Bottom Line
If you’re a fan of ultrawide displays, the LG 45GX950A is the best gaming monitor currently available thanks to its 5K2K resolution and OLED panel with instantaneous pixel response time speed, infinite contrast ratio, wide color gamut and strong brightness performance.
The LG UltraGear 45GX950A-B is the first 5120×2160 OLED gaming monitor, which many fans of ultrawide displays have been waiting for a long time! Here’s what you need to know about it.
Image Quality
The LG 45GX950A monitor is based on LG’s W-OLED panel with MLA+ (Micro Lens Array) technology for improved brightness performance, reaching 275-nits for 100% APL (Average Picture Level, or white window test size) and up to 1300-nits for 1% APL for punchy HDR highlights.
Further, it has the newer RGWB subpixel layout, meaning that there’s no colored fringing on small text and fine details as it was the case with the older RWBG models.
The 5120×2160 (5K2K) resolution on the 44.5″ viewable screen of the LG 45GX950A provides you with a high pixel density of 125 PPI (pixels per inch), providing you with the detail clarity between that of 27″ 1440p (~110 PPI) and 32″ 4K (~140 PPI) displays.
So, you get a crisp image quality without necessary scaling, while the 21:9 ultrawide aspect ratio provides you with extra horizontal screen space that’s ideal for productivity work and increases your field of view in supported games.
Since the resolution is even more demanding than 4K UHD, you will need quite a powerful GPU in order to achieve high frame rates in the latest titles with decent settings. Upscaling technologies, such as FSR 4 and DLSS 4, are of big help here.
Moving on, the LG 45GX950A offers a typical W-OLED viewing experience with an infinite contrast ratio thanks to per-pixel dimming, true 10-bit color depth for smooth gradients, 178° wide viewing angles and 98.5% DCI-P3 gamut coverage for vibrant colors.
The monitor also has a dedicated sRGB mode if you prefer accurate colors in SDR. Otherwise, we recommend using the default Gamer 1 mode. You’ll also find a DCI-P3 mode and a Reader mode with a low-blue light filter for a more comfortable viewing experience before bedtime.
For HDR, we recommend the Gamer 1 mode with ‘Warm’ color temperature, while the ‘Peak Brightness’ option should be set to ‘High’ for the best results.
In SDR, you should set Peak Brightness to ‘Off’ in order to maintain consistent ~250-nits.
When using ‘High’ ‘Peak Brightness’ in SDR, the maximum brightness is increased to around 400-nits for small APLs, but it decreases to 200 – 275-nits for larger APLs. So, if you’re not a fan of these changes in brightness, use the ‘Off’ mode. In SDR games and movies, you might want to try Low and High modes for a boost in brightness.
The main downside of OLED monitors is the risk of permanent image burn-in. Basically, when leaving an image with bright static elements on the screen for too long, those elements can become permanently visible as an afterimage.
As long as you use the monitor responsibly and take advantage of LG’s Panel Care features (Screen Move, Screen Saver and Image Cleaning, etc.), it shouldn’t be an issue.
LG offers a 2-year warranty that covers burn-in, which is disappointing as other manufacturers offer a 3-year warranty.
Performance
The LG 45GX950A has a maximum refresh rate of 165Hz at its native 5120×2160 screen resolution.
However, it also supports Dual Mode – it switches the display to 2560×1080 with a higher 330Hz refresh rate by pressing the button beneath the bottom bezel of the screen.
Unfortunately, the 2560×1080 resolution on a 44.5″ screen results in a very low pixel density of 62.44 PPI (pixels per inch), which results in a noticeably blurrier image quality.
Now, some users may find it tolerable in some games, so it’s still a good option to have, but we feel that most users will rather stick with 5120×2160 at 165Hz.
The jump in motion clarity from 165Hz to 330Hz is noticeable, but it’s not as crucial as it’s going to 165Hz from the typical 60-75Hz displays, which still offer excellent fluidity. Input lag is also reduced at higher refresh rates, but it’s imperceptible at around 3ms anyway.
Having the Dual Mode at 3440×1440 would’ve been a lot better, but we assume there are technical limitations to this since this resolution is closer to the 24:10 aspect ratio, whereas 5K2K and 2560×1080 are 21:9.
As is the case with all OLED displays, the pixel response time speed is instantaneous, resulting in zero ghosting behind fast-moving objects regardless of the refresh rate.
The LG 45GX950A supports variable refresh rate for tear-free gameplay up to 165FPS (or 330FPS at 2560×1080) via AMD FreeSync, NVIDIA G-SYNC Compatible and HDMI 2.1 VRR.
In darker scenes with fluctuating frame rates, VRR can cause minor brightness flickering, which is typical for all OLED displays. Since it doesn’t occur often, we recommend just disabling VRR in the affected games.
Features
There’s a directional joystick on the rear of the monitor for quick and easy navigation through the OSD (On-Screen Display) menu.
Besides the typical image adjustment tools (brightness, contrast, etc.), the LG 45GX950A has several advanced settings, including 6-axis hue/saturation, manual color temperature fine-tuning in 500K increments, sharpness, four gamma presets and automatic input detection.
Picture in Picture and Picture by Picture modes are supported as well, and there are a few different aspect ratio modes (full wide, original, just scan and 39″, 34″ and 27″ screen size emulation modes in the 330Hz mode).
Useful gaming features include crosshair overlays, a refresh rate tracker and Black Stabilizer (improves visibility in dark scenes by altering the gamma curvature).
The LG 45GX950A also supports hardware calibration with LG’s True Color Pro application, which allows you to store image corrections on the monitor itself rather than on ICC profiles.
Design & Connectivity
The stand of the monitor is robust and offers height adjustment up to 120mm, -10°/15° tilt, +/- 10° swivel and 100x100mm VESA mount compatibility.
The screen has a bit heavier matte anti-glare coating that’s efficient at diffusing reflections but makes the image somewhat grainy. However, the graininess is subtle and only noticeable when displaying solid colors.
Next, the monitor has a steep 800R screen curvature that some users might find too aggressive, but it just takes some time to get used to.
Display inputs include DisplayPort 2.1 with UHBR 13.5 and DSC, two HDMI 2.1 ports with full 48 Gbps bandwidth and DSC, and a USB-C port with DP Alt Mode and 90W Power Delivery.
Other ports include two USB-A ports, a 4-pole headphone jack with DTS Headphone:X support and dual 10W ‘Rich Bass’ integrated speakers with decent audio quality.
5120×2160 at 165Hz with true 10-bit color depth requires a data rate of 60.18 Gbit/s, so you’ll have to use DSC regardless of whether you have a graphics card with DP 1.4, DP 2.1 or HDMI 2.1. DSC is visually lossless and has no perceptible latency penalty, so it’s not an issue.
Price & Similar Monitors
The LG 45GX950A price amounts to $2,000. It is expensive but reasonable considering it’s the only display with these specifications available.
LG also plans to release a version of this monitor with a bendable screen, the LG 45GX990A, as well as 240Hz versions in the future, but we don’t have any firm information regarding the release date and pricing.
To learn all about upcoming OLED monitors, check out our dedicated article. We also have a comprehensive HDR gaming monitor buyer’s guide.
Conclusion
Overall, if you can afford it and the PC rig required to properly utilize it, the LG 45GX950A is one of the best gaming monitors currently available.
Specifications
| Screen Size | 44.5-inch |
| Screen Curvature | 800R |
| Resolution | 5120×2160 (5K2K) |
| Panel Type | W-OLED |
| Aspect Ratio | 21:9 (UltraWide) |
| Refresh Rate | 165Hz at 5K2K 330Hz at 2560×1080 (Dual Mode) |
| Response Time | 0.03ms (GtG) |
| Speakers | 2x10W |
| Adaptive-Sync | FreeSync Premium Pro, G-SYNC Compatible, HDMI 2.1 VRR (48-165Hz) |
| Ports | DisplayPort 2.1 (UHBR13.5), 2x HDMI 2.1 (48 Gbps), USB-C (DP Alt Mode, 90W PD) |
| Other Ports | Headphone Jack, 2x USB 3.0 |
| Brightness (1% White Window) | 1300 cd/m² |
| Brightness (100% White Window) | 275 cd/m² |
| Contrast Ratio | Infinite |
| Colors | 1.07 billion (true 10-bit) 99.3% DCI-P3 |
| HDR | VESA DisplayHDR 400 True Black |
| VESA | Yes (100x100mm) |
The Pros:
- Infinite contrast ratio, decent peak brightness, wide color gamut
- Instant response time
- Plenty of features, including VRR up to 330Hz
- Ergonomic design and rich connectivity options, including USB-C 90W PD
The Cons:
- Only 2-year warranty
- Risk of burn-in
