LG 34GN850-B 34 Inch 21: 9 UltraGear Curved QHD (3440 x 1440) 1ms Nano IPS Gaming Monitor with 144Hz and G-SYNC Compatibility - Black

Coming from another great ultrawide monitor, the Asus pg348q(100hz), I wasn’t expecting to be as impressed as that first initial jump from a regular 16:9 ratio to the ultrawide master race. After you get over the whole “wow factor” of being completely enveloped in uninterrupted screen real estate, you settle down to your senses and begin nitpicking. I know right?... the inevitable truth that even Diamonds are imperfect once you look closely enough.First off, the refresh rate. Ah yes, people will tell you 100hz-144hz is not a giant leap as coming from a 60hz. But that's like saying you’re not going to appreciate a Ferrari because you came from a BMW M3, rather than a Honda Civic… it’s still a Ferrari at the end of the day.The area I do notice the biggest difference is the response time. The default mode it comes in is the “Fast” mode. Do yourself a favor and don’t ever fiddle with that setting. “Fastest” will give you that 1ms yes, but you will experience severe inverse ghosting, which are artifacts left by previous images because your display is overshooting. To be honest, even TN panels also suffer from ghosting problems at that speed as well so the fact that this IPS display gets so close is simply amazing. You will see the biggest improvement in FPS games, there is snappiness to this panel that I haven’t experienced with any other IPS panels.In comparison to my previous Asus monitor, this panel has very minimal backlight bleeding. I don’t know if that is due to the Nano Cell technology, or if I just got lucky, but my previous monitor had backlight bleeding on the bottom left, which was quite noticeable with the screen brightness turned up as well. I also appreciate the weight of this monitor, or the lack thereof, just easier on my monitor arm.(Also side note, if you are looking into a monitor arm for this monitor, look for the ones with a SQUARE backplate, otherwise it will not fit in the vesa mount because the monitor has a recessed square where you’re supposed to attach the monitor stand it comes with. Amazonbasics monitor arm is what I’m using.)Now I know that was a lot of praise, but there are some things you should consider prior to spending your monthly rent on this display:- If you want HDR, look elsewhere, this is not real HDR...it just isn’t- For editing also, I would look elsewhere. This display has amazing colors, but I wouldn’t consider them to be “accurate”. Also I can see the curve being an issue. A nifty perk for gaming because it actually does make it easier on your peripheral vision, but just viewing still images, the curve is a bit too aggressive and can cause images to look a little bit distorted.- I pray nothing goes haywire with this monitor, but LG is not known to have… let’s say a good record on being punctual with their warranty claims. If anything just leave them a 1 star review on their website and maybe they’ll respond quicker.And this goes without saying, but you WILL need a solid build to run this monitor at 144hz. I am currently running a Ryzen 2600 overclocked to 4.1GHZ, and an RTX 2070 super. Not an insane build by any means, but it gets me over the 100hz mark in most games just fine. DO NOT make the mistake i have made and buy high end monitors before you can drive them. Upgrade your system first and buy the monitor after you're confident you can utilize its maximum potential. Chances are, by then the price might have dropped or a newer model will be released.Also realize that in the world of PC games, not every game is created equal, and many times you will encounter developers launching an optimized mess. So don’t feel bad if you can’t hit 144hz with your $2000 machine, sometimes it's just bad coding. Hope you found this insight helpful, originally I was just going to leave 5 stars with a thumbs up, but I felt an obligation to go more in depth as it is a hefty sum you will pay for a premium experience. Is it worth the money? That really depends on you as an individual. But is it the best 34 inch ultrawide monitor for gaming as of early 2020?- Without a doubt.

I have had this monitor as my main driver for close to a year. Amazon says it’s 144hz but it can definitely go to 180hz with the overdrive mode which is incredibly smooth.I can’t really say anything negative about this monitor. I have always wanted to go ultrawide and this monitor fits my needs. I wanted OLED but I didn’t want it to burn in after a few years.The colors look fantastic on this display as well.If you are in the market for a great display, this is it. The nano IPS screen gets very brights and the 1ms response time feels ultra smooth with the 180hz while playing games.

Pros:-144hz native-HDR 400 certified-Gsync compatible (48-144hz)-external power brick (might be a con depending on how you feel)-IPS 1ms responseCons:-included cables are a bit shortOverall this is a solid display, but I'll be honest I was very nervous when I bought this because there were no reviews of this monitor on Amazon or anywhere on the internet that I could find. I guess it's because this is a new model that LG just introduced at CES 2020.Anyway, it's 2020 and the reality of the panel lottery is still with us. I did lose some sleep the night before because I was very nervous of getting a bad panel or having the display damaged in transit or at the factory. When It arrived I was pleasantly surprised that the monitor box came inside another, larger box from amazon that included additional packing material to prevent the monitor from shock damage. When I opened the monitor the packing was firm and tight, and the first thing tat I did was to assemble the stand (very easy to do) and plug the monitor in with the included, but short, displayport cable and check for dead/stuck pixels or severe back light bleed. To my absolute amazement, I saw no dead pixels and back light bleed was nonexistent. IPS glow is there, but minimal and comes with the technology. I'm not sure if I just got lucky or if LG's QC process is just that good with these new monitors. This is my first LG monitor but I'm definitely going with them from now on. While most probably don't like the external power brick as it adds additional cable management, I actually like the modular approach in case it is faulty in the future or needs to be replaced. The displayport port is 1.4, so if you need some more reach you can do what I did and purchase a longer cable to suit your specific needs. HDR 400 is fine, but isn't as robust or clear as HDR 1000, but if you wanted that, you'll be paying more than twice the cost of this. The native 144hz works fine, as does the 165hz overclock, but I didn't use it since freesync/gsync works from 48-144hz. The panel is also 10 bit, which is a nice touch as well. Coming from a 27 inch 144hz TN panel I was expecting more blur from the lower response time of the pixels. I was wrong. I may not be a pro gamer or anything, but I do play a lot of fast paced games and I was amazed in the response time. There is merit to LG's claims of fast response, although I'm not sure if it is exactly 1ms. G sync works fine, as I have a GTX 1080TI, and haven't experienced any of the common problems that may happen with lower end freesync panels. This panel is certified with Nvidia as Gsync compatible, so I guess no problems should be expected there.For its price, I couldn't find a monitor that checked as many boxes as this one did. Sure, there are ultrawides with HDR1000 and such, but come with other tradeoffs like running hot and annoying fans that are loud. There are also less featured ultrawides if you don't need HDR or 10 bit color, but at $1000 USD this monitor is priced right, and is a solid buy if you are entering the world of ultrawides for the first time like me. I do recommend buying it from Amazon if possible, as their return policy tends to be a bit more generous than others with regards to dead pixels/etc.