Adobe Reader uses its own subpixel rendering system optimised for RGB, completely ignoring how ClearType is set up or if it’s even enabled in the first place. The top image below shows a PDF with fairly clear magenta fringing to the left and cyan to the right. It’s exaggerated somewhat in the image, but we still found it quite clear by eye. The bottom image was taken with the display running ‘Landscape (flipped)’ so that an RGB subpixel layout is used. No clear fringing was observed here. 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’). On a machine running an Radeon RX 5700 XT graphics card, the same games ran at around 120 fps and delivered a similar experience. To casual gamers, that additional 50 Hz makes little difference, but more skilled players will appreciate the M27Q’s extra speed. That performance was reliably delivered and never wavered in quality.

As usual we tested a range of game titles using AMD FreeSync and found the experience similar in all cases. Any issues affecting one title but not another suggests a game or GPU driver issues rather than a monitor issue. We’ll therefore simply use Battlefield V as an example for this section. The in-game graphics options are flexible enough to allow the full VRR range to be assessed. Our Radeon RX 580 isn’t a very powerful GPU, so maintaining 170fps at the native WQHD resolution is difficult. Even with graphics settings set to ‘low’, it was common to see dips significantly below this and at many points the average frame rate closer to 100fps. Without a VRR technology like FreeSync, even the slightest dips below 170fps would cause obvious (to us) tearing if VSync was disabled or stuttering if VSync was enabled. Sensitivity to tearing and stuttering varies, but for those sensitive to it the technology is very nice to have.The M27Q is unassuming from the front with just a Gigabyte logo and a tiny white LED adorning the bottom trim strip. The remainder of the bezel is flush mounted with an 8 mm frame around the image. The anti-glare layer is the same 3H-hardness part found on almost all computer monitors. Here, it provides a sharp, bright image with no apparent grain or optical distortion. Instead of testing for response time, we test for input lag using the HDFury Diva Matrix. In this case, the Gigabyte M27Q X measured a very good input lag of 1.6 milliseconds. You might've already guessed, but when it comes to input lag, the smaller that number, the better. While other monitors like the Corsair Xeneon 32QHD165 do measure under 1 millisecond, the difference here will be unnoticeable except, perhaps, in edge cases at the far extremes of competitive esports.

Decent static contrast for panel type, light to very light screen surface with fairly smooth surface texture keeps image free from a grainy or layered appearance Thanks to its decent factory calibration and IPS panel, the M27Q-P is suitable for entry-level color-critical work.

When it comes to pixel response time performance, the Gigabyte M27Q-P has five overdrive settings: Off, Smart OD, Picture Quality, Balance and Speed. The entire materials provided herein are for reference only. GIGABYTE reserves the right to modify or revise the content at anytime without prior notice. Sometimes particularly fine fonts exposed fringing issues with ClearType in use as well. Nvidia Control Panel provided a good example of this, on some letters with straight vertical elements. The first image below shows ClearType enabled and appropriately optimised for BGR. The middle image shows the display running ‘Landscape (flipped)’ and ClearType appropriately optimised for RGB – which the subpixel layout becomes after flipping the image in this way. This is achieved in Windows 10 by going to ‘Display settings’ – ‘Display orientation’ and setting this to ‘Landscape (flipped)’. The graphics driver may have similar options. The bottom image shows how things look with ClearType disabled. The images below are pursuit photographs taken using the UFO Motion Test for ghosting, with the UFO moving across the screen from left to right at a frame rate matching the refresh rate of the display. The test is set to run at its default speed of 960 pixels per second, which is a practical speed for such photographs highlights weaknesses well. The monitor was tested at 60Hz (directly below), 120Hz, 144Hz and 170Hz using the main ‘Overdrive’ pixel response time settings; ‘Picture Quality’, ‘Balance’ and ‘Speed’. We have excluded the ‘Auto’ setting from this analysis as it was identical to ‘Balance’ in our testing. Results for 165Hz weren’t included, but performance there was very similar to 170Hz as you might expect. All rows of the UFO Motion Test were used, highlighting a range of pixel transitions between various shades. The final columns show some reference screens for comparison, using what we deem to be their optimal pixel response time settings. The first reference screen is the Gigabyte AORUS FI27Q-P using an Innolux AAS (IPS-type) panel and the second is the ViewSonic XG270QG using a responsive LG Display Nano IPS panel.

A good resolution and comfortable pixel density for work and play, a comprehensive OSD with accompanying software and height-adjustable stand

Once you connect the monitor to your PC via a USB cable, you can use the Dashboard feature, which can show your system performance (CPU/GPU fan speed, utilization, etc.) on the screen. Design & Connectivity Finally, remember that you can use the ‘Refresh Rate’ feature in the ‘Game Assist’ section of the OSD to display the current refresh rate of the monitor. This will reflect the frame rate if it’s within the main variable refresh rate window. The polling rate (update frequency) is very high for this so it can be difficult to read exact frame rate at times, but it will still give an indication of the frame rate and the fact the technology is working. And as with AMD FreeSync, HDR can be used at the same time as ‘G-SYNC Compatible Mode’. 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. Further up the screen the screen strobe crosstalk appears in front of the object. This becomes fainter and eventually disappears a bit further down. For the more central regions of the screen the strobe crosstalk becomes displaced behind the object, becoming increasingly bold further down the screen until it eventually melds into the main object. Making the object appear doubled. Whilst the strobe crosstalk isn’t too strong centrally, and this is the main area of the screen you observe when immersed in something like a competitive FPS game, it is still visible in some central regions and very strong lower down. There’s also that pesky overshoot throughout the screen and some additional issues to consider, as we explore a little later when we provide subjective analysis of this setting. Slightly cool-tinted than factory defaults with significantly reduced gamma. Things appear quite washed out overall due to gamma handling.

This is equivalent to around 135% sRGB gamut size, meaning that regular content made with sRGB color space in mind will have over-saturated colors. Some users prefer this over-saturation, but you can also use the provided sRGB emulation mode in the OSD (On-Screen Display) menu to clamp the gamut down to ~100% sRGB. Because BIOS flashing is potentially risky, if you do not encounter problems using the current version of BIOS, it is recommended that you not flash the BIOS. To flash the BIOS, do it with caution. Inadequate BIOS flashing may result in system malfunction.Non-gaming viewing was great, with no glare detected no matter the viewing angle. And of course, the games looked great, too; I detected no noticeable ghosting when playing Halo Infinite or Guardians of the Galaxy.