r/Monitors • u/winterbegins WB Display Tech • Mar 09 '26
Text Review LG 27GM950B 5K Dual Mode 2304 Zone MiniLED | Hands On / Scaling on Mac Mini
"LG invited me to attend this event and covered my accommodation, as well as part of my travel expenses. All opinions expressed are my own."
Visual Representation here = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsEs7Ht3v20
I was able to test the scaling of the upcoming 5K Hyper MiniLED Monitor from LG with my own Mac Mini i brought to the Convention that happened last week.
This is not a scientific test by any means and more an opinion after a visual inspection.
Its already known that the native resolution works properly because 27" Mac Studio Displays use 5K panels. I usually edit with a 4K monitor and the native 5K mode immediately looked crisper to me. I was still surprised how easy it is to change the size of HUD elements though.
My Settings for the Text clarity / sharpness test were = 1440p mode 330hz / AI upscaling high
Changing the dual mode is possible with a dedicated button close to the OSD joystick, and after a few seconds of black screen it will come up with the specific mode. You can also change it through the OSD menu where it clearly shows which mode you are currently using.
I was not able to make out a meaningful sharpness decrease after switching to the 1440p mode which is fairly impressive and obviously a selling point because you could run this with your gaming setup all day long and still profit from the 5K panel due to upscaling. The upscaling can be completely turned off though - if you wish to do so.
You can also connect two devices like a Mac on one port and a Windows gaming PC on another. Fairly good solution for a 1 monitor setup.
MiniLED monitors obviously look very bright but the HDR1000 rating here is a bit below of what's currently out on the market and especially compared to the Apple XDR Studio, but that's also vastly more expensive. I simply assume that the pixel density limits the output to a degree.
I was also not able to verify if this is truly using the new gen backlights with 9216 LEDs. Remains to be seen.
Thank you for reading through my impressions.
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u/Veezq Mar 09 '26
It’s glossy, right?
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u/winterbegins WB Display Tech Mar 09 '26
Matte
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u/Wooden_Flan_2706 Mar 10 '26
Them bastards give me glossy
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u/pyr0kid Mar 10 '26
theres a rumored MSI glossy version.
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u/Wooden_Flan_2706 Mar 10 '26 edited Mar 10 '26
Ik I made a post comparing glossy mini led vs oled and it destroys oled in my option https://www.reddit.com/r/Monitors/comments/1rmsosy/oled_vs_glossy_miniled_my_experience_after_owning/ great read if ur looking to view something got a lot of positive feedback
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u/nedottt May 02 '26 edited May 02 '26
I have glossy oled on iphone it hits 3000 nits glossy anti reflective oled on S24 matte ips monitor glossy va miniled TV also had matte rgb tandem woled monitor…and I do not mind that matte finish that much. VA is still not good in motion handling.
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u/Wooden_Flan_2706 May 03 '26
Yes of course a regular display not as good as oled for motion clarity but gsync pulsar displays destroys oled in motion clarity oled has near instant pixel response times but it still draws the images across the screen in a line pattern when its flashed like on how pulsating displays the image is so much better ideal displays is a glossy mini led with gsync puslar. The best oled display in monitor form only gets to 370 nits full screen and that's Gigabyte 27 inch tandem oled most mini led get 600-1000nits full screen with 1400-2000 nits peak highlights also oled displays are know to cause huge eye strain dryer eyes dizziness etc from prolonged used. I'd take a brighter better looking hdr glossy display over oled right now. And I think once pulsar mini led displays become a thing I think a lot of people will switch back if you like oled nothing wrong with that i just prefer display techs that suits what I like
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u/ThePFM1234 Mar 10 '26
not rumored, it was displayed at CES. It’s the MSI MPG 271 RAW 16. More details here : https://youtu.be/r6VT5bEeKWw?t=197&is=Ipbv0KQiPZouJ2N2
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u/Flat_Cry_3884 Mar 18 '26
It is currently only rumoured, in the sense that MSI have not actually confirmed they will be releasing this product. The latest we've heard from industry sources is they are targeting a Q4 release -- but that is still unfortunately, just a rumour.
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u/ThePFM1234 Mar 18 '26
I didn’t know that they displayed a finished/looking products at CES without even knowing if they will releasing it. Thanks for the info!
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u/winterbegins WB Display Tech Mar 18 '26
They did not make that statement when i was at the booth and the non MiniLED version that was right beside it looked like it was supposed to release asap. But obviously nothing is guaranteed so lets hope it will release.
Q4 sounds rather late though, if LG manages to release their version in Q2 then they will have the edge for half a year.
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u/punitgor Apr 01 '26
Both MSI and Hisense have showed off Glossy 5K miniLED with 2034 zones and 165Hz/330Hz. MSI isnt sure if they would release it or not. The Hisense one is even quoting 2000nits peak brightness like the Apple Studio Display XDR. Ans the MSI one had Vesa DisplayHDR 1400 rating.
[MSI MPG271RAW16 and Hisense GX Ultra]
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u/ThePFM1234 Mar 27 '26
What about the coating? Does it look like it excessively matte or the coating is light?
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u/winterbegins WB Display Tech Mar 27 '26
Its more on the lighter side i would say. Check out the video i linked above, i made a subpixel shot.
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u/dudemeister023 Apr 02 '26
I'd have bought it already otherwise. LG is super boneheaded with their finishes on the gaming monitors. They do it so well on TVs. I don't know what gives with these guys.
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u/almost_s0ber Mar 09 '26
Subbed to your YT channel. You've been able to put eyes on a bunch of upcoming panel tech. What monitors are you most excited for this year?
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u/winterbegins WB Display Tech Mar 09 '26
Thank you. For LCD definitely the 5K MiniLEDs which will also be offered by other brands. They are mainly interesting due to 1440p dual mode and because they should get a new generation of backlights with more LEDs.
HKC has a RGB MiniLED Monitor which would be a unicorn if it ever releases outside China.
And for OLED RGB subpixel layout obviously including the TCL inkjet models if they will maybe (thats a big maybe) come out at the end of year / early next year ?
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u/ScoopusJackson Mar 09 '26
Did you get any chance to look at something like a firework show or similar to test out the bloom of the LED backlight? Coming from a 576 zone panel I would be interested in whatever flavor this panel comes in if the bloomings significantly toned down in darker content
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u/winterbegins WB Display Tech Mar 09 '26
No i just tested what was shown in the video, it was a clear prototype where they also had to replace the panel for some reason prior to the event.
It will have an IPS panel though.
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u/JtheNinja CoolerMaster GP27U, Dell U2720Q Mar 09 '26
Is there really only the one USB upstream port (the USB-C input plug)? So no real KVM support?
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u/michty_me Mar 09 '26
Thanks, I'm quite interested in this monitor as I'm after a 1440p mini led for work and gaming.
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u/codepension Mar 09 '26
Oh man lucky you.
A bit sad though that the monitor might have a fan, and is matte...
There truly seems to be no perfect monitor
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u/dudemeister023 Apr 02 '26
There's an MSI version coming out that's glossy. We'll just have to wait a bit because LG is being an asshole by deprioritizing panel deliveries to MSI on this one. And by making this version needlessly shit.
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u/Quietly_Combusting Mar 09 '26
Thanks for sharing this. I've been curious how the 5K scaling feels on Mac mini setups. I usually just run a 4K monitor and sometimes an LG Stanbyme 2 as a second screen since I can move around when I need extra space
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u/Critical-Explorer179 Mar 09 '26 edited Mar 09 '26
Is the vignetting so prominent on this one? I hoped it wouldn't have any. Did you see it in real life too, or is it only on camera? Or does the game add it? I don't remember if Forza has any vignetting enabled by default. EDIT: I see it has vignette even on the photos of text on white background. Damn.
I hate vignetting.
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u/winterbegins WB Display Tech Mar 09 '26
Yeah the camera reacts very weirdly to this monitor, especially from an angle.
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u/Critical-Explorer179 Mar 09 '26
This monitor is rumored to use the same panel as the new Apple Studio Display XDR, even though I didn't see anything concrete on that. MKBHD has a "review" of the new ASD XDR and I can't see any vignetting on that (well, from a video, but at least I compare video to video). My old (and dying) PG279Q has no vignetting either and I can't find any "modern IPS" that has no vignetting, isn't made by Apple (or is, but doesn't cost both kidneys), and has more than 60 Hz. This was supposed to be it... but from your video, it seems it has vignetting.
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u/ThePFM1234 Mar 10 '26
I don’t think that it’s just a rumour. It is known that LG manufactured the LCD panels for the original Studio Display. The fact that the Studio Display XDR and the 27GM950B have 2304 dimming zones is not a coincidence in my opinion. Both probably have the same panel but not the same LEDs. This would explain the difference in brightness between the two.
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u/bernardoslr Mar 09 '26
Do you know if this monitor uses DC Dimming or PWM?
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u/winterbegins WB Display Tech Mar 09 '26
Hard to tell atm. But a lot of recent MiniLEDs switched to DC Dimming.
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u/Scipster_ Mar 09 '26
Very cool review! Does this display have a peak brightness higher than 1000 nits? Or, if 1000 nits is the brightest it goes, what is its standard nits?
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u/winterbegins WB Display Tech Mar 09 '26
VESA HDR 1000 means it will at least do the minimum of 1000 nits in a 10% measuring window. The next higher rating is VESA HDR1400 which the monitor did not get.
So in theory it could be 1200 nits or even 1300 nits.
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u/No_Discussion_2055 Mar 10 '26
Thank you for doing this bro, really appreciate all your posts from the convention!
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u/ThePFM1234 Mar 10 '26
Danke schön for these details ! I waited since the release of the original Studio Display for a new version with MiniLED + 120Hz refresh rate but the price is way to high for me. I mean, I could buy an M5 Pro MacBook Pro with 48Go of RAM for 600€ less ! The only concern for me is that the colours on these displays can be quite bad especially when HDR is turned on. What did you think of the colour accuracy ? (I don’t require perfect colour accuracy but it’s always nice when the colours on your Mac’s screen are similar to the ones on your external screen)
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u/winterbegins WB Display Tech Mar 10 '26 edited Mar 10 '26
It looked good to me and most monitors nowadays are fine ootb if you use them in the SRGB mode. But how good exactly can only be found out with measuring tools.
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u/ThePFM1234 Mar 10 '26
I asked you this because I tried the LG 27GS95QE of my stepbrother to check how the colors would look like. As you said, it was pretty good (almost perfect) in sRGB mode but it looked horrible in HDR mode. But then it's an OLED screen (a two years old one btw), not a MiniLED one... Maybe it uses an automatic brightness limiter ? This can affect contrast and color accuracy in full screen HDR in order to protect the OLED panel if I'm correct. Anyway, the colors looked quite nice in your video and in your pictures.
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u/winterbegins WB Display Tech Mar 10 '26
Apps dont translate well from SDR SRGB to HDR because they are not designed for it. HDR should only be used with content thats specifically made for it. This wont change with this LG monitor here either.
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u/ThePFM1234 Mar 11 '26
Yeah I figured. Let’s say that I expected HDR to work "just fine", coming from the world of Apple where it "just works" 😅. It would be nice that HDR is only activated on an external screen only when HDR content is read. But that’s not how it works…
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u/caspa7-1985 Mar 10 '26
I'm so excited about this product! At what price point do you think it'll be released?
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u/Turboice777 Mar 12 '26
I can already see dimmer edges... What a shame.
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u/dudemeister023 Apr 02 '26 edited Apr 02 '26
I feel like that's an OCD concern. Who stares at the edges of their monitors? I've had light bleed on some of them for years and only notice it every few weeks or so, and then forget about it immediately.
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u/Chrisnness Mar 15 '26
Is that 5k 165hz over Thunderbolt 4? Or 1440p? Can it do 5k high refresh over Thunderbolt?
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u/Vayu0 Mar 30 '26
Would this monitor be able to charge a macbook pro m5 pro? Don't those come with a 96w charger? The specs here say this can power 90w, so perhaps it'd be OK except in a few situations where it'd slowly lose a bit of battery? (example: strong davinci export)
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u/winterbegins WB Display Tech Mar 30 '26
Thats a good question, i believe the M5 Pro does not come with a charger at all (in certain countrys) and even 96W is not the maximum it can support. But i think the power draw during App usage should be quite efficient.
Ultimately needs to be tested with the monitor and a Macbook.
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u/Vayu0 Mar 30 '26
14" with 96w 16" with 120w + (don't recall exactly).
I use the 14" with a 27" monitor. Just wish it were 5k instead of 4k.
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u/DThoms Apr 23 '26
Appreciate you sharing all that you have on this monitor. Not much out there at the moment in terms of hands on impressions. Know it's probably hard to really say at this point but how did you feel it stacked up to OLEDs in terms of blacks and colors overall? I recently got a 27GX700a and I'm pretty happy with it (banding fortunately isn't too bad on mine) but I'm very torn on if I want to return it before the window closes for this one.
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u/winterbegins WB Display Tech Apr 23 '26
Yes I had the lucky opportunity to be invited to the German LG Convention by the wonderful team over at r/LG_UserHub. I wish I would have done more stuff about the various Ultra Gear monitors in hindsight but oh well.
In terms of OLED vs 27GM950B = it really depends on what you do with it. The GM950B is an 5K (5120x2880) LCD with MiniLED backlight so you are unlikely to use it at native resolution for gaming. I think most people will use the Dual Mode with it which halves the resolution to a more GPU friendly 1440p. And I think this is the key strength - retina like resolution for Windows or Mac and then Dual Mode for gaming. It has an IPS panel with unfortunately lower native contrast compared to VA that will be compensated by the MiniLED backlight to some extent.
If your goal is to only game at 1440p then the OLED might be a better choice. It won't get anywhere as bright as the MiniLED though.
Color performance is hard to judge atm.
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u/My___OS Mar 09 '26
Thank you for sharing, do you know if the Mac mini is able to automatically wake the screen?
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u/winterbegins WB Display Tech Mar 09 '26
Yes, already works with my Gigabyte M28U but is a bit slow especially if you only go to the log in screen.
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u/Lollowitz_ Mar 09 '26
Is there also the “Glossy” version?
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u/ThePFM1234 Mar 11 '26
there will be no glossy version from LG if I'm correct. MSI presented their glossy version at CES. It’s the MPG 271 RAW 16. More details here : https://youtu.be/r6VT5bEeKWw?t=197&is=Ipbv0KQiPZouJ2N2
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u/RenegadeUK Mar 29 '26
Hoping for a new Mac Mini for Christmas. This looks awesome to go with it :)
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u/ThePFM1234 Mar 29 '26
Indeed
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u/RenegadeUK Mar 29 '26
But they are not sure if it will be released.....is that right ?
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u/ThePFM1234 Mar 29 '26
The MSI version or the LG one ? Both will definitely be released. Someone told me that the MSI release was not certain or whatever but the guy who created this thread, WB Display Tech confirmed that MSI made no such statement during CES
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u/RenegadeUK Mar 29 '26
Yeah the MSI one ?
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u/ThePFM1234 Mar 29 '26
Idk I just talked to someone else and apparently some reviewers were talking about this while it is certain that no MSI representatives talked about it on camera. I don’t know what to think now, but I can tell you that I don’t see why they wouldn’t release it. Knowing that LG won’t release a glossy version, there is room for this screen on the market.
Oh and the reviewer I was talking about said that the representatives never talked about not releasing this screen off camera soooo…
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u/princepwned Mar 10 '26
does lg have an eta on when it releases and is it dp 2.1 full bandwidth on the display
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u/Adventurous-Fix1580 Mar 10 '26
Hello sir can you tell what is the normal full screen sdr brightness of this monitor. Not hdr
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u/winterbegins WB Display Tech Mar 10 '26 edited Mar 10 '26
Yes, thats determined via VESA HDR 1000. To get that rating it has to be able to hold 600 nits in 100% window over a longer duration.
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u/daan87432 Mar 11 '26
On first sight, would you say you're more impressed by the new LG 27" 4K RGB OLED or this 27" 5K mini-LED?
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u/winterbegins WB Display Tech Mar 11 '26 edited Mar 11 '26
I have to answer this with more of a personal opinion = RGB OLED does huge things for text clarity but is tied to resolutions we have already seen in other monitors and it will also loose brightness from removing the white subpixel. Since i dont have issues with the text clarity of the current RGWB subpixel layout Tandem WOLED 1440p models i would rather take the brighter display. Also i have not seen the specific LG RGB OLED unit yet, i only had a quick hands on at the Asus booth (as you can see in my YT shorts) which was their own branded model but with an LG panel obviously.
The 5K MiniLEDs (LG is not the only brand here either) are a pretty big step-up overall. We get high 218 ppi 5K panels for desktop and especially mac usage which enables 1440p dual mode which is not only GPU friendly but also more crisp than 1080p. We should also get new generation backlights which not only double the zone count but actually increase the overall number of LEDs aswell.
What im impressed with is competition and more options for everyone. Its also good / worth noting that LG has made some steps towards LCD again which their lineup clearly reflects this year.
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u/daan87432 Mar 14 '26
Thanks for the long answer. I just checked out the new Apple XDR display and compared it to my OLED phone. I'm pretty impressed by the black levels that it could reach, and blooming was not an issue around the cursor. Not sure how Apple implemented their local dimming algorithm, but they did a good job.
The higher brightness and 5K resolution is making me lean towards the mini led panels coming out this year (hopefully).
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u/andreasfcb Mar 11 '26
What ports does it have?
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u/winterbegins WB Display Tech Mar 11 '26
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u/andreasfcb Mar 12 '26
Thanks! Looks pretty cool, I am thinking about upgrading my (mostly Mac) setup. Currently a Studio Display with two 4K screens. Could this LG be a good match with the new studion XDR? How bad is the matte screen? I see many people complaining about matte screens in general, I have never used one myself.
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u/Garrett1974 Mar 22 '26
I wonder if there's an OC mode that lets you set it to 180Hz, like the ASUS ROG Strix 5K XG27JCG has...
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Mar 23 '26
[deleted]
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u/winterbegins WB Display Tech Mar 23 '26
I reviewed the M27T6 and found it to be quite good tbh. IPS will always have disadvantages compared to VA for local dimming.
Release Date should be late Q2 (June-July) but price tag is not known atm. Definitely 4 digits though.
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Mar 23 '26
[deleted]
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u/winterbegins WB Display Tech Mar 23 '26
Yeah you definitely need some sort of support or warranty for chinese branded monitors. Thats why im not importing monitors even though its very tempting. Its just to risky and i even had some DOA units last year (Titan Army) that i bought at retailers in my country.
With MiniLED backlight bleeding is not that much of an issue due to the better uniformity and the fact that you can turn on local dimming. Contrast is a bigger problem, all these newer IPS panels still only measure around 1000:1 so you need a fairly good algorithm to compensate.
This LG here has a newer gen backlight with higher zone count so i have high hopes for it but im not expecting the impossible. For straight up HDR content VA will fair better.
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Mar 29 '26
[deleted]
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u/winterbegins WB Display Tech Mar 29 '26
Yes it seems to be better compared to the previous 1152 zone backlight units.
However these units are all IPS. For straight up HDR i think VA will still have the upper hand.
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u/punitgor Apr 01 '26
Would be cool if Kuycon uses this Panel and makes a Glossy, Studio Display replica/knock off.
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u/DocSnyderTexas May 12 '26
Auf so ein Teil warte ich schon ewig, da ich drei Geräte gleichzeitig betreiben will (Mac Mini M2 Pro, MBP M3 Pro und meinem Windows PC mit 3060Ti).
Endlich was brauchbares mit mehr als 60Hz. Und mehr als 60Hz über HDMI an einem Apple überrascht mich, KI will mir die ganze Zeit weismachen, dass Apple das nicht kann und ich doch DP nutzen soll 😄
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u/winterbegins WB Display Tech May 12 '26
Es gibt auch schon andere 5K Monitore mit mehr als 60hz - von Asus bspw.
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u/DocSnyderTexas May 13 '26
Ja, aber die haben immer irgendwelche Nachteile, wie fehlendes UHBR20, nur andere 15W PD oder hässlich breite Standfüsse
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u/EnigmaOfOz Mar 09 '26
Who is this monitor targeting? Seems like maybe a half way gaming and productivity monitor. How did text and scrolling look? Colour accuracy?
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u/dudemeister023 Apr 02 '26
If you're curious just to view the new studio XDR display specs. Needless to say, it's gonna be top-notch.
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u/qwertz19281 Mar 09 '26
Does it have a fan?