LG 27UN850-W 4K UHD IPS Productivity Monitor with USB Type-C Review

Best Features

• HDR 10
• VESA DisplayHDR 400
• USB Type-C Connectivity
• sRGB 99 Color Gamut
• Advanced Gaming Features

The LG 27UN850-W is an excellent monitor for productivity because its 4K panel offers unmatched screen real estate, resulting in efficient multi-tasking and sharp text clarity. It is great for gaming because it delivers a sharp gaming experience, but it does not provide the luxury of high refresh rate gaming.

The HDR certifications and factory calibration make it perform well at entertainment and media creation.

Productivity

Gaming

Entertainment

Media Creation

Front

Monitor Type – Flat
Width – 61.2 cm
Height – 44.9 cm

The LG 27UN850-W has a clean front look. The frame is finished in black, and the stand has a silver appearance, so it mixes well with the color of the frame, giving it an elegant look.

The bottom bezel has LG branding, and the overall appearance of this monitor is similar to other LG monitors. It seems LG has been following the same design language for their productivity monitors.

Back

Depth – 23.3 cm
VESA Mount – 100x100mm
Ports Position – Back-Facing

The back of the LG 27UN850-W is finished in white, and it looks premium from the back. It suits office desks, and it should not be a problem if the back is exposed. It adds value to the setup because it does not look ugly like some monitors in the industry.

There is a switch on the back to release the stand, and it gives you access to the VESA mount hole for mounting this monitor on a custom monitor arm. There are vents on the back for ventilation, and you get down-facing dual speakers along with a joystick for controlling the OSD menu.

Bezels 9/10

Thinness – 0.8 cm

The LG 27UN850-W has relatively skinny bezels, and the 27″ screen looks excellent with those thin borders. A multiple monitor setup should work flawlessly and deliver a near border-free experience.

Build Quality 8/10

Weight – 13.5 lbs

The LG 27UN850-W has a decent build quality, and the parts are very well put together. It is made of plastic, so it is not sturdy, but it has a premium feel. The stand is solid, though.

Stand 7/10

Removable Stand – Yes
Cable Management – Yes

The LG 27UN850-W features the LG’s signature ArcLine stand with a smooth curve that delivers optimum stability. The stand has a decent weight, and it holds the monitor very well despite the large form-factor of the monitor.

It offers basic cable management with a ring-like thing that attaches to the stand for routing the cables down the desk. The mechanism for adjusting the monitor feels very smooth and premium, and it does not need much effort while making adjustments.

Ergonomics 6/10

Tilt – 17.5° Backward, 2.5° Forward
Swivel – N/A
Height – 11 cm
Pivot – Clockwise

The LG 27UN850-W offers multiple adjustments. It tilts, goes up-down, and rotates from a single side for vertical orientation. It has a decent height and tilt range, but the fact that it pivots from a single side is disappointing and misses out on the swivel function.

Even cheaper monitors offer a fully adjustable stand that lets you pivot the monitor from both sides. However, the mechanism is super smooth.

Panel

Panel Type – IPS
Panel Size – 27″
Panel Depth – 10 bits (8 bits+FRC)
Aspect Ratio – 16:9

The LG 27UN850-W has an IPS panel beneath that premium-looking frame. It is rich with colors and wide with viewing angles, as you would expect an IPS monitor to be.

The 16:9 aspect ratio is suitable for most tasks, and it offers a nice wide and tall view of visuals on the screen.

Screen Clarity 10/10

Resolution – UHD | 3840x2160p
PPI – 163 PPI

The LG 27UN850-W has UHD resolution so you can expect excellent screen clarity. Despite being a large monitor, the texts appear super sharp and crisp, making it highly suitable for tasks that include text-reading like programming, document-handling.

The tight arrangement of pixels results in a very high 163 PPI delivering super-sharp clarity of visuals. The most crucial factor is the screen space, and the LG 27UN850-W provides one of the best screen spaces in the industry, making it a monster for professionals.

Brightness 8/10

Peak Brightness – 350-nits

The peak brightness this monitor can reach is 350-nits. It suits well-lit rooms, and the monitor does not seem dull in any lighting conditions.

For glares and reflection handling, the monitor has 3H anti-glare coating. This monitor is ideal for lit environments due to its high peak brightness and anti-glare coating, and placing this monitor in front of a window or light should not cause any problem.

Contrast 6/10

Contrast Ratio – 1000:1

The contrast ratio is mediocre on this premium LG 27UN850-W. It is common with IPS panels as they fail to deliver a decent contrast ratio making this monitor perform not so great in dark rooms.

The blacks appear gray in environments with no light, so the LG 27UN850-W is not the best monitor for darkroom usage. If you are looking for budget monitors with better contrast, check out VA monitors because they perform excellently in dark environments.

Viewing Angles 10/10

Viewing Angles (H/V) – 178°/178°

The viewing angles on the LG 27UN850-W are wide, as you would expect from an IPS panel. The colors appear consistent from most side angles, but the colours fade if you go extreme.

However, that does not matter because the IPS panels are best with viewing angles, and the image remains original till 178-degrees. Mounting this monitor on the wall at a height should not cause any problem, or a client or colleague sitting beside should see the actual colors of visuals.

Color Coverage 7/10

sRGB – 99%
Adobe RGB – 76%
DCI-P3 – 78%

The LG 27UN850-W has decent SDR color coverage, and it is highly suitable for viewing web content and videos. It covers 99% sRGB color space, which is ideal for most IPS panels.

The 76% Adobe RGB coverage makes this monitor suitable for photography and printing purposes, but the coverage is still not wide.

The DCI-P3 coverage is 78%, so the HDR contents look decent on this monitor, but the range is not that wide enough to make HDR shine.

Response Time 7/10

Response Time – 5ms

The minimum response time this monitor can achieve is 5ms. It has decent fast motion handling capability, not as good as fast gaming monitors, but it successfully delivers a clear and sharp gaming experience.

There is no visible ghosting or stuttering, and the fast motions appear clear most of the times. You get various response time settings that you can adjust from the OSD menu.

Refresh Rate 6/10

Refresh Rate – 40Hz to 60Hz

The max refresh rate LG 27UN850-W can achieve is 60Hz. It is not crazy smooth, but it delivers a clear gaming experience. This monitor is ideal for casual gaming, but it highly suits console gaming because of its high resolution.

BFI n/A

Black Frame Insertion – N/A

The LG 27UN850-W does not have backlight strobing technology because its panel focuses on productivity and colors than gaming.

HDR 6/10

HDR 10 – Yes
VESA DisplayHDR 400 – Yes

The LG 27UN850-W supports VESA DisplayHDR 400, so the content looks impressive and true-to-life on display. However, the peak brightness does not reach that high while viewing HDR contents, and it does not have wide coverage of DCI-P3.

The HDR does not benefit much because of its mediocre HDR peak brightness and narrow DCI-P3 coverage.

HDR Effect

The HDR effect on the LG 27UN850-W is excellent. It turns SDR content into HDR by tweaking the luminance and colors of the content with an algorithm. There are various modes in the HDR effect, and you can select the one that satisfies your viewing experience.

Variable Refresh Rate

AMD FreeSync – Yes
Nvidia G-Sync – N/A

The LG 27UN850-W supports FreeSync in its whole refresh rate range. It reduces smearing and provides a tear-free gaming experience, but the refresh rate is not high to satisfy gaming enthusiasts.

There are no certifications for Nvidia G-Sync on this monitor.

Dynamic Action Sync

Dynamic Action Sync is standard across LG’s premium range of monitors. It reduces input lag to the max to get the best responsiveness while gaming and a competitive advantage over other gamers.

Black Stabilizer

The Black Stabilizer is standard across LG gaming monitors, but the LG 27UN850-W also gets it. It reveals details in the dark scenes by boosting the image’s contrast, enabling you to see enemies hidden in the dark with ease.

Screen Split

The Screen Split feature on LG monitors is so flawless. It tiles up all your windows in the best possible way to utilize all the screen space for multi-tasking.

It provides two three and four-screen split layouts along with Picture-in-Picture for viewing videos while working.

Monitor Settings

The LG 27UN850-W has easy-to-use on-screen controls that let you control the brightness, saturation, and contrast. It also provides various game settings, such as the FPS counter and RTS modes.

Video Inputs 9/10

2x HDMI 2.0
1x DisplayPort 1.2

The LG 27UK850-W has dual HDMI 2.0 ports that support 4K with ease at 60Hz refresh rate. You get a single DisplayPort 1.2, so you have three video inputs.

It is great for console gamers because you can simultaneously connect your laptop or CPU and PlayStation or Xbox.

USB, Other Ports 8/10

2x USB 3.0
1x USB-C, DP Alt Mode, 60W
1x Audio Out Port

It houses dual USB 3.0 ports, a single USB Type-C port with DP Alt Mode and 60W power delivery, which means you can connect your laptop, and it will transfer video, audio, data, and power simultaneously over a single cable.

Plus, you get an audio port for connecting headphones or speakers.