The LG UltraGear 27GN950 is frankly a great gaming panel; the LG UltraGear 27GN950 is an infuriatingly flawed gaming panel. You can choose whichever you prefer. And that pretty much sums up everything that is variously wonderful and slightly pessimistic about today's gaming monitor market.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. First, let's talk speed and feed: the LG UltraGear 27GN950 is a new entry into the bustling 27-inch, 4K, 144Hz segment. Priced at around £950 in the UK and a more attractive $800 in the US, the 27GN950 is something of a "tweaker" in the field when it comes to both cost and specifications.

The most obvious drawback compared to similar but even more expensive screens involves the implementation of HDR; the 27GN950 supports HDR including local dimming and comes with VESA's DisplayHDR 600 certification. However, local dimming consists of only 16 edge light zones and is not suitable for a true HDR experience.

Pixel response is another tricky area; LG proudly advertises that the 27GN950's NanoIPS panel delivers a 1ms response. However, this claim comes with various caveats regarding the exact GTG response profile in question, and only applies when the monitor is operating in the most aggressive of the three pixel overdrive modes.

Another potential issue, depending on the exact model used, is the lack of HDMI 2.1 support, as it limits this monitor to 60Hz 4K via HDMI, preventing high refresh gaming on next-generation game consoles. 144Hz full 4K experience, only possible with the DisplayPort interface. While this may not be a concern for pure PC gamers, it is still an oversight and an unfortunate limitation at this price point. While we're talking about inputs, it's a shame that there is no USB Type-C either.

If this sounds like a litany of negatives, prepare to fight back.

While the claimed 1ms response may qualify, LG's NanoIPS panel remains the fastest in the IPS field. Furthermore, with 10-bit color and a very impressive 98% coverage of the DCI-P3 color gamut, the 27GN950 is a very high-fidelity monitor; LG believes it is as well suited for content creation as it is for gaming.

Its specs certainly back up that claim. Thanks to its Display Stream Compression support, it can also operate at 144Hz refresh and 3840 x 2160 native resolution, while at the same time achieving full color accuracy.

In addition, you can add compatibility with adaptive refresh for both Nvidia's G-Sync and AMD's FreeSync, a slim bezel design, and visual direction from LG's Sphere Lighting 2.0 RGB. Oh, and there is also the minor matter that this is a 4K IPS monitor running at a full 144Hz refresh.

But what about the actual real-world experience? This is a very clean panel; LG's default calibration is virtually flawless, with impeccable detail in both black and white scales. Beyond the strict metrics, this is a truly vibrant and punchy display in terms of image quality on a Windows desktop.

This screen pops up.

Dive into a game and it's equally impressive; you'll never get tired of the buttery smooth goodness of 144Hz. But when combined with the crazy sharp detail that comes from the 4K pixel grid, it's pretty special. Of course, you'll need a heck of a GPU to take full advantage of the 144Hz refresh while running at 4K.

With the LG UltraGear 27GN950, however, not everything is completely perfect. First, there is no getting around the fact that the IPS panel, even a really good one like this, suffers a bit from a peculiar glow. Most of the time this is not a problem, but if you go deep underground in a dark scene in a game like "Metro Exodus," it is clearly visible at the edges of the screen.

Speaking of which, Metro also supports HDR, another 27GN950 weakness. Frankly, 16 edge-lit local dimming zones does not make for a true HDR panel. This is a much more compelling monitor when viewed as a truly excellent SDR panel; as an HDR display it is a disappointment.

And back to the pixel response shenanigans. At the most aggressive pixel overdrive settings, it suffers from a fairly obvious overshoot and resulting ghosting. Subjectively, however, the moderate overdrive setting produces fairly fast pixels, if not full 1ms performance, especially for an IPS monitor; no doubt thanks to the 144Hz refresh, there is very little visible input delay, and a great gaming experience

From the fact that it is more than a 144Hz refresh, it is possible to get a great gaming experience.

All of the above suggests that the new LG UltraGear 27GN950 is a difficult panel to characterize: the core features of 4K, 144Hz refresh, and quick response are certainly delivered; the color fidelity of the NanoIPS panel is also outstanding; and the display is very well balanced, with a very good color depth.

However, some of the finer details and added features, such as HDR and response, are not clear winners. On the other hand, the lack of HDMI 2.1 and USB Type-C is a bit limiting, especially when looking to the future. While you may not currently want to connect a gaming console or drive this monitor with a laptop, better support for these use models could come in handy in the future. At this price point, this is hardly an unreasonable request.

If it were up to us, we might be tempted to save a little money by removing limited HDR support. However, the same can be said for many of the current monitors, which have poor HDR implementations. As it stands, this is a very nice but slightly flawed gaming monitor that leaves us wanting a little more, despite its considerable price tag.