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00:00This may just be the best monitor I've ever reviewed.
00:04In fact, don't worry about my face. Have a look at this!
00:0732 inches, 4K at 240Hz, or with its unique dual mode, at 1080p it can hit a massive 480Hz.
00:14It is OLED, so we're looking at 0.03ms response times,
00:18VRI is taken care of by G-Sync compatibility, and also we get FreeSync Premium Pro.
00:23This thing is genuinely shaping up to be the ultimate gaming monitor.
00:27So as I metaphorically and literally roll up my sleeves,
00:30let me tell you everything you need to know about this and also whether it's actually worth buying.
00:34Okay, so normally at this point I would be calling it,
00:36it's the best monitor I've ever tested and possibly the best overall monitor you can buy.
00:41Thing is, it's not the only show in town,
00:43because there's this new wave of 4K, 32 inch, 240Hz OLED displays,
00:47using W-OLED like we have here, or QD-OLED,
00:50all coming out over the next few months, all fairly similarly priced.
00:54So on paper, the LG has some pretty stiff competition,
00:57but it does have a couple of twicks up its sleeve,
01:02that'd be delicious, a couple of tricks up its sleeve.
01:04Versus the Asus, which I have here, and I'll be reviewing, as I say, properly in a few days,
01:10this was not a good idea to pick that up, because it's also 32 inches,
01:13versus that, we have obviously the dual mode, 480Hz at 1080p, no other rivals offer that,
01:19we get some surprisingly good sounding speakers,
01:21you can also rotate it 90 degrees and have it in portrait mode,
01:24we get slimmer bezels, and a very nice anti-glare matte screen coating,
01:28so it's a lot less reflective.
01:30On the other hand, the ROG can sustain high brightness,
01:33particularly in HDR, thanks to its custom heatsink,
01:35it also gets a couple of extra ports, including USB-C with power delivery,
01:39so you can plug in your laptop more easily,
01:41it has Dolby Vision, although coming via a software update later this year,
01:44and also a uniform brightness mode, plus this screw mount on top,
01:47which is handy for adding light bars or streaming cameras.
01:50And the ASUS is also using a QD OLED panel, versus the LG's W OLED,
01:54but more on that in a second.
01:56Alienware has something similar, with QD OLED, with Dolby Vision,
01:59and a curve, for some reason, I thought we'd all agree to be moved on from that,
02:02but nope, curve screen right there, and then there's the MSI one,
02:05which is meant to be a little bit more affordable,
02:07although in the UK it seems to be the same price as the LG.
02:09So it kind of depends what you want from the screen,
02:12and it's great that we have so many options,
02:14and hopefully over time this will drive prices down as well,
02:16because I remember the Alienware QD OLED Ultrawide, like a year ago,
02:20it was the only one with that panel, everyone wanted one,
02:23so it was impossible to find, the prices stayed high forever,
02:26hopefully because we have four very similar options,
02:29each with their own little pros and cons,
02:31you know, over the next few months we may see prices drop a little bit.
02:33How much is it, you ask?
02:35Well, in the US it's $1,399, $1,400 essentially, before sales tax,
02:40and in the UK it's probably going to be about £1,350.
02:44A lot of money, but I would argue for the spec, it's not that bad.
02:47Although certainly this is still very much for the enthusiast market.
02:50But let's talk about LG's party trick, the dual mode,
02:54so 4K at 240Hz, or 480Hz at 1080p.
02:58Although my problem, I think, before we even dive in,
03:00I don't think I can perceive 360 up to 480.
03:03You might be able to, but certainly it's not the same jump as, you know,
03:06120 to 240, or even just 240 to 360.
03:09480, and these eSports levels of high refresh rates
03:13are very much for the young athletic professionals, which I am not.
03:17Anyway, simply tap this button on the base of the screen
03:20and it switches to 480Hz 1080p,
03:22and that's still with a 0.03ms grade-to-grade response time,
03:26which should make this fantastic for eSports.
03:28Now obviously 1080p is a little bit grainy, quite grainy,
03:32on a 32-inch screen, although it is less noticeable in games.
03:35And if you can get close to 480fps in your games,
03:38and that is a big if, particularly for competitive shooters,
03:41the responsiveness is just insane.
03:44It is definitely a bit overkill for less twitchy games,
03:47and, you know, 240fps at 4K is still plenty smooth enough,
03:51although that is itself a challenge to get 240fps at 4K in your games,
03:56particularly new AAA titles, even with DLSS.
03:59Although CS2 and Rainbow Six Siege and League of Legends,
04:01you're not going to have a problem there.
04:03Well, I say that running on a 4090. It's going to depend on your setup.
04:06But still, having super high hertz feature proves to you
04:09by giving you extra headroom for when you do upgrade your system down the line.
04:12Also, if you have ever dabbled in eSports or professional gaming,
04:15you will know that none of them use 32-inch monitors,
04:18because it's just, you know, too much real estate for your eyes to dart around.
04:21They prefer 25-, 24-inch monitors.
04:24Well, LG thought of this and have included cropped 24- and 27-inch modes.
04:29But for whatever reason, it looks even more grainy than at 32-inches,
04:33so I'm not sure I would recommend using it that way.
04:36I must admit, I do love the look of this thing, though.
04:38With the fairly low-profile stand,
04:40the only thing that really makes this, like, gamery
04:43is the RGB lighting on the back, but you can also turn that off.
04:46This would look fine at your office,
04:49although the accounts team may have a few questions
04:51on why you spent $1,400 on this.
04:53But it has tons of flexibility, really nice and thin bezels.
04:56Those built-in speakers, as I say, are actually really good.
04:59Not too much screen wobble.
05:00We've got a little cutout at the back here for your cables,
05:02so you're not seeing anything in front.
05:04It's really easy to put together.
05:05It's just, like, slotting in and tightening it.
05:07No screwdriver required.
05:08My only criticism, I think, is that it is plastic, this base.
05:12It's not like a metallic stand, which reduces the weight,
05:14making it a little bit easier to, I don't know, shift around,
05:16but not the most premium stand.
05:19We get a joystick for controlling the OSD,
05:21which is nice and easy to use.
05:22And, of course, we have that dual-mode button as well.
05:25In terms of I.O., we have two HDMI 2.1s,
05:28so you can plug that into your graphics card or your console,
05:30plus a DisplayPort 1.4 with DSC,
05:33which unlocks the full 4K 240Hz,
05:35and also a couple of USB 3 Type-As.
05:38To be honest, this is one of my main criticisms,
05:40because as someone who regularly uses a MacBook
05:42or laptops that don't have an HDMI port,
05:45not just always my desktop PC,
05:47I would have loved to have seen a USB-C Thunderbolt
05:50or, you know, USB 4 Type-C port on this guy.
05:53The ASUS has it.
05:54I think a couple of other ones may have it,
05:56but not on the LG, which I think is a bit of a shame,
05:58because this is ideal both for gaming
06:00and for, you know, a workstation productivity use as well,
06:02because it's such a lovely screen.
06:04So USB-C would have been nice.
06:06But anyway, enough waffling.
06:08What about the image quality?
06:09This is the most important thing.
06:10Well, first off, it is OLED,
06:12so unlike regular backlit screens,
06:14it can turn each pixel off individually,
06:16meaning blacks are deep,
06:17shadows are really detailed,
06:18colors look brighter,
06:19and we get those ultra-low response times.
06:21And so 4K gaming and 4K movies
06:23look absolutely incredible on this.
06:25And personally, 32 inches is my perfect size.
06:28I know 27 is arguably a bit more of a sweet spot,
06:30especially when it comes to price,
06:32but this size just makes everything feel more immersive,
06:34and you've just got extra room
06:35if you're having a couple of apps side-by-side.
06:37Without doubt, it's the best size
06:38to take full advantage of 4K.
06:40But HDR is where this thing really shines,
06:42with higher brightness, deeper blacks, richer colors.
06:45It is rated for DisplayHDR TrueBlack 400,
06:48and we do get basic HDR10 support,
06:50although sadly no Dolby Vision,
06:52which is kind of annoying,
06:53especially as they're TV-supported.
06:55However, alongside the ASUS ROG monitor,
06:58the differences are obvious.
07:00The anti-glare matte coating on this LG
07:02gives you a slightly flatter
07:04and, well, much less reflective picture
07:06than the semi-gloss ASUS.
07:08And while there are pros and cons to both,
07:10I'd say the ASUS does have punchier colors,
07:12which I do prefer,
07:13and it gets a bit brighter,
07:15and it avoids the slightly dirty look
07:16you get on bright areas with the LG's matte coating.
07:20Can we get really nerdy just for a second?
07:22Because this is using a W OLED panel,
07:25which means it has an extra white LED,
07:27while QD OLEDs, like we have on the ROG,
07:29have a quantum dot layer
07:31to boost color accuracy and brightness.
07:33So LG have added an MLA Plus layer,
07:35which we've seen from their most recent TVs,
07:37to boost the brightness here instead.
07:39And both this and the ROG
07:41averaged around 1,000 to 1,100 nits of HDR peak brightness
07:44on a 10% white window,
07:46which is very impressive for an OLED.
07:48But while the ROG managed to maintain this,
07:50the LG's did drop to around 875 or so nits
07:53after a couple of minutes.
07:55And side by side,
07:56it is noticeable in movies and games.
07:58Highlights, like these clouds,
08:00were regularly a couple of hundred nits brighter
08:02on the ASUS,
08:03and you could see the difference.
08:05On a 100% full white screen, though,
08:07which would be like, say,
08:08having your Google Docs open,
08:09both sustained around 550 to 600 nits.
08:12And finally, in my color accuracy test,
08:14this hit 100% of the sRGB,
08:1695% of the P3,
08:18and 87% of the Adobe RGB color gamuts.
08:21Meaning it'll be great for working with
08:23photos and videos as well,
08:24although I wouldn't say
08:25it's a professional level of accuracy.
08:27And it is just a hair behind the ROG, though,
08:29but there's not much in it.
08:31For gaming, though,
08:32it's hard to beat this,
08:33and while I do like the more glossy,
08:35you know, inkier colors of the ASUS,
08:37the ROG monitor,
08:38there is something to be said
08:39about the more sort of painted-on look
08:41that you get with a matte screen like this.
08:44And if you have a console,
08:45it looks just as good,
08:47although most games are still sort of 60fps,
08:49though there's only a handful that are 120.
08:51And certainly no 240 or 480Hz games.
08:54Maybe with the PS5 Pro,
08:56but probably not.
08:57The thing is, though,
08:58I don't know if I'd ever use the dual mode
09:01and turning it into 480Hz at 1080p,
09:03because, well,
09:04obviously firstly I'm not an esports gamer,
09:06and I think professional gamers
09:07are more likely to buy a 25-inch,
09:09maybe even 500 or 540Hz monitors
09:11that exist these days.
09:13I'd say this is less for professional use
09:15and more just high-end enthusiasts,
09:17like myself.
09:18But to be honest,
09:19the whole point of, you know,
09:20spending $1,400
09:21is to get the 32-inches and the 4K
09:22and that 240Hz,
09:23even if you can't quite, you know,
09:25top that out.
09:26I guess there's nothing wrong
09:27with having the option,
09:28and it is something that sets it apart
09:29from the competitors,
09:30but personally,
09:31I don't see too much value
09:32in that 480Hz option.
09:35If you're anything like me, though,
09:36you're going to be using this
09:37for both gaming and work.
09:39I do a lot of photo and video editing,
09:40and does this make a good work monitor?
09:43Well, yeah, actually.
09:45The good news is that
09:46while this is using a WOLED panel,
09:48which historically haven't been the best,
09:50especially if you've got text or fine detail,
09:52they've often been quite pixelated,
09:54it wasn't like the best type of OLED panel,
09:56well, this is a second-gen WOLED,
09:58and it doesn't have any of those issues.
10:00Now, obviously,
10:01any OLED comes with worry of burn-in,
10:03but to counter that,
10:04LG have the usual set of mitigation features
10:06like logo dimming and pixel cleaning,
10:08and LG do offer a two-year warranty
10:10on the panel,
10:11including for burn-in.
10:13I'll tell you what,
10:14I don't really give scores on this channel,
10:15but if I were to rate this out of 10,
10:17you know, the specs, the feature,
10:19my experience using it for the last couple of weeks,
10:21and the price, keeping that in mind as well,
10:23I'd give it like a 9.7.
10:25I think if it had a USB Type-C port,
10:27then probably 9.9.
10:29The only thing remaining
10:31is to fully review the ROG,
10:33and then maybe the MSI and Alienware as well,
10:35to see out of the four,
10:36and maybe there are other ones as well,
10:38but out of those, you know,
10:39new wave of 32-inch 240 4K OLED displays,
10:42how the LG compares.
10:43But certainly with that 480Hz feature,
10:45which maybe I'm not going to get that much use out of myself,
10:47but maybe you will,
10:48that could be easily the deciding factor for you.
10:51But what do you think?
10:52Do you like the idea of this?
10:53Would you use 480Hz as well,
10:54or not so much?
10:55Let me know what you make of the LG in the comments below.
10:57If you do fancy checking this out for yourself
10:59and pre-ordering one,
11:00which you can now,
11:01I will leave a link in the description below,
11:03and that's about it.
11:05Stay tuned for my ROG review coming in a few days,
11:07and I'll see you next time right here on The Tech Chat.
11:12Tech Chat
11:13www.techchat.com