A small utility called SMTT 2.0 was used alongside a sensitive camera to analyse the latency of the M27Q, with over 30 repeat readings taken to help maximise accuracy. Using this method, we calculated 3.71ms (~2/3rds of a frame at 170Hz) of input lag. We measured similar latency at 60Hz. The input lag measured here is influenced by both the element you ‘see’ (pixel responsiveness) and the main element you ‘feel’ (signal delay). It indicates a low signal delay which most users should find acceptable. Note that we don’t have the means to accurately measure input lag with Adaptive-Sync active in a variable refresh rate environment or with HDR active in an HDR environment.

The Lagom text appeared largely a blended grey, without clear flashes of saturated red, green or orange. The striping had more of a dark red quality lower down to the screen and slightly greenish further up, but a well-blended appearance overall. This indicates low viewing angle dependency to the gamma curve of the monitor, as typical for an IPS-type panel. The photo below gives a rough indication of how this test appeared. A good resolution and comfortable pixel density for work and play, a comprehensive OSD with accompanying software and height-adjustable stand However, VA technology has other disadvantages at this price range, such as slower response time, inferior VRR performance and not as wide viewing angles. As for the IPS glow, its intensity varies from panel to panel, but it’s manageable in most cases.If you run multiple PCs, an included KVM feature has a USB-C input that can provide power, video and peripheral support. And with two HDMI 2.0 and a DisplayPort 1.4, you can run 10-bit color and HDR up to the full 240 Hz. The M27Q X is a full-featured display that looks to provide an ideal balance of resolution and speed. Assembly and Accessories The video below shows the monitor in action. The camera used, processing done and your own screen all affect the output – so it doesn’t accurately represent what you’d see in person when viewing the monitor. It still provides useful visual demonstrations and explanations which help reinforce some of the key points raised in the written piece. Moderate ‘IPS glow’ ate away at detail and atmosphere, especially in dimmer room lighting. HDR performance very limited from contrast perspective With HDR on we played a bit of Call of Duty: WWII. Comparing HDR to SDR in this game showed a brighter overall environment for HDR but better detail and color saturation in SDR mode. Your selection will come down to user preference. We preferred playing all games in SDR mode. Other titles, like Tomb Raider, looked fantastic with deeply detailed shadows, vivid color and defined textures in this mode. The side view is angular and slim. The M27Q X is a bit thinner than typical 27-inch flat panels. Compared to most I’ve reviewed, it’s about one inch shallower. Unfortunately, there are no USB ports on either side.

Turning on HDR brightened the M27Q’s image considerably, but you can compensate with the brightness slider if it seems too harsh. We only used HDR for gaming and video, not for workday tasks. It offers no benefit when editing spreadsheets. Switchover is automatic and rapid when you select the HDR option in Windows’ Display Settings.If you’re intending to use the monitor with the PS5 or Xbox Series X/S, be aware that a small settings tweak may be required to ensure 120Hz is selectable. Details can be found in this article. An alternative LBL setting. Quite similar effectiveness without the green tint. The green channel is reduced somewhat and the blue channel is slightly stronger but significantly reduced compared to factory defaults. The monitor can get very bright thanks to its 400-nits peak brightness, however, the brightness is oddly limited to around 150-nits in the sRGB mode. Note that there is always some disparity between how emissive objects (monitor) and non-emissive objects (printed sheet) appear. The representation of shades in this image depends on the camera and your own screen, it’s not designed to show exactly how the shades appear in person. It still helps demonstrate some of the relative differences between the original intended sRGB shade and what the monitor outputs, however. Full profiling and appropriate colour management on the application would provide a tighter match, our intention here is to show what can be expected in a non colour-managed environment. A competent 170Hz performance with well-tuned pixel responses throughout the VRR range. Adaptive-Sync worked well on both AMD and Nvidia GPUs

Our suggestions regarding use of VSync also apply, but you’re using Nvidia Control Panel rather than AMD Radeon Software to control this. The setting is found in ‘Manage 3D settings’ under ‘Vertical sync’, where the final option (‘Fast’) is equivalent to AMD’s ‘Enhanced Sync’ setting. You’ll also notice ‘G-SYNC Compatible’ listed under ‘Monitor Technology’ in this section, as shown below. Make sure this is selected (it should be if you’ve set everything up correctly in ‘Set up G-SYNC’). You will also see in the image above that it states: “Selected Display is not validated as G-SYNC Compatible.” This means Nvidia hasn’t specifically tested and validated the display. On our RTX 3090, the experience was very similar to what we described with FreeSync. The floor of operation for VRR was slightly higher and depended on the static refresh rate selected for the monitor. At 170Hz and 165Hz, the floor was 55Hz. At 144Hz it was 53Hz and at 120Hz it was 50Hz. We observed the same LFC-like frame to refresh multiplication technology below this, keeping tearing and stuttering from frame and refresh rate mismatches at bay. There was again a momentary stuttering as the boundary was crossed, much as we observed with our AMD GPU. For the first set of text samples, ensure you select the 2nd option as shown in the image below. This second text sample should look clearer (bolder) than the first when viewed in person on this monitor. The remaining samples help fine-tune according to your own preferences.Vibrant and varied colour output with strong consistency and good coverage of both the DCI-P3 and Adobe RGB colour spaces Sadly, its BGR subpixel layout results in some text clarity issues that bothered many users. For gaming, content consumption and everyday use, the BGR layout issue is negligible, which is why it’s still a popular model today. While the Gigabyte M27Q-P can get really bright, it cannot get particularly dim as the minimum brightness sits at around 100-nits, which might be too bright for users who plan on using the monitor in a dark room. We also made observations using various episodes of the animated TV series Futurama. The vibrant elements here were certainly eye-catching, including some impressively deep blues and purples, bright neon pinks and quite stunning neon greens and electric blues. The shades that were supposed to be more muted certainly were, relative to those shades at least, but were more saturated than intended due to the gamut. This title showcased the strong colour consistency of this model well, bringing out an excellent variety of subtly different shades. And ensuring a given shade appeared relatively similar regardless of where on the screen it was shown. Without the clear shifts in saturation you’d see vertically on TN panels or when comparing central to peripheral regions on VA panels.