LG UltraGear 25G590B Review: World’s First Native 1000Hz 1080p Gaming Monitor

LG has just announced what it calls a landmark achievement in display technology: the LG UltraGear 25G590B, the world’s first gaming monitor to hit a native 1000Hz refresh rate at full 1080p (1920×1080) resolution. This 24.5-inch IPS panel is built from the ground up for competitive esports players — particularly those grinding ranked matches in fast-paced FPS titles like Valorant, CS2, and Apex Legends.

The 25G590B is already turning heads across the tech world, and for good reason. Until now, every monitor that claimed a 1000Hz refresh rate — from Philips and HKC — had to drop down to 720p to achieve it, introducing a noticeable drop in image sharpness. LG’s new display eliminates that trade-off entirely.

The LG UltraGear 25G590B delivers native 1000Hz at 1920×1080 — no dual-mode tricks, no resolution compromise. It’s the most aggressively competitive gaming monitor ever announced.

Key Specifications at a Glance

Why “Native” 1000Hz Is a Big Deal

This is not a minor spec bump. Here’s why the word “native” matters enormously.

The Dual-Mode Problem

Previous 1000Hz monitors — including the Philips Evnia 27M2N5500XD and Samsung Odyssey G6 (G60H) — relied on a dual-mode feature that shrinks the active resolution to 720p to achieve maximum refresh rates. At 720p on a 24-inch+ panel, text becomes visibly blurry, UI elements lose definition, and the competitive advantage of the higher refresh rate is partially cancelled out by the visual degradation.

LG’s Approach

The UltraGear 25G590B runs at 1000Hz by default, at its native 1080p resolution, with no toggles, no mode-switching, and no compromises. As LG puts it, “this allows players to train and compete under consistent visual conditions without compromising clarity or performance.”

That consistency is genuinely useful. Esports athletes often practice at home and compete on-stage. If the home monitor requires different settings than the tournament rig, muscle memory and visual calibration suffer. A display that delivers maximum performance without any configuration removes that variable.

LG UltraGear 25G590B: Feature Breakdown

1. Native 1000Hz Refresh Rate

At 1000Hz, the display refreshes 1,000 times per second — that’s a new frame every 1 millisecond. For comparison, most high-end esports monitors today top out at 240Hz to 360Hz. Even the cutting edge 480Hz panels, which dominate professional tournament setups, are left well behind.

At 1000Hz, fast-moving enemies and projectiles are rendered with far greater temporal precision. Whether that translates into a measurable competitive advantage beyond 500–600Hz is still debated by display scientists, but in theory, every incremental reduction in input lag and motion smear is meaningful at the professional level.

2. IPS Panel — Not TN

One of the most significant design choices LG made here is choosing an IPS panel rather than a Twisted Nematic (TN) one.

Historically, TN panels were the go-to for ultra-high refresh rates due to their faster response times. The trade-off? Washed-out colors, poor viewing angles, and inferior image quality. IPS panels have historically lagged behind in response times, which is why they’ve rarely appeared in the most extreme-refresh displays.

The fact that LG achieved 1000Hz on an IPS panel is technically noteworthy. IPS technology offers:

• Wider viewing angles — color accuracy doesn’t shift dramatically when viewed off-axis
• Better color reproduction — more vibrant, lifelike images
• Improved readability — easier on the eyes during extended sessions

3. Motion Blur Reduction Pro

LG has incorporated its Motion Blur Reduction Pro technology — a backlight strobing feature designed to make fast-moving objects appear sharper and easier to track. When enemies are sprinting laterally across the screen, ghosting can obscure their exact position. Motion Blur Reduction Pro counteracts this by syncing the backlight to reduce the perceived smear during rapid movement.

This is especially relevant in CS2 and Valorant, where identifying and tracking fast-moving opponents during a peek or strafe can be the difference between a kill and a death.

4. Low-Reflection Film

The 25G590B features a low-reflection coating (anti-glare film) on the panel surface. In brightly lit gaming environments — whether a bedroom setup with sunlight or a tournament hall with overhead stage lighting — reflections on a glossy panel can seriously obscure the image. LG’s anti-reflection coating reduces glare without the color-dulling effect that some matte coatings produce.

5. AI Scene Optimization

LG has added on-device AI features to the 25G590B, starting with AI Scene Optimization. This feature intelligently analyzes the game genre being played and automatically adjusts picture settings — such as contrast, sharpness, and color tone — to suit the visual profile of that genre.

An FPS like Valorant benefits from high contrast and sharper edges to distinguish enemies from backgrounds. An open-world RPG, by contrast, might benefit from richer color saturation. AI Scene Optimization handles this adjustment without requiring manual input through the OSD.

6. AI Sound

Paired with a compatible headset, AI Sound processes the audio output to deliver clearer spatial positioning and more intelligible in-game voice communications. In competitive play, hearing where footsteps are coming from — and clearly understanding callouts from teammates — can be just as important as the visual edge. LG’s AI Sound aims to improve both.

7. Esports-Optimized Ergonomics

The physical design of the 25G590B is carefully thought out for tournament-style use:

• Compact stand footprint: Maximizes desk space, giving players full freedom of mouse movement — critical in low-sensitivity FPS setups.
• Calibration indicators on the stand: Allow users to dial in precise height, swivel, and tilt settings, then reproduce that exact configuration on any other compatible rig. This is a genuinely useful feature for players who travel between LANs and need their monitor positioned the same way every time.
• Height, swivel, and tilt adjustments: Full ergonomic flexibility regardless of desk height or seating position.

8. UltraGear Emblem RGB Lighting

The 25G590B features LG’s customizable UltraGear Emblem lighting — ambient RGB illumination on the back of the monitor. It’s subtle compared to the maximalist lighting rigs some gaming peripherals offer, but it adds visual personality to a setup without becoming a distraction.

Who Is the LG UltraGear 25G590B For?

This monitor is unambiguously designed for a narrow audience: competitive FPS players who want every possible edge. It is not for:

• 4K or ultrawide gamers prioritizing visual fidelity
• Casual or single-player gamers who don’t need extreme refresh rates
• Content creators, video editors, or productivity users

Its true audience includes:

• Professional esports athletes competing in CS2, Valorant, Apex Legends, or similar titles
• Aspiring pros who train at home and want to replicate tournament conditions
• Hardcore ranked players who invest heavily in hardware to eliminate any competitive disadvantage

If you’re the kind of player who already owns a 360Hz monitor and still wants more — and you can build or already own a system capable of generating 1000+ frames per second in your game of choice — the 25G590B is the most extreme option available.

The 24.5-Inch Size: A Strategic Choice

LG didn’t choose 24.5 inches arbitrarily. This size is the dominant standard in professional esports, for a straightforward reason: it keeps the entire screen within the player’s natural field of view without requiring excessive head movement. In fast-paced games, your eyes need to process information across the entire screen nearly instantaneously. A larger panel forces the eyes to travel further, adding microseconds of processing time. At 24.5 inches at a standard desk distance, the full image is visible in one focused gaze.

Competition: How Does It Stack Up?

The 25G590B has no direct competitor. The closest alternatives either operate at 720p at their peak, or top out at 360–500Hz at full 1080p.

What We Still Don’t Know

LG has been deliberate about holding back several key specifications ahead of the H2 2026 launch:

• Price — Not yet disclosed. Given the technology involved, expect a significant premium.
• Response time (GTG/MPRT) — Critical for understanding how the IPS panel handles ghosting at 1000Hz.
• Brightness (nits) — Not revealed yet.
• VRR support — G-Sync and FreeSync compatibility have not been confirmed.
• Input connectivity — DisplayPort 2.1 or 2.0 will almost certainly be required to push 1000Hz at 1080p. HDMI support at 1000Hz is uncertain.
• Power consumption — Extreme refresh rates typically demand more power.

Full specifications will likely be disclosed closer to retail availability.

Hardware Requirements: Can Your PC Handle It?

Generating 1000 frames per second at 1080p in any game title is an extraordinary demand. To take full advantage of the 25G590B, you’ll need:

• A high-end discrete GPU — ideally current-generation flagship hardware (NVIDIA RTX 50-series or AMD RX 9000-series, for example)
• A fast CPU that can feed the GPU without becoming a bottleneck
• A game engine that supports very high frame-rate output — most competitive titles (CS2, Valorant) are well-optimized for this
• DisplayPort 2.1 connectivity for the bandwidth required at 1000Hz

Not every game will reach 1000fps. But in well-optimized esports titles with reduced graphical settings (the norm in competitive play), it’s an achievable target on high-end hardware.

Availability and Pricing

The LG UltraGear 25G590B is expected to launch in select markets during the second half of 2026, with broader international availability following later in the year. LG has not announced pricing. Given the pioneering nature of the technology, a premium price tier is expected — though the final number will determine whether this becomes a must-have for serious competitors or remains a niche luxury.

Final Verdict (Pre-Release Assessment)

The LG UltraGear 25G590B is a technically remarkable product. It solves a real problem — delivering 1000Hz without sacrificing resolution — and does so with an IPS panel that preserves the color quality and viewing angles serious players increasingly expect.

Whether 1000Hz provides a perceptible competitive advantage over 500Hz is a legitimate scientific question, and one that independent testing from outlets like Hardware Unboxed and TechPowerUp will need to settle. But as a statement of what display technology can now achieve, the 25G590B is genuinely impressive.

Watch this space for a full hands-on review once retail units become available.

FAQs

Is the LG UltraGear 25G590B available to buy now? No. It’s expected to launch in select markets in the second half of 2026. Pricing has not been announced.

Is 1000Hz really better than 360Hz for gaming? In theory, yes — fewer milliseconds between each frame update means more precise motion rendering. In practice, the perceptible gains diminish at extreme refresh rates, and the benefit depends heavily on whether your PC can actually sustain 1000fps in-game.

What resolution does the 25G590B use at 1000Hz? Full HD — 1920×1080. Unlike other 1000Hz monitors, it does not require dropping to 720p.

Does it have OLED? No. The 25G590B uses an IPS panel. LG chose IPS for its color quality and viewing angles, which offers a meaningful advantage over TN at equivalent refresh rates.

Will it support G-Sync or FreeSync? LG has not confirmed VRR support. This detail is expected to be disclosed ahead of launch.

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