It would be fair to say that the world didn’t need another 27in, 1440p gaming monitor, especially one that costs as much or more than some 4K displays. To its credit, however, the ViewSonic Elite XG270QG manages to find a genuinely unique combination of IPS image quality and sheer competition-grade speed: this is the only IPS monitor that combines a 1440p resolution, overclocked 165Hz refresh rate and a 1ms grey-to-grey response time.
The main drawback here is obviously the price, but if that doesn’t phase you, The ViewSonic Elite XG270QG is a good choice for gamers looking for a stand-out high-end monitor.
ViewSonic Elite XG270QG review: Design and features
It’s well designed physically, with a very solid yet fully adjustable stand and a matt finish that helps repel glare. For even more light blockage, the Elite XG270QG also comes with adjustable light shields that can be optionally attached to the left and right edges. They’re a nice enough bonus, although a hood for the top edge would have completed the set.
There’s some modest RGB lighting on the underside and the back, but a few more practical features are tucked away too: 100×100 VESA mounting compatibility, a headset hook on the rear-left side and two mouse cable bungees on the bottom. Both the hook and the bungees can be folded away when not in use, and because the latter sit on both the left and right, southpaws don’t need to have their cable drawn over to the opposite side when they’re trying to keep it tidy.
Also hidden are the ports, beneath a removable plastic cover. This is the first point where the Elite XG270QG stumbles: its DisplayPort and three USB3 ports are all fine, as is the single 3.5mm audio jack, but there’s no USB Type-C, and the sole HDMI input appears to be of the 1.4 standard, so it can’t support 1440p beyond 60Hz. It’s a weird spec; HDMI 2.0 would at least get to 144Hz.
The built-in speakers are also underwhelming. They’re not very loud even with volume cranked up to full, and are lacking in both low-end impact and high-frequency sparkle.
A little joystick sits dead centre beneath the lower bezel, flanked by a multipurpose button on the left and a power button on the right. Joysticks are generally more intuitive for navigation than multiple directional buttons and this one is no exception. Making selections can be fiddly, however, as pressing down on the joystick to confirm often registers as an up, down or sideways movement command.
Regardless, the onscreen display (OSD) is organised sensibly, splitting itself into various tabs. The Display tab contains all the key tweaks, including brightness, contrast and colour profiles, while under the Game Mode tab you can enable overdrive or ‘Dark Boost’, which merely seems to raise the contrast so it’s easier to make out darkened areas.
ViewSonic Elite XG270QG review: Performance
It also allows you to create custom profiles, though even in the Standard profile, the Elite XG270QG looks great immediately. In Standard mode with the default Native colour profile, sRGB coverage is at 99.6%, although a gamut volume figure of 136.8% of sRGB indicates the panel has been calibrated to DCI-P3 instead.
And in the DCI-P3 colour space, it’s pretty good, reaching 93.8% coverage and 96.9% total volume. Peak brightness comes in at 398cd/m², which is almost enough for DisplayHDR 400 certification, not that ViewSonic tries to claim it.
On these metrics, the Elite XG270QG confidently stands up to all its gaming monitor rivals. In particular, the AOC Agon AG271QG and Asus ROG Swift PG279Q only target 350cd/m². Sadly, however, contrast is a weakness – 879:1 isn’t disastrously low, but a display of this calibre and price should really be exceeding 1,000:1.
Strangely, we also tested the sRGB profile and found it performs almost identically to the Standard profile. We therefore left it on default settings for the rest of our testing, which also confirmed this monitor’s speed and smoothness.
At 165Hz, it handles motion absolutely beautifully, with no visible ghosting on fast-moving objects whatsoever; quite an achievement considering how prone IPS panels are to blurring. G-Sync works perfectly too, preventing tearing at low, medium and high frame rates alike.
That said, the quoted 1ms response time is a cursed chalice: it requires the Ultra Fast overdrive setting, which, like the lower Advanced setting, adds a noticeable inverse ghosting effect. It’s fine to leave overdrive on Standard, which sets response time to 5ms; that’s perfectly adequate unless you’re an aspiring competitive FPS player.
READ NEXT: Razer Raptor 27 review
ViewSonic Elite XG270QG review: Verdict
For everyone else, the Elite XG270QG is more than fast enough, and it achieves this without sacrificing qualities like vibrancy and accuracy at the altar of speed. Save for some lower-than-expected contrast, it has everything you could want from a gaming monitor.
That’s why it’s so maddening that, just like the Razer Raptor 27, it pushes its luck by asking for too much cash. The AOC Agon AG271QG and ROG Swift PG279Q aren’t quite as bright and don’t cover as much of the DCI-P3 gamut, but these are nitpicks considering both are triple-figures cheaper than the Elite XG270QG, and the ViewSonic monitor’s response time advantage only comes into play if you’re willing to make the image a little worse at the same time.
That’s why, regretfully, the Elite XG270QG isn’t quite full recommendation material, even if it is among the elite of gaming monitors.
The post ViewSonic Elite XG270QG review: Almost a perfect gaming monitor appeared first on abangtech.
source https://abangtech.com/viewsonic-elite-xg270qg-review-almost-a-perfect-gaming-monitor/
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