The design of the AOC 24G2 IPS gaming monitor is impressive considering the price. You get full ergonomic support with up to 130mm height adjustment, 90° pivot, +/- 30° swivel, -5°/22° tilt and 100x100mm VESA mount compatibility. Finally, note again that you can activate the ‘Frame Counter’ in the ‘Game Setting’ section of the OSD to see if the technology is working. This will rapidly adjust as frame rate fluctuates, whereas if Adaptive-Sync isn’t being used it will stay at the static refresh rate you’ve selected.

On Battlefield V the contrast performance was decent, especially for the panel type. Dimly lit building interiors and well-shaded areas showed somewhat more depth to the dark elements than you’d typically expect from an IPS-type panel. Although things didn’t look as deep or atmospheric as a VA model with decent contrast – such as the AOC C24G1, where static contrast is around twice as high. There was also ‘IPS glow’ which ate away at detail peripherally. A sort of haze of light which lightens up darker shades peripherally, particularly towards the bottom corners from a normal viewing position. We’d say this was slightly weaker than average for an IPS-type panel of this size and didn’t eat away at detail to the same extent as some models, but it was still a ‘feature’ nonetheless. Brighter shades contrasted well with darker surroundings, whilst the screen surface kept such shades appearing fairly smooth without obvious graininess. There’s also the newer AOC 24G2SP version with a slightly higher brightness and faster refresh rate. IPS glow’ ate away at some detail peripherally and the minimum luminance is quite high, which could be problematic for sensitive users VSync is configured in the ‘Gaming’ section of ‘Radeon Settings’, where it is referred to as ‘Wait for Vertical Refresh’. You can either configure this globally under ‘Global Settings’ or for each game individually. The default is ‘Off, unless application specifies’ which means that VSync will only be active if you enable it within the game itself, if there is such an option. Such an option does usually exist – it may be called ‘sync every frame’ or something along those lines rather than simply ‘VSync’. Most users will probably wish to enable VSync when using FreeSync to ensure that they don’t get any tearing. You’d therefore select either the third or fourth option in the list, shown in the image below. The final option, ‘Enhanced Sync’, is a relatively new addition to the driver. This is an alternative to VSync which allows the frame rate to rise above the refresh rate (no VSync latency penalty) whilst potentially keeping the experience free from tearing or juddering. This requires that the frame rate comfortably exceeds the refresh rate, not just peaks slightly above it. We won’t be going into this in detail as it’s a GPU feature than a monitor feature. Contrast was the main strength of the older C24G1. Whilst contrast on this model was not as strong, it was very impressive for its panel type. Delivering static contrast that was roughly one and a half times the specified value and delivering slightly less ‘IPS glow’ than average for the screen size and panel type. The ‘IPS glow’ was still a feature, though, and contrast in general is certainly an area in general where VA models are worthy of more praise than IPS-type panels. The colour reproduction in this model was really where this model came into its own. It was quite well set up out of the box, delivering a punchy and vibrant image with excellent shade variety and fairly strong colour consistency. Not up there with the strongest IPS-type performers, but noticeably more consistent than VA or TN models. After some minor tweaking, things were nicely balanced – with the generous colour gamut and consistent output of the IPS-type panel providing a vibrancy and richness throughout the screen than competing TN and VA models simply can’t match. And indeed, the generous colour gamut is something which sets it apart from more expensive IPS-type competitors using the 24.5” AU Optronics panel, including the Acer XV253QP and ASUS VG259Q.And the good news? Gamers on a budget will finally be able to enjoy competitive FPS titles with excellent image quality, but without any prominent motion blur. Microsoft for Business CouponExclusive: 20% off select Surface Pro 9 for Business + Type Cover Bundle Pleasing contrast for the panel type and a relatively smooth screen surface finish, delivering a decent atmosphere for darker scenes and fairly smooth-looking lighter shades Gamer Network Limited, Gateway House, 28 The Quadrant, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 1DN, United Kingdom, registered under company number 03882481. We also made some observations using the film Star Wars: The Last Jedi. This is a title with plenty of high-contrast scenes – or, at least, scenes that show contrasting content and look their cinematic best on models with strong contrast. Explosions ripping through space, light sabers lighting up dark interior locations and suchlike. The AOC provided a decent cinematic look to the film overall, with bright elements contrasting well against darker surroundings. Not comparable to models with much stronger contrast (and there’s ‘IPS glow’ in this case as well) but not bad at all for a non-VA LCD panel. The consistent gamma throughout the screen could also be appreciated, avoiding things appearing ‘flooded’ with extra unintended detail peripherally (especially lower down, on TN models) or too well-masked elsewhere (especially higher up, on TN models).

Quite a feature-rich OSD, good ergonomic flexibility, very slender top and side bezels and competitive pricingLow input lag, well-tuned pixel overdrive at up to 144Hz and Adaptive-Sync doing its thing on both AMD and Nvidia GPUs to reduce stuttering and tearing Results here were variable, with significant deviations recorded towards the right side of the screen. The highest deviation was recorded towards the bottom right (DeltaE 4.3). By eye we could see that this side of the screen and in particular the bottom right corner appeared noticeably cooler (higher colour temperature) than the rest of the screen, when viewing some lighter shades such as white. As with other aspects of uniformity, it’s important to remember that individual units vary and that you can expect deviation beyond the measured points.

As above but even more effective. Blue light output is significantly reduced, more so if brightness is also lowered. Besides offering the most accurate color reproduction and the widest viewing angles, IPS panels also offer a good balance between TN and VA variants when it comes to overall performance and image quality.

A pixel response time of 1ms means speed without the smear for an enhanced experience. Fast-moving action and dramatic transitions will be rendered smoothly without the effects of ghosting. The OSD (On Screen Display) is controlled by pressable buttons beneath the right side of the bottom bezel. A small forwards-facing power LED is also included in this region, to the right of the buttons. This glows white when the monitor is on and amber when it enters a low power state (signal to the system is lost). The video below explores this menu system. The blue channel is weakened further – this is a moderately effective LBL setting. The green tint is a bit more noticeable, but not too strong in our view (your eyes should adjust to this quite readily). Scanning Frequency VGA/DP1.2/HDMI1.4 : 30 -160KHz (H) VGA : 50 -146 Hz (V) DP1.2/HDMI1.4 :48-146Hz (V) The original AOC 24G2, reviewed in this article, used the PANDA LC238LF1F panel. Even though it has a specified brightness of 250-nits and contrast ratio of 1,000:1, many reviewers were getting results closer to 350-nits and 1,500:1.