LG UltraGear OLED 32GS95UE-B test: our full opinion –

Gaming screen manufacturers are waging a merciless war in the high-end segment with monitors with increasingly ambitious technical specifications in recent years.

Wealthy gamers who want to play on PC and console in the best possible conditions on their desktop can opt for an Oled and 4K model to combine image quality with movement clarity.

Innovation is required in 2024 with the arrival of “Dual Mode” from LG on its Ultragear 32GS95UE-B. The objective: to offer two experiences within the same screen with a 4K 240 Hz mode and a second 1080p going up to 480 Hz. Enough to suit all types of games, whether immersive or competitive.

Technical details of the LG UltraGear OLED 32GS

This screen was loaned by LG for this test.

Design

As with its televisions, we always appreciate LG’s minimalism in the design of its screens. On the front, the borders are thin and do not mention the brand in any way (like Samsung or MSI for example).

LG has chosen a hexagonal support and not a foot with two rods like many models. This has the advantage of taking up less space at Samsung and Dell on some of their models this year.

For a 1300 euro screen, the construction is excellent with finishes that exude quality, even if the whole thing remains mainly made of plastic. Rather discreet RGB lighting is present on the back, surrounding a purple LG UltraGear logo.

Connections

The screen offers a complete connectivity offering, with the presence of two HDMI 2.1 48Gbps, a DisplayPort 1.4 port as well as two USB-A 3.1 ports. We regret the absence of at least one USB-C port which would have been useful for charging recent smartphones or computers.

A 3.5mm jack will allow you to connect a headset combo if you ever want to connect the screen with the supplied USB-B cable.

Support

Rather imposing, the screen support allows you to adjust the position of your screen as you wish, including portrait mode if that changes to you.

A useful cable guide will allow you to hide all those unsightly wires that may come out of the screen frame.

LG uses here the very visual OSD of its screens and televisions. All settings are easily accessible with the small joystick behind the screen. Each option has its description, navigation is fluid, in short, nothing to complain about.

And if you want to change all these settings from your computer, LG offers OnScreen Control software on Windows. Comparing the two, however, we notice that the OSD options remain more numerous.

Image quality

At the beginning of the year, we tested numerous screens with QD-Oled panels from Samsung Display. LG came out this summer with its new generation of WOLED panels which have their strengths and weaknesses. The 32-inch diagonal is perfect for 4K, with exemplary image clarity and font sharpness, it’s a pleasure at all times.

When you first launch this LG UltraGear 32GS95UE-B, the visual experience is satisfactory, but the most experienced eyes will observe a certain chromatic deviation. In SDR with our Calibrite Display Plus HL probe connected to the Calman Ultimate software, we measure a color temperature that is a bit too warm at 6,305K.

To correct this problem, we have set our sights on “Mode 1” of the color temperature, which in addition to respecting the European white point at 6,500K, allows us to respect the gamma curve at 2.2 generally recommended for normal ambient lighting conditions.

Brightness level, we reach the 400 cd/m² announced by LG with all settings at maximum. However, you will lose detail in the highlights, resulting in a value of 290 cd/m² across the entire screen, peaking at 406 cd/m² at a 10% window. Classic for SDR.

Factory colorimetry is quite good at 2.9 in sRGB mode with some deviations in red, blue, and skin tones. This mode also has the advantage of offering an acceptable color temperature.

Notable fact: the screen offers very satisfactory font rendering and is even superior to the latest QD-Oled panels that we have been able to test. Here, LG’s display technology still has a slight lead.

A stunning HDR experience, but with its limitations

But if you buy a screen of this caliber, it is to take advantage of all its HDR benefits. We remind ourselves of this in each test, but Oled technology is perfect for taking advantage of the advantages of wider dynamics on PC.

Brightness control is pixel-perfect, knowing that they can turn on or off depending on the content displayed on the screen. The near-infinite contrast, deep blacks and color luminance help enhance the visual experience that HDR can offer.

Color coverage is excellent at 95% of DCI-P3 to display a wider range of colors than traditional sRGB. We are also at 71% of the most demanding Rec.2020, but this is more dedicated to audiovisual professionals. The colorimetric accuracy here is very satisfactory at 1.84, with some deviations to be found on purple, blue and cyan tones.

The different peak brightness settings will allow you to reach several values ​​according to your preferences. Thus, we measured an absolute light peak at 1132 cd/m² on a 1% window as well as 282 cd/m² on a full window.

These are the values ​​with peak brightness mode “High”. With the “Low” setting, the value drops to 621 cd/m² over a 1% window. The EOTF curve, which measures the behavior of light according to the overall brightness of the scene, is more faithful with Gamer 2 mode.

But even in this mode, the ABL (Automatic Brightness Limiter) function remains important during the brightest scenes. As a result, certain luminous details could be slightly lacking in impact in certain cases.

But as we will see in the “Gaming” part of this test, this behavior remains less annoying than the QD-Oled panels tested this year.

Gaming

This is becoming a habit with the Oled screens that we are testing, but this LG UltraGear 32GS95UE-B is still a gripping experience while gaming. Its large 32-inch diagonal with its 4K definition will make you rediscover all your favorite titles.

We tested it on two categories of games. First of all, single-player and immersive games like Cyberpunk 2077, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, Alan Wake 2 and Ratchet & Clank. The contributions of Oled, coupled with HDR, are a real plus: the light details (fire, neon lights, bulbs, sparks, wicks, etc.) really stand out thanks to the almost infinite contrast of the panel.

The HDR performance is also very satisfactory. Indeed, we used to see the APL (Average Picture Brightness) of a scene drop when the brightest HDR mode was selected.

Here, the difference seems very marked to us with the QD-Oled models previously tested this year. Here, the introductory scene of Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is an excellent test and suffers from none of the brightness limitations felt in “High” mode. The most contrasting scenes, as in Cyberpunk 2077 or Alan Wake 2are also stunning with their deep (and not blocked) blacks and overall stunning image quality.

But for the most competitive games, what to think?

So, this Dual Mode?

The big novelty of this model lies in its Dual Mode, an option that allows you to switch to 1080p and 480 Hz definition at the press of a button.

Here’s how it works: by default, this mode is displayed in full screen to provide perfect scaling compared to 4K. However, it is possible to crop this image for a 24 or 27 inch rendering. A useful setting for competitive players who favor this type of diagonal with a small field of view, but which offers less qualitative scaling.

You can switch from one mode to another in any application, the screen will then turn black for a few seconds before showing you the new definition and refresh rate.

In our tests, the feature was effective, but didn’t work very well in some titles like Overwatch 2 or Valuing. In these cases, it is still preferable to make the transition from Windows before launching your application. This is what Alienware particularly recommends on its screens offering the same functionality.

Now, the experience remains quite impressive in this more “competitive” mode. Even if we observed that the motion clarity of the Oled could already be perfect at 360 Hz, 480 Hz adds a little extra soul which pushes the fluidity even higher.

You must of course be a keen player of fast and nervous FPS games, games in which such a mode will be beneficial. It is after several years of training and muscle memory that it will be possible to realize the contribution of such a frequency. But it must be said that the comfort is there after several hundred hours on Overwatch 2 For example.

Your graphics card, and especially your processor, must still allow it. Indeed, in 1080p, it is mainly your processor which will be called upon to allow you to reach such frequencies.

Price and availability

The LG UltraGear OLED 32GS95UE-B costs around 1300 euros in stores and can even tease 1400 euros from certain brands.

This is a substantial budget similar to the ultra wide 34-inch Oled models, which is justified by the presence of a still brand new Dual Mode.