I went from the LG 34GN850 to this LG 38GN950 earlier in the month. Completely worth it for the higher vertical resolution (productivity) while still maintaining ultrawide for gaming / media consumption. I've had zero issues with mine, 100% worth it.
Would u still recommend this today on sale for $1100 or should I go for something else? There's also the AW3423DWF ofc but I prefer this resolution and not have to babysit the monitor for burn-in.
@@laggmonstret I have since moved onto two 4k monitors (32" LG 32GQ950 / 27" Samsung G70A) as I needed the screen real estate for work. I've been through many monitors and displays and the 38GBN950 still ranks high in my opinion If I was in the market for a 34-38" Ultrawide it would still be my #1 choice. I would do OLED but since I do like a 70%/30% productivity / work split, I'd most likely get burn in as I've experience that when I tested out the 55" LG C9 OLED years ago.
@@lopesantosiv6550 yes when I had the 38" Ultrawide I had a RTX 3090 and later a 3090 Ti. With my dual 4k monitor setups, I have since moved to an RTX 4090.
Nice review! Just wanted to inform others that there are similar monitors that use the same 38" nano IPS panel: -LG 38WN95C, uses TB3/USB-C instead of the USB-B hub and only 144Hz -Alienware AW3821DW, 144hz as well but uses a dedicated GSync module I personally went with the Alienware one, as both LG models were just out of stock in the US for so many months.
38" is really the sweet spot between productivity and gaming. Last year I was planning to buy the 38gl950g but unfortunately where I live LG only distributes the older 75hz models. Therefore I had to settle with a Samsung 49" 120hz (CRG9). Now don't get me wrong the Samsung is great for productivity, I get huge screen space when using the Unity engine game editor but for coding in Visual Studio I prefer height and that is where the 1600p 38" class shines. 38" 24:10 aspect ratio is also closer to human eye's FOV and you get less fish-eye lens effect compared to a 49" 32:9 while gaming.
Great review! This is a bit out of my price range, but I did recently get my hands on an LG 34GN850-B and it is absolutely amazing, for the last few years I've had great experiences with LG IPS gaming monitors.
You've successfully sold me a product that I can't buy! I generally dislike curved monitors but with something this size, and with the angle its bent at, it really has me reconsidering things now. Too bad I don't have that kind of cash! Great review as always! x)
Loved the video! I got the 34 inch model. It feels so good playing warzone and just using it! It's another level. I would love to see more B-rolls of the monitor being used with different apps open and stuff.
How are you enjoying it? I am on the fence between this and the 34 inch model. My main concern is paying double just for the extra 4". I'm not sure if its worth it but I like to think it will be a good investment because I rarely upgrade my monitors.
I use this monitor’s younger sibling, the LG 34GN850B and it is the best monitor I have ever used. Displays are LG’s bread and butter and I always trust their quality.
I just picked up this display renewed from Amazon for $750 plus tax. I'm loving it, it's the best productivity/gaming combo monitor. No issues with text clarity, great color accuracy, and good enough refresh rate. I'll recommend this, particularly over the new OLEDs that have text fringing.
Just ordered the AW3821DW. I wanted to buy the LG first but then I saw the AW3821DW and liked the design better. It has the G-sync ultimate module, it's slightly cheaper and it has no red accents win, win, win for me :)
It seems the input lag is identical unless overclocked. So for me it probably comes down to price and gsync ultimate, as I don't overclock. laptrinhx.com/alienware-aw3821dw-vs-lg-38gn950-battle-of-the-ultrawide-ips-monitors-1818301522/
I recently just got a 34GN850-B, I was looking at this monitor as well but was just a little bit more expensive than what I was willing to pay. Happy you like your new monitor I really like mines as well!
Once you go oled you can’t go back .. I have a 55 inch c9 in the living room. I’m looking at the 48inch cx myself for my pc I’m planning on building and the ps5 👊🏼
People said get an LG CX but... I wanted ultrawide, you can play at ultrawide res on a 16:9 but you get those ugly black bars. Got this, haven't looked back.
@muscleray934 if u want 4k 120 gameplay then you are gonna have to wait for years since no one can do that atm. Just 4k 60fps games and 1080p 120fps for 2.0 is fine
@muscleray934 the TV has no vessels and when the black bars are on it on a custom resolution, you can't see them since the pixels are literally off on those bars.
Now, this is something I could get. I love ultrawide monitors, and this would be just the right bump for me - from 34" to 38", 3440x1440p to 3840-1600p, plus 160 Hz.
Thanks Nada for always pointing out the pros & cons in your reviews. This monitor is still remarkable even with its mediocre contrast. I still can't believe the immersion a good 21:9 curved monitor can add to a gaming experience. 💖
i have a question. would this monitor have more space horizontally than a 40 inch 16:9 4k monitor or not? i have a 40 philips monitor, 3840x2160 i need some more wide space for my work and prefer shorter monitor. what is your opinion?
Great review! I also have this monitor and I love it. I use it for work and for gaming. 100% agree with you about the extra pixels provided helping with productivity.
I was actually planning on getting this exact monitor and like you said, I found no review what so ever but thank god you're here!!! Gonna but it ASAP now :D
So glad you did a review of this monitor as they are few and far between. I have it also and it is an absolutely phenomenal piece of kit. I'm stuck with a 1080ti atm cos of the problems surrounding graphics cards but this monitor certainly brings out the best in the card I have. Gaming is so very much better with this monitor and the HDR 600 is really nice to have and does make a noticable difference. Screen tearing etc are all but gone and you really are getting what you pay for with this. Everything is just snappier. brighter and faster LG certainly have pulled out the stops where it counts imo.
Picked up this monitor from Costco ($200 off msrp) and I love it! I am stunned at how much better it looks than my previous dual monitor setup. The picture is amazing and my games have never looked so good. Is it "worth it" is difficult with a monitor this expensive, but I am happy with my purchase and have no temptation to return it.
I don't really regret it, but the fact that the LED of the knob flashes when is on standby and that it immediately shoot itself down when without signal and after that, fails to acknowledge that one of the PC's is turning on, drives me nuts... I really hate that Lg doesn't give a shit about and there is absolutely no firmware update. 34UC88B, the culprit and never again LG...
Great review, as usual, I just upgraded from dual Asus VP328Q professional WQHD monitors to dual BenQ EW3270U monitors. As a mechanical engineer, I cannot use a curved monitor as it creates the bow-tie effect on all horizontal straight lines. I also like the ability to connect my PS5 to them and have it in my home office as opposed to my living room.
I’m surprised that you don’t have a million subs. Every time I’m in the market for any tech related products, I always check you’re channel. Good video by the way.
How am I a simp ? I just made a compliment on her work and how I value the content she makes on the products that I'm interested in. I'm not ogling her on her beauty. I just appreciate her work. Your a Loser because you can't tell the difference between a compliment on a work than hitting on her.
@@True_Blood_89 I love the monitor. Have been using it now for a few weeks. The space it give is amazing for school work (graphic design) The colors look good and also the light in the back of the monitor looks good and works really well. For gaming I also like the monitor but in some games my 2070 doesn't handle it amazing but still playable :)
@@beyondjdp3300 thanks for the update. I opted for the Dell 2721DGFA. It's only going to be used for gaming and what it offers was excellent for it's price range. Goff to hear you're happy with your monitor, it does look like an absolute monstor of a display, colors looks fantastic!
I actually ended up getting both of them. I haven’t been able to really compare them with gaming etc, but I’d say if you want to use the included stand - the Dell looks really cool and they clearly spent a lot of time and expense on the design (looks better than the LG). If you don’t care about the stand, it’s nice that you keep your RGB with the LG. I like the control software better on the Dell. However If you also want to use the monitor for productivity, LG supports their split screen software but Dell does not which is a shame to not be able to.
@@ezwider4652 I got the alienware 38 ultrawide thinking I'd be able to use the split screen software. Was definitely bummed to find out I couldnt. If I got to do it over I wouldve gone with lg for sure. Still a great montior, though it's big a bulky, which I'm not fond of.
AW3821 beats LG though as it has a stronger mount and it's around 30% cheaper in the UK. Dell has also better customer service. Only reasons to buy LG are RGB and split screen software, but is it worth the extra cost?
@@Andromedainvestors I've had them both now for a couple of weeks. I'd say they are extremely close. After Calibration both are great and achieve the same characteristics. I don't plan to use either on their stand but I admit the Dell AW stand is very cool. I haven't tried LG customer service, but I also agree Dell's is very good. I bought the LG at Costco and with their Visa so I have 4 year warranty on the LG. But I"ll probably end up keeping it because I do see myself working at home for a few months more and it's hard to fid 2 38"'s on a 72" desk. lol. the other thing I'll say is that I wish there was a 16:9 monitor that would be same height physically and in pixels cause I'd like to have a monitor on the side (with either Dell AW or the LG Ultragear). The LG also does have the premium sync for AMD but who knows what card I'll end up buying in 2021. Likely that there will be a shortage and super high prices due to mining.
Very well made video. One thing you don't mention though: Does it have a decent PBP mode to use it simultaneously with two different sources (desktop PC + laptop)?
I still think this review is good about speaking about the main issue for buyers of this monitor which is the price. The way she shows were some improvements could easily be had at this price point without asking too much, shows that the monitor is actually to expensive to buy, for me. So I think it is a very good review.
38GN950, 38GL950 and 38WN95C are all more of less the same monitors. Some go a little higher in terms of refresh rate, while others have different connections like Thunderbolt etc. They are all from the same time frame. So the 38GL950 is not the old model of the GN950 as you say. It just lack the same G-sync feature while all else is more or less the same.
I have a 55" OLED C9 and it's beautiful for gaming on consoles and watching movies but you guys using them as daily driver computer monitors are looney. I would be afraid of screen burn in, but I understand the allure of the infinite contrast ratio. Besides that, 4K content scaling can sometimes be a pain especially if you have Linux, but that's just been my experience. I also have the LG38GN950-B and this is by far the best computer monitor I have ever owned for gaming. The only people I would recommend not buying this monitor would be those who need to have accurate straight line representation (Since the screen is curved). P.S. If you play FPS games an ultra-wide monitor will change your life.
55" is to big to be used as a monitor anyway. Maybe if you had the 48" CX it could be considered. I'd only want to play single player games on the CX though, competitively an Ultrawide will give you the edge.
@@EvanXDev @Bazanji 55" is too big for a monitor because I was buying it for use as a TV, not a monitor 😂 I used to have a 32" IPS monitor and I went in person to a Best Buy to see the 48" CX and I'd have to say that's still a ridiculous size for almost any desk. For me there's diminishing returns on monitors larger than 32" with a 16:9 aspect ratio. You will find yourself moving your head an neck a lot more often to find certain things on the screen (This is also slightly noticeable with too much horizontal space in the case of 49" super ultrawide monitors without 1000R curves). The only way to fix that would be to sit at an appropriate viewing distance for a TV of that size. A general guideline is to sit between 1.5 to 2.5 times the diagonal screen measurement away, with about a 30-degree viewing angle. For example, if you have a 48" TV, you should be sitting somewhere between 6' and 10' from the screen. For ultrawides your peripheral vision makes up for the extra screen space and makes you feel more immersed in your content especially if you have a curved screen. Currently I have my ultrawide right underneath my 55" C9 so it still operates like a second monitor when I need it to or when I want to throw something up on the screen. For me this is the ideal setup, but if your heart is telling you to buy a 48" CX as a main monitor then who am I to stop anyone? Technically you do get more features for your money, but I promise you that there's good reason behind why these big companies chose to pursue VA panels on computer monitors for inky blacks.
I could also go into the tech limitations of HDMI 2.1 vs Displayport 1.4 (And it's successor Displayport 2.0), but I'm sure anyone who's been hunting for GTX 3000 series cards already knows what I'm going to say and doesn't want to hear it lol
for competitive fps games ultrawides are terrible and you should crop the resolution to 2560x1440. theres too much information and you dont have enough time to scan and react to an entire 34 inch screen, compared to a regular 16:9 aspect ratio
@@cargoshorts5666 I feel like I would normally agree with that, but I like playing with all the extra info. I don't scan my screen I let the extra horizontal space act as my peripheral vision and in games like Call of Duty and Apex Legends and other modern less competitive FPS games my K/D has increased. On games like CS:GO I crop my resolution. Although it is true that literal pros would use a 1080p 16:9 240Hz+ TN or IPS panel monitor. But I use my computer for way more than just FPS games and I find the extra space to be great. And if you wanna sweat the details you can always crop resolution for super specific games, but so far thats only been CS:GO for me. I like every other game better in ultrawide.
For just gaming from a reasonable distance yes I agree. However you can't really use an OLED as a daily desktop monitor as burn-in in that scenario is very likely and even if we ignore burn-in 48" is very big on most desks. One would need a very deep desk because the pixel density of a 48" 4k display is much lower than the 110ppi ultrawide display reviewed here.
If you're just gaming on it and sitting a bit further, the cx is definitely another option to consider. But for productivity, especially editing? Oled tvs just aren't a viable monitor alternative in my opinion.
@@gencoserpen1260 Agreed. I returned the OLED for this 38 because I need a capable photo editing monitor besides gaming. OLED is only good for gaming and watching movies.
also sdr content on hdr looks like shit and visa versa, so it has to be setup properly. and were expecting this from people who went the last 10 yrs wtihout even having their rgb limited / full setup properly lol
If it's just for gaming maybe. But for editting and 12+ hours a day desktop use, I don't really like OLED as much and it's just too tall. I really love OLED.. but as a TV.
I don't understand that mentality, it's a TV vs an ultrawide monitor, if you want ultrawide you go ultrawide... if you want a TV, you buy a TV. Yes you can run ultrawide res but you'll get black bars making the experience way less immersive.
@@MrCoombzy It’s not just 16:9 vs ultrawide; it’s true HDR 1000, 10bit, 4K 120hz, infinite contrast vs fake HDR, 8bit and whatever non-standard resolution that ultrawide has.
I've been wanting this Monitor for a while. Thanks for the review! Just surprised at the continued price point, it makes it just too much to switch from my Samsung 4k 60hz.
I want this thing...but I can't justify the cost after a 3080 purchase...gonna wait for proper HDR implementation in ultrawide 1440p 34 inch format. Great video as usual!
Wow, this RU-vid channel has really honest reviews! I'm currently in the market for a new monitor for programming and I came across the LG UltraGear. It looks like a solid option, but I'm looking for a 5120 wide resolution and high contrast. Do you think the LG UltraGear is still the best option for programming or would you recommend a different model?
thank you for that great review of the 38GN950-B! i bought it :-) do you prefer SDR- or HDR-Gaming on it? i comes from an Asus VG32VQ and was a bit disappointed about the HDR-Gaming-experience because of the lower contrast on the LG :-/ i think SDR-Gaming is the better choice on this Monitor. Greetings from Germany :-)
I have the 27GL850 which is essentially the flat 1440p 27 inch version of this - they use almost exactly the same nano ips panel except with hdr 400. I could NOT be happier with my purchase, the nano ips panels from LG are absolutely gorgeous.
Hey, another great review! Thank you! Do you plan to compare it with the WN95? I love these 3840x1600 UW screens, having a 38UC99... it's easy to say. :)
Was very seriously considering this monitor as well as the the Samsung G9. Went for the LG 48 inch CX OLED. Can't believe I ever considered something else, its amazing! If you don't mind stepping up another step in size, I would very much consider the CX. It's pretty much in the same price range when you think about it, It's got very similar colour performance, similar brightness, even better pixel response times, 120 hz panel, gsync, freesync and of course: infinite contrast which gets you true blacks. Only downsides in my opinion: it's not widescreen or curved (but given the size, still as immersive), given the burn in risk, you do need to take some precautions when using it as a computer monitor and lastly (I think only significant thing), it only has HDMI ports. Now they are HDMI 2.1 so do support 4K@120hzfull RGB. The thing is, what computer has HDMI 2.1 though? You are basically going to need one of the newest rtx 30 series or AMD 6000 for a HDMI 2.1 port and to be able output such a signal to this monitor. Converter cables for my laptops only go up to 4K60hz 8bit SDR so it currently is a waiting game for HDMI 2.1 converter cables to come out (don't even think about the Club3D displayport>HDMI 2.1 converter, its completely shite).
Hi Thanks for this detailed review. If you still use it, is it still amazing And lastly, pls what's the issue with dead pixel I am seeing online that some people are talking about, because I just want to go get this monitor. Scared to invest in this and be having dead pixel issues 🙄. Thanks
Happy to help. Both are pretty similar I guess, but at the time the GL was around 400 euros more expensive? Not exactly sure anymore, but enough to make the choice easy.
@@TechTesters For sure. It's less expensive and comes with a higher HDR rating, which (at least from what my research tells me) HDR600 is where HDR actually starts to make an impact, whereas HDR400 doesn't matter. The Gsync module was something that I initially considered heavily for the GL version, but with no reports of the Gsync compatible GN being of issue, and FreeSync certified, it gives me that flexibility to either upgrade in the future to Nvidia or AMD
great review as usual. since you dont mention it, i'm guessing you didnt have any fan noise issue with the monitor as shared by owners earlier this year. currently using a 27 inch monitor, and any upgrade would be to an ultrawide
Heya, thanks for the review ! Do you still use it and if so how does it fairs after 2 years ? Phantom Liberty is demanding larger ultrawide :D thanks !
I got this monitor recently for about 1.050€ to replace my older 34" monitor. The extra screen space was totally worth it and the colors pop a lot better than on the old VA panel. Because of contrast I was also considering a 34" OLED model, but I wanted to have a bigger screen and no burn-in concerns, as I use it for work a lot. Overall still a great recommendation.
How was the transition from VA to IPS to your eyes, when viewing black levels at night? It's my hold up from upgrading from a LG 32GK650F, which uses VA, 32", 1440p, 16x9, 144hz. I play often in a dark room, with rgb ambient back lighting.
@@TheCgOrion I can see a difference in black level quality for sure. The LG doesn't have much IPS glow, so it doesn't bother me that much. In the end it comes down to personal preference, but I'm used to OLED panels and the colors of the LG almost reach that level of saturation for me.
I was looking at this monitor and also the Acer Predator X38. I ended up going with the X38. Now I do like it, the fan is the back is super loud (louder than my rig under full load) Does this LG monitor have that issue? Sorry is this is a stupid question :P
Nice to see my decision to get this monitor several weeks back is shared by Nada, someone much more knowledgeable in these matters than myself. Great review as usual! And yes this monitor is the cats ass!!!!
It‘s such a great idea having a giant ultrawide with all the gaming features but since I am also playing and watching most content on an OLED TV there is just no way that I‘m gonna go with a Nano-IPS panel with this little contrast with so little dimming zones. If the successor will feature a Mini-LED backlight with at least 500 zones or even better an OLED panel I will reconsider this. But until then I think I‘m just gonna stick to doing as much as possible on my TV. Thanks for all the info, that helped a lot!
Love the look of this Monitor, Was hoping that LG would use HDMI 2.1. Shame they didn't implement it considering the cost. Going to wait for the next generation and hopefully see an update.