LG 27UK850-W Review

The LG 27UK850-W is a striking 27-inch gaming monitor with HDR10 support, an In-Plane Switching (IPS) panel, and AMD FreeSync anti-tearing technology. It has a set of exciting features, including a future-ready USB-C port that can be used to send data signals, audio and 4K video over a single cable.

It’s one of those monitors you can use for both work and play, even with its slightly skewed out-of-the-box color accuracy, it still earns a spot among our Top Picks for large-screen gaming monitors.

Design

We’ve known LG for pleasing aesthetics, and the LG 27UK850 design affirms the long tradition of great looks. The 27-inch UHD (3,840-by-2,160) panel is enclosed in a bezel-free white cabinet with a black trim. The cabinet is supported by a stand consisting of a curved metal bar and a telescopic arm that provides height, tilt and pivot adjustability.

The 10-bit panel covers 99 percent of the sRGB color gamut, has a peak brightness of 350cd/m2, a 16:9 aspect ratio, a 60Hz refresh rate, and a 5-millisecond (gray-to-gray) pixel response rate.

Connectivity comes via rear-placed I/0 ports, that include: a pair of HDMI inputs, a DisplayPort input, an upstream USB-C port, two downstream USB 3.0 ports, and a USB port that’s only to be used for service only.

Setup and Settings

Like most LG gaming monitors the 27UK850-W uses a four-way joystick to access and navigate the settings menus. You can use the joystick to change input sources, activate Game mode, and switch on/off the monitor. Additional settings include Brightness, Contrast, Color temperature, and Black stabilizer. There is a total of 14 picture presets on this monitor, including Reader, sRGB, color Weakness, and SMPTE-C all meant to enhance the viewing experience.

For gamers, there are three Gaming presets (two FPS and one RTS), two Custom presets, and the usual Calibration presets. In case you multi-task a lot, you have a choice of 2-Screen Split, 3-Screen Split, 4-Screen Split, 6-Screen Split, and 8-Screen Split, but most of these options go beyond what the native operating system supports. You also have a Picture-in-Picture (PIP) option, which you might use for productivity tasks.

Performance

The LG 27UK850-W easily earns its way into favorites in the gaming category with AMD FreeSync and a host of features that help it improve the gaming experience. Being an Ultra HD panel, it’s limited to a 60Hz refresh rate, which is typical of all Ultra HD panels available right now. Despite that, it gets a relatively low input lag and fast response time, further enhanced by Overdrive that alleviates motion blur. In fact, a 61ms lag time is ideal for casual gamers, but pro-gamers will be better served by a faster refresh rate.

With that 60-fps limit in mind and a mid-tier graphics card, the 27UK850-W delivers fluid action on modern titles like Crysis 3 (PC) and Grand Theft Auto V (Sony Playstation 4), without any apparent ghosting or tearing artifacts. If you enable FreeSync, your game appears noticeably smoother.

As a professional monitor, the 27UK850-W checks the necessary boxes, like Ultra HD resolution and impressive handling of HDR10 signals and 24p film cadence. Notably, it won’t render your images with perfect contrast, it still does a respectable job at improving the view of added dynamic range. As a professional use monitor, there are two aspects missing here, the obvious one is DCI-P3 color and, though the factor feature sheet shows spot-on gamma, grayscale and color, it doesn’t specify which mode was tested.

Input Lag

Input lag (the time it takes for a monitor to respond to a controller command) comes in at a speedy 9.8 milliseconds, which is a few seconds behind our fastest monitors, the BenQ XL2430T and the BenQ SW2700PT, both at 9.5 milliseconds. The 27-inch monitor consumes 40 watts of power while set to FPS1 preset and 27 watts while set to the sRGB preset. That’s more energy efficient than the Acer XB271HP and the ViewSonic VP2780-4K, 41 watts and 31 watts, respectively.

LG 27UK850-W Review: Verdict

The LG 27UK850-W is a great choice for any gamer seeking a stylish monitor that’s equipped with the latest technologies, solid connectivity at a reasonable price. It offers a sharp UHD picture, impressive gaming performance, and a raft of future-proof features, including AMD FreeSync anti-tearing technology. The monitor’s out-of-the-box color accuracy is slightly skewed, but it gets plenty of picture settings, including advanced color settings come handy for third-party picture calibration to sort out the accuracy issues.

Again, it doesn’t offer the very best of gaming accuracy you’d get with the likes of Acer Predator XB273K Pbmiphzx gaming monitor, but it does offer a wider selection of video inputs, including a USB-C port, and it costs almost $200 less. All these add up to an exciting large-screen gaming monitor for enthusiast gamers that doubles as a professional monitor for work and productivity.

Is there a better alternative?

If you need something for both professional use and midrange gaming, the 27UK850-W is one of the best you can get. If price doesn’t matter and you need a panel that allows for pro-gaming, the Acer Predator XB273K Pbmiphzx stands out, with a 144Hz refresh rate, Nvidia G-Sync adaptive sync technology, HDR400 support and Quantum Dot technology for even better gaming. It costs slightly more, but is worth the extra money.

Should you buy it?

Yes. For the reasonable price that you pay for the LG 27UK850-W, you’re getting an excellent gaming monitor and a decent professional display in a single product.