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AOC AGON Gaming AG273QCX - 27 Inch QHD Curved Monitor, 144Hz, 1 ms, VA, HDR400, FreeSync, Speakers, Height adjust (2560x1440 @ 144Hz 400 cd/m², HDMI/DP/VGA/USB 3.0)

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In case your FPS drops below 48FPS, LFC (Low Framerate Compensation) takes over and forces the monitor’s refresh rate to run at double or triple the frame rate for less tearing/stuttering. The real Achilles heel of VA models like this, though, are the transitions involving darker shades. This includes so-called ‘high contrast transitions’ between bright and significantly darker shades, but also mixtures of very dark and medium-dark shades moving against one another. There were some standout weaknesses on this model where these transitions were concerned, even using our preferred ‘Strong’ setting for ‘Overdrive’. There were instances of significantly slower than optimal pixel transitions, giving a ‘smeary’ trailing in places. This often contained an element of ‘break-up’ trailing whereby some shades would leach out during the transition. The dark military uniform of a solider at night against the sky, for example, might have some of the dark brown or green shades leaching out as ‘break-up’ trailing. The section of the video below gives some examples of this and also looks and some of the faster transitions on this model. As noted, many transitions are enough to avoid these distinct stand-out weaknesses. But some persist and that could annoy some users.

We did not observe any dynamic ‘interlace pattern artifacts’, although we did observe some static interlace patterns in places. This included but was not limited to certain medium-light greys, various blue shades and dark browns. They broke up into horizontal lines of a slightly lighter and darker variant of the intended shade in places. This static interlacing was reasonably faint and not everybody will notice it or find it bothersome, although sensitive users such as us can find them quite noticeable at times. We don’t find them as eye-catching as ‘dynamic interlace patterns’, which are particularly difficult to ignore if you’re sensitive to them. The monitor offers excellent contrast and brightness levels, making it easy to differentiate between light and dark areas in games. This enhances the overall visual experience, making scenes more captivating and realistic. The brightness levels are adjustable, so you can optimize them according to your preferences and the ambient lighting conditions in your gaming space. At 144Hz, above, the UFO appears slightly narrower and more sharply focused. Obviously not as significant a difference as comparing 60Hz to 120Hz, but still an improvement. This reflects slightly lower perceived blur due to eye movement. The trailing behind the object is fairly similar to at 120Hz. Because the perceived blur due to eye movement is decreased (object is narrower) and the refresh rate itself has increased, the pixel response requirements for a ‘clean’ performance also increase slightly. The trailing is therefore slightly more extended, although the overall nature of the trailing is quite similar. Most users will appreciate the improved ‘connected feel’ (explored later) and the overall reduction in perceived blur at 144Hz regardless of this. The ‘Strong’ setting is again optimal, without strong overshoot for the transitions shown here and a slight reduction in trailing compared to weaker settings. The C27HG70 reference almost looks like another step up in overdrive over the AG273QCX, with a bit more of a reduction in trailing without any obvious overshoot being introduced for these transitions. The XG240R reference is very clean indeed, the envy of pretty much any other LCD on the market. We thoroughly test all of our monitors, typically beginning with Lagom’s LCD test suite, but I made a pit stop to Test UFO to put the AGON through its Motion Picture Response Time Test. The best result I was able to achieve was 1.6ms. This isn’t a scientific measurement but does lead me to believe we should take that 1ms “smart response” measurement with a grain of salt.As ‘Gamma3’, but brightness set to a much more comfortable level and slight colour channel adjustments made. Image appears vibrant and strongly saturated, but varied and well-balanced in many respects.

Lastly, it is a cool gaming monitor with awesome image quality. The colors and details look really good because of the high contrast and wide color range. Plus, the resolution is 1440 p, which means the pictures are sharp and clear. Alternatively, you may want to consider the Samsung C27HG70 1440p 144Hz curved VA monitor with better DisplayHDR 600 support. The monitor is bright and can be configured to be at the maximum output of 400 nits, but this isn't an impressive figure for HDR displays. It's of striking quality, but don't expect to be blown away by HDR content on this panel. It's designed more like a gaming display. For users after a good all-round gaming experience, 27” 2560 x 1440 models are popular. They come in three main flavours, each with their distinct pros and cons – TN, IPS and VA. The AOC AG273QCX, of the AGON 3 series, takes the VA path. As usual for models with these characteristics, the screen is also curved (to 1800R). The screen size and resolution provided a good pixel density for a multitude of uses, bringing nice detail and clarity to games and high resolution images. And keeping text looking quite crisp but also readable without scaling (mileage may vary). The curve was a less noteworthy addition, which for some users might be a good thing. It didn’t dramatically change the experience, just drawing you in a bit more and giving a slight feeling of extra depth. Once you’re used to it, which shouldn’t take long for most users, you really forget it’s there. The monitor coupled this with full ergonomic flexibility and a very robust stand design. ‘Light FX’ RGB LEDs also feature to illuminate the area behind and beneath the monitor in various customisable ways. We didn’t find these LEDs as bright as we’d like, to use as effective bias lighting, but they at least offered more utility than some solutions. Those which you have to look at directly to see working – which isn’t much use when there’s a wall directly behind your monitor.The monitor had a range of ‘LowBlue Mode’ settings. These were fairly easy to access and vary in their effectiveness. The most effective mode, ‘Reading’, was not quite as strong in its blue light reduction as we’d like but was still fairly effective. It’s a setting which we used for our own viewing comfort in the evening but not for specific testing beyond the setting itself. More specifically, we used our ‘Test Settings’ with this applied over the top – you can make further manual adjustments to colour channels with a ‘LowBlue Mode’ active if you like, potentially making it more effective. Lowering brightness as well is very helpful in cutting blue light exposure. Cutting out blue light as much as possible in the hours leading up to sleep is useful as it’s an alertness signal used by the body to keep you awake and it disrupts sleep hormones. This monitor has an impressive 144 Hz refresh rate to make your games buttery smooth. That means it updates the screen 144 times every second, making everything silky and smooth, even in fast-paced games. This monitor comes with Free-Sync and G-Sync compatibility, like a superhero gaming team-up. They work together to eliminate those pesky issues and give you a flawless gaming experience. By doing so, you will eliminate all screen tearing and stuttering as long as your FPS (Frames Per Second) is within the VRR range. Gaming features include the Game Mode picture presets (FPS, RTS, Racing, and three ‘Gamer’ customizable profiles), Shadow Control and Game Control (color saturation and gamma curvature adjustments), Overdrive (Off, Weak, Medium, Strong), Dial Point (custom crosshair), Low Input Lag Mode, and Frame Counter.

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