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Viewing Angles, Uniformity, Response and Lag
Viewing Angles
The RG270’s viewing angles are better than those on many IPS screens. When viewed at 45 degrees to the sides, there was a 20 percent light falloff and almost no change in color. Because gamma also didn’t change, detail stayed consistent all the way down to the darkest parts of the screen. The top view was less impressive, showing a 70 percent reduction in output and a green tint. Detail held up well though. Among LCD panels, it doesn’t get much better than this.
Screen Uniformity
To learn how we measure screen uniformity, click here.
Our RG270 sample suffered a bit in the black field uniformity test. This is not unusual when a monitor is so thin. It takes only a minute variation in pressure between the TFT and anti-glare layer to produce a glow. We saw some slight hot-spotting near the edges, mostly in the screen’s upper-right zone. At any signal level above zero, it became invisible. It didn’t affect gameplay, but we saw it when watching movies with black bars at the top and bottom.
Pixel Response & Input Lag
Click here to read up on our pixel response and input lag testing procedures.
Clearly, you’ll get the fastest response and lowest input lag from a 144Hz monitor. But unless you’re actually playing at that framerate, your real-world response time and input lag numbers will probably be closer to what we recorded from the two 75Hz screens. And this performance is achievable with a modest graphics board. With the RG270’s screen draw time of 13ms, you won’t find much need for the VRB blur-reduction feature. It’s much better to eliminate the frame tears with FreeSync.
A total input lag of 45ms is higher than that of the Asus, MSI and AOC monitors, but how many of us can detect a 20ms difference? We couldn’t during our gameplay tests. For all but the most competitive gamers, the RG270 is an excellent choice.
Gaming & Hands-on
The RG270 proved to be a capable monitor for common tasks like web browsing and word processing. At 27 inches, FHD resolution is stretched to its limit, and though small type and objects were reasonably clear, we could see the screen door effect at typical viewing distances. Granted, we are spoiled by the steady stream of QHD and UHD monitors that come through our lab. But it’s safe to say that 1080p’s days are numbered. Though the RG270 is still a solid value choice, it would be hard to downgrade to 1080p if you’re already used to higher resolutions.
Gameplay was a decent experience, thanks to framerates that stayed near 75 fps and FreeSync. We quickly grew tired of the dimmer output and visible flicker the VRB feature caused. It didn’t increase performance, and motion blur was only slightly less visible. While 75Hz is an improvement over 60Hz, it won’t deliver the smoothness and high motion resolution of 100 fps and higher.
There’s also a lack of overdrive support in FreeSync mode. During fast mouse inputs, we noticed motion blur, although it wasn’t a huge distraction. Most gameplay wasn’t affected, but when things really fly, we noticed it. Note, the overdrive option is grayed out when FreeSync is active.
Image quality while gaming was first rate, thanks to the RG270’s accurate color. We missed the higher contrast afforded by VA panels, but shadow and highlight details were strong due to the monitor’s excellent gamma tracking. You’ll enjoy playing on this display even with a budget system like our Radeon R9 285-based PC.
Overall, the RG270 delivers good performance for the price. It won’t compete with premium gaming monitors, but it costs far less than many other 27-inch screens.
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