Expert testers lauded the LG 38GL950G-B display as a very good monitor for both gaming and professional work. They appreciated its wide viewing angles, high refresh rate, and rapid response time, but they weren’t impressed with its low contrast ratio and limited stand. The monitor also had decent black levels and a stylish gaming aesthetic to its design, but its lack of a local dimming feature may discourage some users from purchasing it.
Picture Quality
Blacks
- Product evaluators thought that the black levels on the LG 38GL950G were pretty decent, as the display registered a satisfactory black level of 0.4 nits. Testers still felt that blacks would have been more profound if the display had a high contrast ratio, but the presence of a Black Stabilizer helped ensure that they could slightly improve dark parts of the display.
Brightness
- The LG 38GL950G-B had an impressive peak brightness level that averaged 445 nits when tested with SDR content. Reviewers were glad that the display got bright enough to withstand glare in well-lit environments. They also expressed their pleasure with the display’s peak brightness of 512 nits with HDR enabled and lauded it as a pretty good brightness level for HDR gaming.
Color Accuracy
- Expert testers felt great about how accurate the color was on the LG 38GL950G-B. The display had an impressive Delta E score of 1.86 and a color temperature of 6,311K before they made any adjustments. After calibration, the monitor’s color accuracy improved significantly, as its Delta E score dropped to 0.33 and its color temperature improved to 6,484K.
Color Gamut
- The LG 38GL950G-B wowed testers with its outstanding color gamut when tested with both SDR and HDR content. The display covered up to 99.4% of the sRGB color space and averaged 86.1 Adobe RGB color gamut coverage. Its DCI-P3 range was equally impressive at 84.4%.
Color Gradient
- Top testers were glad that the LG 38GL950G-B had excellent gradient handling. They noticed very minimal banding with its grays, but overall, they concluded that the nano IPS display could produce a high fidelity color.
Color Uniformity/Variance
- The LG 38GL950G-B had decent color uniformity, as reviewers found out in their tests. They were particularly pleased with the display’s gray uniformity but were a bit disappointed with the backlight bleed that they noted on the display’s top and bottom edges when testing for black uniformity.
Contrast
- Product evaluators thought that the LG 38GL950G-B had a low contrast ratio, making it hard to reproduce deep blacks. The display had a contrast ratio of 1000:1, which most agreed was not high enough to produce the kind of deep blacks that they would’ve wanted.
Resolution
- The LG 38GL950G-B had a native resolution of 3840 x 1600 pixels, which testers agreed was great for gaming and movie watching. The high resolution allowed for a high pixel density of 110 Pixels per Inch, yielding plenty of screen real estate and stunning image reproduction.
Refresh Rate
- Top-tier testers from Rtings and Tom’s guide lauded the LG 38GL950G-B for its maximum 175 Hz refresh rate. They were also happy that the display could variate the refresh rate and match it with the frame rate of a connected GPU.
Glare and Reflections
- The LG 38GL950G-B demonstrated decent reflection handling to the satisfaction of most testers. They agreed that its low-haze anti-glare coating was good enough to guarantee visibility even in well-lit environments.
HDR
- Expert testers were very pleased with how well the LG 38GL950G-B handled HDR content. They confirmed that it was Vesa DisplayHDR 400 verified, meaning it had a maximum HDR brightness level of 400 nits.
Image Flicker
- The LG 38GL950G-B pleased testers with its flicker-free backlight and established that this kept eye strain at bay, especially for users who intend to work or play for long periods.
Image Retention
- Product reviewers were glad that the LG 38GL950G-B did not show any likelihood of having images remain on its display. Therefore, tests affirmed that it had no image retention.
Local Dimming
- The LG 38GL950G-B disappointed analysts with its lack of a local dimming feature. This is a feature that would’ve significantly improved its black levels, as it does on the LG 38WN95C-W.
Design
Aesthetics
- Product reviewers felt great about the design of the LG 38GL950G-B, as it had 0.4 inch thin top and side bezels, as well as a mild 2300R curve radius for realistic visual immersion. On its back, the display has a circular ring that features RGB lighting which lights up according to the visual effect colors appearing on display.
Build Quality
- The LG 38GL950G-B pleased testers with its impressive build quality, as they established that the display felt sturdy and had no wobble. Its plastic materials did not have any sort of flexing, and its stand held up the display quite nicely.
Portability
- Certified testers felt that the LG 38GL950G-B was pretty easy to move around, weighing a comfortable 16.5 pounds without its stand. The monitor’s weight increased to 21.8 pounds with the stand, but it was still lighter than the 27 pound LG 34WK95U.
Size
- The LG 38GL950G-B gaming monitor pleased testers with its 38-inch curved screen, as they agreed that it provided enough screen real estate for enhanced productivity when working and a wide field of view when gaming.
Stand and Mounting
- Expert testers felt that the LG 38GL950G-B had a sturdy stand but were not very impressed with its limited adjustability. The stand only allowed height adjustment and tilting but could not be swiveled or switched between portrait and landscape mode.
Features
Connectivity and Inputs
- The LG 38GL950G-B had a decent range of inputs. They found that the display had one 1.4 DisplayPort, one HDMI 2.0 port, two USB 3.0 ports, and 1 Analog 3.5mm headphone jack.
Controls
- Testers loved that the LG 38GL950G-B had an easy-to-use joystick on the bottom bezel of its screen, which was next to a clickable wheel that regulated its RGB lighting. They were glad that users could easily access its OSD and navigate through it without any problems.
Bluetooth
- The LG 38GL950G-B did not have Bluetooth capability, as testers found out.
Menus
- Product reviewers loved how easy and intuitive the On Screen Display menu on the LG 38GL950G-B was to navigate. They were glad that they could easily navigate through the different settings. They were even happier once they found out that they could download the LG UltraGear Control Center and have access to even more customization features.
Microphone
- The LG 38GL950G-B does not feature a microphone, so reviewers did not make any comments concerning that.
Speakers
- Certified testers confirmed that the LG 38GL950G-B did not have any built in speakers. However, users who want to enjoy an immersive listening experience will still be able to do so by connecting a headset to its 3.5mm headphone jack.
Webcam
- The LG 38GL950G-B does not feature a webcam, so reviewers did not mention anything concerning it.
Gaming
G-Sync/FreeSync
- Top analysts loved that the LG 38GL950G-B gaming monitor had native Nvidia G Sync support to reduce screen tearing and was also FreeSync compatible. As a result, they did not encounter any screen tearing during their tests, and confirmed that the monitor had widespread support for both G Sync and FreeSync GPUs.
Adaptive Sync
- The LG 38GL950G-B gaming monitor pleased testers with its VESA Adaptive-Sync compatibility. It meant that it had a variable refresh rate of 175Hz, and could therefore synchronize with their different refresh rates.
Input Lag
- Top testers were glad that the LG 38GL950G-B gaming monitor had an input lag of between 4ms and 5.5ms, depending on whether or not VRR was enabled. This meant that the display had virtually no delays or sluggishness between actions entered and reactions on screen.
Response Time
- The LG 38GL050G-B gaming monitor had an impressive response time of 1ms, which reviewers credited to why they did not experience any motion blur during their tests. They were convinced that this made the ultrawide monitor ideal for fast-paced gaming, as the display did not produce any overshoot during testing.
Text Clarity
- Product reviewers were satisfied with the text clarity on the LG 38GL950G-B. They admitted that they could easily see the font and that this clarity improved even further when they activated Windows ClearType.
Viewing Angles
- The LG 38GL950G-B had reviewers appreciating its wide 178° viewing angles, as the angles prevented any serious image degradation when viewed from the side.
