Gigabyte Aorus FI27Q Gaming Monitor Review: 27-Inch 1440p Done Right

Near-perfect color, superb gaming performance

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By Christian Eberle
last updated
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(Image: © Gigabyte)

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The FI27Q has an edge-array backlight that offers plenty of color, but it won’t deliver the super-high contrast that’s possible with a FALD panel. It is rated for DisplayHDR 400 and achieves the necessary 400 nits.

HDR Brightness and Contrast

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(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

We were a bit surprised to see a slightly lower output figure for HDR than SDR: 407 versus 438 nits. What we missed more was some sort of dynamic contrast feature. We don’t recommend using that option in SDR mode because it reduced highlight and shadow detail. HDR, however, can benefit from a properly implemented algorithm. Though the FI27Q has a three-level DC control, it does not operate in HDR mode. You can make the change in the OSD, but we couldn’t see or measure a difference. Therefore, the monitor offers about the same dynamic range for SDR and HDR content, which is disappointing for those looking to use this monitor for their favorite HDR games or movies.

Grayscale, EOTF and Color

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(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

Fortunately, the grayscale, luminance tracking and color tests show precise accuracy. We were delighted to find separate RGB settings available in HDR mode, something few monitors offer. We used them to achieve near-perfect grayscale tracking. You can change the gamma settings too, but option 3 delivered excellent EOTF performance with a transition to tone-mapping at around 64% brightness. Though HDR material won’t look dramatically different from SDR, it will at least be rendered accurately.

With its superb DCI-P3 coverage, the FI27Q leverages that capability in HDR mode. Like the SDR test, it hits every color point, coming up a tiny bit short in the green primary. Many HDR monitors push the saturation targets, but this approach can reduce the impact of fine detail. The FI27Q keeps everything right on point. The Rec.2020 chart also looks as it should with every point on target except the full saturation, which is past the monitor’s capability. Of all the HDR monitors we’ve measured, this one is among the most accurate, regardless of price.

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Christian Eberle
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.

12 Comments Comment from the forums
  • NewbieGeek
    I have this monitor. It is quite good. Looks beautiful. Stand is fantastic as well. My only complaints with it are a sort of hissing at high refresh rates, (not noticible with headphones) and occasional flickering (fixable with flipping the refresh rate down to 60 and back up to 165). Only seems to happy sometimes when waking from sleep. Regardless, this monitor is beautiful, smooth, and 100% recommend.
    Reply
  • Giroro
    "Color banding should not be an issue either, because the FI27Q upsamples to 10-bits using Frame Rate Conversion. "

    The linked paged for the FI27Q-P also lists 10 Bit (8 Bit+FRC) Color Depth So I am especially unsure of the difference.
    The only differences I can see on Gigabyte's pages are that FI27Q-P has display port 1.4 with something called HBR3, consumes up to 15W more power, and has a 2.1kg higher gross weight.

    The Q-P page advertises "Enjoy 2K, 165Hz, HDR, 10bits color at same time!", which implies that the Q model may not be able to use all these features simultaneously.
    Reply
  • kokotas
    Giroro said:
    P page advertises "Enjoy 2K, 165Hz, HDR, 10bits color at same time!", which implies that the Q model may not be able to use all these features simultaneously.

    gigabytegaming/comments/ctfnc7View: https://www.reddit.com/r/gigabytegaming/comments/ctfnc7/ad27q_vs_fi27q_vs_fi27qp/
    Reply
  • bit_user
    Thanks for the review, but it's like a year late? Last November/December, they launched the FI27Q-P, which feature DisplayPort HBR3, enabling 165 Hz refresh and 10-bit, simultaneously. That's the model to buy, for anyone interested this.
    Reply
  • bit_user
    Giroro said:
    "Color banding should not be an issue either, because the FI27Q upsamples to 10-bits using Frame Rate Conversion."
    Were you going to say something about that? I will. The author misunderstands how FRC works. In fact, it's just dithering 10-bit down to 8-bit. The panel is only 8-bit. So, they basically add some noise and quantize. The temporal filtering in your eye (and the LCD, to some extent) makes it look close to 10-bit.

    However, if you display natively 8-bit content, a FRC display will do nothing to eliminate the banding. So, you need software that will drive the display at 10-bit. Now, how much benefit this really adds over having a game do its own dithering down to 8-bit I really can't say, but I'm a little dubious.

    Giroro said:
    The linked paged for the FI27Q-P also lists 10 Bit (8 Bit+FRC) Color Depth So I am especially unsure of the difference.
    The only differences I can see on Gigabyte's pages are that FI27Q-P has display port 1.4 with something called HBR3
    That's exactly it. DP 1.4 HBR3 finally has enough bandwidth to enable "165Hz, HDR, 10bits color at same time!" at 2560x1440.

    Giroro said:
    The Q-P page advertises , which implies that the Q model may not be able to use all these features simultaneously.
    Correct.
    Reply
  • bit_user
    BTW, the FI27Q-P has G-Sync-compatible HDR certification, but only FreeSync Premium (not Premium Pro - their HDR certification). I have PCs with both AMD and Nvidia GPUs that I want to connect to it.

    Because of this and some user reviews complaining of backlight bleed near the bottom of the display, I will pass.
    Reply
  • vacavalier
    bit_user said:
    BTW, the FI27Q-P has G-Sync-compatible HDR certification, but only FreeSync Premium (not Premium Pro - their HDR certification). I have PCs with both AMD and Nvidia GPUs that I want to connect to it.

    Because of this and some user reviews complaining of backlight bleed near the bottom of the display, I will pass.


    Some reviewers seeing issues like backlight bleed does not mean all will or do... This unfortunately is something that will occur with TN/VA/IPS panel tech ( in varying degrees in each) as you prob know.

    I've owned the F127Q-P for two weeks now... No stuck or dead pixels and zero bleed from any portion of the screen noted. Excellent picture quality and performance all around with streaming, Blu-Ray and gaming noted as well. I could have left the out-of-the-box settings in "Standard" as is, but did some calibrating to my liking, making it that much better.

    I have not delved into it's "HDR" yet as it's not something I'm interested in at the moment, but is on the horizon.
    Reply
  • gg83
    I have this monitor and I love it! I don't use the hdr anyway so I didn't care about the slightly lower brightness and contrast. It's on sale occasionally too. It's a good thing to put out review on products that have been around a bit but are still a great deal. Thanks Tom's. I have run out of content to read so now I'm posting/reading the forum.
    Reply
  • bit_user
    vacavalier said:
    Some reviewers seeing issues like backlight bleed does not mean all will or do... This unfortunately is something that will occur with TN/VA/IPS panel tech ( in varying degrees in each) as you prob know.
    Thanks for sharing your experience.

    For me, the bleed and lack of Freesync Premium Pro are the two issues. I know the bleed is a roll of the dice, and I'd probably take a chance on it, if the Premium Pro support were there.

    But HDR is really something I want to dabble with, as a developer. And since I tend to keep monitors for a long time, I'm just not going to pull the trigger on a monitor without full HDR & VRR support from both AMD and Nvidia.

    I've waited a long time to upgrade my monitor. I can wait just a bit longer, for the right one.
    Reply
  • rayber_50
    bit_user said:
    Thanks for sharing your experience.

    For me, the bleed and lack of Freesync Premium Pro are the two issues. I know the bleed is a roll of the dice, and I'd probably take a chance on it, if the Premium Pro support were there.

    But HDR is really something I want to dabble with, as a developer. And since I tend to keep monitors for a long time, I'm just not going to pull the trigger on a monitor without full HDR & VRR support from both AMD and Nvidia.

    I've waited a long time to upgrade my monitor. I can wait just a bit longer, for the right one.
    This f12q in all its reviews , black bleeding is mentioned by experts .Both in the Q model and the P model.
    I have the Q model ,I had to pay 514.99 dollars for it at newegg . Even had a price drop of 25.00 dollars ,
    And did not get my 25.00 dollar difference returned to my paypal account , just a gift card for 25.00.
    Gigabyte knows about these monitor issues ,they are all over the net ,Want an all around monitor for
    your 500.00 dollars , look for better quality and ask about everything before buying Nice looking monitor,
    but has issues,that is the truth here.
    Reply