[radosuaf]

Well, I’m a very satisfied AOC 25G3ZM user, but I have upgraded my system and am looking for a 1440p replacement. I’ve had various monitors throughout my life, from monochrome CRT to the latest 240 Hz VA and I’m pretty sure I don’t want an IPS. Backlight bleed and IPS glow are just too off-putting. I usually play in a dim environment and definitely prefer good blacks.

I’ve had an ASUS VG249Q before and this one had a terrible backlight bleed which annoyed me all the time.
I borrowed my office Lenovo P27h-10 for a weekend to compare 1440 IPS to my 1080p VA and while the resolution makes 1440p so much better, that’s how they look when displaying black screen:

IPS vs VA.

I also don’t want a curved panel, really, which leaves me with 3 options, when I look at my budget:
1. Lenovo G27q-30 – cheapest, 165 Hz, cannot find many reviews on it, just one Indonesian (?) one that sound like it’s not a good monitor:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFM52h1SzIw

2. ASUS VG27AQA1A – oh, no, not ASUS… But seriously, 170 Hz, but lack of height adjustment, which is a bit of a no-no.

3. AOC AG275QXN – 165 Hz, probably the only one that makes sense, but people (reviews) say it’s not very fast:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IEAV953pV4&t=338s
https://totalgamingaddicts.com/aoc-agon-5-ag275qxn-review/
https://www.creativebloq.com/reviews/aoc-agon-ag275qxn

There is the 240 Hz version of the AOC (AG275QZN) which is slightly too expensive (and not too good, either, as I saw somewhere). That’s basically all of them – at least I could not find any other. Did anybody come across any of those? Your opinions?

[PCM2]

Hi radosuaf,

What you see from the AG275QXN there in terms of its pixel responsiveness is quite a typical and actually somewhat above average VA performance – I’d expect the other options to be in-line with that rather than significantly faster. The AOC 25G3ZM is also a slightly above average VA performer, though that is far from perfect and not competitive with IPS models. In this thread) there are some words of comparison between that and a few thoughts on the AG275QXN and G27q-30 – in particular see this post. Subjectively, most would see the two AOC options as performing similarly to one another (and the Lenovo appears similar as well). This is supported by measured response times if you compare the results using OSRTT from the same reviewer and therefore set up in exactly the same way. You’re comparing different refresh rates, but the response times on these monitors using the ‘Medium’ overdrive setting won’t differ significantly alongside refresh rate anyway.

25G3ZM response times (focus on far left table)
AG275QXN response times (focus on far right table)

Given you’re happy with the pixel response performance of the 25G3ZM, you shouldn’t have any issues with the AG275QXN. And it should offer an overall familiar experience for you, with a nice upgrade in resolution and larger screen to enjoy.

[radosuaf]

Thanks so much for the reply.

OK, we’ve discussed motion handling :). Anyone would have thoughts about colour accuracy, out-of-the-box calibration, sRGB mode etc.?

Also, Lenovo is much cheaper than the AOC…

Lenovo: ~230 USD
AOC: ~290 USD

Is AOC worth paying 27% extra?

As a side note (if I won’t like the VA) I went through the “Recommended” gaming monitors and while ViewSonic is generally unavailable in EU, MSI is a bit of a stretch in terms of my budget (530 USD). Would you have any other suggestions closer to 300 USD?

Potential ones that pop up here and there:
AOC Q27G2S – 250 USD
Acer XV272UV – 280 USD
Hp X27q – 280 USD
Gigabyte M27Q – 310 USD
LG 27GP850P – 350 USD

[PCM2]

AOC is usually pretty consistent with their monitor calibration, so as I said you can expect a similar experience to the one you’re getting. They usually calibrate the gamma fairly well and offer the usual 3 gamma settings, though this can vary somewhat even between units of the same model. As can colour temperature, which as usual you can correct using the RGB channels. The colour gamut is similar, which is a large determinant of how things will look assuming similar gamma, colour temperature and panel type. Do you actually use sRGB emulation on your current monitor? Sometimes people find the locked brightness (and colour channels, depending on how AOC has calibrated a given model or unit) annoying but there are alternatives explored in that article which can also be used.

As for the IPS models, there’s a large and very informative thread covering those. Also feel free to use the forum search facility and type in the model number. You can aid perceived contrast by employing bias lighting or at least some form of lighting behind the monitor. This is particularly helpful for IPS models if you like your room being otherwise dim, but can benefit any LCD. It doesn’t perform miracles, but it is still helpful – it can also aid viewing comfort regardless of screen technology.

[radosuaf]

Yes, sRGB seems to be very accurate and brightness level is perfectly fine on the AOC. On Lenovo (P27h-10) while it is completely fine at my office, it was way too bright, so I had to use the Neutral preset.

I will also consider IPS panel (oddly enough I thought there is no search feature but after you wrote about it I started looking carefully for one and found the very tiny icon in the upper right corner), but I like playing in a pitch dark room and hence will steer towards VA, too bad there’s so few of them nowadays and generally there’s no way to test them at the shop before purchase (they’re mostly on order).

[PCM2]

There’s a search bar on the footer of the website, which is not small but by design is well-blended. 🙂

[radosuaf]

Oh, another surprise :).

[PCM2]

It turns out it was too well blended (ran a poll on X/Twitter). I appreciate your feedback on this, it now has a lot more contrast so should be more obvious. 😉

[radosuaf]

Now it’s a bit more visible ;).

I found quite a massive thread on this on a Polish forum:
https://forum.pclab.pl/topic/1358738-nowo%C5%9B%C4%87-aoc-agon-ag275qxn/

In general, seems like a good one, but for the slight gamma shift (potentially understandable with a flat 27″ VA) and being a bit too bright on the lowest brightness settings.

[PCM2]

As covered in our panel types article, VA models always have gamma shift behaviour. It’s more prominent for larger screens and if sitting closer to the screen. We explore this behaviour and its impact on the image in detail in our reviews and the model used in the article (AOC PD27) is actually curved, which doesn’t eliminate the behaviour horizontally and has zero effect vertically.

[radosuaf]

I remember gamma shift in the old Eizo TN I had, which was very annoying, but I read the one in the VA is nowhere near as bad?

Also, I managed to find that my current 25G3ZM has 120 cd brightness which is absolutely perfect, but AG275QXN’s sRGB mode locks brightness at 240 cd. I assume that’s MUCH brighter? Luckily, as I found out, minium brightness is at 70 cd and 25% is at 140, so I should be fine somewhere around the 15% mark.

Since it’s not a wide gamut monitor (as I understand), I’m fine without sRGB clamp?

[PCM2]

It isn’t as bad as vertical TN shifting, no (this is covered and even illustrated in the article linked to in my previous post).

The AG275QXN has a 94% DCI-P3 coverage which is similar to the 25G3ZM. So it is wide gamut. They specify 98% sRGB coverage, but both can be true at the same time. If the brightness restriction is annoying and you find it too bright then as a PC user with AMD or Nvidia GPU there are alternatives you can try.

[radosuaf]

Luckily I have a Radeon card, so that’s an easy fix.

Anybody had a chance to lay his hands on the Dell G2724D early access Rtings review? Sounds like ~1300:1 contrast ratio…

[radosuaf]

Well, the RTINGS review is now live.

[radosuaf]

Got the monitor – the box says AG275QX, the sticker on the side says AG275QXN…

AG275QX(N?) box

There are pictures of the AG275QXN box in the internet:

AG275QXN box

Hmmm…

[PCM2]

Does it include any specifications on the box? As you’re no doubt aware the AG274QX does exist and is an IPS model which isn’t what you were after at all. Looks like you were sent the wrong model. 🙁

[radosuaf]

The sticker says supposedly it’s the correct one. I’ll see at home when I open the box.

Label

[radosuaf]

It’s a QXN in the end :). I like it, no bad pixels, decent uniformity, zero backlight bleed. One thing is just wondering me – if I set refresh rate up to 120 Hz, Windows shows 10-bit colour. Anything above that and it is 8-bit. Is it a monitor, graphics card or cable limitation? Monitor is DP 1.4, card should be DP 1.4a. What is limiting the bit depth then?
Also – do I get any benefit from 10-bit colour in typical usage (web browsing, office work, watching movies, gaming) over 8-bit? Is it better to set 120 Hz 10-bit or 165 Hz 8-bit?
How does it work with VRR? Does the bit depth change when I go from 140 to 80 FPS and then back to 160 for example?

[PCM2]

Ah that’s good. Don’t worry about bit depth, that is the usual restriction for DP 1.4 without DSC being used. It will make no difference whatsoever unless you’re specifically viewing 10-bit content (which will usually be image editing applications or if you’re running HDR where you will be getting 10-bit processing either way). It is set for the static refresh rate you select, VRR doesn’t affect the bit depth that can be used – but again, it’s irrelevant for you in practice. Get somebody else to switch it over without telling you and I can guarantee you won’t spot a difference or know when they’ve done it. Relevant reading (and how the 10-bit is achieved).

[radosuaf]

I will be using 165 Hz 8-bit then :). Again, thank you very much for the willingness to help and such a broad knowledge!

One more thing – sRGB mode in this one has an unaccetably high brightness (~240 cd) for me and it’s of course locked. While on my home PC I applied the ICC profile and it seems to be working fine, I have also a work laptop with Intel graphics hooked up to the same monitor. Since I am not an administrator, I can load the ICC profile but cannot tick “Use Windows display calibration”, which is unticked and greyed out.
While most colours are acceptable, red seems too oversaturated for my liking. Is there any way to resolve this?

EDIT: I went to the Intel control panel and found the “Saturation” setting. Changed from 50 to 42 and now red looks fine – not sure if that’s the best solution, though.

“Quite” fast VA review:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLS2KJUHNeo

[Author]

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