The LG UltraGear 27″ 1440p 240Hz OLED Gaming Monitor was just announced, and it has the potential to be a game-changer in the PC gaming digital display sector, which has been slow to transition to OLED panels. While OLED televisions are now widely available, their price remains a major barrier to entry.
Traditional PC gaming displays haven’t been able to adapt to the bigger panels used in OLED TVs, thus the changeover has been slower than envisaged. It is possible that LG’s 27-inch UltraGear may be the first of several OLED displays to make this cutting-edge display technology available to more PC gamers.
The new LG screen is far from the first OLED display on the market. LG’s own range of UltraFine OLED displays, which come in 27″ and 32″ sizes, sell for roughly $3,000 and $4,000 and include 4K resolution and 60Hz refresh rate.
Popular TV-sized displays, such as Dell’s Alienware 55″ 4K 120Hz OLED, LG’s popular 42″ and 4K C2 TV, or Sony’s bigger A95, are now being marketed as PC gaming monitors. Given their already exorbitant costs, curved OLED monitors have found a market, as have smaller, portable OLED monitors.
The LG 27″ UltraGear OLED Gaming Monitor combines the exceptional quality of an OLED display with the powerful functionality anticipated of a gaming monitor, all within the physical factor of a standard PC display. Not to mention the price is only $999, which is very low.
The LG UltraGear has a 1440p resolution, a 240Hz refresh rate, and a GtG reaction time of.03ms, making it an excellent choice for gaming. Also, LG’s OLED screens include a contrast ratio of 1,550,000:1, a refresh rate of 120Hz, a high dynamic range (HDR), and a color depth of 1.07 billion (B). However, it is unclear if this is a complete 10-bit or 8-bit.
This monitor is a great value for the money, as it has few bells and whistles. The LG 27″ UltraGear supports G-Sync and FreeSync, although none of them can be accelerated by hardware. There includes one DisplayPort port and two HDMI connectors.
While the stand’s RGB illumination is a nice touch, it’s limited to only 20 degrees of vertical and horizontal adjustment. The value of a monitor comes from the screen itself and not the functions it has.
The LG 27″ UltraGear OLED monitor is not yet available, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be anytime soon. The fact that LG has put the screen up for sale on its website alongside a price and a complete list of specs suggests that the product is getting close to release. The official release date is set for 2023. Soon, maybe as early as CES 2023, a firm release date will be announced.
Bringing high-performance OLED to the majority of PC gamers is not going to happen on a $999 display. That is probably still years away, and that’s assuming that OLED technology isn’t replaced by something cheaper and just as aesthetically attractive.
However, this is the first affordable monitor that provides the upgrade in visual quality that many serious PC gamers have been craving. Despite lacking 4K resolution, the LG 27: UltraGear OLED Gaming Monitor is a significant improvement. Perhaps soon we will be able to buy a 32-inch, 4K OLED with a refresh rate of 240 frames per second.