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To compare the M27QA ICE’s performance, we have a group of 165 and 180 Hz QHD screens all in the 27-inch size. There’s Lenovo’s G27q-30, ASRock’s PG27QFT2A, Xiaomi’s G Pro 27i, Asus XG27ACS and Cooler Master’s GM2711S.
Pixel Response and Input Lag
Click here to read up on our pixel response and input lag testing procedures.
The response test indicates how smooth the moving image will be and all the screens here are on the same footing. There are slight differences in overdrive quality, and the M27QA ICE has the best implementation. It’s super smooth on its Balanced setting with almost no motion blur. You can remove all blur using the backlight strobe, but you’ll see a slight phasing artifact.
In the lag test, the M27QA ICE smokes the others with just 19ms total. That puts it on par with 240 Hz monitors and qualifies it for competition. Note that the 165 Hz Lenovo hangs close to the 180 Hz screens at 25ms total lag.
Test Takeaway: The M27QA ICE is one of the quickest and most responsive screens you can buy for less than $300. Its overdrive is nearly perfect, and it allows the backlight strobe and Adaptive-Sync to work together with no brightness penalty and only a slight phasing artifact. At 180fps, it’s on par with many of the 240 Hz screens I’ve reviewed. Only a much faster LCD or OLED will top Gigabyte’s offering.
Viewing Angles
The M27QA ICE delivers decent performance in my viewing angle test. The side photo shows a green tint but no significant loss of light output. Gamma stays solid, meaning there’s no fine detail loss at 45 degrees off-center. The top view also has reasonable gamma with a slight red tint and 40% brightness reduction.
Screen Uniformity
To learn how we measure screen uniformity, click here.
Some of the monitors in the group have visible glow or bleed, but not my M27QA ICE sample. It shows perfect uniformity in all color and grayscale field patterns. The black field has no sign of anomalies, just a smooth tone from edge to edge. This is excellent performance.
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