Forget 4K, OLED is the visual upgrade you need for gaming

Just a few months in the past, I upgraded my pc monitor. On the time, I used to be debating between going for 4K or sticking with 1440p and getting an OLED with a excessive refresh fee as a substitute. I finally went with the latter, and I feel it was the appropriate resolution.

I picked up a 27-inch LG UltraGear GX7 27GX704A monitor from Amazon with a 1440p decision, 240Hz refresh fee, and 0.03ms grey-to-grey response time. It’s been completely improbable for nearly every thing, although it’s not an ideal monitor.

One of many largest issues about OLED displays is burn-in, understandably so. Burn-in, for these unfamiliar, is a results of uneven put on on the pixels that make up the show, which will be brought on by exhibiting static parts for prolonged durations (such because the Home windows taskbar over the course of an eight-hour workday). However more and more, tests show modern OLED monitors can handle burn-in pretty well, particularly when you use the varied instruments that assist mitigate the results.

The LG GX7 is impressively skinny on the edge.

For instance, the LG GX7 monitor has a function known as ‘Display Transfer’ that shifts the show a couple of pixels to keep away from static parts from hitting the identical pixels too exhausting. The primary few occasions this occurred, it was very noticeable, however after a pair days with the monitor, it stopped being apparent. Now, I not often see when the monitor shifts, and solely sometimes discover that the bezels are barely uneven.

Different OLED care options embody picture and pixel cleansing, a display screen saver operate, and extra. There are alternatives to customise and tweak the settings as nicely, however I opted to go away issues just about as is out of the field for max safety.

Nice for gaming

Enjoying POE2 on the LG GX7.

OLED care apart, the LG GX7 has been improbable. My major use case for it’s PC gaming, and that’s one of many areas OLED displays really shine. Previous to the GX7, I used a 1440p LCD panel from Asus. Although the decision didn’t change with this shift, the OLED nonetheless appears considerably higher. Colors are richer, blacks are a lot deeper (thanks partly to OLED pixels emitting their very own mild, and never requiring a backlight). Even perhaps higher is the dearth of ghosting — my previous monitor was horrendous for that.

Plus, due to the 240Hz refresh fee, I can actually crank the frames on some video games for ultra-smooth gameplay. Enjoying titles like Montreal co-developed Battlefield 6 and London, Ont.-made Warframe at 200+fps was extraordinarily {smooth} and extremely immersive, particularly with the wealthy colors of the OLED panel.

And for the titles the place I couldn’t hit these excessive framerates — for instance, my beloved Path of Exile 2 — the GX7 helps variable refresh charges (VRR) by way of Nvidia G-Sync and AMD FreeSync Premium Professional. The VRR tech permits the GX7 to match its refresh fee to the framerate from my PC’s GPU, lowering display screen tearing and stuttering and making issues a lot smoother total.

Sadly for the GX7, the VRR tech wasn’t precisely good. In some titles, there was a noticeable flicker, significantly in darker scenes or scenes with lots of gray. I seen it most whereas enjoying PoE2, however solely when standing nonetheless in a darkish room or whereas trying on the menus, which embody lots of gray. As soon as I bought shifting once more, the glint wasn’t noticeable. Turning off VRR additionally helped, however I discovered the glint situation didn’t trouble me sufficient to surrender the smoother framerates. Nonetheless, it’s price mentioning for the reason that flickering might bug some folks extra.

Not so nice for every thing else

Uneven bezels brought on by Display Transfer.

Outdoors of gaming, I additionally used the GX7 as a second monitor with my work laptop computer when working from my residence workplace. The GX7 dealt with this high-quality, although among the weaknesses of OLED have been extra obvious.

For instance, I rapidly seen that the monitor made textual content look pixelated and bizarre. After digging into it, I realized it is a frequent situation with OLED panels as a result of the pixels are laid out differently than on extra frequent show sorts.

Once more, there are answers to this situation. For instance, I found some people use an app known as ‘MacType’ to customise how Home windows reveals fonts so they seem clearer on OLED panels. Additional, I seen in my testing that textual content appeared higher in some apps than others. For instance, textual content in Firefox appeared extra clear than in different internet browsers. Furthermore, I discovered darkish mode made textual content look clearer than in mild mode. (I’ll additionally point out anecdotally that some OLED panels I’ve tried on laptops don’t exhibit this situation in any respect, presumably as a result of smaller display screen sizes or totally different pixel layouts.) In the end, although, I’m unsure I’d advocate OLED over different panel sorts in case your major utilization includes lots of studying. The textual content situation wasn’t a problem in any respect for gaming, however once I used the monitor for work, it was extra problematic.

Value it for every thing however work

Enjoying Warframe on the LG GX7.

Regardless of the few minor points, I completely benefit from the GX7. The OLED panel gives nice colors and distinction, making for a visible deal with when gaming. I really like the excessive refresh fee and quick response time, and whereas 1440p isn’t the very best res choice on the market, I nonetheless assume it’s the last word candy spot for gaming.

On the time of writing, the LG GX7 was available on Amazon for $597.99, which is even higher than the $699.99 it value a couple of months in the past once I purchased it. Nonetheless, the value fluctuates (Camelcamelcamel shows the GX7 price has ranged between $566.98 and $805.49), so I’d advocate maintaining a tally of the value and ready to purchase when the value is decrease than ordinary.

LG additionally lists the GX7 on its website at an everyday worth of $629.99 (on the time of writing, it was discounted to $597.99), however it’s proven as out of inventory.