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AOC G2770PQU 27-Inch 144Hz Gaming Monitor Review
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1. AOC G2770PQU 27-Inch 144Hz Gaming Monitor Review

There’s no question that gaming displays are undergoing something of an evolution. Since the beginning, LCD panels have had to play catch-up to the smooth motion high-res CRTs of old. Sample-and-hold technology places limits on the quality of fast motion, and only through some fancy footwork can they be overcome.

Panels response time (the time it takes to actually draw each frame) and input lag have improved greatly over the past few years. But video cards have progressed even faster. Today’s top graphics boards can easily top 60 FPS in most games at the highest resolutions and detail levels.

The only way for a display to keep up is to increase its refresh rate. Until we all have G-Sync-enabled screens, it means buying a monitor that can run at rates above 60Hz. We’ve looked at several 120 and 144Hz products, including AOC’s G2460PQU and the Overlord Tempest X270OC.

Today we have AOC’s other 144Hz screen in our lab, the G2770PQU. It’s a TN-based panel sporting 1920 x 1080 resolution and a 27-inch diagonal screen size.

With high-speed IPS panels and G-Sync products on the horizon, the G2770PQU may seem a bit old-school by comparison. Don’t be swayed by its panel technology, however. We’ve demonstrated time and time again that the only major advantage offered by IPS is its superior off-axis image quality. In every other metric, TN is equal in performance. In the area of contrast, it still holds a slight edge, in fact.

The G2770PQU’s greatest draw, however, is its 144Hz operating mode. It also adds 100 and 120Hz options to the Windows refresh rate selections. That way, it can be tailored to your particular frame-rate requirement. There’s no sense in running at 144Hz if you can only manage a peak rate of 100 FPS. While G-Sync promises the best solution for signal-rate matching, the extra flexibility here is not without value.

AOC employs white LEDs arrayed at the panel edges and FHD resolution. Like all other fast-refresh monitors (except the Overlord IPS screen), it achieves 8-bit color depth by applying frame-rate conversion to a 6-bit native panel. This may be of concern to some, but we can assure you in all our tests of similar products, we could not see any evidence of banding or compression unless it was already present in the content.

On paper, the G2770PQU looks like a great choice for all but the most expensive systems. Let’s see how it performs in our hands-on tests.

2. Packaging, Physical Layout And Accessories

The G2770PQU carton meets AOC’s usual high standard with double-corrugate cardboard, plenty of Styrofoam, and a suitcase-style form that’s easy to handle. The cable bundle includes VGA, DVI, USB, stereo audio, DisplayPort, and an IEC power cord for the internal power supply. Also in the box is a CD containing the user manual, drivers, and an app for tweaking the monitor’s settings.

The upright is already attached to the panel, but the base must be assembled using a single captive bolt.

Product 360

AOC adds a little flash to the G2770PQU with red accents across the bezel’s bottom and a red cable hook around back. Other than that, everything is finished in textured black plastic. The base is just large enough to keep the monitor stable without consuming too much desktop space.

Control buttons are hidden beneath the lower-right corner with small molded-in labels to indicate their functions. The power key lights up so you can see its green glow when the power is on.

The anti-glare layer is of medium strength and rejects light well without reducing image clarity. Although pixel density is on the low side, the gap is small so you won’t see the screen-door effect unless you sit closer than 36 inches or so.

The side profile is reasonably thin, and about half of its thickness is taken up by a power bulge. The two USB ports are third-gen-compatible, and the yellow one will charge connected devices, even if the monitor is powered off. You can also see the red cable management hook on the upright. It slides up and down to keep clutter off your desktop.

AOC finishes the back in a fabric-like texture with a shiny logo. The mount holes are 100 mm VESA-compatible and exposed by removing four screws. There’s also a Kensington lock in the lower-right corner.

Ergonomic adjustments are complete with five inches of height, 25 degrees of tilt, and an owl-like 350 degrees of swivel. Yes, you can actually turn the panel completely around!

Inputs include one each of HDMI, DVI, DisplayPort, and VGA. To access refresh rates above 60 Hz, you must use either DVI or DisplayPort. We had no trouble using DP for our tests. If you choose to go with DVI though, we recommend a heavy-gauge cable (24 AWG if possible).

Audio can be fed over DisplayPort or HDMI, or you can use the stereo analog input. The black jack is a headphone output. Not shown in the photo are the USB 3.0 upstream and two additional downstream (v2.0) ports.

3. OSD Setup And Calibration Of The AOC G2770PQU

OSD Tour

AOC organizes the G2770PQU’s options into six sub-menus and never requires you to go more than one level deep to find what you need. First up is the Luminance menu.

If you want full control over the backlight, set Eco Mode to Standard. The other presets lock brightness at fixed levels and gray out the contrast control. Other controls include three gamma presets, dynamic contrast (on or off), and Overdrive, which increases the pixel clock to reduce ghosting and trails behind moving objects.

The next sub-menu is Image Setup, though it’s only active for analog signals. You can adjust the images clock, phase and position, and edge enhancement through a Sharpness control.

Color Setup contains the remainder of the image calibration options. There are four fixed color temp presets. Warm and sRGB are pretty much the same, while Normal and Cool raise the white point towards a blue tint. User unlocks the RGB sliders, which happily start at the center of their ranges.

DCB is a color enhancement that emphasizes different elements like sky, grass, or flesh tones. It can also be set to Auto, varying based on content. If you want accurate color, it should be left off.

Picture Boost enables the Bright Frame feature that highlights a portion of the screen while darkening the surrounding area. You can control the size and position of the window, and adjust brightness and contrast within it.

There’s no real need to re-position the OSD since it spans most of the screen’s bottom. But you can set a timeout value of up to two minutes and make it more or less transparent. The break reminder can be set to pop up a message after either one or two hours of continuous monitor use.

The Extra menu has the rest of the G2770PQU’s convenience features as well as basic signal information. There’s an input selector, off timer, and aspect ratio options as well. Finally, you can select Reset to return all settings to their factory defaults.

Calibration

To unlock all the G2770PQU’s image adjustments, set Eco Mode to Standard and Color Temp to User. The other Eco Modes limit brightness to preset values but don’t affect color. After settling on Gamma 1 as the best starting point, we adjusted the RGB sliders to achieve decent grayscale tracking. They are a little coarse, but we like that they start at the center of their ranges, giving us a more balanced adjustment and maximizing contrast.

AOC G2770PQU Calibration Settings
Eco Mode
Standard
Contrast
49
Brightness
45
Gamma
1
Color Temp
User
RGB
Red 48, Green 48, Blue 51

4. Results: Brightness And Contrast

To read about our monitor tests in-depth, please check out Display Testing Explained: How We Test Monitors and TVs. Brightness and Contrast testing is covered on page two.

The comparison group consists of all the 120/144Hz gaming monitors we’ve reviewed in the past year. Asus' PG278Q boasts G-Sync, but that doesn’t impact any of our benchmark results. TN is the dominant panel tech. However, we recently reviewed Overlord’s Tempest X270OC as well. Right now, it’s the only IPS screen that can reliably hit 120Hz.

Uncalibrated – Maximum Backlight Level

A measurement of 334.9013 cd/m2 exceeds AOC’s spec of 300 cd/m2 by a healthy margin. In general, TN screens tend to be a little brighter than their IPS counterparts. We feel a wide ranging backlight is a good thing in a gaming monitor. If you take your rig on the road, you never know what the lighting situation will be. More brightness means more flexibility and a better image in any environment.

A brighter backlight also means higher black levels. Fortunately, .3132 cd/m2 isn’t too bad. In a room with moderate to low lighting, the screen isn’t quite a deep black, but rather a very dark gray.

Even with the backlight on maximum, the G2770PQU maintains a contrast ratio over 1000 to 1. This is average performance for a TN monitor. Compared to our lone IPS representative, though, it’s pretty good. The VG248QE continues to dominate the contrast tests thanks to superb black levels and extremely bright whites.

Uncalibrated – Minimum Backlight Level

At the backlight’s minimum setting, the G2770PQU bottoms out at 84.4525 cd/m2, yielding a great light level for playing games in total darkness.

A black level of .0798 cd/m2 is good. However, among the other TN-based screens, it’s an average result. The Asus is likely to retain its place atop this test for some time to come. In reality though, numbers this low are difficult to distinguish from one another with the naked eye. As long as a contrast ratio over 1000 to 1 is maintained, all of the monitors in the group will look about the same.

As expected, the Asus is off in the stratosphere while the rest show typical performance for modern LCD panels. The Overlord IPS panel is a little behind the rest. But visually, its lower contrast is barely noticeable.

After Calibration to 200 cd/m2

Here’s what black levels and contrast look like after calibration with the max output set at 200 cd/m2:

The G2770PQU, like all AOC monitors, has RGB sliders that start from the center of their ranges. This means you can raise and lower them to correct grayscale in a balanced manner, which keeps contrast closer to its maximum. Thanks to an excellent calibrated black level, it moves to second place.

The contrast ratio is nearly unchanged regardless of the backlight setting or calibration status. AOC's G2770PQU displays some of the most consistent contrast performance we’ve seen to date.

ANSI Contrast Ratio

You’ll see on page seven that the G2770PQU’s screen uniformity is also top notch, helping it achieve a fantastic ANSI result that’s only four percent below the calibrated value.

5. Results: Grayscale Tracking And Gamma Response

Our grayscale and gamma tests are described in detail here.

Grayscale Tracking

The G2770PQU comes set to the Warm color temp preset from the factory. It’s fairly close to D65, but there is excessive red and green at the 40- to 90-percent brightness levels, peaking just over the visibility threshold. The error at 100 percent is quite low, which helps the brightest highlights look correct.

Better results are just a simple calibration away.

In the User color temp mode, you can adjust the RGB sliders (although they are a little coarse for our taste). We got all the errors under three Delta E, even if the tracking is not as flat as some other monitors. It is, however, more than adequate for gaming.

Here is our comparison group:

Color and grayscale accuracy are obviously not the top priority with most gaming displays. Compared to our group, the G2770PQU’s default average error of 3.04 Delta E is pretty good.

We couldn’t quite get the grayscale error down to a one Delta E average (that’s our standard for pro screens), but we’re more than happy to see any monitor slide under a two Delta E average and AOC's G2770PQU achieves that easily. Praise goes to the BenQ XL2720Z for acing all of our grayscale accuracy tests.

Gamma Response

Gamma tracking is quite consistent using the '1' preset. Except for a dip at 90 percent, it’s almost perfect. The error is only 4.5 cd/m2. That's barely visible. The Gamma 2 preset shows the same tracking, only at a brighter (lower value) level. Gamma 3 looks similar to Gamma 1, but introduces a green tint that is difficult to correct. We recommend Gamma 1 for all applications.

Here is our comparison group again.

The dip at 90 percent hurts the gamma range result. It’s still solidly average among the monitors we’ve tested, though.

We calculate gamma deviation by simply expressing the difference from 2.2 as a percentage.

All of the gamma values ride a hair below 2.2. That, coupled with the 1.94 result at 90 percent, pulls the average down to 2.14. For gaming and video content, this looks fine. However, we’d like to see more accuracy, especially as TV and film mastering moves to the BT.1886 spec.

6. Results: Color Gamut Accuracy

For details on our color gamut testing and volume calculations, please click here.

In the G2770PQU’s default Warm setting, the white point is almost spot-on, so there aren’t any significant hue errors in this test. Our only complaints are in the red and blue primaries. Red is a little under-saturated and slightly off-hue. Blue starts out strong in the lower saturations, while 80 and 100 percent are outside of their targets. Fortunately, blue’s luminance is lowered to compensate. The resulting errors are right at the three Delta E line. If you’re wondering about the sRGB or User (un-calibrated) modes, they look the same as the above.

Calibration tightens up the luminance chart nicely, Red and blue still show the same issues as before, though. The overall Delta E drops a little. But we’d calibrate for the improvement in white balance rather than gamut accuracy, which is decent out of the box.

Now we return to the comparison group:

A result of 2.24 Delta E represents solid color performance. The main culprits to blame for lower placing are the red and blue primaries, though. If they were closer to their targets, this number would land higher in the ranking.

Gamut Volume: Adobe RGB 1998 And sRGB

Because of the over-saturated blue primary, AOC's G2770PQU exceeds 100 percent of the sRGB gamut volume. The number would be even larger if not for the under-saturated red primary. We have no problem recommending this monitor for games, entertainment, and general computing. It is not as well-suited for color-critical applications, though.

7. Results: Viewing Angles, Uniformity, Pixel Response, Input Lag

To learn how we measure screen uniformity, please click here.

While many users dismiss TN panel technology, its only real flaw is poor off-axis image quality. The G2770PQU looks like every other TN-based screen we’ve photographed. From the side, we see a significant red shift, light falloff, and crushed shadow detail. From above, there is almost no difference between the brightest and darkest steps. But as long as you view the screen head-on from two or three feet away, you probably won’t be able to tell it apart from an IPS display.

Screen Uniformity: Luminance

As we recorded the values for the black field pattern, we could tell we had a winner on our hands. The G2770PQU sample AOC sent us posts the best result out of all the monitors we’ve tested in this particular metric. It even beats the pro screens that include uniformity compensation.

Here’s the white field measurement:

The white field result is comfortably under 10 percent, which makes any aberrations invisible to the naked eye. The only measurable hotspot is at the center of the screen. The G2770PQU is obviously well-made with excellent quality control.

Screen Uniformity: Color

The color uniformity result is higher than average, but still well under three Delta E, where errors become visible. The main flaw, according to our meter, is in the upper-left portion of the screen.

Pixel Response And Input Lag

Please click here to read up on our pixel response and input lag testing procedures.

We had to do things a little differently for this review because our pattern generator only goes up to 60Hz. So, we filmed a mouse movement that triggers the field pattern’s appearance. Since this is less precise than using the generator, we averaged five measurements. The tests were run at the G2770PQU’s maximum refresh rate of 144Hz.

The seven-millisecond result is right up there with the other 144Hz TN-based screens we tested. Overlord’s IPS display is only a tiny bit behind at nine milliseconds, which clearly shows the effect of refresh rate on screen draw time; faster refresh equals faster response.

Here are the lag results:

We were surprised that the G2770PQU couldn’t quite keep up with its stable-mate, the G2460PQU. Overall lag is much lower than any 60Hz display. But among our high-refresh screens, it’s the slowest.

Like the G2460PQU, AOC doesn't include any sort of blur reduction feature. After running through several of the Blur Busters tests, I can say that it is not sorely missed. When the refresh rate is maxed at 144Hz, motion is quite smooth and resolution in the most detailed images stays solid at fairly high motion rates. Would backlight strobing make it better? Yes, but only a little.

Remember that the downside to backlight strobing is a corresponding reduction in light output. This was an issue with the BenQ XL2720Z because its brightness maxes at about 300 cd/m2. After factoring in the 58-percent drop with Blur Reduction on full, you’re left with only 150 cd/m2, meaning you need a very dark room to see full detail in gaming titles.

8. Speedy But Not The Speediest

We, along with our enthusiast readers, have long clamored for high-resolution and high-refresh-rate panels to game on. Overlord answered the call with its Tempest X270OC, and Asus now has the PG278Q (ROG Swift). So why consider a TN-based panel with a density of only 82 ppi? The answer will undoubtedly come down to budget and how the display fits in with your particular gaming rig.

For a price-is-no-object setup, you’re probably not even considering anything less than Ultra HD. But for those who have to watch their expenditures, it’s important to measure the abilities of your video board against those of your display.

We all know the best image comes at a monitor’s native resolution. And we all know it takes a lot of power (and money) to game at decent frame rates beyond FHD. There’s no point in buying a QHD or UHD screen when the best your hardware can manage is 1920 x 1080. That is where the G2770PQU becomes relevant.

We’ve talked about balanced performance in the past. If you have a component that out-distances the rest of your system, it’s not only a waste of money, it can even contribute to poorer image quality. The right pairing means making a realistic assessment of your graphics card’s performance and connecting a monitor of the appropriate resolution and speed rating.

There’s no question that GPU technology and performance improves at a far greater rate than display tech. At least now we have several excellent choices among high-refresh monitors. In the past few months, we’ve looked at major products from Asus, Overlord, BenQ, and AOC. Soon, we expect to see more samples of G-Sync-capable screens from the same companies.

We’re in the midst of an exciting evolution in display technology for sure. And for many users, a monitor like the G2770PQU is a perfect match. It offers reasonably accurate color, grayscale, and gamma, along with excellent contrast and stable operation at 100, 120, and 144Hz. That should be more than enough speed for just about any system short of a G-Sync-capable one running a GeForce GTX 780 or better. The only surprise we encountered was input lag that fell behind other 144Hz-enabled screens we’ve tested. Of course, only the enthusiasts with the fastest reflexes will notice a difference of 17 milliseconds.

Like the G2460PQU, this monitor has no blur-reduction feature. We’ve tested backlight strobing on the BenQ XL2720Z and found it useful. But as the refresh rate increases, the need for additional blur-reduction decreases. At 144Hz, motion is very smooth with no obvious ghosting or artifacting. While capabilities like LightBoost are helpful at 60Hz, we’re not sure they're really needed at the higher rates.

For those gaming above 1920 x 1080 pixels, AOC offers a compelling choice. We’re only just starting to see G-Sync monitors hit the market and QHD displays that run faster than 60Hz still only come from Overlord and Asus. If FHD is enough resolution for your particular graphics setup, and you want 144Hz operation in a 27-inch screen size, the G2770PQU is worthy of your consideration.