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LG 27GL83A. Why even bother with the LG 27GL850?

74K views 57 replies 13 participants last post by  Synoxia 
#1 · (Edited)
Wish i had learned this one existed before i ordered the LG 27GL850. It's the exact same panel, except no wide color gamut, and some pointless fluff like USB ports.

Considering how weak the HDR is on the LG 27GL850, what's the point of a DCI-P3 variant of this panel if they are going to give us a cheaper sRGB alternative?

I feel conned now. I'm paying 100 euros or more extra for something i won't probably use, since i'll most likely set the LG 27GL850 in sRGB emulation mode. The monitor market is a complete mess.
 
#2 ·
Some people prefer the oversaturated colors on a wide color gamut monitor even when displaying sRGB content. If you want a more natural appearance then yes there is absolutely no reason to get the 850 if you never plan to display any HDR content and just want a really good sRGB display. Why not return the 850 and go get an 83A?
 
#3 · (Edited)
Well, i returned two monitors already (they were defective, but still). This would make a third, and i heard Amazon is started to get a bit unforgiving to people who return stuff constantly. If the monitor isn't defective (I.E., no BLB, no dead pixels etc) i may be compelled to keep it, but i still sort of feel burned, not the least because there's a chance the LG 27GL83A might have better contrast.

The LG 27GL850 doesn't even get to 400 nits so even if you like HDR stuff it still seems pointless. Bad luck not learning about this earlier, ho well i guess. Maybe i'll like the extra saturation.
 
#4 ·
It's definitely a thing of personal preference. Kinda like when it comes to music; the purists will swear that you must have a flat frequency response in your headphones in order to listen to the tracks "the way the artists intended it to sound like" but if someone prefers to crank up the bass boost equalizer setting because that's how they prefer to listen then there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. If you end up preferring the extra saturation from wide gamut colors hey there's nothing wrong with that either, as long as you aren't doing any real professional color work I suppose.
 
#5 · (Edited)
I'm one of the guys you are talking about. I prefer pure sounds in my music and rarely touch the equalizer.

If i don't like it i'll risk yet another return i guess (here in Europe we have the right to return anything for any reason within 14 days so it's not a big deal. Worst thing Amazon can do is ban me). Funny that one has to pay at least 100 dollars extra for a feature that may actually be detrimental to the user's needs. That's what makes it a bummer because the LG 27GL850 has an sRGB emulation mode, but then i'd be paying more for nothing.

If the monitor has no BLB issues or stuff like that, i may keep it just so that i won't have to play the lottery again. If not, i'll send it back and get the other one, whenever that's available since those new LG monitors are missing in action all the time.
 
#6 · (Edited)
It is not the same ISP panel. The LG 27GL850 has LG’s Nano IPS technology. "Nano IPS Display Feel Actual Combat with True Colors Nano IPS covers 98% of the DCI-P3 color space, the professional film industry standard. The Nano IPS display delivers stunning image reproduction that brings your virtual world to life from any vantage point." HDR content is in games and videos.:thumb:
 
#14 ·
It is not the same ISP panel. The LG 27GL850 has LG’s Nano IPS technology.
If you're going to quote the bumf from the manufacturer, atleast bother to read all of it thoroughly.
The "nano ips technology" is a nano coating on the backlight, which alters the colour gamut of the backlight. The actual LCD panel is the same.
The difference is literally the backlight, some USB ports and a big chunk of the price tag.
It is for HDR content like movies and games. sRGB ISP panel is 8 bit clolor. HDR Nano IPS is 10 bit color.
Both the 27GL850 and 27GL83a are 8bit + FRC, to achieve "10-bit" colour.
 
#7 ·
Good job copy pasting the LG marketing hype and PR speak
 
#8 ·
Before deciding I'd check out the Nano IPS thing (independent reviews), whether it's worth having. I personally wouldn't be content with sRGB. It's an aging colour standard and limited in colour representation, while DCI-P3 and Adobe RGB (they're somewhat similar) give you better and a wider range of colours, a more vivid picture.
 
#10 ·
It is for HDR content like movies and games. sRGB ISP panel is 8 bit clolor. HDR Nano IPS is 10 bit color.

"sRGB (standard Red Green Blue) is an RGB color space that HP and Microsoft created cooperatively in 1996 to use on monitors, printers, and the Internet. It was subsequently standardized by the IEC as IEC 61966-2-1:1999.[1] It is often the "default" color space for images that contain no color space information, especially if the images' pixels are stored in 8-bit integers per color channel." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SRGB

"High dynamic range (HDR) is a dynamic range higher than what is considered to be standard dynamic range. The term is often used in discussing display devices, photography, 3D rendering, and sound recording including digital imaging and digital audio production. The term may apply to an analog or digitized signal, or to the means of recording, processing, and reproducing such signals"

Visual
High-dynamic-range imaging (HDRI) is the compositing and tone-mapping of images to extend the dynamic range beyond the native capability of the capturing device.[2][3]

High-dynamic-range video (HDR video) refers to a video signal with greater bit depth, luminance and color volume than standard dynamic range (SDR) video which uses a conventional gamma curve.[4]

High-dynamic-range rendering (HDRR) is the real-time rendering and display of virtual environments using a dynamic range of 65,535:1 or higher (used in computer, gaming, and entertainment technology).[5]

On January 4, 2016, the Ultra HD Alliance announced their certification requirements for a HDR display.[6][7] The HDR display must have either a peak brightness of over 1000 cd/m2 and a black level less than 0.05 cd/m2 (a contrast ratio of at least 20,000:1) or a peak brightness of over 540 cd/m2 and a black level less than 0.0005 cd/m2 (a contrast ratio of at least 1,080,000:1).[6][7] The two options allow for different types of HDR displays such as LCD and OLED.[7]

HDR transfer functions that better match the human visual system than a conventional gamma curve include the Hybrid Log-Gamma (HLG) and Perceptual Quantizer (PQ).[4][8][9] HLG and PQ require a bit depth of 10-bits per sample.[4][8]" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_dynamic_range
 
#11 ·
There is more to colors than just saturation. Some of which may be explained by some review sites for the non technical and by say a wikipedia and other for the technical people.
rtings measures this fairly well for displays. Color gamut and volume.

I thought I didn't have LG 27GL83A on my list, nope, already there.
 
#12 ·
HDR has nothing to do with sRGB. HDR is like a filter that increases saturation and contrast. It may alter colour representation to a degree.

sRGB vs DCI-P3/Adobe RGB is about actual colour representation. sRGB has more limited colour range, particularly with green (green looks more yellowish). Adobe RGB has better greens and has a cooler temperature (usually preferred for photo editing and graphic design). DCI-P3 comes close to the colour range of Adobe RGB, but has richer reds (DCI-P3 is basically the standard in film and media, which makes sense because it is red dominant and creates a warmer look to the picture).

I used an Adobe RGB monitor the past 10 years and it was great for film, game and desktop. Tried a sRGB monitor recently and colours felt off, overall not too bad, but the greens particularly felt too yellow, didn't enjoy it. My current LG is DCI-P3, I notice deeper reds, but other than that it looks like my old Adobe RGB monitor. I enjoy it very much.

The gamut chart may not tell you much, but you can just draw a comparison. sRGB has less colour range, especially in the green.


At the end it comes down to personal perception, you may not see much difference, not bother and be totally fine. I am more "colour sensitive" and sRGB is not satisfying, especially after having experienced better colour settings. Although, admittedly, sRGB is less a problem with games and movies, more for desktop use and photo editing, but as said, DCI-P3 is becoming the new standard, while sRGB is more "archaic" (CRT era standard).

Regarding HDR. My monitor has it, although it isn't a great implementation. It does look nice, especially with films, but I don't really bother and prefer the normal setting with good and balanced colours.
 
#16 ·
Close to none, all you get is HDR input capability but if you want HDR output capability you need OLED or even better dual layer high nits IPS.
It's more for people who want to send HDR signal to the display (monitor or TV) and have the display do the tonemapping since their source devices cannot or does not offer enough adjustment.
There is so much problem with HDR in gaming industry that M$ + Sony + display makers are now finally adding HDR controls to consoles and their games to better adjust the output at source for each display's capabilities.
On PC you can read the HDR capabilities of a display too, but how many game developers do you think care to use that data and offer user adjustment of the HDR tonemapping? Close to no one if anyone at all.
For movies? Use MadVR or other where you can set the HDR to what every you want conversion the way you want it.

350 nits and sub 1000:1 contrast is as SDR as it gets.

HDR to be worth calling HDR needs at least 100000:1 or higher contrast with as close to or above 1000 nits and DCI-P3 at least.
There is a lot of gray area in between and that's what we get now, especially the SDR with wider gamut colors that have been around for decades.

If you're going to quote the bumf from the manufacturer, atleast bother to read all of it thoroughly.
The "nano ips technology" is a nano coating on the backlight, which alters the colour gamut of the backlight. The actual LCD panel is the same.
The difference is literally the backlight, some USB ports and a big chunk of the price tag.

Both the 27GL850 and 27GL83a are 8bit + FRC, to achieve "10-bit" colour.
Yep. Same thing for Samsung QDs on monitors. Even for TVs I'm not sure there is but there may soon be some panel that has QDs/nano in the panel itself, don't know any that does yet but it's one thing that could bring some noticeable change.

---

Movies are BT.2020, not really DCI-P3. But since almost no one has BT.2020 display even to make movies... you're stuck with what ever good or bad tonemapping, yucky filtering of blue/orange, etc. they do on movies. Actually Sony BVM-HX310 does not cover BT.2020 fully, neither DCI-P3 fully. One can dream on to get 100% of those color spaces on consumer retail products that don't cost an utter fortune.
 
#17 ·
Well, got the GL850. It's... unwatchable. The contrast is non-existent. I have a cheapo 23" IPS screen with very bad contrast, even compared to other IPS screens. Well, this GL850 looks as terrible compared to this old 23" IPS as the latter looked compared to the Samsung VA i just returned.

I don't understand if this is how it's supposed to be (the difference between 800:1 and the normal 1000:1 shouldn't be this extreme). Unless it's really bad IPS glow? I thought IPS glow was just that shine that you see in the corners. Here it's a uniform fog that covers the whole screen. Not only blacks, but even colors look like they have this white sheen over them. Could it be a defect of the monitor, or can lower than average contrast ruin a picture to this degree?

I'll post photos i guess, all though i wonder if i can capture it on my phone. We'll see.
 
#20 ·
The monitor on the left is LG 27GL850? Since it works well with the HDMI cable, I would try a different displayport cable or different displayport on the graphics card.
 
#21 ·
Yes, the big one on the left is the LG.

I reset the monitor, the AMD profile, and reinstalled the drivers, and now it works fine even in displayport. I got a minor stroke for nothing.

Now that everything works fine, i'll say that the contrast is... bleh? It's actually slightly worse than the 23" on the right, which itself was slightly worse than other IPS screens i tried, and way worse compared to the VA but that's obvious.

Wide gamut gives a neon effect on all colors. Will have to spend time with this thing to see if i like it or not. Does Windows 10 knows how to manage this color space? Or is Microsoft stupid? (i'm going for the latter unless proven otherwise).

1ms response times is definitely a marketing scam. Overshoot and ghosting everywhere, worse than what you get on a VA. Might as well not be there, it simply looks horrible. Fast setting is fine, but i'm confused at how "fast" that actually is. I read about 4ms, but i also remember seeing someone mention 2.8ms?

I also remember reading someone was able to improve contrast with calibration. I don't have a tool, so i can't try it, but i wonder if a profile might help? TFT central doesn't seem to provide one. I know all monitors are different, and the calibration profile of one monitor is not guaranteed to look good on another, but it's worth a try.
 
#24 ·
What is your informed opinion about the LG 27GL850 now that you have had some time with it?
 
#25 ·
It's a fast ips, no point mentioning that part. I will just say a few things that may be of interest:

1) The wide gamut isn't as problematic as i imagined. When i first started the montior, every color had this "neon" effect on it. I've been playing around with the settings and i've also tried a few ICC profiles to try to fix the contrast, but what i managed to fix was this excessive saturation. Not sure exactly what i did, but everything looks normal now, at least on windows. It looks almost identical to sRGB, and i can only notice it's not in sRGB emulation when playing games. Maybe windows 10 got smarter and knows how to handle this color spectrum? I have a mind of starting from scratch and retrace what i did step by step.

2) The contrast is just bad. Nothing that can be done. I had a LG 27GL650F and there it was much better than the 23" IPS i showed in those pictures, almost half-way between the VA and the 23" IPS, where as the 27GL850 is actually slightly worst than the latter, which is a massive disappointment to me, because i thought it was going to be similar to the 27GL650F. I mean, it's an IPS panel, that's what it is, and i used the 23" for years, but if the contrast had looked as good as on the 27GL650F (i'm assuming that one had to have been higher than 1000:1), it would have been perfect. As it is, i'm contemplating returning it. I'm just waiting a bit to see if my distaste for the contrast is just an effect of having owned a VA screen as little as a week ago.

3) No variable overdrive apparently. This is supposed to be a "feature" of Freesync, so it's not the fault of the monitor, but after setting the response times to "fast" (fastest is simply unusable, the artifacts you get are way worst than what you see on a VA), and dropping around 60 FPS, you can start seeing some overshoot and white trailing. Honestly though, it seems i'm not sensitive to this kind of issues because it doesn't bother and i wasn't bothered by the purple trailing of previous VA screen, but i guess it's worth mentioning.

Other than that, the screen is beautiful looking, colors are great, and text is actually crisp and not blurry. This was my main issue with the 27GL650F, text was just unreadable to me. Also, i heard the VA LG has, the 32" one, suffers from blurry text, and i'm glad that problem isn't here. And of course, it's fast, too bad the 1ms overdrive mode is simply unusable.
 
#26 ·
1ms on marketing is either extreme unusable OD or strobing mode.

If you're having issues with washed out image on some cable... well it's your output device that's at fault, such as what color range is it actually sending and monitor expecting, 0-255 vs 16-235, etc.
Color management in OSs is not some smart thing, it does the conversions that are defined there and can be changed by user. It won't magically detect a wide gamut monitor and convert automatically everything to sRGB for you XD

The contrast on this LG panel is a true disappointment.
 
#27 · (Edited)
The contrast on this LG panel is a true disappointment.
Indeed, but i need to point out one thing here. It seems contrast is "bad" only after calibration. It has been noted in the TFT central review that contrast on anything other than gamma 2 (which is the one calibrated by LG) actually approaches 1000:1, but after calibration they fall down to circa 800:1 again. Now, according to the following user, he was able to calibrate gamma 4 while retaining a 1000:1 ish contrast:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Monitors/comments/d5mv43/lg_27gl850_how_to_increase_the_contrast_ratio/

I don't know how he was able to do this, and TFT central wasn't. Could be luck, he could be exaggerating, but even though i do not possess a tool for calibration, i wanted to try it, not the least because i don't really need perfect accuracy since i don't do anything with graphic design, i just want the screen to look "good" in my eyes.

So i installed his icc profile, fiddled around the settings, and... nothing much happened. Then i switched to gamma 1, while keeping his icc profile, and that actually cleared the fog a bit, to the point now it's basically identical to the 23" inch panel. Gamma 1 seems to "clear" the image which one would think would make the contrast worse but what it does is that it makes detail stand out and not get smothered by the visual fog created by the poor contrast. I was able to "eye" (i know, what can i do) a decent white point by setting the RGB to 47, 48 and 53.

So now the contrast is basically the same as the 23", which is to say, mediocre but not as terrible as before. I really wish i could measure it but it does look like an improvement to my eyes, and the colors look very similar to sRGB.

At this point i may just keep it and sell it if something decent comes out later on, or return it to amazon, probably get put on a list since this is the third monitor i refunded now, and then hang to my crappy 23" and get something better down the line. I was stupid to pick this model anyway, since i seem to care more about the contrast than speed, but live and learn i guess. I just figured, hey, 800:1, 1000:1, how different can they be? Guess i know now.
 
#28 ·
That's the only thing holding me off this monitor. It got available on Amazon in EU, but not really feeling like buying it.
The more I think about it, I think I will get again the FI27Q. The contrast there was pretty good and the bugs it had should be fixed with firmware updates.
 
#32 ·
This could be of interest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cqhthJenSM


Or more confusing. :D
That review is true. I have the ASUS VG279Q 27" 1920x1080p 144Hz IPS panel G-Sync compatible top gaming monitor pick in the review and it is outstanding.:D

OP glad you figured out what setting you changed that caused the neon colors. Now that you have had more time with the monitor what is your opinion of performance and visuals for gaming, movies, videos?
 
#33 ·
Aside for the lower than average contrast so far it's the best screen i've ever owned. It's also the second Ultragear screen that i was able to see in person that has zero lightbleed. Could be just luck, but maybe the fact LG makes their own panels means they have better quality control? It would be pain me to send it back just for that.

I just wish they'd hurry up and come up with something to fix this damn glow and low contrast on ips monitors. Everybody just keeps waiting for OLED but i'd say an ips monitor without those problems would be already good enough.
 
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