Customer reviews from lg.com
LG - UltraGear evo AI GM9 27" 5K Hyper Mini LED 165Hz 1ms G-SYNC FreeSync Premium Gaming Monitor with DisplayHDR1000 - Black
Average customer rating
3.6
(32 Reviews)
Rating breakdown 32 reviews
5 Stars
17
4 Stars
3
3 Stars
2
2 Stars
2
1 Star
8
100%of customers recommend this product.
(
1 out of
1)
Customer Reviews for LG - UltraGear evo AI GM9 27" 5K Hyper Mini LED 165Hz 1ms G-SYNC FreeSync Premium Gaming Monitor with DisplayHDR1000 - Black
Customer Rating
4
Stunning, but there is one thing...
on October 7, 2026
Posted by: GM950B
from New York
The LG GM950B is a stunning monitor, the 5K resolution really is special, and it is beautiful to do productivity and gaming on. It gets very bright especially with SDR content and local dimming off, however there is a big issue with HDR, it is simply just way too dim, and turning on local dimming seems to dim things down in general. I hope LG can fix the local dimming and HDR issues soon, because this monitor would be simply amazing with those fixes. Seems more like a software thing than the hardware not being capable of doing it. It just simply needs to get brighter with those features on. Otherwise, the colors are accurate out of the box but calibration would make it look perfect, the contrast is good with local dimming on, the responsiveness is very good, and I do look forward using this monitor for a long time for work and play.
Pros: Quality, Style/Design, Features/Settings, Performance
Quality
5
Features
4
Value
4
Written by a customer while visiting lg.com
Customer Rating
5
Nex gen display
on September 23, 2026
Posted by: Relven
from Moscow
Doing a quick review after half a day of use. I have a professional color-grading MiniLED monitor with 1,000 zones, but it's 4K 60Hz. I also have an MSI 4K/1080p 300Hz gaming monitor, but its image is oversaturated, though overall it's fine as a second display. I decided that 4K wasn't enough workspace for me, so I wanted to replace them with a single 5K monitor. I didn't go for 6K because they are either 60Hz or dull, so I decided to grab the new 5K MiniLED from LG because other companies dropped the ball and didn't release any.
Now for my impressions—first, what unpleasantly surprised me. There are no presets for video or photo work; gamma settings are completely locked. But the factory calibration is just miraculous. These are the most vibrant and saturated colors I've ever seen in my life. This is SO MUCH cooler than OLED! In Gemini, there is an interface where a blue-purple ring surrounds your avatar, indicating an AI subscription. Well, it literally glows as if it's a hologram; I get wild pleasure just looking at various UI interfaces.
Next, there is a feature in the monitor sort of like AI that adjusts the gamma and color depending on what you're looking at. It's a bit like a trendy DLSS 5. But of course, it gets in the way for work—I pull up an unedited scene and suddenly see eye-pleasing color grading on the fly. In games, it looks insanely cool; I've already managed to play a bit, but for working in Photoshop or Premiere, you definitely have to turn it off.
The HDR mode simply turns off the backlight completely, and the monitor expects HDR content through a proper HDR player or a game mode that supports it. But the brightness flashes are peerless—neither the Lenovo MiniLED, nor the MSI MiniLED, nor my friend's Pro XDR even comes close. And 5K itself is just superb for working with interfaces, browser windows, and files; I'm glad I didn't get 6K, that would have been excessive.
I can't give it a 5 out of 5 for Features because the monitor is literally pre-tuned from the factory, and the menu already has the absolute best settings selected—changing anything just ruins it, and there's no flexibility. On the other hand, I'm completely fine with that. What LG managed to pull off is a real miracle! The monitor runs warm and works just as it should. I expected a ton of settings, but in reality, there are only 2 or 3 types—like a crosshair, an AI enhancer that adds 10% coolness to the picture in some scenes, and an upscaler whose mechanism I haven't quite figured out yet.
By the way, I connected my laptop via Type-C USB4 to DisplayPort and got 165Hz, 10-bit HDR at 5K, exactly as planned, with zero lag and no compression. My workflow is now like this: on the LG, I edit video, create graphics, work with windows, and play games, then I move the image to the Lenovo (which has a Delta E of less than 1) for the final color grading. This monitor makes the picture perfectly gorgeous, and it really is Next-Gen. This isn't just a regular setting like on the MSI where contrast and vivid saturation are simply cranked up; LG did everything perfectly. I'm seeing something like this for the first time—perhaps this is also thanks to the 2,000 dimming zones and 9,000 LED lights.
Anyway, I am extremely satisfied, but I'm deducting 1 star because I would have liked a USB hub plus the ability to adjust color profiles more flexibly.
Pros: Features/Settings, Performance
Quality
5
Features
4
Value
5
Response from lg.comBy ^Rich, LG Digital Care Team, September 26, 2026
Hello Relven! We're excited that your new 5K MiniLED monitor is providing amazing visuals for your gaming and editing! We appreciate your feedback on color customization and port availability and will pass it on to our product team. If you need assistance, reach out to us at @LGUSSupport. #LifesGood ❤️ -Rich
Written by a customer while visiting lg.com
Customer Rating
2
Could have been the best and still can be
on September 13, 2026
Posted by: Exostenza
from Alberta, Canada
Given the scarcity of quality Mini-LED monitors outside Asia, and as someone who dislikes OLED, I thought my prayers were answered when I saw this monitor's specs: 27", 1440p at 330Hz, 2304 local dimming zones, and 1250 nits peak brightness, crazy! I won the panel lottery with uniform lighting, and the crisp text for general computing is great, but LG's firmware completely ruins the HDR experience which is the entire reason why I want a good mini led monitor.
LG implemented an overly aggressive anti-blooming algorithm that crushes blacks and kills small HDR highlights in dark scenes. In games like Returnal, the flora and highlights disappear entirely. Having tested monitors with 1152 zones, small highlights were stunning, and any blooming was unnoticeable during actual gameplay. With 2304 zones, this monitor should perform even better, but LG's firmware neutralizes the hardware's capabilities to prevent minor halos. Unless the entire scene is bright, HDR looks unacceptably dim and flat.
This could be an endgame display, but LG forces these terrible dimming settings without giving users a control slider in the OSD—a feature MSI includes on their Mini-LED monitors to balance highlight priority against halo mitigation.
I want to keep this monitor, but paying for top-tier HDR hardware that is crippled by bad firmware makes no sense. LG, please release a firmware update that gives us an option to prioritize small highlights over blooming suppression. Don't destroy fantastic hardware with poor software choices.
Quality
3
Features
3
Value
2
Response from lg.comBy LG, September 14, 2026
Hello. Thank you for sharing your feedback regarding your LG 27GM950B-B Monitor. We appreciate you taking the time to share your detailed review and thoughts about the HDR performance and firmware settings. We are dedicated to providing the best possible viewing experience with our displays and continuously strive to refine our products based on customer input. Please send us an email at lgdigitalcare@lg.sprinklrsupport.com so we can best assist with your unit ^James
Written by a customer while visiting lg.com
Customer Rating
4
Excellent 5K Experience and AI Upscaling, but HDR
on August 25, 2026
Posted by: YK950
A Hands-on Review Focusing on AI Upscaling
My primary use is Windows, and I do not play competitive games.
This review focuses primarily on the monitor's AI upscaling feature, which is not discussed in much detail in many other reviews. These are my impressions based on actual gaming use.
5K Gaming and AI Upscaling
1. Native 5K
5K gaming is demanding on the GPU, but lighter games such as Genshin Impact look extremely sharp and beautiful when running at native 5K.
2. 4K + AI Upscaling
Running AAA titles at native 5K can be difficult due to the high GPU load. However, lowering the game resolution to 4K and using AI upscaling provides an excellent gaming experience with image quality close to 5K while reducing the rendering load.
The monitor's upscaling function requires both the input resolution and the active resolution to be 4K or lower.
3. PC, Console, and Lower Resolutions
AI upscaling works well overall on both PC and console. Combined with the high pixel density of a 5K monitor, the image can look better than on a 27-inch 4K monitor.
AI upscaling also works in Dual Mode, WQHD, and Full HD, but some softness is noticeable compared with a native-resolution monitor. These resolutions are better suited to situations where high refresh rates are prioritized over image quality.
With 4K resolution + AI upscaling, there is a slight increase in perceived sharpness compared with a native 4K monitor, so this will depend on personal preference.
I did not notice any particular input lag or display issues caused by AI upscaling. There may technically be some additional processing or latency, but I was unable to notice it during actual use.
4. One Feature I Would Like to See
It would be more convenient if AI upscaling could operate automatically according to the resolution selected in a game while keeping the Windows desktop resolution set to 5K.
HDR
My main disappointment is that small HDR highlights do not become bright enough.
I would have liked an HDR mode that prioritizes small highlights, even if it results in some additional blooming.
When local dimming is disabled, small highlights become significantly brighter, which suggests that the monitor is capable of producing higher highlight luminance. However, disabling local dimming causes a substantial loss of contrast.
I hope a future firmware update can improve the HDR tone mapping and provide better small-highlight performance.
Overall Impression
Although there are a few bugs and areas that I would like to see improved, I am very impressed with the 5K experience and the quality of the AI upscaling.
In particular, using 4K resolution with AI upscaling is an excellent way to reduce GPU load while retaining a highly detailed image, making this a very attractive option for 5K gaming.
Response from lg.comBy ^Rich, LG Digital Care Team, September 10, 2026
Hello there! Thanks for sharing your note. Great hearing your monitor is giving you that sharp 5K experience and smooth AI‑upscaled performance that really elevates your setup. We appreciate you pointing out the HDR behavior, and we’ll make sure your feedback reaches our product team. If you ever need anything later on, @LGUSSupport is always available.
#LifesGood ❤️
‑Rich
#LifesGood ❤️
‑Rich
Written by a customer while visiting lg.com
Customer Rating
1
Terrible QC - not ready for market
on July 24, 2026
Posted by: HeyDavid
i've gone through 3 of these. all have uniformity issues in brightness and color accuracy. i've done the updates, it's not that. I wish LG would do some QC and refine this 1200 dollar monitor before releasing it. Can't recommend. Also, when I try to calibrate it using LG's own Calibration Studio and the i1 Display Pro, I end up with an intense magenta tint. I do not get this bad result on my older LG 4k panel.
Quality
1
Features
5
Value
1
Response from lg.comBy LG, July 28, 2026
Hi, David. We appreciate you sharing your thoughts about your LG 27GM950B-B Monitor. We recognize your experience with the display uniformity, color accuracy, and calibration setup of your unit, and we aim to deliver high-quality displays that meet your expectations for clarity and precision. You can check display settings and video output optimization steps through this guide https://www.lg.com/us/support/help-library/lg-tv-troubleshooting-poor-video-quality-when-connected-to-a-pc--20153095988301?srsltid=AfmBOoq5_6LaKoroM73Y9bQIeShlIGIKOLoEXTgSOyHVkadrOwzHu3bM. We want to help ensure your desktop setup operates perfectly and comfortably for your household. Please send us an email at lgdigitalcare@lg.sprinklrsupport.com if you need further support. ^James
Written by a customer while visiting lg.com
Customer Rating
5
Fantastic Screen and high refresh rate
on July 13, 2026
Posted by: Bhav
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] I pre-ordered the monitor and have been using it ever since. The screen was so much better after the firmware upgrade. Everything feels more responsive and brighter. The contrast is better too. I would recommend to calibrate the monitor with the tftcentral settings. Colors look amazing with them.
Pros: Quality, Features/Settings, Performance
Quality
5
Features
5
Value
5
Response from lg.comBy LG, July 19, 2026
Hello, Bhav! Thank you for sharing your experience with your pre-ordered LG monitor. We are pumped to hear that the firmware upgrade brought out that brilliant brightness and lightning-fast responsiveness you deserve. Having those colors pop after calibration is exactly the premium experience we aim for. For any future assistance, feel free to reach out to @LGUSSupport. ^James
Written by a customer while visiting lg.com
Customer Rating
3
Mostly a big disappointment
on June 29, 2026
Posted by: The Bladd
Bought this monitor to hopefully cover all of my use cases:
1. Dual resolution: I used Nvidia's DSR on my last 1440p monitor, rendering games some older games @ 5k for better detail resolve, but it comes with some issues tied to the DSR. So having a native 5k/2k switch sounded great on paper. But you immediately face the first drawback VRR doesn't work @ 330hz. Not mentioning it in specs is borderline false advertising.
2. HDR: I wanted the good eye-searing brightness, but 3 minute auto-dimming behavior (that you can reset flipping local dimming) just ruins the peak brightness, so it becomes pretty average. Additionally local dimming ruins peak brightness as well (and it's mostly useless but more on that later).
3. Motion blur reduction: It exists, but not available with VRR, not available @330hz and achieves good results only @120hz (165 is not great). Clarity is still way worse than Acer Predator XB323U from 6 years ago. But at least it's better than nothing on OLED monitors - so I'm grateful for that at least.
4. Local dimming feature - absolutely useless. You don't get anything near OLED results with HUGE drawbacks: on High you literally lose details from the picture (works like threshold-based tone mapping that just flattens the image). It dims the picture ruining HDR experience. And looks terrible in productivity.
Contrast is generally terrible with or without local dimming.
I guess colors are okay, and low input lag, but at this price point it should be a given.
Overall feels like an inferior OLED with most of OLED drawbacks and one advantage (half-hearted MBR).
My advice - don't buy this, wait for other Dual-res monitors.
Quality
4
Features
3
Value
1
Response from lg.comBy LG, July 5, 2026
Hello! We appreciate you sharing your experience with your LG 27GM950B‑B gaming monitor. We value feedback like yours because it helps us continue improving the performance and feature clarity of our displays. This model offers advanced resolution switching, HDR capabilities, motion enhancements, and local dimming options, and we want to help you get the best results from each feature.
For VRR and motion settings, we recommend confirming your refresh rate and adaptive sync selections in both the monitor menu and your GPU control panel, as matching these settings often improves stability across modes. For HDR, adjusting the peak brightness and local dimming levels within the monitor’s picture settings can help optimize highlight detail depending on your environment and content. Ensuring your firmware is up to date can also enhance overall performance.
We want to help ensure your gaming setup delivers the clarity and comfort you expect. Please send us an email at lgdigitalcare@lg.sprinklrsupport.com if you need further support. ^James
For VRR and motion settings, we recommend confirming your refresh rate and adaptive sync selections in both the monitor menu and your GPU control panel, as matching these settings often improves stability across modes. For HDR, adjusting the peak brightness and local dimming levels within the monitor’s picture settings can help optimize highlight detail depending on your environment and content. Ensuring your firmware is up to date can also enhance overall performance.
We want to help ensure your gaming setup delivers the clarity and comfort you expect. Please send us an email at lgdigitalcare@lg.sprinklrsupport.com if you need further support. ^James
Written by a customer while visiting lg.com
Customer Rating
5
An Absolute Game-Changer
on June 28, 2026
Posted by: KnicksIn5
I picked this up mainly for competitive shooters and HDR movies, and it blew me away. Out of the box, the calibration was spot-on. The peak brightness and deep contrast make cinematic scenes look stunning. In fast-paced matches, the buttery smooth refresh rate and instant response time give me a massive edge. Worth every penny!
Pros: Quality
Quality
5
Features
5
Value
5
Response from lg.comBy LG, June 28, 2026
How exciting, John! Thanks for sharing the love for your LG monitor—sounds like that stunning contrast and blazing response time are giving you the ultimate edge in your competitive matches and movie nights. We are absolutely thrilled to hear that the out-of-the-box calibration completely blew you away and made your investment worth every penny. If you ever need anything down the road, feel free to reach out to @LGUSSupport. ^James
Written by a customer while visiting lg.com