LG 27GN850-B/27GN880-B Monitor Review

The LG 27GN850-B has the same style as most of LG's UltraGear monitors from their 2020 lineup, such as the LG 27GN950-B. It has thin borders on three sides with a thicker bottom bezel. It's mainly black with red accents throughout. Unlike the LG 27GL850-B/27GL83A-B, the V-shaped feet don't sit flat on the desk and are a bit elevated. There's cable management through the stand, and overall it's a fairly well-built monitor.

The LG 27GN850-B's build quality is decent. It's similar to the LG 27GN950-B, and it's made entirely out of basic, plastic materials that feel solid. There aren't any obvious gaps or loose parts. The stand supports the screen well, and there isn't much wobble. However, the hook for cable management feels a bit flimsy, but this may only be a problem if you're constantly removing cables from it.

The ergonomics are decent. You can rotate the screen into portrait mode, but since you can only do it in the clockwise direction, the inputs are always on top. It could be an issue if you have short cables.

The back of the monitor has the same red ring found on most UltraGear monitors, but it doesn't light up. There's cable management through the hook in the stand.

The wide stand supports the monitor well, and the feet are fairly thin, so there's enough space to put stuff in front.

There's a single joystick underneath the bottom bezel to control the on-screen menu.

• DisplayPort cable
• HDMI cable
• Power cable and brick
• Manual and drivers

The LG 27GN850 has a low contrast ratio, which is expected from an IPS panel. Blacks appear gray when viewed in the dark, and there's no local dimming feature to help improve it. This is lower than the advertised 1000:1 contrast, but it may vary between units.

The LG 27GN850-B doesn't have a local dimming feature. The above video is provided for reference only.

The LG 27GN850-B has good SDR peak brightness. It maintains its brightness extremely consistent across different content, and it gets bright enough to combat glare. However, this is lower than the advertised 350 cd/m². We measured peak brightness after calibration in the 'Gamer 1' Picture Mode with Brightness set to max.

The LG 27GN850 has mediocre HDR peak brightness. It only gets a bit brighter than in SDR, and highlights quickly lose their brightness the longer they stay on the screen. It's not enough to make highlights pop the way the creator intended in HDR. We measured the HDR peak brightness in the 'Gamer 2' Picture Mode.

The LG 27GN850 has an excellent horizontal viewing angle, which is normal for an IPS panel. The image remains accurate as you move off-center, which is great if you want to use it for co-op gaming.

The vertical viewing angle isn't bad. You may notice a loss in image accuracy if you mount the monitor above eye level.

The gray uniformity is great. The edges of the screen are a bit darker, but there's no dirty screen effect in the center. Solid colors across the screen, like on a web page or document, look great.

Black uniformity is poor, but this may vary between units. There's noticeable backlight bleed in the corners and clouding throughout. This could be distracting when watching dark scenes in a dark environment.

The accuracy before calibration is great. It has an sRGB picture mode that locks the colors to the sRGB color space so that most web content doesn't look oversaturated. However, the white balance, color temperature, and gamma are still a bit off. Unfortunately, the sRGB mode locks many settings, including the Response Time and Black Stabilizer settings, so if you want to use those settings, you'll need to use the 'Gamer 1' mode that has oversaturated colors.

The LG 27GN850 has remarkable accuracy after calibration. Any remaining inaccuracies with white balance and most colors can't be spotted by the naked eye. Gamma follows the target curve very well, and the color temperature is extremely close to the 6500K target.

The SDR color gamut is incredible. It has full coverage of the sRGB color space used in most web content, and excellent coverage of the Adobe RGB color space, which is great for photo editors.

The LG 27GN850-B's color volume is fantastic. Helped by its incredible color gamut and good peak brightness, it displays colors at a wide range of luminance levels. However, it can't display deep colors due to the low contrast ratio.

The LG 27GN850-B has an excellent HDR color gamut. It has fantastic coverage of the commonly-used DCI-P3 color space, but it's more limited with the wider Rec. 2020 color space.

The HDR color volume is decent. Aided by its good color gamut, it displays a wide range of colors but struggles with darker colors because it has a low contrast ratio.

The LG UltraGear 27GN850-B's reflection handling is decent, similar to the LG 34GN850-B. It performs well in moderately-lit rooms, but the reflections may be too distracting if there's direct sunlight on it.

The LG 27GN850's text clarity is decent. Enabling ClearType (top photo) helps improve the appearance of diagonal lines, such as on R, N, G, and S, but straight lines aren't as bold, as seen on the letters T and I.

The gradient handling is exceptional. There's virtually no banding with any shade.

This monitor has native Adaptive Sync support, meaning it supports both FreeSync and is G-SYNC compatible as well. Both FreeSync and G-SYNC work over a DisplayPort connection at its full range, and over HDMI, only FreeSync works between 20-100Hz. If you prefer something with a higher 165Hz refresh rate, check out the MSI Optix MAG274QRF-QD.

The response time at its max refresh rate of 144Hz is excellent. The recommended overdrive setting is 'Normal' as it results in crisp motion and minimal blur with almost no overshoot. The 'Fast' and 'Faster' settings result in too much overshoot and motion blur.

The response time at 120Hz remains amazing. Like at its max refresh rate, the 'Normal' overdrive setting results in the clearest motion with the least amount of overshoot.

The LG 27GN850's response time at 60Hz is great. Once again, the 'Normal' overdrive setting results in a lot less overshoot than the 'Fast' and 'Faster' settings, and motion looks buttery smooth. It means that you won't have to change the overdrive setting if the frame rate of your game drops.

Unfortunately, the LG UltraGear 27GN850-B doesn't have an optional black frame insertion feature to help reduce motion blur. The replacement model, the LG 27GP850-B/27GP83B-B, has a BFI feature, but it's only available between a narrow range of refresh rates, and it can't be used at the same time as FreeSync.

The LG 27GN850-B has a flicker-free backlight, which helps reduce eye strain.

The LG 27GN850-B's input lag is incredibly low. It increases a bit at 60Hz, but it shouldn't be an issue for most people, especially if you're a casual gamer.

The LG 27GN850 has a great resolution and size. There's enough space to open multiple windows side-by-side, and the 1440p resolution helps deliver crisp images.

The LG 27GN850-B works well with the PS5, but without HDMI 2.1 bandwidth, you can't take full advantage of it with 4k @ 120Hz signals. Luckily, it downscales 4k @ 60Hz signals, which results in a sharper image than a native 1440p signal. Also, you have to disable Adaptive Sync on the monitor for 1440p @ 120Hz to work, but since the monitor doesn't support VRR from the PS5 anyways, it's better to keep it disabled at all times.

The LG 27GN850-B works well with the Xbox Series X, but without HDMI 2.1 bandwidth, you can't take full advantage of it with 4k @ 120Hz signals. Like with the PS5, it downscales 4k @ 60Hz signals. Sadly, you still need to disable Adaptive Sync on the monitor for 1440p @ 120Hz to work, but the VRR support works with other signals.

This monitor works fine with macOS, but there are some limitations. Using a fixed 144Hz signal results in screen flickering to the point where it's unusable, so it's better to enable VRR, which you can use up to 120Hz. Luckily, there aren't any issues with the VRR support. Like many monitors that require a DisplayPort to USB-C adapter, windows return to their original position when waking up a MacBook from sleep, but not when you reopen the lid.

The LG 27GN850-B has a few extra features, such as:

• Crosshair: allows you to add a virtual crosshair for FPS games.
• Black Stabilizer: Adjusts the gamma in dark games, so you can see your opponents in the shadows better.
• Low Blue Light: Removes blue light to help reduce eye strain.