AOC G2460PQU 24-inch 144 Hz Gaming Monitor Review

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OSD Setup And Calibrating AOC's G2460PQU

OSD Tour

The G2460PQU’s OSD looks a little different than most displays, but should still be familiar to those who have used AOC monitors before. The menu is always at the bottom of the screen and is broken up into five main sub-menus. Press the first button left of Power to activate it.

The Luminance menu has brightness and contrast controls, along with gamma presets. The default setting is Gamma 1, but we found Gamma 2 to be more accurate.

Eco Mode is AOC’s term for picture mode and there are six to choose from. The only one that allows full calibration control is Standard. The others, Text, Internet, Game, Movie, and Sports, lock out the RGB sliders. Moreover, some of them eliminate the brightness, contrast, and gamma controls.

There are three Gamma presets available. The default is 1, but 2 is far better if your goal, like ours, is 2.2. We suggest dialing in that setting before adjusting the color temp sliders.

DCR stands for Dynamic Contrast Ratio. Leave it off for the best image quality. While turning it on increases measured contrast, it also crushes detail in both shadow and highlight areas.

Overdrive can reduce the ghosting that sometimes occurs behind fast moving objects on-screen. When you’re running at high refresh rates, it won’t make a difference since motion blur is already negligible.

i-Care utilizes a sensor mounted on the front bezel to adjust brightness based on the room light.

DPS (Dynamic Power Saving) cuts energy use by up to 50 percent. Of course, light output is also reduced. Since the G2460PQU has output to spare, you can use this control to keep from maxing the backlight.

We didn’t bother to snap a photo of the second menu, Image Setup. It contains controls for tuning analog signals, along with a Sharpness slider. The menu is grayed out when using a digital connection.

Color temp controls are found under the Color Setup menu. The default preset, Warm, is actually a bit cool according to our measurements. Switch to User for better accuracy and access to the RGB sliders. Kudos to AOC for starting those adjustments in the center of their range. It’s much easier to dial in grayscale without reducing contrast that way.

DCB stand for Dynamic Color Boost and is designed to enhance specific colors in the palette. There are modes like Nature Skin and Green Field that tweak flesh tones or grass, for instance. Using them is a matter of personal preference. They won't make the monitor’s color more accurate, only different.

Picture Boost creates a user-defined area on the screen where one can adjust brightness and contrast separately from the rest of the image. You can size and position the window anywhere you like and use it to highlight content.

The most useful tool in the OSD Setup menu is the timeout feature, which can be set for as long as two minutes. Since the menu is so wide, there isn’t much point in moving it around, as it’s already well away from a typical test pattern. You can also adjust the menu’s transparency.

The last few ergonomic options are in the Extras menu. Input Select defaults to the Auto setting and never failed to lock on to whatever source we connected.

Auto Config will sync with analog signals and usually eliminate the need for any phase or clock adjustments.

The Off Timer can be set for up to 24 hours.

Image Ratio can replicate several aspects and screen sizes from 17-inch 4:3 up to the full 24-inch 16:9 image.

DDC-CI should always be left on to allow two-way interaction between the G2460PQU and your computer.

Reset returns all settings to their factory defaults.

Information is limited to input resolution, and the horizontal and vertical refresh rates. We would also like to see the monitor’s firmware version displayed, as well as its serial number.

AOC G2460PQU Calibration

Since the only picture mode that allows full adjustment is Standard, that’s where we perform our calibration. To get maximum output down to 200 cd/m2, we had to drop Brightness to 37 out of 100. The G2460PQU is an exceptionally bright display. The Contrast control doesn't clip information beyond a setting of 50, but we reduced it to 45 for better grayscale accuracy at 100-percent brightness.

If you don’t calibrate, the best grayscale and color performance are found at a Color Temp setting of either User or sRGB. Further manipulation of the RGB sliders brings color to a fairly high standard of accuracy. For best results, leave DCR, DPS, and DCB off. All of these are dynamic settings that will change your calibration depending on content.

Swipe to scroll horizontally
AOC G2460PQU Calibration Settings
Eco ModeStandard
Contrast45
Brightness37
Color TempUser
RGBRed 53, Green 51, Blue 47

As mentioned, the RGB sliders start in the center of their range, which is a good thing. To maintain the highest possible contrast, make your changes in a balanced fashion. Keeping the three values as close to one another as possible results in little to no contrast reduction.

Christian Eberle
Contributing Editor

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.

  • PandaV4
    I have a AOC G2460P monitor myself, and a unpleasant surprise was that refresh rate of 144 Hz wasn't supported if using the DisplayPort connection. Does G2460PQU have the same limitations, or does it actually support 144 Hz over DisplayPort?
    Reply
  • PandaV4
    After some googling it seems that G2460PQU and G2460P is the same model. So beware if you want to use Displayport you wont be able to use the 144 Hz setting too! And this doesn't have any blur reduction either! It seems there is actually a new updated model to be released this month the AOC G2460PG. And it has nvidia g-sync support and blur reduction, and supports 144 over dIsplayport.
    TL;DR: G2460PQU = DO NOT BUY, G2460PG = BUY.
    Reply
  • ubercake
    Good review. Thanks.

    A typo:
    Bezel width: 0.6-1 inched / 15-25 mm
    Reply
  • ceberle
    13687399 said:
    I have a AOC G2460P monitor myself, and a unpleasant surprise was that refresh rate of 144 Hz wasn't supported if using the DisplayPort connection. Does G2460PQU have the same limitations, or does it actually support 144 Hz over DisplayPort?

    The PQU does accept 144 Hz over DisplayPort.

    -Christian-
    Reply
  • PandaV4
    13688062 said:
    13687399 said:
    I have a AOC G2460P monitor myself, and a unpleasant surprise was that refresh rate of 144 Hz wasn't supported if using the DisplayPort connection. Does G2460PQU have the same limitations, or does it actually support 144 Hz over DisplayPort?

    The PQU does accept 144 Hz over DisplayPort.

    -Christian-
    A bit of googling brought up this article - http://pcmonitors.info/reviews/aoc-g2460pqu which says: " The image provided by DisplayPort is very similar on this monitor and it should also support the maximum (144Hz) refresh rate. Unfortunately that was not the case during our testing" and "The PC resolutions below this should feature 1920 x 1080 with 100Hz, 120Hz and 144Hz selectable – but that isn’t the case.". It seems there are different revisions of this monitor with the same model number. So if you buy one of those than you are practically gambling about the 144 Hz support.
    Reply
  • npyrhone
    Will we ever see here a review of even one non-TN gaming monitor? The reduced color depth renders to image quality absolutely disgusting.

    I will be the first one to congratulate you when you publish the next review of a monitor with a non-TN panel working over 60Hz.
    Reply
  • rantoc
    Yet another low res 1080p panel - Yawn!
    Reply
  • 3Dns
    I have that model too and i buy it after a HP 23xi IPS LED Panel.
    I understand that.
    It doesnt worth 300€ for this model. All you need is 60hz and 24" Panel that you can take it with 120€. For me IPS Panels offer you way better colors so for me its better. Now if you want it for a GTX780 and above and you wanna play over 60FPS it may worth.
    But have in mind that a normal monitor cost ~120$ and this model cost double. You can spend that money in other hardware areas like better GPU for example.
    Reply
  • Adroid
    Sorry, but I won't ever buy another 1080p "gaming" display. 1920x1200 is vastly superior for "gaming" screens, and it's a shame the industry has veered away from it.

    I guess the thought process involves "and you can watch HD movies on it". Needless to say the 16:9 ratio is cheaper for manufacturers, and it's a great sales pitch. Well, give me a break. I got suckered into that line of thinking and I probably watched 2-3 movies on my "gaming" 23 inch monitor in 4-5 years.

    Let's keep the movies where they belong in the living room and re-focus "gaming" screens where they should have never left - in the 16:10 aspect ratio.
    Reply
  • alchemy69
    If a game isn't enjoyable at 60Hz it isn't going to be enjoyable at 144Hz. And if it is enjoyable at 144, it still will be at 60. I've had some of the greatest fun over the last 30 years playing on tiny monitors, at low resolution and probably less than 30fps. I don't need the industry telling me what I need to have fun just so they can move more product.
    Reply