[pavedwaves]

I’m currently looking to upgrade my monitor and I was hoping to hear any opinions on this panel..

Acer offers three variations of this monitor,

VG27AQ (Oldest, 300 nits brightness 8 bit colour)

VG27AQ1A (Newer, 200 nits brightness 10 bit colour)

VG27AQl1A (Newest, 400 nits brightness 10 bit colour)

I can find good reviews for the newest and oldest models, but the VG27AQ1A is a bit of a mystery. I was about to pull the trigger on it but found some complaints about the brightness and colour, and am holding off now.

I’ll be using the monitor for some photo editing, as well as gaming. I likely wont be going much over 120 fps, so extremely high refresh rates aren’t a huge concern. Accurate colours are fairly important, as well as general overall quality.

I’d narrowed it down to the aforementioned model, the Gigabyte M27Q, or the LG 27GL83A-B.

With the Gigabyte I was worried about the text issues, though I see they may be overblown.

With the LG I was concerned about the extremely low contrast.

Anyways, I was hoping someone may have experience with this particular Acer model, or be able to sway me towards another model for my uses.

I don’t mind spending a bit more if it’s worth it, but it seemed like something at the price point of theses models should be able to meet my needs.

Thanks for any advice or recommendations!

[PCM2]

Hi pavedwaves,

I have no user feedback to share on the VG27AQ1A or any experience with it, so you’d definitely be going in “blind” opting for it. This thread is something of a bible for recommendations in this section, and although the VG27AQ1A isn’t covered plenty of alternatives are. Amongst those recommendations with a reasonably tight budget in mind is the original revision of the M27Q as we reviewed – if you’re using the monitor in isolation then I completely agree you should give the monitor a try and not worry about the subpixel layout too much.

Another alternative to pay attention to if you really did want an RGB layout and are on a tight budget is the ViewSonic VX2728J-2K we’re currently reviewing. Just to note that two of the models you’ve mentioned (VG27AQ and 27GL83A) distinguish themselves from the others because they’re standard rather than wide gamut models. So their vibrancy and saturation potential is much lower.

[pavedwaves]

Thank you! I’ve tried my best to look through all the threads and review I could here while I was waiting… and it’s definitely helped. Lot’s of insightful information on this forum!

Currently I’m leaning towards the M27Q from those original list but of course now I’ve got a few more options on the table.

I’d be curious what you’d recommend given the pricing I have here in Canada for the models available.

Gigabyte M27Q – $380 (solid choice, the issue with text seems to be overblown)

MSI MAG274QRF-QD – $610 (seems to be your current favourite)

MSI G274QPF-QD – $460 (I did see that you didn’t think it quite stacked up to the other MSI option, but I’m wondering where it falls vs the M27Q)

ViewSonic Omni VX2728J-2K $321 (I hadn’t taken a good look at this yet but it seems like a solid choice if you’re mentioning it)

Is the MSI MAG274QRF-QD worth the price jump in your opinion? If not quite, is the other MSI option likely to be a better choice that the M27Q? And finally does the ViewSonic keep up with the others, seeing as it’s considerably cheaper?

By no means to I want to “cheap out”, as whatever I buy will probably serve me for many years, but of course I don’t want to throw my money away for the most minor of differences.

I’m sure I’m overthinking it but It’s incredibly hard to really gather what the differences are when the specs are all basically exactly the same, I really appreciate your thorough answers!

[PCM2]

With that pricing in mind it’s extremely difficult to justify the MAG274QRF-QD, and there’s nothing particularly special about the G274QPF-QD to warrant that price, either. With those prices in mind the VX2728J-2K stands out as the obvious choice to try. If you like it then great – it’s quite well built and well-rounded as I’ll comment on in the review and I wouldn’t be concerned about any specific ‘longevity’ issues vs. the other options. If you don’t like it then your next move might be determined by what you don’t like about it.

[pavedwaves]

While I can’t find anything about it, it has great specs for the price.. 10 bit colour, display port 1.4 and a quality stand is definitely a good start. You say you’re reviewing it now? Do you think it has any weaknesses vs the Gigabyte M27Q?

[PCM2]

The relative lack of information on it is exactly why it appealed to me as a review candidate. I don’t want to reveal too much before the review is published, but a few things that stand out compared to the M27Q (rev. 1):

– The screen surface is not as light – though graininess, specifically, is not a problem in my opinion. The glare handling is quite a bit stronger and it diffuses ambient light more heavily, in other words. The pros and cons of this are covered more in the review.

– It doesn’t have the same sort of colour gamut, either, with the Adobe RGB coverage being much lower but DCI-P3 similar (in percentage terms, at least).

– It doesn’t offer sRGB emulation. GPU level alternatives can be used on Windows PCs with an AMD or Nvidia GPU, but a well-calibrated and flexible sRGB emulation setting on the monitor itself is still the gold standard. I wouldn’t say the M27Q really ticks that box either, though.

– Contrast is slightly lower, but not ‘bad’ for the panel type.

– The pixel responsiveness is superior to the Gigabyte, which will be a nice bonus for some people – though in my experience most people are happy with the M27Q in that respect, anyway.

– Regular RGB subpixels on the ViewSonic for better compatibility regardless of application and a better match for other monitors in multi-monitor setups.

I don’t think you can really go wrong with either model, but I think the ViewSonic is particularly well-priced for the overall package on offer.

[pavedwaves]

I just ordered it and am looking forward to giving it a try! I’ll be sure to leave a review of it when I get it. Thanks again for your help and you’re quick answers!

[Author]

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