LG is already an OLED TV king, but when it comes to PC monitors, the company’s OLED offering is scant. That will change this summer with the LG UltraGear 48GQ900 announced this week. Like LG’s other OLED monitors, you can expect this to be a lavish display for those with extreme needs and big budgets.
Intended for console and PC gamers, the 47.5-inch OLED display features 4K resolution at 120 Hz (overclockable to 138 Hz) and a gray-to-gray response time of 0.1 ms. Some people consider 120 Hz to be beneficial for viewing content shot at 24 fps, such as movies, to avoid the jitters you can get with some 60 Hz displays. All that, coupled with a generous panel size, makes it easy to see the monitor as a living room TV replacement, especially for a cable cutter. A remote control is even included.
However, for extremely competitive PC gaming, it’s worth noting that you can now reserve an OLED monitor with a 240Hz refresh rate.
OLED has a reputation for being generally less bright than LED-backlit alternatives. LG didn’t specify how bright the 48GQ900 will get, but it noted that the panel will use LG’s proprietary low-reflection anti-glare coating to reduce “visual distraction.” The screen will also have 98.5 percent DCI-P3 color coverage and HDR10 support.
The monitor is compatible with G-Sync and AMD FreeSync Premium. Both combat screen tearing when paired with an Nvidia or AMD graphics card, respectively, and you also get frame rate compensation, which allows the screen to display frames multiple times if the frame rate falls below the lowest refresh rate the monitor supports.
There’s also a pair of 20W speakers, plus an audio jack that can add virtual surround sound to a connected headset via DTS Headphone:X. The port selection is rounded off with a pair of HDMI ports, a DisplayPort, a USB-A 3.0 upstream port, and two downstream ports.
But even after the 48GQ900 comes out, those interested in the rich contrast of OLED in the form of a PC monitor will continue to have limited options. Most are big screens built for gamers which are overkill for most people. LG’s 26.5-inch and 32-inch OLED monitors, technically aimed at businesses, remain some of the more accessible OLED monitors out there, despite high prices ($3,000 and $4,000, respectively).
LG has not yet confirmed a US price for the LG 48GQ900, but said the monitor will arrive in Japan this month before launching in North America, Europe and Asia.
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