:
(4.5)
4.4

Looking for a cheap ultrawide monitor that’s great for gaming, work and everyday use? The LG 29WQ600-W might be just for you!

Image Quality

Based on an IPS panel, the LG 29WQ600 monitor provides 178° wide viewing angles and consistent colors covering the entire sRGB color space.

While there are wider gamut displays at this price range that offer more vibrant colors, sRGB is still the standard color space for Windows applications. Therefore, SDR content won’t be over-saturated – in fact, it will be closer to the creator’s intent.

This makes the monitor suitable for entry-level color-critical work, though if you’re a professional colorist, you’ll need a display with more strict factory calibration or a colorimeter to better calibrate the 29WQ600 display.

Further, as expected from an IPS panel display, the static contrast ratio amounts to 1,000:1, meaning that you won’t get as deep blacks as that of equally priced VA panels, but those monitors have other disadvantages, including gamma shift and slower response time speed.

IPS monitors also suffer from IPS glow, which is characterized as visible glowing around the corners of the screen. However, it’s mostly noticeable when displaying dark content in a dark room with a high brightness setting, so it’s manageable.

Next, with a peak brightness of 250-nits, the LG 29WQ600 will be able to get more than bright enough for most users under normal lighting conditions, but if you’re in a particularly well-lit room, the screen might be too dim for you even at its highest brightness setting as it won’t be able to mitigate glare.

The 2560×1080 resolution results in a pixel density of 95.81 PPI (pixels per inch), which means you get a fair amount of screen real estate with decent text and detail clarity.

A 29″ ultrawide display is as tall as a regular 23″ 16:9 monitor, just ~33% wider. A 23″ 1080p monitor also has the same pixel density, so you can think of the 29WQ600 as a 33% wider 23″ 1080p display.

The ultrawide format provides you with an extended field of view in compatible games, while ~21:9 movies are displayed without black borders at the top and bottom of the screen. It’s also exceptionally useful for audio/video editing and office-related work.

Content that doesn’t support the 21:9 aspect ratio will have black bars at the sides of the screen. This includes a few popular competitive games, such as Valorant, Overwatch and StarCraft II.

Performance

freesync and gsync

The LG 29WQ600 has a maximum refresh rate of 100Hz, which provides a significant boost in motion clarity as opposed to 60Hz and 75Hz displays.

We find that the difference between 75Hz and 100Hz is more noticeable than the difference between 100Hz and 144Hz as it’s around 90FPS that fast-paced games start feeling really responsive and smooth.

On top of that, the LG 29WQ600 supports a variable refresh rate (VRR) for tear-free gameplay up to 100FPS. It has a VRR range of 40-100Hz, meaning that LFC (Low Framerate Compensation) is supported. For instance, at 39FPS, the refresh rate is multiplied to 78Hz in order to keep tearing at bay.

Even though it has no official G-SYNC Compatible certification, VRR works without issues when using a supported NVIDIA card over DisplayPort, while AMD FreeSync works over both DisplayPort and HDMI.

The LG 29WQ600 also supports Motion Blur Reduction, which uses backlight strobing to reduce perceived motion blur at the cost of picture brightness. It cannot work at the same time as VRR and the refresh rate needs to be set to at least 75Hz.

Input lag amounts to ~5ms, so there’s no perceptible delay between your actions and the result on the screen.

The specified pixel response time speed is 5ms (GtG), and it’s fast enough to keep up with the 100Hz refresh rate as there’s no obvious ghosting behind fast-moving objects.

There are four response time overdrive modes: Off, Normal, Fast and Faster. We recommend sticking with the ‘Fast’ option as ‘Faster’ introduces inverse ghosting.

The backlight of the monitor is flicker-free (unless MBR is enabled) and there’s an integrated low-blue light filter (the ‘Reader’ mode) available.

Features

Beneath the bottom bezel of the screen, there’s a directional joystick for quick and easy navigation through the OSD (On-Screen Display) menu. Alternatively, you can use the On-Screen Control desktop application.

Useful gaming features include Black Stabilizer (improves visibility in dark scenes), crosshair overlays and various picture presets.

Besides the standard image adjustment tools (brightness, contrast, aspect ratio, etc.), the LG 29WQ600 offers plenty of advanced settings, such as sharpness, manual color-temperature fine-tuning in increments of 500K, Auto Input Switch, four gamma presets and 6-axis hue/saturation.

The monitor also supports Dual Controller, which allows you to simultaneously control two PCs connected to the screen if they’re on the same network.

For optimal image quality, we recommend disabling HDR, Smart Energy Saving, Super Resolution+ and DFC options.

While the LG 29WQ600 can accept and display the HDR10 signal, it lacks hardware for a proper HDR viewing experience, so you shouldn’t use it.

Design & Connectivity

LG 29WQ600 W Review

The monitor has a sturdy stand, but it is tilt-only. Luckily, you can detach it and easily mount the screen on a third-party stand via the 100x100mm VESA pattern.

Further, the screen has a matte anti-glare coating that prevents reflections without making the image too grainy.

Connectivity options include DisplayPort 1.4, HDMI 2.0, USB-C (with DP Alt Mode, but no Power Delivery), a headphone jack, and dual 7W integrated speakers with pretty decent audio quality considering the price of the monitor.

Price & Similar Monitors

The LG 29WQ600 price ranges from ~$175 to $250, making it one of the cheapest ultrawide monitors with a refresh rate higher than 75Hz. In fact, the older versions of this monitor (29WP60G, 29WN600, etc.) have a maximum refresh rate of 75Hz yet go for the same (or higher) price.

There’s also the LG 29WQ500 100Hz variant without the USB-C port and integrated speakers that can be found for a lower price sometimes.

The 34″ sized models, such as the 34WQ500 and 34WQ650, also have a 100Hz refresh rate, but they’re notably more expensive yet have a lower pixel density at which price point you can actually get a 34″ 3440×1440 144Hz VA or a 30″ 2560×1080 200Hz IPS ultrawide monitor instead.

Finally, there’s the LG 26WQ500 variant with a 26″ sized screen, but it’s limited to 75Hz.

To learn more about monitors and ensure you’re getting the model most suited for your personal preference, visit our comprehensive and always up-to-date best gaming monitor buyer’s guide.

Conclusion

All in all, you get a lot of bang for your buck with the LG 29WQ600 or 29WQ500 models if you can find them on sale for under $200.

However, at their $230 – $250 MSRP, they’re too expensive since you can get the MSI MAG301RF or the Sceptre C305B with 200Hz at that price range.

Specifications

Screen Size29-inch
Resolution2560×1080 (UWHD)
Panel TypeIPS
Aspect Ratio21:9 (UltraWide)
Refresh Rate100Hz
Response Time5ms (GtG)
Motion Blur Reduction1ms (MPRT)
Adaptive-SyncFreeSync (40-100Hz)
Speakers2x7W
PortsDisplayPort 1.4, HDMI 2.0,
USB-C (DP Alt Mode)
Other PortsHeadphone Jack
Brightness250 cd/m²
Contrast Ratio1000:1 (static)
Colors1.07 billion (8-bit + FRC)
HDRHDR10
VESAYes (100x100mm)

The Pros:

  • Accurate and consistent colors
  • Wide viewing angles
  • Quick response time, low input lag
  • Plenty of features, including VRR and MBR up to 100Hz

The Cons:

  • Tilt-only stand
  • IPS glow and mediocre contrast ratio (as expected from this panel technology)

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Rob Shafer

Rob is a software engineer with a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Denver. He now works full-time managing DisplayNinja while coding his own projects on the side.