Resolution or speed? It’s a trade-off that seems almost unavoidable. The bigger your monitor and the more pixel-dense its panel, the slower your refresh rate, which is why the most competitive PC gamers are sticking to 1080p and 1440p screens. But LG’s newest OLED monitor aims to deliver the best of both worlds. This 32-inch UltraGear design has a unique “Dual Mode” feature, delivering its full 4K (3840×2160) resolution at 240Hz, or steps down to 1920×1080 at a blistering 480Hz.
Further reading: The best monitors
In theory, that means you can lean back and appreciate the latest Netflix series in its glorious maximum quality, then tap a hotkey to activate Dual Mode for 1080p speed when you’re ready to boot up Valorant. The other headline feature of the LG 32GS95UE-B is “Pixel Sound,” but that’s far less interesting to me — the ability to turn a flat screen panel into a big sound-emitting speaker surface has been around for a while. And if you can afford to drop $1399.99 for this monitor’s sticker price, you probably already have a nice set of speakers for your desk anyway.
The rest of the spec list should be pleasing to gamers with cash to burn, including .03 millisecond response time, VESA TrueBlack 400 on its matte-coated panel, support for both G-SYNC and FreeSync, and both HDMI 2.1 (two ports) and DisplayPort 2.1. Note that this screen isn’t the most friendly to recent laptops, as its USB support is limited to two downstream A ports. There’s no release date for the new monitor, but with a full preorder listing on LG’s US online store (spotted by VideoCardz), it can’t be too far away.
If $1400 is too rich for your blood, take a little comfort knowing that it probably won’t be that expensive for long. While OLED monitors are still commanding a stiff premium over LCDs, we’re constantly seeing discounts to make them more attainable.
Author: Michael Crider, Staff Writer, PCWorld
Michael is a 10-year veteran of technology journalism, covering everything from Apple to ZTE. On PCWorld he's the resident keyboard nut, always using a new one for a review and building a new mechanical board or expanding his desktop "battlestation" in his off hours. Michael's previous bylines include Android Police, Digital Trends, Wired, Lifehacker, and How-To Geek, and he's covered events like CES and Mobile World Congress live. Michael lives in Pennsylvania where he's always looking forward to his next kayaking trip.