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Response, Input Lag, Viewing Angles and Uniformity

With the market’s current focus on super-fast refresh rates, I had to go back in time a bit to find OLEDs running slower than 300 Hz. At 280 Hz is the XG27AQWMG and Alienware’s AW2725D. At 240 Hz are AOC’s Q27G4ZD and AG276QZD2, Aorus’ FO27Q2, and ViewSonic’s XG272-2K.

Pixel Response and Input Lag

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Asus ROG Strix XG27AQWMG — (Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

The XG27AQWMG’s extra 40 Hz makes no difference in the response test. All the panels draw a full white field in 4ms. In practice, there is no difference in motion resolution, it’s visually perfect across the board.

In the input lag test, the XG27AQWMG sits right in the middle with a 20ms total score. That’s very quick and only 3ms behind the Alienware. The Aorus smokes the competition, using only 240 Hz to do so, with a 13ms score. It doesn’t get much quicker than that. In practice though, you won’t perceive a difference between any of these panels, they’re all incredibly fast and perfectly smooth.

Test Takeaway: OLED technology truly levels the playing field with its flawless motion resolution, which the XG27AQWMG exploits completely. It also has very low input lag with just 20ms total in my test. It stands out from the others by including ELMB, which means smoother motion at frame rates below 140. But when running at full tilt, any OLED faster than 240 Hz will give you the same excellent gaming feel and experience. It truly doesn’t get better than this.

Viewing Angles

The XG27AQWMG has superb off-axis image quality, but it is not perfect. Like nearly all the QD-OLEDs I’ve photographed, there is a slight color shift at 45 degrees to the sides. Here, it’s just a tad red/green. It’s easier to see in a grayscale step pattern than in actual content. There is no change in brightness or gamma, which is a good thing. The top view has reduced gamma and a more pronounced color shift. This is typical QD-OLED performance.

Screen Uniformity

To learn how we measure screen uniformity, click here.

In my experience, OLED displays have distinctly better screen uniformity than LCDs. It could be the tech, or it could be their premium status, but the numbers cannot be denied. The XG27AQWMG came in at just 2.16% deviation from the center zone. That is well below the visual threshold. It is a strong indicator of the category’s strength when the ViewSonic comes last at 5.93%. This is excellent performance.

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Christian Eberle is a Contributing Editor for Tom's Hardware US. He's a veteran reviewer of A/V equipment, specializing in monitors. Christian began his obsession with tech when he built his first PC in 1991, a 286 running DOS 3.0 at a blazing 12MHz. In 2006, he undertook training from the Imaging Science Foundation in video calibration and testing and thus started a passion for precise imaging that persists to this day. He is also a professional musician with a degree from the New England Conservatory as a classical bassoonist which he used to good effect as a performer with the West Point Army Band from 1987 to 2013. He enjoys watching movies and listening to high-end audio in his custom-built home theater and can be seen riding trails near his home on a race-ready ICE VTX recumbent trike. Christian enjoys the endless summer in Florida where he lives with his wife and Chihuahua and plays with orchestras around the state.