 When Steve Jobs unveiled the original iPhone back in 2007, the year I graduated high school, he pitched it as a music player, a phone, and an internet communicator all rolled into one. And the crowd went nuts because who wants to buy three devices when one device can do it all? Fast forward to today and we're seeing similar convergence in the world of monitors. Case in point, the LG 27GN950, a 144Hz variable refresh rate monitor for gamers that's also a color-accurate 4K monitor for creatives. But can it compete with Samsung's 240Hz G7? And can you compete with this slippery segue to our sponsor, Private Internet Access? PIA features fast multi-gigabit VPN tunnel gateways worldwide. If you're looking for a VPN, learn more about PIA through the link below. So my first impression of the 27GN950 was that it was basically just a 4K version of 2019's immensely popular 27GL850. That monitor was the first IPS to advertise 1ms pixel response time, but it was only 1440p. But is that the whole story? Just decide if the higher resolution is worth an extra $300 to you and call it a day? Not quite, as the 950 addresses a couple of our gripes from last time around, namely upping the brightness to achieve a VESA display HDR 600 certification and, most importantly, adding RGB. Another upgrade comes with DisplayStream Compression, a feature of DisplayPort 1.4 that allows this monitor to run at 3840x2160 resolution at 144Hz with 10-bit color and no chroma subsampling, something that was not possible on even the best monitors just a short while ago. The catch? You need either a 20-series NVIDIA graphics card or an AMD one from 2019 onward, or else it's just not gonna work, and as far as we can tell, you'll be relegated to 95Hz. Big buyer beware there. The company should just be more direct. LTTstore.com. But assuming you're using it to its full potential, gaming on the 950 is a great experience. It's snappy, clear, and offers a great deal of flexibility with G-Sync compatible and FreeSync Premium Pro designations, and the high resolution gives you the freedom to crank the details in sightseeing games or drop down to 1440p or even 1080 if you absolutely need as many frames as possible. And hey, if you're hoping NVIDIA's upcoming 30-series graphics cards are gonna let you run 4K at 120fps and beyond, then this monitor will have you covered for a fair few years in that respect too. Also get subscribed so you don't miss our coverage of those GPUs when they arrive. But what about LG's claim about 1ms pixel response time? Can this IPS panel really game at 144Hz without turning into a smeary mess? To find out, we set up a Pursuit camera to photograph the display's inherent motion blur. That's motion blur that's not due to the persistence of vision in your brain. On the default fast setting, it looks pretty good with very little smearing on the trailing edge. And while the pictures don't look materially different with the slower normal and off settings selected, in real life you can actually see a difference. LG has made this easy to test since the settings change in real time without the screen going black between toggles. Nice. It's also nice that LG lets you choose whatever overdrive setting you want, even when adaptive sync is turned on, something we did not see in our recent review of the Samsung Odyssey G9. Back to the LG. In order for them to get that 1ms sticker on the box though, they definitely use the faster setting, where aggressive pixel overdrive introduces garish inverse ghosting or corona's that are really distracting in game, with no real benefit in my humble opinion. I will definitely be keeping it on fast. So yes, the 27GN950 is great for gaming, but this monitor is 4K. It probably makes the most sense for gamers who also are creators. And it delivers there too. Out of the box, the color accuracy on our unit was squarely in professional territory, with deviations below what's detectable by the human eye. It covered over 97% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, and a respectable 74% of Rec. 2020. It also offers hardware calibration, as long as you have LG's Calibration Studio software installed, which should be available soon for free from their website. Okay, so the 27GN950 is a worthy upgrade to last year's 850, but a lot has changed in that year. What about compared to arguably the hottest displays of 2020, Samsung's Odyssey lineup? The G7 is $50 cheaper, five inches bigger, and runs at 240Hz instead of 144Hz. It too has great color accuracy thanks to quantum dot enhancement film, but it's only 1440p, not 4K. If you lean more gamer than creator though, the G7's higher refresh rate definitely contributes to better motion clarity, but with more smearing and dark scenes due to the VA panel's poorer handling of dark to dark transitions. Additionally though, the G7 has a motion blur reduction strobing mode, but that introduces image doubling due to crosstalk. You're also going to have to be okay with narrower viewing angles and a tight 1000R curve, so it's definitely a more gamer-focused, less versatile display than the LG 950, which above all, has more RGB. It does, but just kidding. But I do really like how it's implemented. In addition to the regular LG nipple stick for controlling the SSD, there's also a click wheel that lets you adjust the brightness and select effects without installing any extra software. Very convenient and intuitive. The bezels have been improved on this monitor since last time around with a narrower, D-branded chin bar. There's no logo here, and it's sharp but not too in-your-face stand, offering 16cm of height adjust, 20 degrees of tilt, and 90 degrees of rotation. Still no swivel. Which brings us to the monitor's shortcomings. HDR. While the 27GN950 does have an appreciated and noticeable VESA DisplayHDR 600 certification, the difference between HDR and SDR isn't that crazy, and there's a lot of daylight between what this monitor can do versus one that shines at a thousand nits. Overall, it's a nice to have. Just don't buy this monitor for HDR. Similarly, the backlight is a bit weird. I'm not miffed that this monitor doesn't have full array local dimming with hundreds of zones, because I'm generally not even into fault, really. But this monitor doesn't not have local dimming either. It's somewhere in the middle, what LG calls active dimming. The de facto result isn't as bad as it looks on this test pattern, but I'm still a little on the fence about it. I mean, I guess it's making some scenes darker, but if you're looking for it, it can be noticeable sometimes, so, ah, probably not that big of a deal. So should you buy this monitor? Only maybe. If you don't have enough GPU power to game in 4K at high refresh rates, maybe save some money and go with the 1440p 27GL850 instead. Or save a little less money and check out the 240 Hertz Samsung G7. But if you're a gamer who also dabbles or even works in photo editing or video editing, or if you have a multi-monitor setup, or if you just really prefer 4K displays, then this is a fantastic monitor that almost does it all. Speaking of doing it all, what do you get when you mix Drop and THX? The Drop THX Panda wireless headphones, baby. Audio file quality is no longer reserved for headphones with wires. These puppies claim to be the world's most distortion-free wireless headphones. They get you closer to the music than ever before. These closed headphones keep all the quality contained and feature a community-centered design. They've got THX Triple A amplifier technology, LDAC plus Qualcomm QC5125 technology, and matching FT plus THD measurements. Don't know what that means? Well, how about this? 30 hours of wireless battery life, two microphones, Bluetooth connectivity, and they're compatible with home assistance. They've got a detachable gaming mic and weigh just 375 grams. Check them out today at the link below. So thanks for watching guys. If you liked this video, you might also like our recent review of the Samsung Odyssey G9. It's like the G7, but it's 49 inches, super ultra wide, 240 hertz. It's insane. Go, go watch it. Linus hosted it. I wrote it.