~28″ 144Hz 4K models – including XV282K KV and VG28UQL1A

Just a quick note. Hardware Unboxed has now reviewed the MSI MAG281URF and have again revealed that there’s moderate overshoot at lower refresh rates even using the lowest overdrive setting. This reinforces my earlier feeling that this panel has a native overdrive circuit that can’t easily be disabled, so manufacturers don’t usually bother. The Acer XB283K KV remains the only model I’m aware of that seems to circumvent this. This level of overshoot won’t be a problem for everyone, but in my view it is at a moderate level and fairly widespread. For some transitions it can catch the eye, but as with anything it’s pretty subjective. And the pixel responses are slower overall on the XB283K KV, so it isn’t necessarily ‘better’.

The MSI unit Hardware Unboxed looked at also had poor gamma calibration (averaging ~2.0 with a lot of deviation for mid to bright shades = some shades lacking depth) and a wonky white point. There are no gamma settings on the monitor, either. It includes an sRGB emulation mode, though it does lock off the colour channels and again gamma can’t be adjusted – both of these remained problematic on the unit tested.

This post explores a new entrant by LG, the 27GP95R which has replaced the 27GP950 in some regions and may do the same in other regions shortly. It also provides a brief summary of my thoughts on where the advantages and disadvantages of the LG models lie compared to their 28″ Innolux-panel counterparts. Will copy the post here to save a click:

“Just to note here that LG has now discontinued the 27GP950 in Asia and replaced it with the 27GP95R. This is also listed in the US and it’s possible the GP950 will be discontinued there and in various other regions shortly. The 27GN950 will presumably remain as a cheaper alternative for those who just want to use the monitor with a PC and don’t care about HDMI 2.1 support. Aside from the loss of the ‘Sphere Lighting 2.0’ RGB LED system, it isn’t clear what has changed with the 27GP95R. Initial retail price if $800 USD. It’s very possible some ‘under the hood’ tweaks have been made. Perhaps it uses a slightly newer version of the panel, maybe the pixel responsiveness has been slightly improved (agree with EsaT that they’re perfectly fine for most people with the ‘older versions’ anyway), perhaps the HDR local dimming algorithm has been tweaked. Or perhaps there are more significant changes. It’s really tough to say, but either way I do like that these LG models are now priced more attractively than they were initially.

I may recommend the M28U currently (at $600 USD) as it has some advantages or potential advantages over the LG such as shifted peak of blue light to enhance viewing comfort for some, a more measured saturation boost some will prefer (less extreme gamut), slightly less grainy screen surface, better reflection handling, superior pixel responsiveness at high refresh rates, lack of fan. But here are also some advantages to the LG such as the superior gamut delivering higher vibrancy and creativity potential for work within the DCI-P3 colour space, lighter screen surface which some may prefer, better HDR support, ‘full fat’ HDMI 2.1, hardware calibration, better overdrive tuning for lower refresh rates and slicker ‘4-sided borderless’ (dual-stage at all sides) design. Will be interesting to see how the new version differs from the older models and if it does, or whether they just wanted to strip out the RGB LED lighting. 😉“